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 (22)
I emailed them my information and have not heard back. It has been about a week. The website did not allow me to book it that way so I used the email. About how long does it take to hear back? Is there a number to call? No called the 800 number and they were no help,
Wir fliegen von Mauritius nach München und haben die Wahl der Anschlussflüge. Wenn wir einen Flug wählen, der einen Zwischenstop in IST von 14:40 Stunden hat, konnten wir früher immer auch den Hotelvoucher nutzen. Wir erhielten einen kostenlosen Shuttle zum Hotel, erhielten das Zimmer sowie 2 Mahlzeiten inklusive sowie am gleichen Tag den Shuttle zurück zum Flughafen. Ist das noch immer so, oder hat sich das geändert?
Hi , I plan to visit london from Mumbai . Meanwhile , I was planning for a stopover of 4 days. and I can plan my turkey .
Can I still get 1 day free accomodation .
I read that you can either request a free hotel or a free tour but not both. How do they keep track of this? It sounds like for the tours, you just have to show your plane ticket. There are 2 of us traveling and I was wondering if 1 of us can request the hotel and both of us take the tour or if we’ll be turned away. I’m looking at a flight with a 30 hour layover from the US and weighing my options. The feedback seems pretty mixed with good and bad experiences.
They issue one thing on one ticket. Also, room for a single person is single. You won’t be able to share it with another person. Same thing for the tour.
Either both of you take the rooms or tours.
The tour company charges per person. so it won’t matter if you take a tour on one person.
Can we select a hotel in a particular area at Hotel Desk or ask for it? Near Blue mosque? We have 3 days layover
We are a small family from afghanistan and we have a flight from karachi to los angeles ( turkish airlines). We will have a 22 hours stop in istanbul. Will we be accomodated in a hotel by turkish airlines?
Hi Ahmad! You should be eligible for a stay, please contact the airline directly for further details.
Hi,
If I layover for 48 hours or more, what happens to my checked in luggage? I will keep all my necessities in my hand carry. Would I have to collect my checked in bags too?
Hi Muhammad. With layovers that long, you usually have to collect your baggage and check it in again when your connection flight departs.
Can you do this for the round trip going and coming back? Or can you only do it once?
We transisted via Instabaul from Gatwick on the 30th of September 2022 and were denied the free hotel accomodation even though we had a 15 hour layover. the excuse was since we had no turkish visa we were not entitled. before booking with Turkish airline, it was not a requirement as it was a forced layover as opposed to a voluntarily stop over. A customer had already mentioned that they will always try to avoid their obligations. this has been proven true and l will think twice before making a booking with Turkish Airline anytime in the future. They simply do not honour their words. my trip with them was a sad experience.
It’s very different to Emirates layover programme and way worse (for long layovers which are not the customer’s mistake). The hotel they give you is about 45 mins drive from the airport – and they don’t give transfers and ask you to take public transport (2h45). We asked for wheelchair assistance as sickly passenger travelling and they don’t care. They put the patient and the carer in different rooms. Check in at the hotel is more than 4 hours after you arrive, so you sit and wait in the middle of the night. Don’t even try to contact customer service, they are very unhelpful and dismissive. Business Class passengers are not treated well, and I’m now dreading my return leg which is on Economy class. Hotel they give has very bad reviews, and also bad customer service. I do not recommend this programme at all.
Thanks for the review. I think you’re correct.
can you get the two in one layover my flight has a 21h layover and is compatible with the tourIstanbul thing
My wife and I would like to stopover for 2 weeks in Istanbul before continuing onto Bangkok. Is this possible ?
No, 2 weeks is too long. At least not for free.
For the Stopover Program, can we choose the hotels? Previously I think cannot but if not wrong, recently I saw that they offer extension of stay if longer than 2 nights (business class) at a discount. Surely this means we choose the hotel..?
Hi Melanie, I don’t think that you can choose the hotel.
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.
Ist das jetzt wieder neu aufgelegt oder wie?