Need a few clarifications...
Originally Posted by
rev29k
I've a few questions as well on this subject.
We are flying in on a Sunday Evening to IST, and departing the next morning at 10:30a to ATH.
From where? How late are you flying in? Is this all on one ticket? Depends on how late you get into IST, it may not be worth going into the city.
We've never been to Turkey, and are concerned about where to stay, entry/exit to the country, etc. We will have checked luggage, so I presume we need to go through Immigration to get Landside to get our luggage. If we booked the Yotel airside, will they let us back through Security if our boarding passes aren't until the next morning?
If everything is on one ticket, your bags will go straight to your final destination, no need to pick them up. You don't need to go through immigration, necessarily. The airport operates 24/7 with flights at all hours of day/night.
I understand we need to get a travel/e-visa, but do we also need to do anything else?
What nationality are you?
I'm also seeing a lot of independent/non-chain hotels around the airport that are very reasonable. Are these OK to stay at, or do they have issues? Only chain I can see nearby is the Hampton Inn. Also, how does one get a ride back to the airport? An Uber? But I read somewhere that Uber doesn't work at the airport, but not sure if that 's true or not. Getting a cab at the airport is one thing, getting someone to come get us at a hotel is another. But if anyone has any suggestions regarding staying overnight here it would be greatly appreciated.
TIA!
See if you qualify for this. Make sure to read the fine print
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-i...hotel-service/
You'd need to be allowed into the country (see the above question on nationality/eVisa).
Uber uses regular yellow taxis in Turkey. The only advantage is being able to use a credit card. Using it from the airport is a bit of a pain, using it to the airport is fine.
There are a few hotels south of the airport, accessible by metro (1-2 stations) that just opened a few weeks ago, but I don't recall how late the metro runs. The Hampton is within walking distance of one of the stations. See
this thread.