Apr 2, 2019, 3:31 am
Last edit by: starflyergold
Unlike like Atatürk Airport, at Istanbul Airport there is more than one international lounge. Eligibility depends on your travel of class and your frequent flyer card status. PLEASE READ THIS WIKI BEFORE ASKING QUESTIONS.
For discussions and questions regarding outstation lounges ( Moscow, Nairobi, Washington DC ) and all other domestic lounges ( including SAW ) please refer to the respective forum.
For PriorityPass Lounges in Istanbul Airport (IST) please consult this thread in the Europe forum or the Istanbul Airport Master Thread for questions regarding contract lounges.
This thread covers TK Lounges at IST airport.
Chart of Eligibility for Lounges:
Thanks to DELLAS for sharing this chart.
International Lounges:
Miles&Smiles Lounge: This lounge is open to all Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Elite, Elite Plus card holders and Star Alliance Gold status holders along with one of their guests when flying Turkish Airlines or another Star Alliance member. Miles&Smiles Elite Plus members are also able to guest family members regardless of the number of people (spouse and children). Also Turkish Corporate Club members are allowed to access this lounge with one fellow guest who holds a valid boarding pass on Turkish Airlines.
To access this lounge take the elevators across gate C1 to the mezzanine level.
Business Lounge: This lounge would be open for all Business Class passengers on Turkish Airlines and Star Alliance partners. Unfortunately, no guests are allowed to this lounge.
To access this lounge take the elevators across gate E1 to the mezzanine level.
Both lounges are non-smoking. The nearest "terrace" (IST does not advertise smoking areas) is: For the business lounge: exit via the escalators, turn left and left again, past the public rest areas, and the terrace is on the right hand side. For the M&S lounge: exit via the escalators, turn right and right again, past the public rest areas, and the terrace is on the left hand side. In both cases a 3 minute walk.
Exclusive Lounge: No details, no plans as of yet
Arrivals Lounge: No details, no plans as of yet
Both the Business Lounge and the Miles&Smiles Lounge have showers, sleeping rooms and Turkish speciality food.
To use the sleeping rooms, you must have a connection time between 4h and 9h and the duration of one of your flights must be more than 8 hours. Unfortunately, Miles&Smiles Elite card holders and Star Alliance Gold card holders traveling in Economy Class are not eligible to use the sleeping room service. For sleeping room related issues please consult the this thread.
None of the international lounges have direct lounge access from the check-in hall; however, priority immigration and security checkpoint are available both for transfer passengers and passengers starting their journey in Istanbul.
Domestic Lounges:
The domestic lounge has two sections; one for Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Classic Plus and Elite card holders, Star Alliance Gold card holders and Turkish Corporate Club members (if they have a same day onward international connection); and the other one for Business Class passengers and Miles&Smiles Elite Plus card holders.
Miles&Smiles Elite passengers, Star Alliance Gold card holders and Turkish Corporate Club members can invite one guest into the lounge. Miles&Smiles Elite Plus passengers can also guest one passenger or their family members regardless of the number of people (spouse and children). Miles&Smiles Classic Plus card holders do not have the right to guest someone.
The lounge has a separate entrance and check-in lobby from the street, along with a special valet parking drop-off point. Transfer passengers and passengers who decide to use the main terminal building can also access this lounge by using the elevators across gates G6 and G7. Be aware that there are no lounge signs within the terminal so it's advised to follow signs for gates G6 and G7.
For discussions and questions regarding outstation lounges ( Moscow, Nairobi, Washington DC ) and all other domestic lounges ( including SAW ) please refer to the respective forum.
For PriorityPass Lounges in Istanbul Airport (IST) please consult this thread in the Europe forum or the Istanbul Airport Master Thread for questions regarding contract lounges.
This thread covers TK Lounges at IST airport.
Chart of Eligibility for Lounges:
Thanks to DELLAS for sharing this chart.
International Lounges:
Miles&Smiles Lounge: This lounge is open to all Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Elite, Elite Plus card holders and Star Alliance Gold status holders along with one of their guests when flying Turkish Airlines or another Star Alliance member. Miles&Smiles Elite Plus members are also able to guest family members regardless of the number of people (spouse and children). Also Turkish Corporate Club members are allowed to access this lounge with one fellow guest who holds a valid boarding pass on Turkish Airlines.
To access this lounge take the elevators across gate C1 to the mezzanine level.
Business Lounge: This lounge would be open for all Business Class passengers on Turkish Airlines and Star Alliance partners. Unfortunately, no guests are allowed to this lounge.
To access this lounge take the elevators across gate E1 to the mezzanine level.
Both lounges are non-smoking. The nearest "terrace" (IST does not advertise smoking areas) is: For the business lounge: exit via the escalators, turn left and left again, past the public rest areas, and the terrace is on the right hand side. For the M&S lounge: exit via the escalators, turn right and right again, past the public rest areas, and the terrace is on the left hand side. In both cases a 3 minute walk.
Exclusive Lounge: No details, no plans as of yet
Arrivals Lounge: No details, no plans as of yet
Both the Business Lounge and the Miles&Smiles Lounge have showers, sleeping rooms and Turkish speciality food.
To use the sleeping rooms, you must have a connection time between 4h and 9h and the duration of one of your flights must be more than 8 hours. Unfortunately, Miles&Smiles Elite card holders and Star Alliance Gold card holders traveling in Economy Class are not eligible to use the sleeping room service. For sleeping room related issues please consult the this thread.
None of the international lounges have direct lounge access from the check-in hall; however, priority immigration and security checkpoint are available both for transfer passengers and passengers starting their journey in Istanbul.
Domestic Lounges:
The domestic lounge has two sections; one for Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Classic Plus and Elite card holders, Star Alliance Gold card holders and Turkish Corporate Club members (if they have a same day onward international connection); and the other one for Business Class passengers and Miles&Smiles Elite Plus card holders.
Miles&Smiles Elite passengers, Star Alliance Gold card holders and Turkish Corporate Club members can invite one guest into the lounge. Miles&Smiles Elite Plus passengers can also guest one passenger or their family members regardless of the number of people (spouse and children). Miles&Smiles Classic Plus card holders do not have the right to guest someone.
The lounge has a separate entrance and check-in lobby from the street, along with a special valet parking drop-off point. Transfer passengers and passengers who decide to use the main terminal building can also access this lounge by using the elevators across gates G6 and G7. Be aware that there are no lounge signs within the terminal so it's advised to follow signs for gates G6 and G7.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #2 - Lounges
Aug 31, 2019, 6:21 am
#272
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Programs: TK Elite, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver
Posts: 967
Qatar Airways Al Safwa family area
If first class lounges are included, then Qatar Airways Al Safwa Lounge in Doha has several of this family area
They also have a Parent´s Room and Nanny Room
Sep 1, 2019, 2:27 pm
#274
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Programs: TK Elite, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver
Posts: 967
Yes, it is a family area and there are several of those in QR Al Safwa Lounge in Doha. I was directed to one of those when all of their sleeping rooms (with real bed) were all occupied during my visit a few years ago.
Sep 1, 2019, 5:09 pm
#275
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
Again, the question was, if there was a " private Family room " and in regard to a place to sleep. What you cite is NOT a "private family room", what you cite is a "family room" or as you put it a "family area" which is NOT what this person was asking about.
Sep 2, 2019, 6:40 am
#276
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Stockholm, Sweden
Programs: TK Elite, Hilton Diamond, BA Silver
Posts: 967
Sep 5, 2019, 12:15 am
#277
Join Date: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,257
would you be able to gain access to TK flagship lounge if you have the following tickets in a single itinerary?
IAH-FRA : LH Business
FRA-IST : LH Business
IST- KGL : TK Economy
(unfortunately no TK Business award space that I can see for now)
IAH-FRA : LH Business
FRA-IST : LH Business
IST- KGL : TK Economy
(unfortunately no TK Business award space that I can see for now)
Sep 5, 2019, 1:58 am
#278
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 310
As far as I know, no. Your departure flight needs to be in J if you do not hold any elite status.
Sep 9, 2019, 5:20 am
#281
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 310
I used one of the sleeping suites today for my overnight layover flying TXL-IST-JFK. While I initially planned to go to the business lounge, M&S was just closer and I was lazy to walk. As far as I remember, the suites had their own private bathroom but these bathrooms were not allocated to the suites when I visited. Instead, the staff were using the showers for all lounge visitors and there was a 1.5 hour wait for the showers at 1 am. As I was going to sleep, I booked my shower for the time I was gonna wake up, and there were no hiccups when I woke up.
I’ve also had a chance to talk to a lounge personnel when I was waiting some drugs to be delivered from the pharmacy (apparently the landside pharmacy delivers drugs to the lounge, which was great for me as I didn’t need to leave the airside area). The personnel said that the M&S lounge is usually more crowded because guests are allowed. He also added that the only exception to this is the time when there are 4 flights to United States at similar times. At 5.30 am in the morning, the M&S lounge was indeed packed with people waiting in line for some food booths.
Regarding the exclusive lounge, he has not seen “any” work being done there and he does not foresee the lounge to be open soon.
I’ve also had a chance to talk to a lounge personnel when I was waiting some drugs to be delivered from the pharmacy (apparently the landside pharmacy delivers drugs to the lounge, which was great for me as I didn’t need to leave the airside area). The personnel said that the M&S lounge is usually more crowded because guests are allowed. He also added that the only exception to this is the time when there are 4 flights to United States at similar times. At 5.30 am in the morning, the M&S lounge was indeed packed with people waiting in line for some food booths.
Regarding the exclusive lounge, he has not seen “any” work being done there and he does not foresee the lounge to be open soon.
Sep 9, 2019, 7:55 am
#282
Join Date: Jun 2008
Programs: TK*G (E+), IHG Plat Ambassador
Posts: 7,884
This is also my observation - during the US departure bank C-class lounge gets pretty crowded. Mornings are fine. Even the after-midnight Asian departure bank is fine...
Sep 15, 2019, 12:26 pm
#283
Join Date: Dec 2017
Programs: Aeroplan
Posts: 22
Apologies if this was covered but I can’t seem to find the answer in search (or maybe I wasn’t using the right keywords).
I am flying on an Aeroplan mRTW ticket, the portion going through IST is DXB-CAI-AMM-IST-ZRH-YUL-YVR, all in J except IST-ZRH which is in Y. AMM-IST and IST-ZRH both are on TK.
Would I be able to access the TK J lounge?
I am flying on an Aeroplan mRTW ticket, the portion going through IST is DXB-CAI-AMM-IST-ZRH-YUL-YVR, all in J except IST-ZRH which is in Y. AMM-IST and IST-ZRH both are on TK.
Would I be able to access the TK J lounge?
Sep 15, 2019, 1:12 pm
#284
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
Apologies if this was covered but I can’t seem to find the answer in search (or maybe I wasn’t using the right keywords).
I am flying on an Aeroplan mRTW ticket, the portion going through IST is DXB-CAI-AMM-IST-ZRH-YUL-YVR, all in J except IST-ZRH which is in Y. AMM-IST and IST-ZRH both are on TK.
Would I be able to access the TK J lounge?
I am flying on an Aeroplan mRTW ticket, the portion going through IST is DXB-CAI-AMM-IST-ZRH-YUL-YVR, all in J except IST-ZRH which is in Y. AMM-IST and IST-ZRH both are on TK.
Would I be able to access the TK J lounge?
Oct 8, 2019, 3:45 am
#285
Moderator, Hertz; FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: KRK
Programs: UA 1MM, BA GGL, Hyatt Glob, Hilton Diamond and others
Posts: 12,690
The TK domestic lounge is great. We weren't aware of the separate entrance on the arrivals level (for those arriving by taxi, on the arrivals level, there's a separate check-in for the domestic elite, star gold, and biz pax that allows you to clear security and enter the lounge in a few steps) so we went the long way around (well very long way as we saw the business check-in sign L zone, walked there and that's only for international so we had to walk back to D zone and there was a business /star gold domestic desk there). Checked in, cleared security and walked to the G6/G7 gate area where there are elevators for the lounge. The elite side (as mentioned before) has fridges with small bottled water, some sandwiches, cold food (veggies, apps, cakes, and such) plus the soft drink fountain, coffee and tea machines.
One awesome feature is the direct boarding from the lounge to the plane via a private bus. So one doesn't need to go back up and walk all they way to the gate, but rather they will bus you from the lounge. The only other airport I've flown through that offered the same was Avianca BOG domestic lounge years ago (well BA BOS, SFO and others with gate boarding from the lounge, but those are usually a single gate vs this was for any domestic TK flight).
We will be flying back thru IST and connecting on TK J to AUH. Given that we are star gold and flying J and that both lounges are basically the same, I guess we could use the less crowded one, right?
One awesome feature is the direct boarding from the lounge to the plane via a private bus. So one doesn't need to go back up and walk all they way to the gate, but rather they will bus you from the lounge. The only other airport I've flown through that offered the same was Avianca BOG domestic lounge years ago (well BA BOS, SFO and others with gate boarding from the lounge, but those are usually a single gate vs this was for any domestic TK flight).
We will be flying back thru IST and connecting on TK J to AUH. Given that we are star gold and flying J and that both lounges are basically the same, I guess we could use the less crowded one, right?