My hotel has booked private transportation for me from the Istanbul Airport to the hotel in Sultanahmet. Do I tip the driver, and if so, how much? (Cost for the transportation is 40 euros.)
Posted by
Citizen of the World
1997 posts
Although Turks just round up the fare, I tip taxi drivers in Turkey 10% of the fare.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33809 posts
You may find that while some places in Turkey are happy for Euro, the local currency is the Turkish Lira (TL).
Posted by
near San Francisco
5362 posts
The tricky part is that it's not advisable to buy Turkish Lira in advance. There are ATMs at the airport, but if you're scurrying to meet your driver, you may be reluctant to stop.
Two ideas:
1) Don't be in a hurry to meet your driver. The guy meeting you may not even be a driver. He may just be a "greeter" who escorts you to the next available driver. So you're not really holding anyone up.
2) If your hotel is already adding the 40 euros to your bill (likely), ask in advance if they will also add the amount of a tip to your bill, allowing you to step inside on arrival and get the prearranged tip in cash lira to hand to the driver.
Posted by
Magyarország / Rep of Texas
20159 posts
Finding your "greeter" to find your driver at Istanbul airport is one of life's most memorable experiences. Chaos describes it well. Hopefully the hotel will give you a phone number.
Now, do you tip tge "greeter"? I gave him a few dollars in Lira (yes, I got $200 from my bank before I left).
Don't much care for Istanbul, but for some reason have returned 3 times. Maybe I do like it?
Good luck!
Posted by
OP
15 posts
Thanks to all for their responses. My hotel has set up that upon arrival at the airport, I go to a travel office where the receptionist takes me to the driver.