SK AAR

Sure, you will have about 1 hour in the lounge...

axxoo25

Considering, that between 1600 h and 1700 h usually about 30-35 planes are landing at IST, I believe, that debarking and arriving in the lounge will take at least 20 up to 30 mins depending, where the plane will drop off the pax.

Then again, considering that and from the lounge to the connecting flight will take another 20-30 mins depending which gate you will get (hopefully not the 700 ones.. ..

cheltzel

We'll be coming back through IST in about two weeks with a 3.5 hour connection. And early in the day (10AM) so I expect we will have a much easier time visiting the lounge then. If the lounge is on the direct path form our arrival gate to our departure gate tomorrow, we will stop in for a quick drink or something. But I like to get on board early and chill out so I don't mind skipping the lounge for a 10 - 20 minute visit, especially if it meant another 10 - 20 minutes walking.

axxoo25

enjoy the lounge on your return, boarding starts in IST usually 60-40 min before departure.. so no good idea visiting the lounge on your outbound imho..

cheltzel

Agreed. There are tons of sad tales here when people show up at the last minute. Not criticizing anybody but it never seems to happen to folks who are at the gate on or before the time they start boarding.

ottflyer

We arrive on TK 1872 from Venice mid-week late September at 1740 in business and hope to connect to a Pegasus flight to Izmir at 20:00. After immigration and customs, we plan to leave our checked luggage at the facility near the TK hotel desk on the arrivals level and then head straight to the domestic departure gate (assuming we will be able to check in and obtain boarding passes for ADB online in advance). Will we have enough time (assuming the flight from Venice likely will be 20-30 late based on recent arrival times)? Do we still have to go up to the domestic check in area to go through security, or is there a more direct route from the international arrivals area to the domestic gates?

shuly

Welcome to FlyerTalk ottflyer!

I think you're not leaving enough time for the transfer. Even if your flight from Venice arrives on time, there's no guarantee that you'll have a gate, and a bus gate will take a few minutes. Lines for immigration can be long, even on the fast track. Then you'll need some time to store your luggage. You will have to walk to the domestic terminal (it's not far, but it will take a few minutes), and go through security on your way to the gate. If everything goes well, two hours should be plenty, but things don't always go well. Do you have a backup plan in case you miss the Izmir flight? Are your Pegasus tickets changeable?

Personally, I would leave more time when combining two separate tickets, especially if missing the second flight would be a major hassle.

Shuly

ottflyer

Thanks shuly!

You have confirmed my fear that 2 hrs may not be enough. The Pegasus tickets are changeable up to two hours before departure, so perhaps what I will do is re book to the (much) later flight and then see if we can move to the earlier one once we arrive. I have been following the TK forum for a year or two and have taken advantage of the many tips you have provided on matters ranging from seat selection to restaurants near IST. Your contributions are much appreciated!

cheltzel

You were absolutely spot on. We arrived 15 minutes late. Deplaned at one of the low numbered 200 gates (I think it was 206) and our VCE flight departed from one of the 500 bus gates. Took an easy 30+ minutes. The flight should have been boarding when we got there. Luckily our inbound A321 was late.

gr8pirate

dtxdnc

I am based IST, I think there is enough time. Do you have Star Alliance Gold card or Business Class Ticket? If so, immigration is much faster with fast track options.

The immigration que on IST is based on luck, it could be empty and done in 5 mins, or could take up to 30.

If your tickets are seperated, which I assume it is because Pegasus and TK is not alliance, then you have the take your luggages, leave immigration, exit to arrival area.

If I remember correctly, direct heading to Domestic is from Left, but I think you have to go up level for departures, choose elevators, then move left. No need to exit terminal.

I dont understand why you need to leave checked luggae to facility? You will not take them with you for flight? That process can loose you time, If you have the luggage allowance, take them with you directly to Izmir.

Pegasus has online check-in, from T72 to 60minutes before flight, and If you are going to check-in luggage, than you had to be at check-in desk 45mins before flight.

If you are not going to check-in bags, you can directly go to security and to gate, which is all the time you have, until they close boarding. You can use Pegasus App for Mobile BP, works with QR code scanning while boarding at gate.

Once I left my home exactly 1hour before flight, arrived domestic terminal 20 minutes before flight, had online QR Boarding Pass, no luggage, straight to security & gate, even had 1 cookie while people were boarding, entered as last passennger.

Pegaus is also famous with little delays, so you will have couple minutes advantage while they are on the hub of TK

I think everything should go well and there is enough time to be at check-in desk at pegasus before 19:15 which will make you safe.
If only cabin luggage for pegasus, even time for coffee

At worst case, there is 4-5 airlines going to Izmir everytime daily for cheap fares from IST.

I would not change anything, go for it, you can make it without stress and do the Online Check-In definetely, better before your TK flight.

ottflyer

Thanks dtxdnc. This is reassuring, assuming our inbound flight is not unduly delayed and immigration lines (we will use fast track) are not too long. We plan to drop off our checked luggage at IST because we are only in Izmir for two nights before returning to IST and it will be much easier transferring between ADB/ Selcuk without it. I assumed that any time we might lose by leaving it at the stored luggage facility would be saved by allowing us to by-pass check-in formalities and go directly to the gate. Is this correct?

dtxdnc

Yes, If you dont have any checked-in luggage, than you dont need to go to check-in desk If you have QR Boarding Pass already in hand. Make sure you get it before your TK flight from Pegasus App.

If you have Mobile BP, than you can go to gate directly before "boarding closes" which should be 19:40~20:00, so it means only a security check which is not big deal.

So If that luggage drop will not cost you more than 10-15 minutes, thats good option, but I never done luggage drop in IST before, dont know how good&fast their process are.

schumitza

Hey all,

I'll be travelling CLJ-IST-ORD and return on mid october. On the way there I;ll have around 3h and 15 connection time which I hope will be enough. On the return I have a 14h layover and I want to benefit from the free hotel Turkish offer. But I have a very early flight the next morning so unsure on what hotel they put me in and if they offer free shuttle at that hour. I have a 4pm arrival time and a 6:40 AM departure time the next morning. So a couple questions:

- has anyone used the free hotel provided and had such early departure times?
- if no shuttle anyone know the current taxi prices for Turkey?
- should I just stay airside? use a lounge?
- what time do I need to be at the airport for the 6:40 AM departure. I will not have to check bags (I pressume) and I'll have a boarding pass already issued. Would like 5 AM suffice?

YuropFlyer

TK will provide a shuttle to/from the airport, which gets you there with more than enough time to spare. They run 7/24..

If you want to sleep longer, you can skip the shuttle and get a taxi instead. Taxis in Turkey are very cheap, but you might need cash to pay for them. They'll happy accept Euro, at least according to my experience, at a slightly worse exchange rate, though.