Must...Fly!

Thanks for the advice ISTFlyer. I read some of your other posts on the subject, it sounds very unlikely I'll be ripped off or anything as long as I go to the proper taxi rank and avoid the touts in the terminal. Hopefully I can get a small amount of cash in the arrival hall ATMs without any card trouble .

HumbleBee

What are the odds of being selected for a PCR test on arrival in IST? I'm recently recovered and afraid of testing positive.

hfly

Arriving from where? From the vast majority of places pretty much nil. From a few other places, maybe 10-20% (assuming that you are not bruning up with a significant temperature that may be picked up by a thermal camera, in which chances would be very high, as they should be).

HumbleBee

Thank you. I would be coming from Singapore, so I assume I'm pretty safe

Must...Fly!

This (unsurprisingly) turned out to be great advice. 242 on the meter (rounded up to 250).

I just arrived in IST from Singapore this morning. No one batted an eyelid about where I'd come from, the only question I had at immigration was where I was going next, and then asked where I'd arrived from on going through the Nothing to Declare lane at Customs (and was just pointed directly to the exit) so I would not stress about that.

fbrdky

Do taxis take the big 3 credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex)? How bad (fee-wise) are the ATMs within IST terminal?

Must...Fly!

When arriving in a new country I usually ignore all ATMs in the arrivals halls as they tend to be third parties and risk of fees is higher.

Again it turned out to be the right move. After arrivals, take a left past the phone shops and there is a branch of a local bank, Ziraat Bankasi. I used my debit mastercard (fee free international transactions) at the ATMs outside, made sure NOT to use DCC and do not appear to have been charged any fees. Changing cash in the city is very easy as there are lots of currency exchanges, with varying rates (but all very transparent so it's easy to know what rate you will get)

Cabs - the one I was in took at least visa and I do remember the fee was 5%. Not sure about the others I'm afraid.

hfly

Many taxis take credit cards, I have NEVER EVER heard of a 5 percent fee to use a credit card with a taxi in Istanbul. You were robbed.

PVDtoDEL

idk about 5%, but it's standard for Istanbul taxis to charge a transaction fee for credit card transactions. This fee goes to the point-of-sale company (I think the most common is called "takside pos").

ISTFlyer

Yes, the Takside POS would get a 5% credit card fee for transactions over ₺250 which is stated on the Takside POS commission list labeled at taxis.

Must...Fly!

I paid with cash, so unless the entire ride was just an illusion perpetrated by a brilliant thief, no I was not robbed. Simply passing on information.

BuildingMyBento

I've got a 2.5 hour INTL to INTL transfer in IST (flying in J), and would like to know if the airport has a supermarket anywhere in its arrivals hall. I've got some souvenirs on the mind that go beyond lokum and lokum-related paraphernalia. Have already checked the airport website, but it's not helpful.

Cheers,
BmB

hfly

AH, that may be so, as 1) When I take Istanbul taxis, the price is generally under 250 TL. 2) If I take a taxi to/fr the airport I generally use BiTaksi or Uber, where it seems there is no such charge (or at least not that I noticed). OTOH, at least for the moment the fare from the airport to the most popular places for tourists such as Sultanahmet, Taksim, Besiktas without significant traffic could be under 250 TL (although this will change when taxi fares rise any moment now). I should also admit that since Covid I have often just driven and parked as rates were reduced and it has been more cost effective to "do it myself"..........

LilZeppelin

Need advice: thinking of flying into IST on BA and connecting on a separate ticket to ATH on Aegean. Is 1 hr 45min connecting time enough or should I book 4 hr connection? If luggage is checked in does that change anything?

ISTFlyer

On separate tickets, you would have no protection if your LHR-IST flight is delayed. 1h45mins when traveling HBO would be enough if you have your A3 boarding pass handy, otherwise you might need to rush to the A3 transfer desk to get your boarding pass before the check-in deadline for that flight ends. BA also enforces row-by-row deboarding thus also consider the factor that you might be asked to remain seated for a period of time if you are seated in the Economy cabin.

With checked baggage, as BA would not through check bags on separate tickets, I would not attempt to do a 1h45min self-transfer.