Istanbul Airport (IST) is the main international airport serving Istanbul. As Turkey uses its own currency, you might need some Turkish Lira (TRY) right at the airport. Istanbul Airport currency exchange service is provided by money changer Global Exchange and several banks. Let’s check, what Istanbul Airport exchange rate can be expected.
Cash is still widely used in Turkey so having few banknotes of Turkish Lira in your pocket might be a good idea. If you feel that you need local money right at the airport, you can either withdraw Turkish Lira from one of ATMs found at the airport or exchange foreign currency at one of Istanbul Airport currency exchange counters.
If you want to get much better exchange rate than your regular bank card is offering on your payments and ATM withdrawals at Istanbul Airport and anywhere else in Turkey, consider getting Wise Card that lets you spend abroad with the real exchange rate and works well in Turkey.
What money changers operate at the new airport of Istanbul and how good or bad currency exchange rates can expected at Istanbul Airport? Let's see!
Istanbul Airport Money Changers
Finding one of Istanbul Airport money changers is very easy as there are plenty of exchange counters all around the airport. However, all of them are operated by the same Istanbul Airport money changer offering the same exchange rate. Luckily, there's an alternative after passing immigration as you can find several bank branches.
Global Exchange Istanbul Airport
All currency exchange counters at the new Istanbul Airport are operated by the same company Global Exchange. Currently they operate more than 40 currency exchange branches at Istanbul Airport so you can expect to see them all around the airport. Full list of Global Exchange Istanbul Airport branches can be found here: Global Exchange.
Most of Global Exchange Istanbul Airport branches are open 24 hours, all year round.
Istanbul Airport Currency Exchange at Banks
The only alternative to Global Exchange at Istanbul Airport are the branches of three Turkish Banks that can be found on the landside of Arrivals floor at Domestic Terminal. All three banks also offer currency exchange to their customers. The branches of the banks can be found after passing the passport control but their opening hours are limited and you might need to wait longer as these branches are quite popular with local customers.
The offices of the banks operating at the new Istanbul Airport are listed below.
Türkiye İş Bank Istanbul Airport Currency Exchange
Opening hours: Open 24 Hours
Phone: 0 (212) 465 41 02
Current exchange rate: Türkiye İş Bank exchange rate
Ziraat Bank Istanbul Airport Currency Exchange
Opening hours: between 09:00 - 12:30 & 13:30 - 17:30
Phone: 0 (212) 812 89 22
Current exchange rate: Ziraat Bank exchange rate
Garanti BBVA Istanbul Airport Currency Exchange
Opening hours: from 09:00 to 17:00 (lunch break from 12:30 to 13:30)
Phone: 0 (212) 468 31 50
Current exchange rates: Garanti BBVA exchange rate
Istanbul Airport Currency Exchange Rate
Istanbul Airport Exchange Rate at Global Exchange
As Global Exchange has a monopoly at a big part of the airport, don’t expect very fair currency exchange rate there. To make things more complicated, they display currency exchange rates only on price monitors and not on the clearly seen boards like normal money changers.
Global Exchange doesn’t charge any commission but the exchange rate offered by this money changer is significantly worse than the exchange rate of the banks at Istanbul airport that additionally charge 4% commission for every transaction.
It is possible to book your currency online via Global Exchange website and collect it at the airport. By booking your currency online, you can save 15% of their exchange margin if compared to their airport exchange rate. However, even online exchange rate of Global Exchange is far from being attractive.
For finding out how good or bad Istanbul Airport exchange rate is, you need to compare the airport exchange rate with TRY current mid-market exchange rate that can be found here: Turkish Lira exchange rate.
USD exchange rate on the market at the time of writing is 33.22 TRY for 1 US Dollar, so the rate offered by Global Exchange Istanbul Airport (26.71 TRY/USD) is even by 6.51 TRY or about 19.6% lower than the mid-market rate. This exchange rate is offered if money exchange is pre-booked online, while without pre-booking Istanbul Airport exchange rate is even worse.
EUR exchange rate on the market at the time of writing is 36.25 TRY for 1 Euro, so the rate offered on the website of Global Exchange (29.18 TRY/EUR) is by 7.07 TRY or about 19.5% lower than the mid-market rate.
GBP exchange rate on the market at the time of writing is 42.54 TRY for 1 Pound Sterling, so the rate offered at Global Exchange Istanbul Airport (34.10 TRY/EUR) is by 8.44 TRY or about 19.8% lower than the market rate.
Global Exchange offers exchange for 48 different currencies. However, the less popular is the currency, the lower rate can be expected at Istanbul Airport.
Even when booking online, currency collection at Istanbul Airport won’t be a good deal when exchanging your currency with Global Exchange. Loosing almost 20% of your money just for currency exchange doesn’t sound fair.
Currency exchange rates at Istanbul Airport will be even worse than you can see on Global Exchange website. It means that Istanbul Airport exchange rate will be really bad. Even if banks at Istanbul Airport charge 4% commission, their exchange margin plus commission will still be much better deal!
Istanbul Airport Exchange Rate at Banks
Currency exchange rates offered by the banks at Istanbul Airport are far from good as well because all 3 banks charge an additional 4% commission on the top of their currency exchange margin.
At the time of our visit to Istanbul Airport banks, Türkiye İş Bank was offering the best exchange rate for most of the currencies. If you want to get the best deal at Istanbul Airport for your currency, you should check all three banks. However, the exchange rates offered by Ziraat Bank were worse than offered by their competitors.
What exchange margin is charged by the banks at Istanbul Airport in addition to 4% commission? Let’s check!
USD to TRY exchange rate at Istanbul Airport
The mid-market USD exchange rate at the time of our visit to Istanbul Airport was 33.22 TRY for 1 US Dollar, so the best rate offered at the airport (32.43 TRY/USD) was by 0.79 TRY or 2.4% lower than the market rate. On top of this exchange margin they charge 4% commission, so your total loses are equal to 6.4% meaning that for every 100 US Dollars exchanged at Istanbul Airport you’re losing at least 6.4 USD.
As the lowest exchange margin offered for Istanbul Airport collection by Global Exchange is 19.6%, exchanging your currency at the bank can easily save you about 13.2% of your money.
EUR to TRY exchange rate at Istanbul Airport
The mid-market EUR exchange rate at the time was 36.25 TRY for 1 Euro, so the best rate offered at Istanbul Airport (35.38 TRY/EUR) was by 0.87 TRY or 2.4% lower than the mid-market rate. On top of this exchange margin the bank charges 4% commission, so your total cost for currency exchange is 6.4% meaning that for every 100 Euros exchanged at Istanbul Airport you’re losing at least 6.4 EUR.
GBP to TRY exchange rate at Istanbul Airport
The mid-market GBP exchange rate at the time was 42.54 TRY for 1 Pound Sterling, so the best rate offered at the airport (41.51 TRY/GBP) was by 1.03 TRY or 2.4% lower than the market rate. Together with 4% commission you are losing about 6.4% of your money when exchanging GBP at Istanbul Airport.
Exchange rates of other currencies at Istanbul Airport
The mid-market AUD exchange rate at the time was 21.63 TRY for 1 Australian Dollar, so the best rate offered at Istanbul Airport (21.13 TRY/AUD) was by 0.50 TRY or about 2.3% lower than the market rate. However, one of the banks was offering a special rate for AUD exchange rate at the time of our visit. Total loses for exchanging AUD to TRY at Istanbul Airport’s bank were 6.3% of the amount exchanged.
The mid-market CAD exchange rate at the time was 23.95 TRY for 1 Canadian Dollar, so the best rate offered at the airport (23.38 TRY/CAD) was by 0.57 TRY or about 2.4% lower than the market rate. The exchange rate itself is not that bad but adding 4% commission makes it far less attractive as you are losing 6.4% of your money when exchanging CAD at Istanbul Airport.
The mid-market CHF exchange rate at the time was 38.72 TRY for 1 Swiss Franc, so the best rate offered at Istanbul Airport (37.80 TRY/CHF) was by 0.92 TRY or about 2.4% lower than the market rate. With the 4% commission totally you are losing 6.4% when exchanging your Swiss Franc at Istanbul Airport.
Unexpectedly, the most popular foreign currencies (US Dollar & Euro) at the banks of Istanbul Airport were exchanged at slightly worse rates than other of the leading currencies even if the difference was hardly noticeable. However, in all cases the banks were offering better exchange rates than Global Exchange.
Current Istanbul Airport exchange rate
For getting an idea what currency exchange rates at Istanbul Airport can be expected at the moment, pay attention to the difference between the exchange rates mentioned above and compare them with current Turkish Lira exchange rate.
Tips
If you want to get much better exchange rate than your regular bank card is offering on your payments and ATM withdrawals at Istanbul Airport and anywhere else in Turkey, consider getting Wise Card that lets you spend abroad with the real exchange rate and works well in Turkey.
If you can survive without exchanging your currency at Istanbul Airport, don’t exchange your currency here. In the center of Istanbul you can find money changers who charge no commission and exchange USD and EUR to Turkish Lira at the rate with the exchange margin lower than 1%! For more details check Istanbul City Currency Exchange Rates.
If you like to use Hop-On Hop-Off buses for sightseeing, book your bus ticket online here: Istanbul Hop-On Hop-Off Bus Tour.
The most convenient way for getting from New Istanbul Airport into the city is by private or shared transfer (for solo traveler). Book your Istanbul Airport private transfer online and you won't need to exchange your money at the airport. It will save you a lot!