fbrdky

Have you considered a "telehealth" supervised antigen test? You can do it at your hotel the calendar day before your arrival into US. Here's a review of the three leading brands: These At-Home COVID Tests are CDC-Approved for Travel (afar.com)

Xeno

Thank you. I was hoping the data were dated, but I found those references when I purchased my tickets in January of this year.
If I leave the Sheraton Istanbul City Center at 9 am (Sunday) would that allow enough time for the rapid test and going through immigration, then the walk to the gate for 1:20 pm departure?
I am a USA citizen returning to ATH to spend the night before a quick turnaround back to the USA.

fallinasleep

Apologies if this is covered already.

I am considering a flight with Turkish between Asia and the States with a two- or three-week stopover in Istanbul. The only issue is we will have upwards of 8-10 pieces of checked luggage that I want to store in Istanbul, either at the airport or at a hotel, while we travel around the region.

I'm thinking it will be easiest to just store it at the airport. I've read that there are luggage lockers, but I am concerned the lockers might be too small or time out after a certain period. Besides the lockers, is there also a manned, secure storage option?

If we choose to store the luggage at our hotel (if they allow it), are there any transport options that could handle all that luggage in one vehicle from the airport? Otherwise, I am thinking three or even four taxis.

Thanks

RetiredATLATC

There is a manned luggage area near the entrance of YotelAir and the barbers, however the 6 times or so I've gone by there in the last year I have never seen them open.

ISTFlyer

There is a manned storage facility at the arrivals level of IST when you turn right after leaving the international baggage claim hall.
I am not sure how many people are you traveling with but the Havaist ( coach ) buses to the city would allow 3 piece per person without any extra charge. Other than than, I don't think you'll find a vehicle that would suit your needs unless you rent a van for a couple of hours.

fallinasleep

Thanks, any idea if this manned storage facility is near the luggage lockers?

BuildingMyBento

I'm not sure about lockers, but I did see the left luggage facility in the Arrivals hall open two days ago; it was quite close to the pandemic testing area.

(I found signage for elevators to be crap in the IST check-in hall, so go near ticketing agent area #7 for the closest elevator to the arrivals hall.)

Xeno

I should have read this entire thread because when I got to the airport this morning I did not know that after going through the initial screening to enter on the departure level that one could remain in the secure area by using an escalator or elevator to get to Covid testing on the arrivals level near exit #14.

nkob

goodafternoon
We make a another try to visit istanbul in september.
Stay at hilton bakirkoy for a week .
we arriving in the afternoon and leaving too ,how many hours we should take for departure ?
Arrival to exit ?
I understood long walks ?
Thanks for replying
cornelis

GloballyServiced

Didn't want to make a separate thread, but can someone confirm if visitors to Turkey are eligible to get vaccinated for covid? Do not care if its free or not.

Complicated situation for a Chinese national visiting turkey and needing vaccination.

ISTFlyer

Officially no, a visitor can't officially get vaccinated.
However, there were blackmarket places who offer vaccines for a hefty price for visitors ( back when COVID-19 vaccines were first released ) but of course, since they do the vaccinations under the counter, no vaccination certificate recognized by official governments would be provided for those services so be careful if you are trapped by one of those locations.

hfly

IST, it is one of those things.....................I do know of foreigners (without residency permit) who were in fact able to get vaccinated at State hospitals for free and get a piece of paper saying that they had been vaccinated (I am talking about perhaps 6 months ago) as the thought was that they wanted everyone vaccinated and stop the spread and that even as tourists could be here 90 days, they wanted them vaccinated..............however I do not know where/how it currently stands. The big question was not about whether the foreigners were resident or not per se, but whether they were able to register with the Enabiz system.

ISTFlyer

I know that people living in Turkey with a Yabancı Kimlik Kartı or any legal means to live are able to get the vaccine for free in Turkey. These people could see their vaccines at E-Nabız or through the HES app when it was used. Although I am not sure how the vaccines are registered for tourists, etc... I am not sure if a tourist could go to a public hospital and asked to be vaccinated only with a passport and no additional documents.

hfly

IST you are correct in what you are saying, HOWEVER I do do know of foreigners, non residents (i.e. no kimlik/Ikamet) who were visiting Turkey in November/December who went to state hospotals and managed to get vaccinated and get a piece of paper (i.e. not in enabiz). I do not know exactly how they did it, but I do know that it was done.......I do not know how if this still occurs. OTOH, in replying to Globally Serviced's post, I would think that As I know many Chinese people who would like to get Pfizer, to supplement the "Sino's" which is all they can get in China, because they do not trust them and other vaccine's are NOT available there, I would think that having a formal Turkish certificate is of lesser importance than just getting the vaccine. In which case as you have stated, there are private clinics that will do it for money.

rariya

Is Touristanbul back!? Our trip is in July and we have a 22 hour layover at IST. I've been refreshing the Touristanbul page weekly for nearly a year, hoping they'd bring the program back in time for our trip and today when I refreshed the banner stating that due to COVID Touristanbul is not running is gone!! Is anyone passing through IST able to confirm if it's back up?

Edit: aaaand the banner is back. Whomp. What the heck was that? lol