Istanbul’s airport recently relocated from the Istanbul Atatürk International Airport to a brand new Istanbul International Airport facility located a short distance away. The move allowed the airport authority to develop many new lounges and amenities for its travellers. The iGA Lounge Istanbul represents one of these new lounges as the premier contract lounge at Istanbul International Airport. We would get the opportunity to fully test out of the new lounge on our recent travels through the region.

---

This post is one chapter on our trip to Jordan, Israel and France during the end of the pandemic. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Hertz Gold Plus Rewards and Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

---

---

Review: iGA Lounge – Istanbul International Airport, Turkey

---

This review is of the iGA Lounge – Istanbul International Airport.

For a review of other lounges and amenities in the Istanbul International Airport, please see our review of the Turkish Airlines Lounge Business Istanbul, Turkish Airlines Lounge Miles & Smiles, and the affiliated The iGA Sleepod Istanbul Airport.

About the iGA Lounge:

The iGA Pass forms part of the premium services packages offered at Istanbul International Airport. In addition to iGA Buggy, iGA Premium Meet and Greet, iGA Fast Track and iGA Valet Parking, the iGA Lounge represents their business class lounge service within this eco-system.

The only other lounges located within the Istanbul International Airport are the two Turkish Airlines lounges which are part of the Star Alliance Gold network, and the iGA Lounge, as described here.

Locating the iGA Lounge:

Istanbul International Airport is a Turkish Airlines global connection hub. As as result, Turkish Airlines took the best and largest upper level lounge space at the Istanbul International Airport.

This left the iGA Lounge with “the best of what’s left” inside Istanbul International Airport, by providing lounge space that located well off in the corner of the airport concourse.

After a substantial walk to the far end of the retail concourse, I eventually located the escalators up to the iGA Lounge. Unlike the Turkish Airlines lounges, the escalators were not guarded or manned by a reception agent, and anyone could access them.

This led to a bit of crowding at the bottom of the escalators while people figured out what their plans were.

After reaching the upper floor, I located the iGA Lounge Reception. The area was set up for substantial queuing, as there was a line maze that was among one of the longer ones that I had seen to gain access to a lounge, in recent memory.

Fortunately, the iGA Lounge had about five counters open with an army of staff available to process lounge entries. My wait in line was less than 5 minutes. I appreciate the lounge having a decent number of staff on, as this can be a real slow down when there is only one person working the front counter.

Accessing the iGA Lounge Istanbul:

The lounge can be easily accessed through Priority Pass

The iGA Lounge Istanbul is available through a number of ways:

The pricing for paid visit to the iGA Lounge is:

• Adult – 60€ for a 4 hour visit
• Child (Aged 7 – 12 Years) – 30€ for a 4 hour visit
• Baby (Aged 0- 6 years) – 0€ for a 4 hour visit

The lounge is also a member of Priority Pass. I visited the iGA Lounge today courtesy of Priority Pass Select, granted through a membership with my American Express Platinum Card. Priority Pass offers it’s members a complimentary three hour visit.

After my Priority Pass membership was validated at the reception, I was invited in.

Inside the iGA Lounge:

My first steps into the lounge were into an elegant looking green hallway. It was frequently busy within this lounge, so it was a bit of a navigation process to get inside the lounge seating area itself.

The iGA Lounge offere a small duty free complex located inside the lounge itself. I really appreciate this feature that we’ve seen in some better lounges, including within the Lufthansa First Class Terminal Frankfurt as it represents a massive time saver for travelers who can easily collect some duty free during their limited connection time.

The main entrance foyer area also offered a series of lounge maps. The lounge maps offered guidance to relaxation areas, a terrace, a business area, a bar, a lounge area and even a non alcoholic area.

The lounge also offered a free chair massage service, which was available on a first come first serve basis. There was only one upright massage chair available within the lounge, so this was a matter of being quick and available supply and demand.

Walking into the lounge itself, there was a grand piano set up that was some what reminiscent of the Asiana First Class Lounge Incheon. This version didn’t appear as mighty. However, it’s not every that you see a grand piano located in an airline lounge.

The lounge itself had a lot of natural light as it took up space against the windows of the Istanbul International Airport. Occupying the sunny side of the airport, this made one side of the lounge really sunny and warm.

Moving through the lounge, I walked along the “relaxation area”. The area offered lounge seating on occasional chairs and some lounger seats.

I eventually came to the Bar, which was an impressive looking oval shaped space, with spirits located on upper shelves. The Bar appeared to be the only place to obtain alcoholic drinks throughout the lounge, and we didn’t see self service trollies of wine or other spirits that we saw in the Turkish Airlines Lounge Space.

Moving around the lounge clockwise, I eventually moved to the inner portion of the lounge that faced the concourse retail space. This part of the lounge was without windows, and as a result, tended to be a bit cooler and more occupied.

There was a lower mezzanine area that was less occupied. It was accessible by stairs and a ramp, for those that had rolling suitacases like myself.

Continuing on with the main lounge level, the seating wrapped around on the retail shady side of the lounge, eventually leading back to the dining area.

Near the dining area, there were a few tables and chairs for those that wanted to eat near the food service area.

There was also a simple media zone that offered some flat screen televisions for those wanting to pause for the news.

Overall, despite the lounge being really full, there were ample places to sit. The lounge seating wasn’t particularly dense, so the lounge, if they needed to, could increase their seating foot print as needed in the future. There were a variety of seating options across the lounge, giving travellers a good selection in seating choices.

Food and Beverage:

The iGA Lounge offered a pretty substantial food and beverage service.

There were a variety of Middle Eastern salads. Perhaps some what interesting, is that none of these foods were marked saying what exactly they were.

There were also hot dishes available that were served by staff.

There was also a very popular Pide Station (Turkish Flatbread), often referred to as Turkish Pizza bread with various toppings on it served fresh from the oven.

Overall, the food looked to be appealing and tasty. Given the amount of people passing through the lounge, the food appeared fresh and had substantial turnover.

I had a quick visit within the iGA Lounge prior to heading off on a Turkish Airlines Business Class Istanbul – Paris flight.

My Thoughts on the iGA Lounge Istanbul:

The iGA Lounge surprised me more than expected.

Usually, my Priority Pass lounge experiences often involve small to medium spaces. The iGA Lounge Istanbul offered a massive place with an assortment of seating areas, a wide variety of amenities including chair massages, and a Turkish flatbread eating station.

The only negative that I could say about this particular space is that it tended to be quite busy and the lounge location left a little bit to be desired. It was situated quite a walk from anything and the boarding gates. Perhaps upwards of twenty minutes at the worse case .

While I wasn’t expecting a lounge of this calibre on my stay, I would easily endorse this lounge as a space to spend some time in between flights.

---

If you have visited the iGA Lounge Istanbul, did you enjoy your time in the lounge ?

---