Turkish Airways is offering its passengers with long (6 – 24 Hour) layovers in Istanbul Airport (IST – Ataturk) a free complimentary tour of Istanbul. The tour includes an English speaking tour guide, free entry to historical sites and museums, free breakfast, and free lunch. If that is not to your liking, Turkish Airways offers free hotel accommodation as an alternative.
If you’re flying Houston to Europe via Turkish, you’ll most likely have a layover in Istanbul before hitting your destination. There is a good chance that it will be a long layover depending on how your itinerary is structured.
I don’t know about you, but this sounds pretty amazing to me. I sent an e-mail to Turkish Airways for more detail on the exact terms and conditions for the free Hotel accommodations and this was their response:
“A complimentary hotel accommodation (maximum 2 nights) will be provided to our valuable passengers when there are more than 10 hours (for economy cabin passengers) and 7 or more hours (for business cabin passengers) waiting during their international connecting flights due to Turkish Airlines’ schedule structure. This service is not applicable when there is a shorter connection available within the time frame mentioned above. The first and the connecting flights must be with Turkish Airlines. All passengers must hold a confirmed reservation for the first and the connecting flights. Complimentary accommodation will be arranged with Turkish Airlines’ corporate partners and will be provided through the “Hotel Desk” located after the customs’ check point at the arrival. Passengers must check for any visa requirements when entering Turkey. In the event where a visa is not granted, Turkish Airlines assumes no responsibility for providing complimentary hotel accommodation.” -DENİZ YAMAN ( HOTELDESK@THY.COM)
Clearly, Turkish Airways has you covered on long layovers in Istanbul with free Hotel accommodations or a free tour of Istanbul. Don’t just sit around at the Airport!
Check out the Touristanbul page for more details about this awesome offer.
I’m flying to ath from Houston and would love to stay two days in Istanbul. How do you suggest I book in order to access the 2 complimentary nights at the beginning or the end of the trip. I’m flying send of September. Thank you
You’ll need to contact the Turkish Airways Hotel Desk at HOTELDESK@THY.COM with your itinerary to see what they’ll cover. Keep in mind that they’ll only cover your Hotel stay for the amount of time it takes for you to make your next connection. If you don’t have a lengthy connection to your next flight out of Istanbul, you won’t be offered Hotel accommodations.