Apr 4, 2019, 6:36 pm
Last edit by: Lefly
This thread is created for passengers with long connections in Istanbul Airport for TK.
PLEASE READ THIS WIKI CAREFULLY (especially the hotel fine print) before posting questions.
TRANSIT HOTEL (different from Stopover hotel):
TK will provide a free hotel to international transfer passengers at IST if:
- Economy Class ticket: connecting time is 12 hours or longer
- Business Class ticket: connecting time is 9 hours or longer
AND this connection must be the shortest possible option. If there is a 3-hour layover available, but you choose the 13-hour one, you are not eligible for the free transit hotel. This also applies if the shorter connection is fully booked: you still won't get the free hotel if there is a theoretical, but sold out, shorter connection.
If you need a visa to enter Turkey, you need to secure it at your own expense.
TK have a pool of hotels that they contract with, it is unfortunately not possible to know which hotel you'll end up at until you are sitting on the bus. Business class passengeres generally get five star hotels and Economy Class passengers get four star hotels. See the list on the bottom of this wiki for usual locations.
Hotel Desk E-Mail Adress: [email protected] - it's generally not necessary to email them, you can just show up
click here for Hotel Desk location
Click here for full Transit Hotel terms/conditions
STOPOVER HOTEL (different from Transit Hotel):
If you are on a round-trip ticket to-from certain cities/countries (click here for the list) and choose a connection longer than 20 hours, TK will provide one night at a four star hotel for Economy Class tickets and two nights at a five star hotel for Business Class tickets (three nights if traveling to/from USA).
At least 72 hours before your first flight, you must send an e-mail to the address that corresponds to your departure point on the list on this page (click here) and include your
full name
reservation code (PNR) or ticket number
date range for the anticipated accommodation
preferred room type (single, double or triple)
telephone and e-mail address
Visas and transfer to/from the airport are not covered by TK.
Click here for eligible origins/destinations and FAQ
TOURISTANBUL:
If you are on an international connection through IST and your connection time is 6-24 hours, you can take a free guided city tour. You must arrive at the hotel desk at least 30 minutes before the tours are scheduled to depart. After clearing immigration and leaving the baggage claim hall, turn right and go to the hotel desk (for location click here).
Touristanbul schedule and FAQ can be found here.
SLEEPING ROOMS:
Business Class and Elite Plus passengers on connections between 4 hours and 9 hours can get a private sleeping room at the M&S and Business lounges. One of the flights must be longer than eight hours and both need to be on TK, codeshare flights are excluded.
-----------------
Please list the hotel that you were provided, travel class, the Miles&Smiles or Star Alliance status of the passenger, the date, your username below and the post # that you have shared in the thread ( you could find the number at the top right side of your posts ) to create a database of passenger experiences.
For example: XXXXXXX Hotel, Business Class, M&S Elite, DD/MM/YYYY, ISTFlyer, #1
April 2019:
Renaissance Polat (Atatürk Airport), Business Class, M&S ELPL, reported by dabee69 in post #54
Renaissance Polat (Atatürk Airport), Business Class, TG*G, reported by bmi_Barry in post #79
May 2019:
Green Park Hotel ( Pendik ), IRROPS, reported by zing2istanbul in (post #753 in the TK ops from IST thread)
Crowne Plaza Aqua Florya, Business Class, TG*G, reported by bmi_Barry in post #91
June 2019:
Westside Arjaan by Rotana, Business Class, M&S ELPL, reported by finlandokie in post #169
PLEASE READ THIS WIKI CAREFULLY (especially the hotel fine print) before posting questions.
TRANSIT HOTEL (different from Stopover hotel):
TK will provide a free hotel to international transfer passengers at IST if:
- Economy Class ticket: connecting time is 12 hours or longer
- Business Class ticket: connecting time is 9 hours or longer
AND this connection must be the shortest possible option. If there is a 3-hour layover available, but you choose the 13-hour one, you are not eligible for the free transit hotel. This also applies if the shorter connection is fully booked: you still won't get the free hotel if there is a theoretical, but sold out, shorter connection.
If you need a visa to enter Turkey, you need to secure it at your own expense.
TK have a pool of hotels that they contract with, it is unfortunately not possible to know which hotel you'll end up at until you are sitting on the bus. Business class passengeres generally get five star hotels and Economy Class passengers get four star hotels. See the list on the bottom of this wiki for usual locations.
Hotel Desk E-Mail Adress: [email protected] - it's generally not necessary to email them, you can just show up
click here for Hotel Desk location
Click here for full Transit Hotel terms/conditions
STOPOVER HOTEL (different from Transit Hotel):
If you are on a round-trip ticket to-from certain cities/countries (click here for the list) and choose a connection longer than 20 hours, TK will provide one night at a four star hotel for Economy Class tickets and two nights at a five star hotel for Business Class tickets (three nights if traveling to/from USA).
At least 72 hours before your first flight, you must send an e-mail to the address that corresponds to your departure point on the list on this page (click here) and include your
full name
reservation code (PNR) or ticket number
date range for the anticipated accommodation
preferred room type (single, double or triple)
telephone and e-mail address
Visas and transfer to/from the airport are not covered by TK.
Click here for eligible origins/destinations and FAQ
TOURISTANBUL:
If you are on an international connection through IST and your connection time is 6-24 hours, you can take a free guided city tour. You must arrive at the hotel desk at least 30 minutes before the tours are scheduled to depart. After clearing immigration and leaving the baggage claim hall, turn right and go to the hotel desk (for location click here).
Touristanbul schedule and FAQ can be found here.
SLEEPING ROOMS:
Business Class and Elite Plus passengers on connections between 4 hours and 9 hours can get a private sleeping room at the M&S and Business lounges. One of the flights must be longer than eight hours and both need to be on TK, codeshare flights are excluded.
-----------------
Please list the hotel that you were provided, travel class, the Miles&Smiles or Star Alliance status of the passenger, the date, your username below and the post # that you have shared in the thread ( you could find the number at the top right side of your posts ) to create a database of passenger experiences.
For example: XXXXXXX Hotel, Business Class, M&S Elite, DD/MM/YYYY, ISTFlyer, #1
April 2019:
Renaissance Polat (Atatürk Airport), Business Class, M&S ELPL, reported by dabee69 in post #54
Renaissance Polat (Atatürk Airport), Business Class, TG*G, reported by bmi_Barry in post #79
May 2019:
Green Park Hotel ( Pendik ), IRROPS, reported by zing2istanbul in (post #753 in the TK ops from IST thread)
Crowne Plaza Aqua Florya, Business Class, TG*G, reported by bmi_Barry in post #91
June 2019:
Westside Arjaan by Rotana, Business Class, M&S ELPL, reported by finlandokie in post #169
August 2019:
Akgun Istanbul, economy class, per post 217
November 2019:
Polat/Renaissance, business-class E+ post 285 (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/31699696-post285.html)
December 2019:
Polat/Renaissance again, business-class E+ post 285
December 2020:
Polat Renaissance, business class E+
January 2021:
Polat Renaissance, business class (No Status)
November 2021:
Holiday Inn Istanbul Airport, economy class (No Status), #537
May 2022 Stopover hotelPolat/Renaissance again, business-class E+ post 285
December 2020:
Polat Renaissance, business class E+
January 2021:
Polat Renaissance, business class (No Status)
November 2021:
Holiday Inn Istanbul Airport, economy class (No Status), #537
Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy Hotel, business E+
May 2022
Westside Arjaan by Rotana, Business,*G, Sandy Hopper
Centro by Rotona (transit hotel), Business, *G, Nacho
Sheraton Istanbul Ataköy Hotel (stopover hotel), business, *G, Nacho
July 2022
Pullman, Business,*G, Sandy Hopper
July 2023
Polat Renaissance, business class, TK-E, iamaho
Sheraton Otel Esenyurt - with dinner included, business class, TK-E, iamaho
September 2023
Pullman, Business, *G, SEA-Flyer
Pullman, Business, no status, SEA-Flyer
LaQuinta by Wyndham, Y E+, DaveS
Sheraton Esenyurt, Business, E+, Jaenks, assigned by my request
October 2023
Ramada Plaza Tekstilkent, Business, TK E, Lefly
TK in IST: Thread #3 - Transit and Stopover Hotel, Touristanbul, Sleeping Rooms
Sep 7, 2021, 1:47 am
#481
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
I have a quick question re: eligibility for the transit hotel. I will be flying FRA-IST-MLE soon on TK. There are three daily FRA-IST flights, but only one IST-MLE flight, which leaves very late at night (or really very early in the morning). My understanding is that if I am on the earliest of the three FRA-IST flights, then I would not be eligible for the transit hotel, as I could have taken one of the two later FRA-IST flights and thus have a shorter layover in IST. Is that correct?
It's kind of a routine condition used by airlines offering hotels over connections: they want to avoid cost generated by passengers seeking the novelty of a free hotel stay when shorter straightforward connections are available.
If you find the earlier flight (from FRA) generates a cheaper fare, the trade-off for gaining that saving is the inconvenience of kicking your heels in the airport for an extended period,
Sep 7, 2021, 10:28 am
#482
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 340
Thanks—I figured that was the case, just wanted to confirm. We intentionally booked a longer layover so that we could go into the city, but had been rethinking those plans as of late.
Now that it looks like we'll indeed be heading into the city, I'm curious if folks have done this recently and how it went for them. We have a roughly 10.5 hour layover on a Sunday afternoon/evening, so we are planning to leave our hand luggage in the lounge lockers, then take Havaist bus #12 to Beyazit Square, walk to Sultanahmet and then walk around some of the sights (I understand several will be closed by the time we arrive), have dinner, and then take the Havaist bus back. I understand that the Havaist bus used to go to Sultanahmet but now no longer does?
Now that it looks like we'll indeed be heading into the city, I'm curious if folks have done this recently and how it went for them. We have a roughly 10.5 hour layover on a Sunday afternoon/evening, so we are planning to leave our hand luggage in the lounge lockers, then take Havaist bus #12 to Beyazit Square, walk to Sultanahmet and then walk around some of the sights (I understand several will be closed by the time we arrive), have dinner, and then take the Havaist bus back. I understand that the Havaist bus used to go to Sultanahmet but now no longer does?
Sep 7, 2021, 12:26 pm
#484
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
Thanks—I figured that was the case, just wanted to confirm. We intentionally booked a longer layover so that we could go into the city, but had been rethinking those plans as of late.
Now that it looks like we'll indeed be heading into the city, I'm curious if folks have done this recently and how it went for them. We have a roughly 10.5 hour layover on a Sunday afternoon/evening, so we are planning to leave our hand luggage in the lounge lockers, then take Havaist bus #12 to Beyazit Square, walk to Sultanahmet and then walk around some of the sights (I understand several will be closed by the time we arrive), have dinner, and then take the Havaist bus back. I understand that the Havaist bus used to go to Sultanahmet but now no longer does?
Now that it looks like we'll indeed be heading into the city, I'm curious if folks have done this recently and how it went for them. We have a roughly 10.5 hour layover on a Sunday afternoon/evening, so we are planning to leave our hand luggage in the lounge lockers, then take Havaist bus #12 to Beyazit Square, walk to Sultanahmet and then walk around some of the sights (I understand several will be closed by the time we arrive), have dinner, and then take the Havaist bus back. I understand that the Havaist bus used to go to Sultanahmet but now no longer does?
Sep 7, 2021, 2:53 pm
#485
Join Date: Aug 2007
Programs: UA 1k
Posts: 226
Question: If we are coming in the night before from Dalaman on TK (domestic) and want to stay at either the airside or landside Yotel before our early TK flight the next morning to FRA (international)...
1. Can you get into the airside Yotel the night before if you have just arrived domestic? Are you already airside from the domestic flight and stay that way (perhaps reclearing security) moving to the international side? Or do you have to exit the airside and then start over entering - in which case maybe they don't let you in since it is far to in advance?
2. What about the checked bags? The domestic flight and the onwards international flight are on DIFFERENT PNRs - would TK check them through so we don't have to pick them up overnight?
Many thanks!
1. Can you get into the airside Yotel the night before if you have just arrived domestic? Are you already airside from the domestic flight and stay that way (perhaps reclearing security) moving to the international side? Or do you have to exit the airside and then start over entering - in which case maybe they don't let you in since it is far to in advance?
2. What about the checked bags? The domestic flight and the onwards international flight are on DIFFERENT PNRs - would TK check them through so we don't have to pick them up overnight?
Many thanks!
Sep 7, 2021, 8:13 pm
#486
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
Question: If we are coming in the night before from Dalaman on TK (domestic) and want to stay at either the airside or landside Yotel before our early TK flight the next morning to FRA (international)...
1. Can you get into the airside Yotel the night before if you have just arrived domestic? Are you already airside from the domestic flight and stay that way (perhaps reclearing security) moving to the international side? Or do you have to exit the airside and then start over entering - in which case maybe they don't let you in since it is far to in advance?
2. What about the checked bags? The domestic flight and the onwards international flight are on DIFFERENT PNRs - would TK check them through so we don't have to pick them up overnight?
Many thanks!
1. Can you get into the airside Yotel the night before if you have just arrived domestic? Are you already airside from the domestic flight and stay that way (perhaps reclearing security) moving to the international side? Or do you have to exit the airside and then start over entering - in which case maybe they don't let you in since it is far to in advance?
2. What about the checked bags? The domestic flight and the onwards international flight are on DIFFERENT PNRs - would TK check them through so we don't have to pick them up overnight?
Many thanks!
2. The agents in Dalaman would provide boarding passes for both legs and check bags through. Turkish Airlines does through check baggage on two separate PNR's. Although the baggage allowance on the ticket that has the lowest allowance would apply then.
Sep 9, 2021, 3:41 am
#487
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: WAW
Posts: 26
I can recommend Melanj Airport Hotel for those on a tight budget and looking for something close. Taxi from IST to hotel costs 60 TRY and takes 10 minutes, transfer service from hotel costs 200 TRY. It's clean, smallish rooms and showers but for 8 hours it was everything that we needed (50 EUR for single family room with 4 beds was bargain price). Frontdesk arranges food delivery from a restaurant. There is nothing special around so don't count on sightseeing.
Havaist bus takes around 1.5 hours to get to Bayazit Square. It's about 15 minutes walk or 3 tram stops from Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia is a minaret now so head scarves and appropriate clothing is required. It's open now almost all the time and we have seen it at 23:00. We felt very safe, and it was definitely worth the trip. One way tram tickets cost 8 TRY, biletomat only accepts 10 TRY notes.
Havaist bus takes around 1.5 hours to get to Bayazit Square. It's about 15 minutes walk or 3 tram stops from Hagia Sophia. Hagia Sophia is a minaret now so head scarves and appropriate clothing is required. It's open now almost all the time and we have seen it at 23:00. We felt very safe, and it was definitely worth the trip. One way tram tickets cost 8 TRY, biletomat only accepts 10 TRY notes.
Sep 9, 2021, 9:14 am
#488
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
Just to let you know that due to COVID, all public transportation passengers need a personal İstanbulkart for contact tracing purposes and single tickets are not available. The cost of an İstanbulkart is ₺6 and a single ride is ₺4.03 with the İstanbulkart. Also the ticket machine accepts ₺5, ₺10 and ₺20 bills.
Sep 9, 2021, 12:39 pm
#490
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 340
Just to let you know that due to COVID, all public transportation passengers need a personal İstanbulkart for contact tracing purposes and single tickets are not available. The cost of an İstanbulkart is ₺6 and a single ride is ₺4.03 with the İstanbulkart. Also the ticket machine accepts ₺5, ₺10 and ₺20 bills.
I'm also curious if you have any thoughts on the new (legal?) version of Uber?
Sep 9, 2021, 12:48 pm
#491
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
You could also add a HES code to an existing Istanbulkart.
In the Uber app, you could only call taxis ( yellow official taxis ) at Istanbul which is nothing new. UberXL and UberBlack was suspended years ago due to the legal battle. Just a reminder not to call them at the airport as non-airport taxis are not allowed to pick up passengers at the airport. There is also iTaksi and BiTaksi which are alternative taxi calling apps.
Unfortunately, the stopover program is still on hold because of the pandemic.
Sep 9, 2021, 1:48 pm
#492
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
Airport buses are cheap: airport taxis are of course more expensive, but they won't break the bank.
Sep 9, 2021, 1:50 pm
#493
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
Just a clarification, airport taxis and regular Istanbul taxis have the same price tariff.
Sep 13, 2021, 11:17 pm
#494
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 13
How strict is strict are the layover length requirements for the sleeping rooms?
I’m flying DUB-SFO in a couple weeks and have a 9 hour 5 minute long overnight layover. Am I out of luck? Should I just book a room in the airside Yotel instead?
I’m flying DUB-SFO in a couple weeks and have a 9 hour 5 minute long overnight layover. Am I out of luck? Should I just book a room in the airside Yotel instead?
Sep 14, 2021, 7:58 am
#495
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,586