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Meeting place after customs/immigration at IST

Posted by (Washington DC) on

Three colleagues and I from all over the world are heading to Istanbul for a meeting and arriving a few days before to sightsee. Our flights arrive at at IST at 3:40, 4:00, 4:45 and 5:15 (afternoon/evening) if all goes well, and we're all at the same hotel. Two questions:
1. Any experience with how long customs and immigration take? i.e., will the 3:40 person want to wait around for the 5:15 person, or should we split up for taxis?
2. Any recommendation of a place to meet up at the airport? I hope we can text each other, but it would be good to have a plan in case we can't.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Posted by
5362 posts
  1. When we arrived in May, there was practically no wait for immigration. You may still have to wait for your baggage, but then there was no wait for any customs.... we just walked out.
  2. There is a TI in the arrivals hall. Or if you're buying a SIM at the airport, you could meet at the Turkcell kiosk, as an example. Otherwise, the exit doors are numbered and our hotel had us meet our driver at exit 13. (I just can't recall whether you can see those exit signs above each door from the inside or if you have to step outside. I think you could see them from the inside but I don't have access to my photos to confirm. )
Posted by
87 posts

Thanks, both! We'll go two and two and meet at the TI.

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