>Turkish Airlines offers a free Istanbul stay if your layover there is over 6 hours long >Have a flight with a 24 hour layover but it arrives in Istanbul at nighttime Anyone ever taken this deal from them? It seems pretty cool but I reckon I wouldn't be able to do anything in Istanbul in a single night like that, albeit I still romanticize the idea of seeing the Hagia Sophia in person even if from outside (I'm a Wog Australian with a nationalistic Greek dad so it's kind of a lifelong obsession lol)
>>2914216I haven't done that but I've taken up similar deals with China Eastern Airlines (stopover in Shanghai, arriving 730pm, departing 930am the next day) and Sri Lankan Airlines (stopover in Colombo, arriving 6am, departing midnight that evening).The Shanghai stopover was a waste of time but the flight was cheap and spending that night sleeping in an actual bed meant I didn't feel as wrecked from the flight as usual when I arrived at my destination. The airline put us up in a pretty decent hotel. I thought we might go for drinks on the Bund or something that evening but by the time we arrived at the hotel we couldn't be bothered.The Colombo stopover was honestly pretty good. Arrived at my hotel by about 7, took a 2h nap, plundered the hotel breakfast buffet then headed out. Checked out the 3 or 4 big attractions in Colombo, shopped for souvenirs in the markets, had a delicious meal, then back to the hotel for a shower and the dinner buffet. Because we arrived early and left in the evening I was worried that there might be some issues around the standard check-in/check-out times for the hotel but the room was ready when we arrived and we had it until we left. I don't know how far Istanbul airport is from the city but if you have even close to a full 24 hours then I reckon it'd be worth it.
>>2914216it's not free. it's included in the price. they charge you $80 extra for a $30 hotel and then call it free
>>2914216It's long enough to get scammed, get approached by 14 rug)spice merchants and see the outside of the hagia Sophia and go to the grand Bazaar and cross the bridge. The hagia Sophia is boring though even the inside
>>2914216I've done Istanbul overnight, it was fun. I paid for my own hotel however. Getting to the city without metro or bus can be expensive (not that either are a bargain). >>2914432Maybe. Those "free stopover" fares are often higher than what skyscanner is showing. >>2914453You will get overcharged, but you shouldn't get scammed. Istanbul is full of Old World life, it is worth a visit.
>>2914216Intardasting, they're one of the airlines I can pick for a trip I'm about to take. Can you extend that and spend a few days in Istanbul? (Obviously paying for your own hotel and stuff.)I had something similar happen to me when I flew Air Malaysia. The flights (roundtrip) stopped in KL and the airline put everyone up in random hotels for 12 hours. It was doubly nice because they had a codeshare with KLM, so one leg of each side of that was on a Malaysian 777 with hot Malay stewardesses and good food, and the other was with hot Danish stewardesses handing out cognac. The hotels had buffets for us too.I wandered around KL for part of one of the days but was too sleepy to go see much of anything. I ended up taking a train to downtown to stare at those twin towers with the bridge, but it was too late in the morning to be able to get tickets to actually go up on it -- apparently they sell out almost instantly at the morning opening.
