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Transferring/Transit at Istanbul Atatürk airport

Transferring/Transit at Istanbul Atatürk airport

Old Jun 20, 2014, 3:44 pm
  #151  
 
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I'm considering booking a J class TK-TK transit that arrives in IST at 22:15 and departs for PRG at 16:40 the next day. My plan is to overnight in the lounge, hopefully in a sleeping room, and then take advantage of the free Istanbul tour. Would I be able to get to the lounge when I arrive, or would I find myself forced through immigration because my flight is the following day. Thanks!
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Old Jun 20, 2014, 9:14 pm
  #152  
 
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Originally Posted by djangojam
I'm considering booking a J class TK-TK transit that arrives in IST at 22:15 and departs for PRG at 16:40 the next day. My plan is to overnight in the lounge, hopefully in a sleeping room, and then take advantage of the free Istanbul tour. Would I be able to get to the lounge when I arrive, or would I find myself forced through immigration because my flight is the following day. Thanks!
I think you'd be fine staying airside but the lounge is not designed as a hotel. I believe the sleeping rooms are very limited. Hey, you can get a decent hotel in the airport area for less than 100Euro. (Holiday Inn, Courtyard etc).Why not do that?
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Old Jun 28, 2014, 4:37 pm
  #153  
 
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Originally Posted by Cage Rattler
Transited IST yesterday with a 60 minute layover at around 11pm. That was more than enough time as one security person at the jetway was asking disembarking passengers to show boarding passes for connecting international flights, and directed those who had one to the right hand side, where the jetway simply opened up to the transit area - in total 3 minutes to get transit.

On the other hand, arriving at 6am everyone had to go through security which was chaotic. Just take your boarding pass and go to front of queue to agent and show the boarding time on the pass. They will direct you straight to the front if there is very little time left to boarding.
Is it just one huge line for all flights? I am a bit worried as our flight from BKK arrives at 0535 but within the 0500-0600 period there are around 20 international flights.

We don't have a tight connection, it's about 3 hours but this is probably the only chance we will get to experience the lounge.

Is there a priority security line for J class? (Don't laugh, we have such things in Australia).
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Old Jun 29, 2014, 5:59 am
  #154  
 
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Originally Posted by Tiki
We don't have a tight connection, it's about 3 hours but this is probably the only chance we will get to experience the lounge.

Is there a priority security line for J class? (Don't laugh, we have such things in Australia).
The last few months the transfer security has been almost deserted in the morning, when I have arrived on TK69 from BKK/SGN (4 or 5 trips), it has only taken a few minutes to get through. There is a fast track for C pax/*G but it's not always staffed at this time of day (though it's perfectly possible to pass the counter anyway)
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Old Jun 29, 2014, 12:51 pm
  #155  
 
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How is it arriving in J at 6:30pm from US and connecting to Greece?
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Old Jul 11, 2014, 1:05 am
  #156  
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Was in transit from Douala to Munich on a mid-Sunday-morning and missed my connection flight due to ENORMOUS queues at IST transit security, both in the general and in the priority line. Will avoid IST for transit in the future.
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Old Jul 11, 2014, 8:47 pm
  #157  
 
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Anyone know the on-time performance of TK 21 from PEK to IST? I have a 3 hour connection which ought to be enough to make it to the next gate if my bags are checked all the way through, but not sure how much the flight will be delayed...

Last edited by drzoidberg; Jul 11, 2014 at 8:56 pm
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Old Jul 12, 2014, 2:26 am
  #158  
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Originally Posted by drzoidberg
Anyone know the on-time performance of TK 21 from PEK to IST? I have a 3 hour connection which ought to be enough to make it to the next gate if my bags are checked all the way through, but not sure how much the flight will be delayed...
It appears to have a habit of arriving early http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/THY21
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Old Jul 12, 2014, 4:35 am
  #159  
 
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Originally Posted by starflyergold
It appears to have a habit of arriving early http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/THY21
Oh whew! Thanks very much, starflyergold!
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Old Jul 12, 2014, 11:37 am
  #160  
 
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Originally Posted by LuxuryRogue
Was in transit from Douala to Munich on a mid-Sunday-morning and missed my connection flight due to ENORMOUS queues at IST transit security, both in the general and in the priority line. Will avoid IST for transit in the future.
How did things pan out for you? I am afraid of this happening to us. :/
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Old Jul 13, 2014, 4:06 am
  #161  
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Originally Posted by vicarious_MR'er
How did things pan out for you? I am afraid of this happening to us. :/
I took the next flight ca. 4 hours later and in the meantime very much enjoyed the shower, food, etc in the IST lounge.

BTW: I missed my flight although I completely jumped the queue at central security. Just the bus gate plus the walkways - and the confusion at security - took too long. With the old security at the adjacent gates, I would have made my flight though. So, naturally, I am not yet a fan of the new system.
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Old Jul 13, 2014, 4:14 am
  #162  
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Originally Posted by djangojam
I'm considering booking a J class TK-TK transit that arrives in IST at 22:15 and departs for PRG at 16:40 the next day. My plan is to overnight in the lounge, hopefully in a sleeping room, and then take advantage of the free Istanbul tour. Would I be able to get to the lounge when I arrive, or would I find myself forced through immigration because my flight is the following day. Thanks!
Rules for the sleeping rooms are very restricted. Don't think your itin qualifies, but then I don't remember exactly what the rule sheet said.

You will make it to the lounge without immigration.

There is also a decent transit hotel inside the terminal (no immigration either).
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Old Jul 13, 2014, 7:26 am
  #163  
 
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Originally Posted by LuxuryRogue
I took the next flight ca. 4 hours later and in the meantime very much enjoyed the shower, food, etc in the IST lounge.

BTW: I missed my flight although I completely jumped the queue at central security. Just the bus gate plus the walkways - and the confusion at security - took too long. With the old security at the adjacent gates, I would have made my flight though. So, naturally, I am not yet a fan of the new system.
How long was your layover (in reality based on true landing times, not scheduled landing)? We are supposed to land at 16:15-16:30ish. I hope that isn't the worst time of day. I am desperately worried that TK sold us a ticket they can't adhere to for airport congestion reasons and for chronically late flight reasons. They have a min connection time for IST of 60m (our ticket is 1h45m), but all these horror stories have me very worried and makes me wonder how they arrived at 60m.


Even though I've traveled extensively, the chaos of IST has me a little anxious since I'll have my husband and kids with me. The thought of waiting in a huge line to miss our flight and then have to fend for ourselves (and keep track of kids) in the chaos I hear about the service center for rebooking and everything else has got me a bit

Thank you!!
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Old Jul 21, 2014, 12:18 pm
  #164  
 
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So apparently there is a Turkish Arrivals Lounge and the Turkish CIP Lounge.

Which one should I go to if I am connecting in IST for another flight to IAH?
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Old Jul 21, 2014, 12:37 pm
  #165  
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Originally Posted by bfpri
So apparently there is a Turkish Arrivals Lounge and the Turkish CIP Lounge.

Which one should I go to if I am connecting in IST for another flight to IAH?
The arrivals lounge is for pax terminating at IST, the CIP lounge is in the departures area and the one you want to head towards.
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