TL;DR

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In my case, everything went great, I recommend using it, you can book here. Of course, there are no guarantees.

Below in the article is a story about my personal experience because during the search it was unpleasant to think “this is another country, what if no one shows up and that’s it?”

Why individual transfer in Turkey?

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Usually, package tours include transportation of tourists from the airport to the hotel and back. So why add the extra hassle of booking a separate transfer? There are several issues here:

• the shared transfer is an unpredictable size bus that can stop at a large number of hotels along the way - it’s unknown which one your hotel will be. If you are unlucky, you will be the last one;
• the tour operator’s bus will not leave until all passengers have gathered - this means you will have to wait for everyone who is delayed at the arrival airport for some reason;
• the shared transfer “Airport -> Hotel” will definitely take you to a partner place of the tour company - usually something like a gas station with shops;
• the trip from the hotel to the airport will also include a stop (for example, at a store with Turkish delight), which is especially painful for early morning flights - you will have to get up 2-3 hours earlier.

After understanding these features over several trips, I started using the individual transfer service from the tour operator, and with a significant price increase, I tried using a third-party service (in my case - KiwiTaxi).

Review of KiwiTaxi in Turkey

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How to book a transfer

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Choosing a fare

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The booking process is standard, no different from classic forms with a starting and ending point.

After entering the starting and ending points, we will see the available options. Pay attention to the note about the possibility of upgrading the car class.

I booked “economy” or “comfort” - a Mercedes Vito came. Apparently, these are features of the local legislation.

Filling in the details

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After choosing the fare, you need to fill out the form. I ordered the transfer a week before the trip, and even though the flight was charter with possible changes - I entered the current details. It is important to check the box requesting contact and provide an up-to-date messenger number that will be available during the trip.

The next important point is to inform the driver that the flight may be delayed. I left a message roughly like this, pre-translating it into Turkish using an online translator:

Hello.

According to the schedule, the flight arrives on May 30 at 12:30, but it is a charter, so the time may change. Please contact me in advance via WhatsApp - I will inform you of the actual departure time and warn you of any flight delays.

Thank you.

And the final step - payment. They accept any cards, I also took the free cancellation service, it cost about 400 rubles.

Order Confirmation

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After booking and 24 hours before the trip, the service sends an email with confirmation, driver contact details, and a voucher.

The voucher and email will include the driver’s contact details, which I immediately added to my phone contacts.

Communication with the Driver

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Since I requested the driver to contact me in advance during the booking, he messaged me on WhatsApp the day before the flight. The communication continued there, including updates about the delayed flight.

As a result, despite the flight delay (even if only by two hours), the driver waited at the location and met me with a sign. Most likely, the free waiting time had expired considering the delay, but having contact with the driver allowed me to inform him about the delay. This way, the driver didn’t have to go to the airport too early.

Comparison of Transfer Prices in Turkey

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At the time of writing this article, prices were checked for a single route on one date. The prices obtained are listed in the table below.

Of course, it is necessary to check the available services, prices, and reviews before the trip.

Answers to Questions

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1. Is it guaranteed that I will be met at the airport after booking?

Unfortunately, no, there is no guarantee. Moreover, there are negative reviews for any transfer service. So, it’s purely luck. In case of a no-show, I booked the return transfer with a tour operator to hold them responsible for any delays to the flight.

2. Will the class of the car be upgraded for sure?

No, this is also a matter of luck. That’s why the service website states that an upgrade is “possible.”