Meter starts at the curb outside Terminal T arrivals
Yellow taxis line up directly outside the arrivals hall at Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) Terminal T, running 24 hours a day. You walk out of baggage claim, follow the “Taksi” signs, and join the official queue in front of the terminal. There’s an attendant during busy bank times who directs passengers into the next car, which keeps things moving when multiple flights land at once.
All Yellow Taxis at SAW use a metered system with government-regulated tariffs set in Turkish lira. The meter starts with a fixed opening fee, then charges per kilometer plus a small per-minute amount in traffic. There’s no flat airport surcharge added on top, so what you see on the meter at the end of the ride is the base fare before any tip.
For context, a metered ride from SAW to Kadıköy on the Asian side usually runs significantly less than a ride to Taksim on the European side because the distance is shorter by several kilometers. Heavy traffic around the E-5 and TEM highways can stretch both time and price, since you pay for distance and for time spent in congestion. Ask the driver roughly how many kilometers to your district before you get in if you want a ballpark figure.
Most drivers accept cash in Turkish lira, and some cars display contactless or card terminals on the dashboard. Don’t count on cards working 100% of the time; have enough lira on hand to cover at least a 150–250 TRY ride in case the machine is offline or the driver prefers cash. Tipping is not mandatory, but rounding up to the nearest 10 or 20 lira is standard on airport runs.
Official Yellow Taxis use a roof sign, a visible license plate, and a printed taxi license card mounted inside the cabin. Check that the meter is switched on within the first 1–2 minutes of leaving SAW; if you don’t see numbers starting from the standard opening fee, ask directly for the “taksimetre.” Take a quick photo of the plate or license card before departure if you want a record.
One tip: write your hotel or address in Turkish (or have it ready on your phone) and hand it to the driver at the SAW taxi line; this cuts down on confusion and keeps the first few minutes from being spent trying to explain neighborhood names over the terminal noise.