lsquare

It's been almost 5 years since I went to Istanbul. What has changed? Is it possible for me to mainly use my credit card to get around or I�ll still need cash?

I know Istanbul got a new airport and I'm assuming I'll be flying into the new IST. Is there a subway line connecting the new IST to the city center?

I bought an Istanbul transit card. I can't remember if I can load with a credit card. Can I? Will I transit card ever expire?

Are masks mandatory anywhere?

What else do I need to know before going to Istanbul later this year?

maverikbc

Almost all mid range and up restaurants take credit cards (CC), budget places around 90%.

I've seen vending machines which allows to top up Istanbul kart with CC, but most of them don't take CC. In other cities (eg Antalya ) buses and ticket gates take contactless Visa /MC , quite impressive.

Yes, new IST airport, and metro is open. It isn't tourist friendly, though, I didn't find network map anywhere, for example. Apparently it was free for a month after opening, but there was no announcement about it at least in English, I only found out my Istanbul kart wasn't charged, and googled to find out why.

My card from 5 years ago didn't allow to reload, and I didn't find any service counters anywhere, so I ended up buying a new one.

Masks aren't mandatory, less than 5% of people wear them on transit.

lsquare

There is a new card now? What's the difference? I'm pretty sure I was able to reload my current card five years ago.

maverikbc

The design is different, but I suspect they suspend cards after some years or maybe my card got defective. Mexico City grandfathered my card as well. We should never leave balance we can't afford to lose, I guess.

lsquare

Did you try using customer service? So the new card can be reloaded with a credit card?

maverikbc

Like I said, I've never seen customer service desks, and I don't speak Turkish, so I didn't bother calling them.

I've finally used a kiosk today that claims to take CC, but the screen said no CC.