Using Google Wallet (Google Pay) for transportation

AFAIK, Google Wallet doesn't charge a fee separate from your linked credit card. Just make sure your no-fee credit card is your default card in Wallet.

I used my no transaction fee credit card from Google Wallet in Istanbul to ride trams and ferries. No fees.

I had some trouble getting my phone to work on buses, perhaps because I was impatient and didn't hold the phone squarely on the reader. So I used my no transaction fee credit card directly. No fees.

I've been researching this, as I will be in Istanbul in early November.

Best I can tell, you can tap a credit card, but not Google Wallet or Apple Pay.

However, it is more expensive per ride. I believe with the Istanbulkart it is 27 TL per ride; tapping with a credit card is 40 TL per ride. But you have to buy the Istanbulkart for 165 TL, so it depends on how much you are going to use it. A little math required to figure out the break-even point.

Best I can tell, you can tap a credit card, but not Google Wallet or Apple Pay.

In August, 2024, I used my phone and Google Wallet to tap to pay many times on trams and ferries in the tourist areas. With more patience, I might have gotten it to work on buses. Maybe.

Good to know, CW! Things must be changing; I've read various posts in Reddit earlier this year that said no to Google Wallet.

Good to know, CW! Things must be changing

I think you are exactly right, Lane. I recall an article about it being a trial to allow tap to pay, including Google/Apple Wallet, and then implemented. I doubt if I can lay my fingers on the article.

To be clear, I used Android with Google Wallet, accessing my virtual visa credit card. I did not use Apple Pay.

Thanks to everyone for your help!

I am currently at Istanbul airport and just spent a total of 3 weeks here, one of them in Istanbul. I used the Istanbulkart the entire time and only used the tram to get around. I don’t remember how much i paid for the card because the kind guy at my hotels front desk helped me get one. If it is in fact 165 TL, that’s still only about $4. It was the easiest for me to use and worked every time. I only had to reload it once and it was very intuitive.

I was also all set to use Apple Pay for my trip next month but posters on Trip Advisor and some Facebook groups have convinced me that an Istanbulkart is the way to go.

Luckily my hotel has them for sale at reception apparently, which obviously makes things much easier than trying to figure out a machine on our first day in a new country.

Not only can they be used for public transport, but also for public toilets, which unfortunately I regularly require, so it will make that situation easier too.

As pjmun stated, it is such a small cost, that I think it will be worth it anyway.

DebH, since you mentioned public toilets, you might like to know that you'll find toilets at just about every mosque--not just mosques on the main tourist circuit. The ones I saw were in separate buildings. Only once did I find only squat toilets; the other mosques had both kinds of toilets. There may be an attendant, meaning a fee or tip is involved. I sort of doubt that those toilets are credit-card enabled, but they can be very handy.

Thanks so much for that acraven.

I have become an expert at scouting out public toilets, but good to know that I can find them in mosques.

Good to know about the toilets at mosques. Thanks!