Taking an Uber from Istanbul airport
Based on the reviews I’ve read, Istanbul taxis used to have a terrible reputation but it has improved significantly over the past few years (helped by the threat of ride-hailing apps); nowadays, it’s often possible to pay for a trip by card, for example.
However, we generally prefer to use apps when possible:
- We have a backup option if something goes wrong
- It’s much easier to enter our exact destination
- We pay by card through the app
It’s worth noting that Uber was banned in Istanbul for several years. Uber is available again but only serves to hail official taxis, which I think is a great thing.
Upon landing at Istanbul airport, we wanted to hail an Uber, especially since we hadn’t managed to withdraw any cash.
The most important thing to know is that you need to go to level 2 : the arrivals level. To get to level 2, you have to exit the airport, in the middle of the roadways; you’ll see an elevator that takes you to level 2.
That’s where taxis reserved through apps wait.
On Uber, you can choose between yellow taxis and blue taxis. The former are the cheapest.
Once a driver is identified, Uber gives you the license plate number to identify your driver. In Istanbul, this is handy: taxi license plates are painted in large letters on the side of the car.
Fun fact: the first taxi we booked drove right past us without seeing us. Since it would take him 10 minutes to come back around, I wanted to cancel. Instead of definitively canceling the ride and incurring a fee, Uber offered to find a new nearby taxi. It arrived 2 minutes later.
From the airport to the Beyoglu district, the ride took 50 minutes and cost us 175 LT (December 2021), which is €11.5.
UPDATE June 2023 : the same ride cost me 449 TL, about €19.97.
WARNING : In Istanbul, the Uber app only estimates the cost of the ride. The price you pay will be what the taxi driver enters at the end of the trip and should match what’s shown on the meter (on the rearview mirror). Some drivers may try to take advantage of tourists’ lack of attention to round up significantly. That’s what happened to us on a ride from the airport where the driver entered 270 TL while the meter showed 218 TL. So definitely check the meter at the end of the trip, or better yet, take a photo of it; that should be enough to let the driver know cheating isn’t worth it. Following this, I contacted Uber, which refunded me the difference.
