My husband and I are headed to Istanbul 3 days prior to our RS Best of Turkey tour in about 10 days. The first two nights we are NOT staying in the RS hotel. Our hotel offers a prestige transfer service that seems quite expensive compared to what Rick’s hotel transfer price is. Has anyone used an airport transfer service that can reliably be booked in advance? Or what other info can anyone provide about heading into the area of Besiktas from IST?
Thanks!
I haven't used them yet, but for my transfer in September I booked a ride with Welcome Pickups (recommended on this forum pretty often). It was easy process and they have an app that the driver will use to message you details, including a photo of the exit door that is the meeting point. The charge was 40 euro to Sultanahmet, which is 20 euro less than my pre-tour hotel quoted. I am not staying in the RS tour hotel pre-tour either (it is in Karakoy area). I haven't yet booked my end of tour shuttle as I am hoping a couple people may want to share a ride because my return flight leaves in the late afternoon. Have fun, I'm super excited for this tour!
CL - thanks for your suggestion. I’ll probably try to use them. We used Welcome Pickups in Athens once, but didn’t think of them for Istanbul.
How much time did you allow between expected landing and pick up time? Not sure how time consuming getting off plane, immigration, etc takes.
My flight arrives around 4 p.m. and I asked for a 5 p.m. pick up, which they say they'll wait 60 minutes (until 6) for me. I have carry on only (hopefully, changing planes in AMS so who knows) and plan to use facilities, get a bottle of water, and hit an ATM before meeting my driver. It will be 1.5 hours probably in to town due to traffic.
CL - which tour are you on? We are doing Best of Turkey followed by Best of Istanbul.
