Istanbul airport transfer

Hugo_Whoriskey

Hey, just wondering if anyone has any experience of this, looking at flying Dublin to Tokyo with turkish airlines (mixed reviews on them I know but substantially cheaper), the layover in Istanbul is about 2 hours each way, is this going to be enough? Heard that the airport is extremely busy in general and not good for a long layover but don't want to miss a flight either because 2 hours isn't enough!

BuffyBot

2 hours should be fine, and tbh, I've found them quite a good airline.

tatli_lokma

2 hours is plenty as long as you are staying in the international terminal (which you are). It might be a bit tight if you had to transfer onto a domestic flight, get visa etc, but since you are staying in the international zone 2 hours is enough.

As an airline they aren't too bad actually - much worse exists out there!

killbillvol2

2 hours is plenty and Turkish are quite good. Modern fleet and decent food.

nompere

I'm not recommending it, but in 2010 my OH and I had a 75 minute transfer in Istanbul, arriving in the international terminal, and leaving from the domestic terminal. By the time the plane pulled up on a remote stand in Istanbul the transfer was down to 45 minutes.

We managed visas, immigration, and terminal change in 30 minutes, and caught our connection.

Never again, though!

halkar

OP is doing international transfer. It is in the same terminal. Just have to go upstairs after a quick security check. 2 hours more then enough. Did this many times myself.

Hugo_Whoriskey

Cheers everyone for the info, I'll be booking this so, hopefully everything runs nice and smooth

huberto

Will be passing through in March, but with a ten-hour overnight stopover each way. Anyone know if it's possible to access and sleep in the lounge area in any comfort?
The on-site terminal hotel seems very expensive, so am thinking of a hotel near the airport, but have seen some dire warnings about taxi scams and will be arriving quite late at night so maybe just kipping in the terminal would be a better option?

killbillvol2

huberto wrote: »

Will be passing through in March, but with a ten-hour overnight stopover each way. Anyone know if it's possible to access and sleep in the lounge area in any comfort?
The on-site terminal hotel seems very expensive, so am thinking of a hotel near the airport, but have seen some dire warnings about taxi scams and will be arriving quite late at night so maybe just kipping in the terminal would be a better option?

There's not a lot of space for lounging about (none really). There's a tram to the city depending on what time you get in.

BuffyBot

huberto wrote: »

Will be passing through in March, but with a ten-hour overnight stopover each way. Anyone know if it's possible to access and sleep in the lounge area in any comfort?
The on-site terminal hotel seems very expensive, so am thinking of a hotel near the airport, but have seen some dire warnings about taxi scams and will be arriving quite late at night so maybe just kipping in the terminal would be a better option?

Are you flying Turkish Airlines (and on the one ticket)? Worth checking this out if your stop overs are that long:

http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/travel-information/frequently-asked-questions/travel-information/special-service-requests

Hugo_Whoriskey

BuffyBot wrote: »

Are you flying Turkish Airlines (and on the one ticket)? Worth checking this out if your stop overs are that long:

http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/travel-information/frequently-asked-questions/travel-information/special-service-requests

Anyone availed of this service before? Had to delay booking and now the only reasonably priced return involves a 13.5 hour stopover. I'm assuming that since I'll have booked the whole return trip together solves that part of it being on one ticket, does it have to be booked directly with Turkish Airlines though?