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Best reviews • 8.2 score
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Airline reviews
When to book
in advance
Our data shows that travellers who book at least 22 weeks in advance save around 27% compared to booking last minute.
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When to travel
Cheapest • 10% price drop
Most popular
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Cheap Flights to Istanbul

 
Discover the best prices for you by selecting your travel dates on KAYAK.

Recent return flight deals to Istanbul

Multiple Airlines Logo
AKL  Auckland Airport-TR5 Treorchy Treherbert
27415 kmmulti-stop
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TR5  Treorchy Treherbert-AKL Auckland Airport
27415 kmmulti-stop
Multiple Airlines
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CHC  Christchurch-TR5 Treorchy Treherbert
27384 kmmulti-stop
Multiple Airlines Logo
TR5  Treorchy Treherbert-CHC Christchurch
27384 kmmulti-stop
Multiple Airlines
Booking Insights

Price, demand, and travel trends for flights to Istanbul

Use KAYAK data on prices, travel dates, airlines, and seasonal trends to compare options and book flights with more confidence.

What is the cheapest day to fly to Istanbul?

Monday is the cheapest day to fly to Istanbul at $2,259 return on average over the past 12 months on KAYAK. Thursday is the most expensive at $2,425.

What is the cheapest month to fly to Istanbul?

•February is the cheapest month to fly to Istanbul with an average price of $2,028 return.
•December ($2,565) and September ($2,501) are the most expensive.
•Based on KAYAK data over the past 12 months.

What is the cheapest time of day to fly to Istanbul?

Morning flights to Istanbul are the cheapest at $2,193 return on average. Evening flights are the most expensive at $2,722.

When are flights to Istanbul the cheapest?

Flights to Istanbul are cheapest 22 weeks before departure. Booking in this window typically costs about 27% less than the average last-minute fare (within 2 weeks of the flight), based on KAYAK data.

Key details for flights to Istanbul

Low season

January
Beat the crowds with an average 24% drop in traveller numbers.
The most popular month to fly with an average 14% increase in traveller numbers.

When to book flights to Istanbul

Are your dates flexible? Find out the best times to travel to Istanbul based on our flight data from the last year. Discover the cheapest month and even day to fly.
Estimated return price

Your questions about flights to Istanbul, answered

Find helpful route details based on KAYAK data, including flight times, airports, airlines, and booking questions.

  • How do I know if a flight to Istanbul is a good deal?

    A good deal on a flight to Istanbul is around $1,957 return. This fare is in the lowest 25% of return flight prices searched on KAYAK, averaged across the cities most often searched as origins by KAYAK users.

  • Which airports serve Istanbul?

    Flights to Istanbul arrive at: Istanbul (IST) and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW).

  • How expensive are last-minute flights to Istanbul?

    Last-minute fares to Istanbul (booked within two weeks of departure) are typically 20% higher than the average return fare of $2,261.

  • What is the difference between the most popular and the most frequent airline at Istanbul?

    Emirates operates the most flights from New Zealand to Istanbul at 0 per week, while China Southern is the airline most often selected by KAYAK users searching for flights from New Zealand to Istanbul. The two are often different because flight volume reflects an airline's schedule, while popularity reflects traveller choice.

  • Which airports serve Istanbul and the surrounding area?

    Flights to Istanbul can arrive at several major airports serving the metro area, including Istanbul (IST) and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW).

Your guide to booking Istanbul flights

From booking to airport arrival, find tips to help you plan your flight with more confidence.
  • For the best chance at a low fare to Istanbul, book around 22 weeks before departure. Based on KAYAK data from the last 12 months, fares are historically about 27% lower during this window than last-minute fares.
  • For flights to Istanbul, a good return fare is around $1,957. If you find a fare below that, you're getting a strong deal.
  • If your travel dates are flexible, consider flying to Istanbul in February. Return fares historically average $2,028, making February the cheapest month to travel based on KAYAK data from the last 12 months.
  • Before you book:

    • Check the route's typical price range so you can spot a deal.
    • Confirm baggage fees and seat selection costs on budget carriers.
    • Verify whether you need any travel documents beyond an ID.
    • Pick a departure airport, since your nearest may not be the cheapest origin.
  • Shift your departure to morning to save up to $529 on a return flight. Morning flights to Istanbul average $2,193 compared to $2,722 for afternoon flights.
  • Once you arrive in Istanbul, a few great places to start are Sultan Ahmet Camii, Taksim Square, and Tüpraş Stadyumu. These are popular with first-time visitors and can give you a good feel for the area.

Reviews of the top 5 airlines flying to Istanbul

 
Need help choosing which airline to fly with to Istanbul? KAYAK airline reviews give an overall score for each airline based on loads of factors, including comfort, boarding, in-flight entertainment and more, to make your decision easier. See airline scores according to verified KAYAK customer reviews.
8.1
EmiratesOverall score based on 3667 reviews
8.4Crew
7.9Food
8.2Entertainment
8.0Comfort
8.2Boarding
Airline reviews

As always Emirates is always dependent on the crew you get on the day and today was a good one. Everyone knew what they were doing and gracefully without hesitation . Great conversation all round even about the food and wine.

10.0 ExcellentWoei, May 2026
Read more Emirates reviews

As always Emirates is always dependent on the crew you get on the day and today was a good one. Everyone knew what they were doing and gracefully without hesitation . Great conversation all round even about the food and wine.

The crew were absolutely fantastic. They actively asked if passengers wanted refills and if they were comfortable. I was extremely impressed.

I liked everything: the service, the food, the cleanness. I flew last year with Qatar Airways, so I can compare. Emirates did much better! Especially their meals and service.

I would have liked less packaged snacky stuff, more fruit. The crew was great.

Emirates A380s are always wonderful to fly on. Their crews, food and service are always excellent. They are typically on time and the only thing I would change (maybe newer or upgraded aircraft have this) is bluetooth so I can pair my noise cancelling headphones without a cable.

Premium economy was worth it-comfort was definitely better than economy class. The seats were more comfortable, blankets and pillows thicker

Food was excellent. Leg room in economy, not so good; I’m 6’-1”.

The queue for checking for economy passengers was enormous! Only one desk open for economy faith s queue a mile long, whilst business and first class desks empty and unemployed. Will seriously consider changing to another next trip. Disappointed customer.

Food service must be faster and make vegetarian food in good quality

Flight good but it was 30min late taking off. Also don’t like landing then being loaded on bus and driven around the airport like it’s a sightseeing tour.

old aircraft, some of the crew are not polite. I chose my seat to be window and I found it with no window and the seat was not operating...!!!

The plane cleanness, punctuality and crew attention was great. The airline is offering free fast wifi on the flight, however apparently without much policy on the use. Quite a few passengers felt the liberty to watch shorts or other content without headphones from their devices as well as talking for long durations over phone calls. This made a 4-hour, fully booked flight somehow difficult to bear.

The flight from HYD to DOH was delayed by 3 hours and we missed the connection from DOH to MIA. We had to wait 24H more to get the MIA flight. It was a total disaster. If the flight crew had waited 1 more hour to accommodate their 3 hour delayed flight, we would not have lost a whole day !

Flight departed punctually on time. Unfortunately it seems because the destination airport is a secondary airport the airline sees it fit to operate a plane with lower comfort and offerings. There was no inflight entertainment, wifi or let alone a screen to at least track flight status for remaining flight time.

No difference between US airline and Qatar. Both cramp as many people. The airline seems to change planes without notice choice is seating when making reservations online doesn’t match the plane a passenger is on. Especially paying extra. Nothing special No different than US carriers.

riding in first class, you don't expect every time you order your dinner or breakfast that the first thing the stewardess says is Let me see if we have any left. Also, the food selection was not great: 3 of 4 entrees had mushrooms and I dont eat mushrooms, the 4th item was 'let me see if we have any left' and this was within 30 mins of entering the flight! Same experience level, it didn't feel first class this round.

They made us deliberate waste time by holding our passports and boarding passes making us miss the flight

The qatar airways flights were great, the code share with Indigo could have been a lot better. There is no option for web check in, there is not information on the tickets for the INDIGO PNR this caused a problem with security letting us into the airport. The indigo staff did not even want us to line up before they opened the counters. There is not option on the indigo flgith to request special meals.

This was a really enjoyable flight. Even though I was in economy, I had a great deal of leg space, I had a nice meal, and the flight staff was helpful and friendly. A really great flight.

Seats were not comfortable and touch free remote wasn’t working.

The barcode on the boarding pass could be made for everyone not just the wechat user.

It was good. Just a very long stay over in China to get the second leg to London

China Southern was not the problem. I booked my flight through Kayak and also received a booking reference and alert details regarding departure time and gate numbers… however Kayak NEVER actually booked my flight! We were stranded at the airport without a flight for a long awaited holiday!

The airport didn‘t give me the ticket. I called customer service to ask for a refund but they kept giving me a perfunctory response and refused to refund me.

Crew: Everybody was polite. People just need to get efficient and less reworking things. Entertainment: Could have move movies and games. The “music” section is a joke, only ONE available. Food: The food provided on the flights boarding in china needs a serious reworking. Too much oil, bad for your stomach, tastes too artificial and the eggs were a giant mass of green dough.

Never got the wheelchair service when my parents arrived at LA . My mom was 74 , also my dad was 84 years old, both don’t speak English. I double checked with the front desk at Phoenix airport, making sure that they will be taking care of.

Had some luggage loading delays but it was still a good experience

1. I got very poor check in experience with the counter lady . This is the first airline I ever experienced that no combine check in weight allow . Even we have 4 of us but weight counter by piece . So we wasted lot of time argue and repack . This is super crazy 2. Next I left my Samsung tablet on the plane . And I started to escalate and finally spoke to southern airline lost and found in Malaysia and the amazing answer she give is : system nothing found and please try to call southern airline in china 🧐 . I have been flying many other airlines but this is my first encounterment with such irresponsible airline response and no empathy given to customer . My feeling is nobody bother whether how customer like me feel and I’m just too small for the management to take note .

The flight was okay it was the kayak customer service that was poor, I have been trying to change my name on my flight ticket 3 days before my flight and nothing got done about it even tho I messaged so many times and phoned, all I got in return was that is was being processed and still to this day nothing has been done about it, I think it’s disgusting and un needed stress to the trip.

Traveling with the Chinese airlines , their service superior to the US Airlines , they are much more friendly and the seats are comfortable , In the past I flew with United , now ,United Airline will become history for me .

Turkish Airlines changed our business class seats at the last minute and said it was a computer glitch. No other airlines has had this glitch. The steak was like leather and nobody could eat it. The boarding process was extremely slow and we had to stand and wait in line for over an hour in EWR and almost as long in IST. Again while coming back our seats were changed from row 3 to row 6 for no reason. The food was a lot better from IST to EWR. The service was poor from EWR to IST and good coming back.

Boardings in Newark and Istanbul were kind of chaos. Dedicated lines for assigned seats seems to be a smart idea, but most of the people were getting confused and were going back and forth. The agents were yelling where to go. The food was limited. Whatever we asked, they were out of it. For example, I would imagine that most of the people would prefer chicken over pasta. By the time they reached us, only pasta was available. For a long flight, in our case almost 11 hours, it’s very uncomfortable to remain put in the seat where not enough space to stretch the legs. But this is the another story about economy and upgraded flights.

The quality of Turkish Airlines has definitely diminished. The planes are older and the 2x2x2 business class is antiquated and not in keeping with the prices. The food onboard is not as good as it used to be. Cold dishes, flavor not very good and weird selections and accompaniments. Our flight ran out of champagne before dinner. How is that even possible! Cocktails were served without Nuys. The nuts were presented 1/2 hour later. Poor selection of liquor with inferior cheap brands. Gordons gin is unacceptable. Over all I wouldn't choose them again. The end of an era!

When getting to our seats a blanket, headphones and pillow where there already. The food was very good and plentiful. I liked when they came around w/hot towels to freshen up with. Slippers, socks and an eye mask was a nice surprise. My husband and I have mobility issues and the transporters were absolutely wonderful and helpful w/the wheelchairs at each stop. Getting from one gate to the next they were a blessing.

Alright. I don’t like the boarding process. Gate staff shout out in Turkish where to line up etc. no microphone used. You can’t hear it. No English translation. It’s a bit archaic!

Boarding started too early stuck standing in the security corral for 1 hour with no update on when to board

As usual. The perfect flight. Keep it like it is

787-9 TOO OLD AIRCRAFT , MY SEAT BELT INCORRECTLY FIXED, THE TRAY TABLE SLIDING, REPORTED BOTH , NO CURTESY BY CABIN MANAGER TO APOLOGIZE AT LEAST . FOOD WAS OVERCOOKED : THE PRESENCE OF A CHEF IS JUST A PROMOTIONAL PLOY , WINES EXCELLENT . THE FARE COST IS EQUIVALENT TO QUATAR , BUT TK IS FAR FROM MATCHING THEIR LEVEL BOTH BY AIRCRAFT , FOOD AND SERVICE .. I WOULD NOT TRAVEL BUSINESS WITH TK ANY LONGER .

Very good. Boarding was delayed with no explanation. TA needs to use jetways vs bus and climb up stairs.

A great Airline. Qantas could learn a lot from them.

Crew is polite, but artificially polite. You can see and feel it. Food could be better.

The flight was delayed. The staff made us wait in the room that is too small and it was crowded and with no seats available for waiting. They did not tell us why the delay occurred.

CTU-KMG-CNX with 1.5 hr connection at KMG. Doable but just barely bc immigration exit from China is at the last flight leg, here: KMG to CNX. We hauled out of the domestic terminal to reenter at the international departures (luggage checked thru to CNX thankfully). Immigration had only two agents, even though KMG gets a HUGE number of foreigners. It took forever for such a shot line. Then security also took a while, so I just just made the connection. Recommend if you exit China with domestic international transfer, plan for 2+ hrs to avoid a heart attack. Airline personnel don’t suffer if you miss the flight, you do. Plan accordingly.

The temperature of the plane cabin is too hot. Sweat and uncomfortable. Also my food tray was broken down drinks fall off

For the price we paid, I couldn’t complain. Was good value for money. Service was excellent but food was mediocre. Crew were excellent and spoke English. You will never go hungry. The food was ample but was mediocre. Entertainment limited and wifi doesn’t all allow you to access some social media. The best part was comfortable seats and bed (business class) with a screen to close out the rest of the cabin.

Cheapest option from Gatwick £400 cheaper than Emirates and Qatar. Entertainment no where near as good as Emirates and Qatar, but saved £400 so all good.

Great staff and food. Seats pretty uncomfortable but plenty of legroom. Entertainment system outdated.

Gatwick London-Shanghai -Bangkok.. Would have liked entertainment screens, but I know these planes are not that new. Cheap flights at the time of booking, Emirates wanted double so you get what you paid for. I would fly again with them, but if Emirates was the same price I would go with them.

How do you run out of beer after one hour of a twelve hour flight?!

Couldn’t fly since they wouldn’t issue a boarding ticket. Something to do with not taking the departing flight since it was cancelled due to weather. No notice or anything about the trip being invalid. The app made it seem like I was all good for it. Never trusting travel agency

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