Istanbulkart full fare is 46.20 lira, then cheaper taps for 120 minutes. A single ticket is 65 lira. The card is not the airport car. Istanbulkart is the city transport card, not the airport car. On the IBB full-fare table in force from 20 July 2026, the first tap on a standard bus, tram, metro, or funicular is 46.20 lira. Inside 120 minutes the next taps are 34.40, then 26.42, then 17.18 lira. A one-ride ticket, or a contactless bank card, is 65 lira. Metrobus, Marmaray, and airport bus H-1 are different lines. Sultanahmet by private car is 45 euros per vehicle from Istanbul Airport, 50 from Sabiha Gökçen.
Contents
- The fare on the card
- 120 minutes, then a new full fare
- Lines that are not 46.20 lira
- Where the card comes from
- Card, single ticket, airport car
- Four steps at the machine
- Common questions
Istanbulkart is the city transport card. On the IBB full-fare table in force from 20 July 2026, the first tap on a standard bus, tram, metro, or funicular is 46.20 lira. A one-ride ticket without that card is 65 lira. The next taps inside 120 minutes drop to 34.40, then 26.42, then 17.18 lira. Hagia Sophia Travel (TÜRSAB 16602) does not sell the card. We sell the airport car to the hotel door, which this card does not pay.
Buy and load it on the official card site. The numbers above are the public tariff PDF dated 20 July 2026: IBB fare tariff. If a later PDF replaces that date, the machine price wins.
Istanbulkart is 46.20 lira, then the transfers
The anonymous card is the one visitors buy. No name, no residency file. The machine charges a card price and then takes whatever credit you load. Those are two amounts. Spend the credit on rides. The plastic fee is not a deposit the airport hands back.
One tap is one person. A second person on the same card is a second tap. At the same gate, a repeat tap inside 30 minutes charges another paid ride from the balance when the balance covers it. Hold the card flat on the reader until the light changes. One wave for four people charges one ride.
A contactless bank card is accepted on many gates. The tariff bills that bank card like the limited one-ride ticket, so you pay 65 lira, not 46.20. The cheaper number belongs to Istanbulkart and to the QR ticket on the same full-fare row.
120 minutes, then a new full fare
The tariff sets the total transfer window at 120 minutes. Tap a tram, then a funicular, then a metro inside that window and the second ride is 34.40 lira, the third is 26.42, and from the fourth tap the row is 17.18 lira. Miss the window and the next ride is 46.20 again.
That window is why a Sultanahmet morning can stay cheap. Tram to Eminönü, ferry across, a short walk in Kadıköy, and the pieces share one clock. The crossing itself is the trip we wrote up in Kadıköy from Sultanahmet. The card is the payment. The page is the route.
Prince Islands boats are a higher line on the same tariff. Do not budget Büyükada at 46.20 lira. The day, the ferry pier, and the return clock are on Büyükada day trip.
Lines that are not 46.20 lira
Metrobus charges by how many stops you ride. One stop is 33.08 lira. Three stops match the 46.20 city ride. A long run, 34 stops and beyond, is 68.59 lira on the full fare. Count the stops if Metrobus is the plan.
Marmaray, the Halkalı to Gebze rail, charges by station groups, from 37.40 lira up to 82.17 lira, and that line does not give or take a transfer discount. The airport metro, Halkalı to Istanbul Airport to Gayrettepe, is also by station count. It does pass a transfer, and it charges a maximum first, then refunds the unused distance when you exit. A long airport-metro ride is still not the 46.20 tram.
Airport bus line H-1, Mahmutbey metro to Istanbul Airport, is 92.40 lira on that tariff. It is a bus with a line price. It is not our car. Istanbul Airport to a Sultanahmet hotel is 48 km and 45 to 60 minutes, 45 euros for the whole vehicle, up to 6 passengers and 6 bags, Gate 9, point CEO 34. Sabiha Gökçen is 65 km, 75 to 95 minutes, 50 euros for the vehicle, pillar 10. Book the door on Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet. The same arrival on this brand is Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet. One company. Bags and a hotel pin belong in the car. The card belongs on the tram after you have dropped the bags.
Where the card comes from
Biletmatik machines sit at metro stations, tram stops, metrobus stops, and ferry piers, and at the metro end of both airports. The screen has an English option. Notes go in. The machine shows the card price and the credit you are loading. Load a sum you will ride. Anonymous credit stays on the plastic.
Kiosks with the card mark sell and top up the same card during their own hours. The machine is the one that is still there at midnight. A personalised student or monthly card needs a local file. Visitors use the anonymous card.
The same purchase, told from the partner brand’s older page, is where to get an Istanbul card. This page is the fare. That page is the machine. Use the July 2026 numbers here when the two disagree.
Card, single ticket, airport car
Istanbulkart is the left column. The other two columns are what people pay when they skip it, and what they pay when the job is a hotel door rather than a turnstile.
| Card full fare | One-ride ticket or bank card | Our Sultanahmet car | |
|---|---|---|---|
| First city ride | 46.20 lira | 65 lira | not a ride, a vehicle |
| Next tap inside 120 minutes | 34.40, then 26.42, then 17.18 | each ticket is full price | one price for the car |
| Who it carries | one tap, one person | one ticket, one person | up to 6 passengers and 6 bags |
| Istanbul Airport to Sultanahmet | metro is a station fare, not 46.20 flat | the same station fare at the single-ticket rate | 45 euros, 45 to 60 minutes, Gate 9 |
| Sabiha Gökçen to Sultanahmet | not this column | not this column | 50 euros, 75 to 95 minutes, pillar 10 |
| Metrobus, long | up to 68.59 lira | limited-ticket rules on that line | the car does not use Metrobus |
Four steps at the machine
First, buy the anonymous Istanbulkart at a Biletmatik and read the card price on the screen before you add credit. Load rides you will take in the next two days, not a guess for the whole week.
Second, tap once per person. Budget 46.20 lira for the first city ride and the cheaper rows only when the next vehicle is inside 120 minutes.
Third, leave Metrobus, Marmaray, the airport metro, and line H-1 off the 46.20 guess. Open the PDF if that is the vehicle you are boarding.
Fourth, book the hotel car as its own reservation. A 16:00 flight wants the car at midday from Sultanahmet. The card does not hold that pickup.
Common questions
How much is Istanbulkart for one tram ride?
46.20 lira on the full fare from 20 July 2026. The next rides inside 120 minutes are 34.40, then 26.42, then 17.18 lira.
Can I pay with a bank card instead?
On many gates, yes. The tariff charges that tap like the one-ride ticket, 65 lira, not the 46.20 card fare.
Does one card work for the whole family?
Yes, if you tap once for each person and the balance covers every tap. One wave opens one gate.
Does Istanbulkart pay the airport transfer?
No. The private car to Sultanahmet is 45 euros from Istanbul Airport or 50 euros from Sabiha Gökçen, per vehicle. Airport bus H-1 is 92.40 lira and still drops you at a metro stop, not at the hotel door.
Is the Prince Islands ferry 46.20 lira?
No. Islands boats sit on a higher line of the same tariff. Read the Büyükada page before you treat it as a city tram.
Do I get the credit back when I fly home?
No. Anonymous credit stays on the card. Load what you will ride. The plastic price and the ride credit are separate, and neither is the hotel bill.
Use the card on the tram and the ferry after the bags are in the room. Lock the door-to-door ride on the Sultanahmet to Istanbul Airport return and the partner return, and open the planner only when the day needs a private vehicle between the stops.
