thaitraveller

On a mileage ticket SFO to IST to ATH in Business Class.
Due to delayed flight, we are now forced to overnight in IST. Turkish Air claims they will cover hotel, transport, and meals.
We are trying to figure out what Visa's we need and who pays? We both have USA passports.
Anyone with any experience with this?
We called Turkish but they had no idea at all shockingly.
Also if anyone has experience with how this is handled would be great any input / suggestions.

monksy

As an american you'll have to get the visa from: www.evisa.gov.tr. I have seen evisa places inside the airport .. however it's better to be safe than sorry. Call them and ask them how that is intended to go. You can't leave the airport without it.

thaitraveller

Thank you. We had sort of hoped that Turkish Airlines would in some way handle the process and costs given this is due to a flight delay. But sounds like that isnot the case.

MSPeconomist

This might be out-of-date, but I remember getting a Turkish visa on arrival (USA passport) at IST and paying exactly with a USA $20 bill. (My impression was that this was the only possible payment method then.) It didn't take long, but there was an official behind a counter with a mob of people handing him passports and the twenty dollar bill. He would stamp the passport and hand it back: no questions or anything.

ISTFlyer

Yes, TK would cover hotels, transportation and meals at Istanbul due to the delay.
However, getting the correct documents to enter Türkiye is the responsibility of the passenger so OP, you would need to pay for your own visas.

I am not sure if visa on arrival is still a thing but I remember that desk open when I last passed in front of it last month after arriving from an international flight.

thaitraveller

Thank you everyone. I will note that TK has been really amazing with the flight change and communicative, responsive, and flexible. They have really been good. We just couldn't find anyone on this one point. The SFO team was very good.
Always unfortunate with things go wrong, but they really handled it all very very well and impressively.

thaitraveller

PS: What hotels does Turkish Air put biz passengers in in IST? Any recs?

SK AAR

You will be assigned at hotel when you arrive at the TK hotel desk in the arrivals hall (after immigration and customs); i.e. same procedure as if you were eligible for a transfer hotel. You will not be assigned a hotel in advance/by the staff handling the rebooking. There is a dedicated thread with a lot of info on the TK transfer hotel program.

TK is not going handle or pay for your visa. Depending on your new transfer time at IST, it may not be worth to spend a few hours at hotel far away from airport. Just stay at the airport until the following day. This is very common at IST and as you have lounge access it is no issue.

EDIT: Have you been rebooked to 26AUG TK1841 IST-ATH at 01:20 or to 26AUG TK1843 IST-ATH at 07:40 ?

26AUG TK1841 at 01:20 is fully booked so most likely you have not been rebooked to that flight. You can try to ask at the lounge upon arrival at IST if seats have become available for this flight in the meantime. It would solve your issues with visa etc.

If you have been rebooked to 26AUG TK1843 at 07:40, you have effectively a 12h transfer at IST, which will give you around 5-6 hours at the hotel (because you will be picked up by the TK hotel shuttle bus from hotel around 4 hours before your flight), so you should take that into consideration when deciding whether or not to stay airside at IST rather than going for transfer hotel.

monksy

It was 50$ when I got one a month or so ago, but it's a 6mo multiple re-entry.