15 replies to this topic

[VillaOlivio]

Just don't know where to put it elsewhere in the world and I saw this complaint forum.

My complaint are the prices on the airports of Turkey.
When I'm at Milas (bodrum) airport I have to pay euro 8 for simple fries and cola.
its really unbelieveable and I hear all tourists complaining about this.

Its really not a good goodbuy if you go home after a wonderful holiday in a wonderful and friendly country.

So...I have said this ;-)

Jeroen

[KangalKid]

ive paid 12 lira for a small bottle of beer, and im not a drinker dunno what made me buy one in the first place and really regretted it when the bill arrived ! made me feel like bringing it back up and puting it back in the bottle and handing it back , ok ok only kiddin' lol

[JK1]

The answer is don't buy the stuff. We always take sandwiches with us and drinks to Bodrum or Dalaman airports. Last time I was there a very lively young man stopped me urging me to buy coffee and cakes. So I looked at them and smiled and then told them exactly what I thought of the prices they were charging - they were speechless.
Only when no body buys the stuff will they start to think. I believe though that the rents on the premises in those airports are very high - hence the very high prices.

[sunny]

I do the same as you JK and take my own food and drink.
I think you are right when you say the reason for the high prices is the very high rent for the shops. Perhaps we should protest to the airport authorities?

[Abi]

I always take my own food and drink as well.

[Sirin]

Dalaman Airport is also astronomical!

Taking food and drink is a great idea - but one time we stocked up at Tansas, only to have our drinks taken off us at security. I wasn't 100 percent convinced that this was an anti-terrorism measure..... we were certainly hijacked by the shop owners once we got in.

If it's any consolation, we once travelled to Istanbul and changed at Prague. The prices there were the same, if not worse. We paid £6 for 2 cans of coke.

On the way back, we paid to go into the VIP lounge. At £15 each, it was probably more economical as you could then have free snacks and drinks for the 3 hour wait. It was certainly more comfortable.

I doubt there is much incentive for them to lower their prices - they have a captive market. It's horrible to feel so powerless though.

[Steve]

we also take food and drink ,with us after we got stung for 28ytl for 2 beers and a small bag of peanuts,the staff behind the counter must get a lot of stick ,as they don,t make the prices,best thing to do is to boycott the and see if they put down there prices ,similar situation coming out of ephesus,the resaurant,on the left, they think you only go to these place one time.. ok you cannot take your food and limited
drink through customs at izmir ,so outside the airport is a cafe with reasonable price ,the coach drivers and taxi drivers use it also we have used it, in the past.

[KangalKid]

i only drank the beer out of sheer bordom and that broke 10 mins of my time of strolling around for hours on end .cant bring bottle on the plane so when im waiting for connecting flightsi have no option to buy at the other end, usually fanta but thought a beer would be a change i sometimes have 5 hrs of waiting also i need a cig and the bars are the only place where i can smoke at istanbul so feel embarassed walking in and sitting down and not wanting to drink anything bought from them, i just presumed i'd be asked to leave or can anyone tell me otherwise and that its accepted to sit in one of these palces and notbuy from them.
i wasnt even allowed a bottle of water on the plane (in the uk) for some pills so i have to disturb people after we hd all settled in our seats to go and ask for a pot of water.luckily ive not had to travel this year but next will be different

[Abi]

I always used to sit in the coffee shop in International arrivals and no one used to bother me. Now of course you can't smoke anywhere in the airport, so it's going to be fun as you will now have to go outside and come back security.

I have now got an HSBC credit card so I can use their lounge free in the International terminal, and an AK Bank credit card which gives me free access in the Domestic terminal. At least I get free food and drink, as like you I usually have a minimum wait of 5 hours for my connecting flight.

[JK1]

I have never had a problem taking any food and drink into Dalaman airport and we sit at the cafe tables and eat our own food. No one has ever tried to stop us. As for the drinks at UK airports I can accept that as it is a security measure and the more security the better in my opinion. I too have pills to take and you are allowed to buy bottles of water in the departure lounge or even fill your own bottles from the taps. I believe one of the forums had a petition to sign regarding the prices at Dalaman. I can't say I have noticed any difference though. Tell people who don't know about the prices and then hopefully fewer will buy and the message will get through. I was told the rents were so high due to the cost of building the new terminal. Mind you they were just as bad in the old terminal. There is a cafe outside the terminal building which I'm told is cheaper.

[sunny]

I always like to have a bottle of water with me when I travel so I take one to Heathrow, drink what I want then empty the rest. They let empty bottles through, then I fill it up again at one of the drinking fountains outside the loos.

[rozzici]

I'd watch out for Antalya airport too, it really is full of rip-off artists that clearly feast on the not so savvy package tourists. I flly out of there regularly, and whilst I dodn't fall for any of it, it's annoying and a little insulting. You get your usual £8 for a pint of beer - this seems standard in every Turkish Aiports, both internal and domestic. The other crap is annoying though, from the thief running the souvenir tat shop asking for 7.5 YTL for 4x 80 cent stamps. Tries to charge 7.5 Euro, then 7.5YTL for 2.4YTL worth of product; through to the toilet attendants removing all the paper towels and disconnecting the hand driers and then asking for money for bits of tissue paper to dry your hands on. This SO isn't Turkey and it's sad that many tourists' final memory of the country will be tainted by these monkeys. The check in staff are also useless giggling girls, utterly unprofessional.


A few weeks of no customers at all would soon sort that problem out but there will always be a few people who will pay those outrageous prices.

[Boatless]

This is Turkey absolutely.

My answer is don't go at all.

[esper]

This is no different to other airports around the world. Obviously the Turkish airports saw what other airports were doing and said "we'll have some of that".

The answer is simple. Just don't buy it. Take a book and your own food instead. Or, you can do what I did, albeit inadvertently, order a coffee and then when they ask for the twenty three thousand lira or whatever it cost, look utterly dumbstruck and say "sorry, that's taking the ****", and walk away.

BTW - if you are using Dalaman airport don't forget there is the cafe/restaurant outside of the airport building. I hear their prices are 'normal'.

[IbrahimAbi]

At Antalya there is the kiosk in the car park at International, I think it may be called 'bahce' it is reasonable. My wife and I check in and then head back out again for cheaper refreshments
hope this helps

[sunny]

Thanks IbrahimAbi.