boosh

They only look at schedule time and not the actual arrival / departure time. It sounds like you might get lucky so I see no reason not to try. If you are unsuccessful there are a few nice hotels close to the airport. I usually use the Hilton Garden Inn. They have a shuttle that leaves every hour and their rates are pretty decent, $35-55 I think it is. If there is no shuttle a taxi will set you back TRY20.

I wouldn't fear going into Istanbul by myself anymore than London, Paris, Washington or Copenhagen so if you do have the time and energy I would suggest heading into town for a couple of hours. There are plenty of good resturants to make it worth your while.

lento

Any updates ? Have you already completed this trip and successful to get TAV airside hotel ?

Minht2

Will I be eligible for free hotel accommodation with 15 hours 10 min layover in IST, with the 2 flights below?
Wed, Aug 31, 2016:
11:30a — 3:30p Economy 3h 00m
Nice (NCE) — Istanbul (IST)
Turkish Airlines 1814
Change planes in Istanbul (IST) Long layover 15h 10m
6:40a — 11:10a Takes off Thu, Sep 1 Economy 11h 30m
Istanbul (IST) — Washington (IAD)
Turkish Airlines 177
my 2nd flight is at 6:40a, so I need to be at the airport at 4:40a?
I wonder if the free airport shuttle will operate at 4:30a. Does anybody know?
Also, is anybody signing up for Turkish Airlines' Miles&Smiles eligible to use their lounge?
and how do one qualify for the relaxation rooms?

I would appreciate any advice based on your experience.
Thanks.

boosh

Afraid not as there is a later flight in the day from Nice that would make your connection 8:10. The minimum connection time is based on TK's schedule and not your actual booked tickets. At the top of this page there is a wiki explaining the rules regarding the free hotel in detail. You might not see that on the mobile version of the page.

To use the lounge you have to be flying J or be a Gold Card holder of a Star Alliance frequent flyer program.

To use the relaxation rooms your connection has to be between 4 and 7 hours and flying J or be Elite+ with M&S.

vincewy

My next trip -

TK12 - TK52, scheduled layover time at IST, 16:30 - 1:25 am (almost 9 hours), flying in J.

Is it worth going to the landside and stay at one of the hotels given (if approved) for only a few hours? I am willing to pay for the hotel myself if TK's not willing to offer free hotel.

If this is confirmed I'd love to use this option, but no way I'd pay 90 Euros for just 3 hours when there's abundant selections near the airport.

YuropFlyer

Coming from Europe, those late afternoon - late evening connections I'd say absolutely not (your body clock says evening, don't sleep yet) - but coming from JFK, I've no clue how your body clock will react.

I'd say be prepared for both options: If you feel tired/sleepy when arriving in IST, maybe getting a few hours of proper sleep in a real hotel might be worth it, but on the other hand, if you feel awake enough, the lounge isn't such a bad place for some hours of relaxation, food, and a bit of drinking. Considering you've a long haul flight after that, you could sleep there (if your body clock is on "night" mode by then) so that wouldn't be a problem either.

In your case, I'd say let your body decide on your plans. The time difference (roughly half a day over your whole trip) will pretty much kill any time feeling for yourself anyway..

sushimaru

I have two options to choose from JNB-IST

Plan 1: Arriving IST at 5am
Plan 2: Arriving IST at 8:45am

My next flight is IST-BKK flight which leaves at 8pm-ish.

There are no other flights for JNB-IST and also this IST-BKK is the earliest flight to connect these two flights so both are qualified for the free hotel.

Now, the question is, I'm sure Plan 2 will work since that's the minimum connecting time between the two cities.

However, I want to choose Plan 1, but I'm afraid if the hotel desk agent will turn down the request since "there is later arriving flight", even if that "later arriving flight" is also eligible for a free room.

Anyone had a similar experience?

YuropFlyer

Only "Plan 2" will work / is eligable.

docbert

I had a similar itinerary a few months back, with the main difference being that it was overnight, and had no issue getting a hotel.

See post 496 in this thread for my flight detail, and port 501 for my results.

However I still suspect that it's technically outside of the rules, so I wouldn't be at all surprised for them to say no. (FWIW, I was in business which might have also helped)

segacs

Does anyone know if recent events in Turkey have had any impact on the free hotel assignments?

I know many hotels in Turkey have been operating at reduced load since tourism is down so much. I was thinking of booking my own hotel since the prices are so cheap, even though I'll technically be eligible for the free one, just to save time at the hotel desk upon arrival and be able to custom-select where I want to stay. But if TK is offering nice options for free, maybe it's not worth it?

Curious as to whether anyone has had any experience with this lately and can report back.

sushimaru

Thanks for the post. I've checked your two posts and you must have been lucky to get one. I think I'll go for a safer side by choosing Option 2. Thanks YuropFlyer also for the answer.

smellme

I just had a very good experience with the transit hotel yesterday. I arrived at 18:30 on a J flight from WAW and was leaving at 1:50 to Singapore, so 7:20 layover. I wasn't tired becase the flight from WAW was great (proper J seats, 2 on each side on a 2h flight!) just bored. I've been in Istanbul many times before and I there was nothing interesting for me to do in 7h so I decided to get a hotel and go to the gym there.

We had a clean transfer (without security) from WAW so I went straight to the lounge. I asked for a hotel in the front desk and they said that I can get a day room in the lounge. I was suprised, because normally they are very strict about the max 7h rule and I was 7:20 but when the alternative is paying for a hotel, I guess there are willing to bend the rules a little. Since I wasn't interested in resting I refused and went to the landside hotel desk.

In he hotel desk I asked for the Radisson Blue becasue it's close to the airport and they have a great gym. They agreed (I don't know if it helped but I'm Elite Plus and both flights in J). There were about 15 more people going to hotels, but to my surprise they all went to one shuttle and I went by myself to another one. From the check in to check out I had 3:30 in the hotel which was very niece, I used their great gym, pool and sauna. I was picked up 3h before the flight and after me the shuttle picked up another family from different hotel. It took pretty long to get back because of the traffic jam to to the security control when entering the airport that took 30 min to clear. I was still ok with 2h to my flight, but the other family had only 1h and they were very nervous about it.

The airport itself seems busier than ever, tons of people everywhere, huge lines. Without the priority I woudn't be able to do any of it. The direct entrance to the lounge is closed because of some renovation in that section. In general the lounge didn't look as good as usual, some of the food wasn't replenished and the pide and turkish raviolli stations were closed on both floors.

Right now I'm on the flight to Singapore which is also great, I have the seats 1A and 1B for myself which I really like because I can seat on 1B and sleep on 1A. This is actually something that I never understand. On the OLCI the whole J was full except 2 seats, but on the plane half of the cabin is empty. Why is that? Is it that half of the pax didn't show up? It happens to me very frequently.

Overall a very positive experience, that's what I love TK for.

roadwarrier

I thought that there is only one JNB/IST flight a day?

docbert

Some days have one, some have two.

segacs

Sounds like a great experience! Glad it worked out so well for you.

I suspect my experience will be rather different, since I'm flying economy with no status, and arriving from KTM. Then again, I will have a 20 hour layover (arriving Saturday 6pm; departing Sunday 2pm), so likely plenty of time to deal with the extra hassles.

Having never been to IST other than the airport, I'm hoping to have a couple of hours Sunday AM to get into the Old Town to see a few sights, assuming I wake up super early and whisk my way through them. Hopefully, travelling westward, the jet lag will work to my advantage.