Jan 2, 2018, 10:38 pm
Last edit by: zeer0
Lounge Location
IST International Terminal. Near Gate 220
Video walkthrough of the lounge made on 2016-05-25
IST TK Lounge Walkthrough - YouTube
Getting In
Opening Hours: 24 hrs per day
Entrances: 2 entrances - one in the main terminal, another from the far-left side of the check-in area of the airport with separate passport control, Only for TK Business Class passengers or TK Elite Plus in Y, but not Elite or other *G cards, you need to go through main passport control and enter from airside). Entry in the main terminal is done by automated gates. You need a boarding pass with your status on it, if that is not present, please ask the lounge matrons and they'll manually let you in. It is also necessary to consult the front desk if you're bringing a guest(s).
Dedicated entry from the check in area (far left side as you face security/immigration) is only open from 5am to 12am midnight, outside of those hours you must enter the main terminal first and use that entrance.
Prior noted in this wiki, was that there was three entrances, however that one is an exit only that can be found in the lower level of the lounge.
Bag Storage: There are lockers right next to the main entrance on both floors. Lockers are emptied at night.
Eligibility:
Business Class travellers on international flights operated by Turkish Airlines,
Miles&Smiles Elite and Elite Plus members (they may invite their families or one guest),
Star Alliance Gold members (they may invite one guest),
First and Business Class travellers on flights operated by Star Alliance member airlines.
Must travel on Turkish Airlines or Star Alliance
The lounge cannot be accessed through Priority Pass or by paying at the entrance. There are many other pay lounges at IST.
Multiple Entries:
If you're connecting and want to visit Istanbul, you can enter the lounge with your connecting BP, enjoy the lounge then go back to Immigration, enter Turkey, and come back to the lounge after your visit.
To go landside from the lounge: leave the lounge on the upper level and walk straight toward the food court. Just before the food court there is a set of stairs on the left (look for signs to the mosque) that takes you down to the arrival level, and then to the immigration counters.
Facilities
Working
Free Wi-Fi (you get the code by scanning your boarding pass at machines dotted around the lounge)
Showers
Printers and computers
Eating
Extensive Food and Drink Areas
Upstairs:
Turkish desserts, ie baklava
Nut station
Coffee station + Demel cakes
Kofte/grill station
Pasta
Mezze
Beverages (alcoholic/non-alcoholic)
Fresh fruits
Fresh pide
Olive bar
Nut bar
Downstairs:
Turkish "special of the month"/chef's station
Coffee station + Demel cakes
Simit cart
Kofte/grill station
Manti
Pasta
Mezze
Make-your-own-tea/wellness tea station
Beverages (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), stands throughout the lounge
Fresh fruits
Fresh pide
Olive bar
Nut bar
Early morning food differences
"Turkish special of the month" chef's station serving breakfast foods instead (e.g. gozleme)
Kofte station replaced by made-to-order omelette bar/breakfast items
Mini-simits, croissants, and other breakfast pastries
Demel cakes not taken out until ~ 8am
Turkish desserts not taken out until after 8am
Mezze station replaced by muesli, yogurt station
Smoking
This is a non smoking lounge, smoking area is upstairs at the far end of the terminal.
Relaxing
Relaxation Rooms (see below)
Ironing service
Newspapers and Library
Media wall
Pool Table
Golf simulator
RC car track
Self-playing piano
2x PS4 systems with FIFA and NBA
Sleeping in the Lounge
There are 5-7 relaxation rooms.
Eligibility:
4-7 hour layover for TK Business and Elite Plus customers in Economy Class.
International to International connections only
Couches throughout the lounge.
You may be eligible for a free hotel outside the airport.
IST International Terminal. Near Gate 220
Video walkthrough of the lounge made on 2016-05-25
IST TK Lounge Walkthrough - YouTube
Getting In
Opening Hours: 24 hrs per day
Entrances: 2 entrances - one in the main terminal, another from the far-left side of the check-in area of the airport with separate passport control, Only for TK Business Class passengers or TK Elite Plus in Y, but not Elite or other *G cards, you need to go through main passport control and enter from airside). Entry in the main terminal is done by automated gates. You need a boarding pass with your status on it, if that is not present, please ask the lounge matrons and they'll manually let you in. It is also necessary to consult the front desk if you're bringing a guest(s).
Dedicated entry from the check in area (far left side as you face security/immigration) is only open from 5am to 12am midnight, outside of those hours you must enter the main terminal first and use that entrance.
Prior noted in this wiki, was that there was three entrances, however that one is an exit only that can be found in the lower level of the lounge.
Bag Storage: There are lockers right next to the main entrance on both floors. Lockers are emptied at night.
Eligibility:
Business Class travellers on international flights operated by Turkish Airlines,
Miles&Smiles Elite and Elite Plus members (they may invite their families or one guest),
Star Alliance Gold members (they may invite one guest),
First and Business Class travellers on flights operated by Star Alliance member airlines.
Must travel on Turkish Airlines or Star Alliance
The lounge cannot be accessed through Priority Pass or by paying at the entrance. There are many other pay lounges at IST.
Multiple Entries:
If you're connecting and want to visit Istanbul, you can enter the lounge with your connecting BP, enjoy the lounge then go back to Immigration, enter Turkey, and come back to the lounge after your visit.
To go landside from the lounge: leave the lounge on the upper level and walk straight toward the food court. Just before the food court there is a set of stairs on the left (look for signs to the mosque) that takes you down to the arrival level, and then to the immigration counters.
Facilities
Working
Free Wi-Fi (you get the code by scanning your boarding pass at machines dotted around the lounge)
Showers
Printers and computers
Eating
Extensive Food and Drink Areas
Upstairs:
Turkish desserts, ie baklava
Nut station
Coffee station + Demel cakes
Kofte/grill station
Pasta
Mezze
Beverages (alcoholic/non-alcoholic)
Fresh fruits
Fresh pide
Olive bar
Nut bar
Downstairs:
Turkish "special of the month"/chef's station
Coffee station + Demel cakes
Simit cart
Kofte/grill station
Manti
Pasta
Mezze
Make-your-own-tea/wellness tea station
Beverages (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), stands throughout the lounge
Fresh fruits
Fresh pide
Olive bar
Nut bar
Early morning food differences
"Turkish special of the month" chef's station serving breakfast foods instead (e.g. gozleme)
Kofte station replaced by made-to-order omelette bar/breakfast items
Mini-simits, croissants, and other breakfast pastries
Demel cakes not taken out until ~ 8am
Turkish desserts not taken out until after 8am
Mezze station replaced by muesli, yogurt station
Smoking
This is a non smoking lounge, smoking area is upstairs at the far end of the terminal.
Relaxing
Relaxation Rooms (see below)
Ironing service
Newspapers and Library
Media wall
Pool Table
Golf simulator
RC car track
Self-playing piano
2x PS4 systems with FIFA and NBA
Sleeping in the Lounge
There are 5-7 relaxation rooms.
Eligibility:
4-7 hour layover for TK Business and Elite Plus customers in Economy Class.
International to International connections only
You can only use them only if you are connecting to/from a longhaul Turkish Airlines flight (8+ hours) AND your layover is between 4 and 7 hours.
You may be eligible for a free hotel outside the airport.
TK's Flagship IST *G Lounge [2018 onwards Master Thread]
Oct 11, 2018, 3:04 pm
#91
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: TK M&S, LH MM, Global Entry, Hertz Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,087
Goes to show you can always ask.
Oct 11, 2018, 8:41 pm
#92
Join Date: Jan 2011
Programs: oneworld, * Alliance, Marriott Bonvoy, HHonors, WoH
Posts: 2,118
It's surely busy, but still on the quiet side... if you aren't so unlucky to find loud talkers sitting near to you.
QR lounge is better for night layovers, as it has two dedicated quiet/rest area, but if someone doesn't want to pay 200+ eur for 6/7 hours in the airside hotel, the TK lounge is still manageable. IMO & IME, of course
The hotels near IST airport are usually so cheap (comparing to other airport hotels around the world) that the last time I didn't even bother with the free hotel. Also because I like to plan in advance and with TK the hotel is sorted on the spot, once arrived landside. I agree that the separate security & passport control are very convenient in the morning, when you come back from the hotel.
QR lounge is better for night layovers, as it has two dedicated quiet/rest area, but if someone doesn't want to pay 200+ eur for 6/7 hours in the airside hotel, the TK lounge is still manageable. IMO & IME, of course
The hotels near IST airport are usually so cheap (comparing to other airport hotels around the world) that the last time I didn't even bother with the free hotel. Also because I like to plan in advance and with TK the hotel is sorted on the spot, once arrived landside. I agree that the separate security & passport control are very convenient in the morning, when you come back from the hotel.
There is other entrance to passport control for J and Star Alliance Gold card holders, located on the right side of the passport control in the terminal.
Mar 14, 2019, 9:22 am
#93
Ambassador: World of Hyatt
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: UK - the nearest airport is named after a motorway !
Posts: 4,229
showers in the morning peak
Not been through IST in a while, but looks like one more trip through before it closes for good.
How busy are the showers in the morning (c 8am) currently? I have waited between 40 minutes and 2 hours+ in the past, but there always seems to be some maintenance or something going on... guessing that they won't be doing any of that, with the lounge less than a month from closing.
And do they have any 'local speciality' foods on still, or is it just the regular stuff?
[Answering my own question] flight was 40 minutes late, so i had very low expectations of a shower when I got to the lounge, but it seemed much quieter than I remember (Friday morning maybe?) - shower queue upstairs was reportedly an hour, downstairs it was 'not long' and was in fact just over 45 minutes. Half the chairs in the cinema have gone, and I noticed the pianos were no longer there, but otherwise much as it has been for the last six or so years that I've had access. Been through IST about 60-70 times over the last fifteen years, and slightly sad as we took off and I had a last look...
How busy are the showers in the morning (c 8am) currently? I have waited between 40 minutes and 2 hours+ in the past, but there always seems to be some maintenance or something going on... guessing that they won't be doing any of that, with the lounge less than a month from closing.
And do they have any 'local speciality' foods on still, or is it just the regular stuff?
[Answering my own question] flight was 40 minutes late, so i had very low expectations of a shower when I got to the lounge, but it seemed much quieter than I remember (Friday morning maybe?) - shower queue upstairs was reportedly an hour, downstairs it was 'not long' and was in fact just over 45 minutes. Half the chairs in the cinema have gone, and I noticed the pianos were no longer there, but otherwise much as it has been for the last six or so years that I've had access. Been through IST about 60-70 times over the last fifteen years, and slightly sad as we took off and I had a last look...
Last edited by Stewie Mac; Mar 25, 2019 at 11:10 am
Apr 6, 2019, 2:47 am
#94
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,581
For all lounge issues at the new Istanbul airport please go to: TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #2 - Lounges
