Sorry to hear about your experiences at Istanbul airport. Sounds very similar to our own: We were tired and inattentive – prime targets to be exploited by these scammers who ARE STILL allowed to operate with impunity by the airport authorities.

As I understand it, free hotel accommodation (and transport) is offered only if your Turkish Airline flight connections necessitate an extended break in Istanbul (6 to 8 hours or more). If you simply chose to take the TourIstanbul offer on a shorter Stopover (or you deliberately chose to break your flight in Istanbul for this reason) then the tour itself is still complimentary, but you need to pay for any additional costs.

Getting in touch with a real person who can help you at Turkish Airlines (as with most other large companies nowadays) may take some time. In our situation, we confirmed our Istanbul layover with the local Turkish Airlines office in our home country before we left. He simply told us to go to the TA Hotel Desk once we arrived in Istanbul (which we tried to do – see above 🥴).

I have to say that the staff at the *real* Turkish Airlines Hotel Desk were friendly, helpful and accommodating.
The only number I can find for you to contact Turkish Airlines direct is their headquarters number: +90 212 463 63 63.

If you can get through, they may be able to connect you to the relevant department to confirm your booking.

You could also contact their customer support on Twitter: https://twitter.com/TK_HelpDesk

Good luck! and please tell us all how it goes…

They want to send our group to separate hotels! And there is no way we are splitting up in a strange city. And adding insult to injury, we are expected to find our own transportation to these separate hotels which are over an hour from the airport.

Is there a way to contact the Hotel desk in advance? I have used their email several times, but I am not certain that they understand what we need. Also, our return hotel cannot be booked prior to travel because the site always says there is a problem and to contact an agent!!!

It is a vicious circle and I hate we even tried this TourIstanbul. The US is the only site WITHOUT a telephone number!!

Also when you arrived at the airport did you find that they were accommodating to you even though you did not make an advanced reservation which they have said we could do.

I am desperate and feel just a little shaky using this airline.

Hi Michaela, and thanks very much for your feedback. We’re so glad if we can help other travelers avoid the stress of scams like these.

Regarding visas, it depends on your nationality. If you’re British you’ll need one (at least that’s what they told me). You can get one online at iVisa.com as described in the article.
Some nationalities – like Russians – don’t need a visa.

Best check the latest news shortly before you travel, because with the ongoing pandemic the rules seem to be changing on a daily basis!