Traveler reveals secret of how to eat for free at Istanbul airport
A video has gone viral on Instagram, having collected over 1.2 million views. In it, a traveler shared a little-known life hack for Turkish Airlines passengers who have a long layover. As it turns out, travelers can get free food if the layover between flights is more than five hours.
"How to eat for free at Istanbul airport? Advice for those who fly Turkish Airlines and who, like me, have a layover between flights of more than 5 hours. I didn't know about this until today, but there were situations before when this life hack could help," the author wrote in the caption to the video.
She described a step-by-step instruction that helped her save 22 euros (about 12 thousand tenge):
find the airline's Care Point on level -1 (near gates A and B);
show the tickets to the employee and ask for a food voucher;
go to one of the restaurants indicated in the instructions with the voucher;
exchange the voucher for a free lunch.
The traveler shared that she did all the steps the first time, and the advice worked.
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The video sparked a discussion among Internet users, who shared their experiences and thanked the author for the useful advice.
"Oh, where were you before? I was stuck there for 12 hours, no place to eat, no place to sit. Everything was packed," "Yesterday I came across your post, and my husband and parents were flying with this airline, today we tried this option - it worked! Thank you. A small thing, but nice," "Thank you very much! I didn't know this, there were often long layovers," the commentators wrote.
Some users also reminded about other useful options at this airport. For example, you can connect to free Wi-Fi for an hour using a ticket, or get a hotel if the layover lasts more than 12 hours.
"Previously, with transfers longer than 6 hours, you could choose either to stay in a hotel or take a city tour. My friend and I chose a hotel, rested, and slept. Now, it seems that there is no such option, but you can count on food vouchers," one of the commentators noted.
Others said that they used similar services.
"They put us in a hotel far from the airport, fed us a Turkish dinner. It was nice," "That's right, I got a free hotel from them, and a tour, and they give out food vouchers for short transfers," "That's how I got to the hotel, they took me away, brought me back. The hotel includes breakfast, with a view of the Bosphorus. There was a pool," the users wrote.
Turkey has been a favorite among Kazakhs for several years due to its good price-quality ratio. Istanbul attracts travelers in the winter months, experts say.
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