Frequent flyers, as many of our readers are, will often fly to various cities, but only see the airport. On our way to far-away destinations, we will usually connect in one of the big airlines’ hubs, without ever really getting to see the city, no matter how beautiful and appealing it is. Well, if you’re flying with Turkish Airlines, you might be eligible for their “Stopover in Istanbul” program, with which you will get a free hotel, so that you can explore the Turkish metropolis before continuing your journey.
Table of contents
What Does Turkish Airlines Offer?
Basically, Turkish Airlines will give you a voucher, with which you can sleep at a hotel, free of charge. If you’re flying economy class, you’ll get 1 night in a 4-star hotel, while business class passengers can get up to 2 nights in a 5-star hotel. Transportation costs and everything else are not included, but getting the hotel for free is quite a fantastic opportunity.
Who is Eligible?
First of all, you need to book a connection with at least 20 hours of layover time. Additionally, your roundtrip flights have to be issued and operated by Turkish Airlines. Now it gets trickier: “Stopover in Istanbul” is not available for all countries. Flights from France or the Benelux countries, for instance, are not eligible for this program. Here’s a table of the flights that are eligible:
Eligible Routes
| From | To |
|---|---|
| Algeria | America Region, Asia-Far East, Middle East |
| Australia | Balkans, Europe, Middle East, Turkey domestic routes |
| Azerbaijan | America Region (USA, Canada, Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Cuba, Argentina and Brazil), Asia & Far East, Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, London, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Frankfurt, Barcelona, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania |
| Belarus | Asia-Far East, Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Southern Europe, America Region |
| Beijing, Xi’an, Guangzhou, Shanghai | America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), Europe, Africa, Middle East |
| Denmark | America Region, Asia-Far East, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Balkans |
| Estonia | Asia & Far East and Eastern Africa, Southern Europe, America Region, Middle East, Eastern Europe |
| Ethiopia | USA, Canada, Amsterdam, Moscow, Geneva, Stockholm |
| Finland | America Region, Asia-Far East, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Balkans |
| Ghana | Europe, America Region, Asia-Far East, Beirut, Israel |
| Greece | Middle East, Asia-Far East, Eastern Europe, Balkans, North Europe, America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), United Kingdom, North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa |
| Ireland | Asia, Far East, Africa, Middle East |
| India | America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), Europe and Middle East |
| Iran | America Region, Asia-Far East, Eastern Europe, North Europe, Balkans, United Kingdom, Africa, Austria, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Spain |
| Italy | America Region, China, Malaysia, India, Thailand, Japan, Russia, United Arab Emirates, Israel, Egypt, Oman, Lebanon, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Jordan, South Korea |
| Ivory Coast | Europe, America Region, Asia-Far East, Beirut, Israel, Medina |
| Japan | Europe, Middle East, Africa |
| Kazakhstan | America Region, South Africa, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Belarus, Turkmenistan, Egypt, Greece, Kiev, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, United Kingdom, Ireland, Schengen Countries, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Doha, Bahrain |
| Kuwait | America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), Europe, Balkans, Asia Far East, Africa, Middle East, Cyprus |
| Latvia | Asia & Far East, Middle East, Africa, America Region (USA, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico) and South Europe, Eastern Europe, Balkans |
| Lithuania | Asia & Far East, Middle East and America Region (USA, Canada, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Cuba, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico), South Europe, Africa, Georgia |
| Malaysia | Europe, Middle East, Africa, America Region |
| Morocco | Middle East & Cyprus, Saudi Arabia (Hajj & Umrah), Asia & Far East, Eastern Europe and the Balkans, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Egypt, Greece, France, Malta, Belarus, Russia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Austria, Sweden, Norway and Cuba |
| Nigeria | Asia-Far East, Middle East, America Region |
| Norway | America Region, Asia-Far East, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Balkans |
| Oman | America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), United Kingdom, Ireland, North Africa, Europe, Balkans, Jordan, Lebanon, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Russia |
| Pakistan | USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Schengen countries, Canada, Saudi Arabia (Hajj, Umrah), Azerbaijan |
| Portugal | Asia-Far East, Middle East, Africa, Europe, Balkans |
| Qatar | Europe, Balkans, North Africa, America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), Cyprus, Mauritania, Ghana and Ethiopia |
| Russia | America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), Asia-Far East, Africa, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Portugal, Greece, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Georgia, Malta, Israel, Prague, Vienna, Belgrade, Baku, Bucharest, Jordan, Croatia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Central Europe, Middle East, Northern Europe, Balkans |
| Serbia | Brazil, Argentina, Cuba, USA, Canada, Russia, Ukraine, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, Iran, India, Israel, Oman, Uzbekistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Tanzania, Mauritius, Seychelles |
| South Africa | Asia-Far East, America Region, United Kingdom, Ireland, Europe, Saudi Arabia (Hajj, Umrah), Middle East, North Africa |
| Spain | Middle East, Asia-Far East, Eastern Europe, Balkans, North Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa, America Region (USA, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Panama, Cuba, Venezuela, Mexico), United Kingdom, North Africa, Greece |
| Sweden | America Region, Asia-Far East, Africa, Middle East, Eastern Europe, Balkans |
| Tanzania | Asia-Far East, Middle Europe, North Europe, America Region, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Tehran, Najaf, Oman, Paris, Lyon, Israel, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom |
| Thailand | Europe, Middle East, Africa, America Region |
| Tunisia | America Region, United Kingdom, Africa, Asia-Far East, Middle East, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Romania, Greece, France |
| United Kingdom | Asia, Far East, Africa, Middle East |
| Ukraine | America Region, Europe, United Kingdom, Ireland, Seychelles, Mauritius, Georgia , Azerbaijan, Thailand, Israel, China, Maldives, Dubai, Morocco, Russia, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Hong Kong, Mexico, Singapore, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates |
| USA | Africa, Eastern Europe, Balkans, Southern Europe, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Jordan, Afghanistan, Nepal |
If your country of origin and destination are eligible, you need to write an email or call your country’s email-address or phone number, which can be found here. You need to do this at least 72 hours before your first flight.
Alternative – Turistanbul
All passengers, regardless of the country of origin and destination, with international connections in Istanbul and a layover time of 6-24 hours can make use of Turkish Airlines’ Turistanbul program. This is a tour of Istanbul, organized by Turkish Airlines and completely free of charge. There are 5 tours per day, which differ in length and in the attractions shown. You can check the exact list of attractions here.
You do not need to register for Turistanbul beforehand. You only need to go through passport and customs control and then go to the Hotel Desk, 30 minutes before the tour is scheduled to start.
Please note that Touristanbul is not combinable with the stopover program. Also, please check the visa requirements, as you will be entering Turkey.
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines really offers great opportunities to explore Istanbul on your way to somewhere else. Getting a free hotel room is great, and while this is not available for everyone, the Touristanbul alternative is still very attractive, if not even more attractive as you’ll get a tour of Istanbul’s most beautiful and prominent sights. All of this being free of charge, you should really try to make use of these fantastic programs.
Cover Picture: Engin Yapici / unsplash.com
Comments (3)
Hello , was trying to sign up for the free hotel night for our upcoming layover and received the following reply;
Hello, according to our checks, your destination can be reached by an alternative flight to your first flight and the waiting time is less. Unfortunately, you cannot take advantage of the hotel service. Thank you for contacting us.
There’s a difference in the layover and stopover program. If your destination can be reached by an alternative flight to your first flight and the waiting time of the alternative flight is less than 12/9 hours (economy/business), you can’t take advantage of the hotel service (even if the alternative flight is fully booked). See: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-co/flights/hotel-service/.
However, in the stopover program, which applies for the specified cities (https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-us/flights/stopover/) it’s recommended to opt for a transit time of 20 hours.
Also important to know: The Touristanbul has been suspended as of 10 March 2020.
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