Getting Around Turkey (Turkiye) by Air and Bus

In an earlier article, I wrote about a nice little hack of getting to and leaving from Turkey by way of connecting flights in Warsaw - an absolute delight. Now, I am going to give you the skinny on traveling by air internally in Turkiye (Turkey) via AJet and Pegasus Airlines, Istanbul's two major airports (SAW and IST), plus a few tips on traveling between cities by bus all based on a trip we took in September 2024.

The 2 Economy Airlines

I have learned that airlines are cultural. On LOT Polish airlines, the hand wipes smell like vodka. Both of Turkey's budget airlines have handwipes that smell normal, but they seem to have relied on windcatcher mentality, thereby cheaping out on ventilation. There was a mild fart smell throughout all four of the flights we took on both airlines that didn't seem to dissipate. And it varied - it was not all from one person. And no, we were not traveling in a group and the passengers differed greatly on each flight. Fortunately, the smell wasn't overpowering, but it was noticeable. (I have yet to fly on Turkish Airlines, either in-country or internationally, to compare.)

Neither budget airline has inflight entertainment, even though you can purchase it for cheap online. Payment will allow you to access things on your phone. Not worth it, didn't get it, still don't think it's worth it.

With all the cost cutting these two airlines do, something stuck out to me. I wondered how it could be cheaper to have passengers get on a bus and walk from the bus up some stairs to board their plane, repeating the process in reverse for disembarkation. Seriously, does anybody know the corporate math behind that? I am curious to see what that financial comparison is between a hallway that connects to a plane versus busing it.... Well, apparently it is cheaper, so be prepared to wait near gates separate from all the other gates in the SAW airport and without much in the way of climate control and other amenities to boot.

When it comes to free sandwiches included with a slight seat upgrade, AJet cheaped out way too much in my opinion. Sure, there was bread, but meat and veggies were wafer-thin. Pegasus at least had some volume to their slices of meat and veg so you could actually call it a legit sandwich.

Based on our experiences, Pegasus won hands-down when it came to their staff who are kind. AJet, however, had staff that actively refused to help even old ladies trying to put their carry-on in the overhead bin. No carry-ons are super-heavy, so is it staff are underpaid or did the airline cheap out on health insurance for its staff as well? Or is that somewhere in their collective agreement?

Anyway, with the kind staff of Pegasus, we were able to make our flight even though we were too late to check in our big pieces of luggage. We had to race to find out that we needed to manually check them in at the gate. This involved taking our suitcases through security with us, dragging them to the gate (remember, in a far off section with only one over-used elevator and no a/c), where the staff quickly checked them in for us.

Fortunately, we didn't have anything in our suitcases that would worry security, but I am guessing many people would with big shampoo bottles and what not. Security is aware of rushed passengers early in the morning, but you still need to specify you will be checking your suitcases in at the gate. That said, I wouldn't push it with questionable contents. Additional searches cost time and it will take you time to haul ass to your gate that is nowhere near security.

Istanbul's Two Airports

On the European side of Istanbul, you have the IST airport. It is fairly large and has a huge duty-free section where you can buy $2,000 running shoes that don't look special at all. So why have only 1 meter (3 feet) of space from coming out of passport control and the beginning to line-ups of security? That congestion made no sense to me!! How did they win an award for that?!? Wait - did I just answer that when I mentioned the discounted running shoes?

Speaking of pricey items, some - not all - but some restaurants will round up prices to the nearest 200 Turkish Lira (8 Canadian dollars as of September 2024). Why? Because 200 Turkish Lira (TL) is the smallest denomination of TL offered at airport currency exchanges, with the rare exception.

Before I delve in the SAW airport on the Asian side, I will say two things. First, IST is mainly for international flights while SAW is mainly for internal flights and some flights to Asia. Getting between those two airports takes a lot of time.

Expect a few hours if you want to fight Istanbul traffic. Both airports have shuttles (~210 TL per person one-way) into the city centre, which may work for you depending on where your hotel is. Getting out of downtown Istanbul is another thing entirely. As is turns out, everybody always needs to go to Araksay, which is where the IST shuttles will drop you in the city centre. Perfect location to get to a hotel in the area, but it's a nightmare to get to this bus stop let alone all the time it takes to get out of Araksay.

When leaving the city center to go to the IST airport, take a cab. When going from the IST airport into the city, take a bus.

It's worth it. When returning to the airport, you will zip right along such that the cost difference between that and two bus fares was negligible.

Second, neither SAW nor IST offer free water. In September 2024, we searched intensively and could not find any water fountains or refill stations! You had to pay. At kiosks, 400mL would cost up to 300TL (~$12 CAD in Sept. 2024). At many restaurants, it was closer to 100TL (~$4 CAD in Sept. 2024). At vending machines, as little as 30 TL, but you needed crisp bills of exact change and know where to find them. Can anyone break 200 TL you ask? Ha!

I cannot say much else about the SAW airport itself that is different from IST. That said, there are a number of good hotels near SAW to spend the night if you are arriving late into Istanbul or have an early morning flight. You can enjoy a very delightful walk along the coastline around Pendik Marina. Very romantic with tea-and-snack vendors.

If you would like some interesting shopping, Ankara Cd. (road) to the northwest of the airport offers just that. We even found a business very promising for export given the sheer price difference for such products that are popular in Canada (at probably 10x the price difference)!!

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