Why we do not sell flights
Every package on this site excludes flights. That is a choice in your favour, and it is worth explaining rather than leaving as a gap in the price list.
A bundled flight is a flight someone else chose. It departs when it suits the operator, from whichever airport they have an arrangement with, at a fare that includes their margin. It is also, in practice, far harder to change — and medical travel dates move more often than holiday dates do.
- You almost always pay less booking your own, particularly from regional airports and on budget carriers.
- You keep control of the dates, which matters if your surgery is rescheduled for a clinical reason.
- You can use airline miles, a company travel account or a fare you have found yourself.
- A delay or cancellation becomes a matter between you and the airline, with your statutory rights intact — not a dispute with a medical travel company.
- You choose the cabin. Several patients upgrade the return leg only, which is sensible and impossible with a bundled fare.
What to book, and when
Book the outbound once your dates are confirmed, and treat the return as the leg that needs flexibility.
- Wait for confirmed dates. Do not book flights on a provisional date or before a clinician has assessed you — this is the single most common and most expensive mistake patients make.
- Check the required stay. Every treatment page states the nights in Turkey and the clinical reason. A hair transplant is three nights; a body lift is ten. Book the return accordingly, not optimistically.
- Choose the airport. Istanbul Airport (IST) is usually the shorter transfer to our hotels and clinics; Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side and takes 60–90 minutes. We meet you at either.
- Buy a changeable return where you can. Surgery dates occasionally move for clinical reasons, and an unchangeable fare turns a minor rescheduling into an expensive one.
- Avoid connections on the return leg. Changing planes while sore, swollen and carrying a compression garment is worse than it sounds. Pay for the direct flight home if you pay for one anywhere.
- Allow a buffer. If you must connect, leave three hours rather than ninety minutes.
- Send us the flight numbers. Not the times — the numbers, so your transfers can be tracked against the actual flight.
When to book
- Six to ten weeks ahead is usually the price sweet spot for European routes.
- Avoid Turkish public holidays and the weeks either side of Ramadan and Eid, when fares rise sharply.
- Mid-week flights are generally cheaper and quieter than weekend ones.
- Summer is hot and humid, which matters if you will be wearing a compression garment for six weeks. Spring and autumn are more comfortable for recovery.
Fit to fly after treatment
Your surgeon confirms you are fit to fly before you leave. Airlines also have their own rules, and for some procedures they matter.
Two separate questions sit behind the return flight: whether your surgeon is content for you to fly, and whether the airline will carry you. For the vast majority of patients neither is a problem, because our package stays are set long enough that both are comfortably satisfied. It is worth knowing the rules exist.
What determines the date
- Blood clot risk after surgery, which is the main reason stays are as long as they are. Walking the cabin hourly and wearing compression stockings is not optional.
- Wound inspection — your surgeon checks you before you fly, which is why we do not shorten stays.
- Cabin pressure, which matters specifically after a sinus lift and, to a lesser degree, after rhinoplasty.
- Mobility: whether you can get yourself to a toilet and in and out of a seat unaided.
Airline rules worth knowing
- Most airlines ask about recent surgery if you request assistance, and some require a fit-to-fly letter for travel within a defined period after an operation.
- A fit-to-fly letter from your surgeon is provided free on request. Ask your coordinator a few days before you travel rather than at the airport.
- Declare recent surgery to your insurer, not necessarily to the airline unless asked. Insurers void policies for non-disclosure more readily than airlines refuse carriage.
- If you are flying with drains in place, which is unusual, tell both your coordinator and the airline in advance.
Special assistance
Airport assistance is free, available to anyone who needs it, and under-used by medical travellers who would benefit.
Special assistance is not only for wheelchair users. It covers anyone who would struggle with distance, standing in queues or carrying luggage — which describes most patients flying home after abdominal, breast or body surgery.
- Request it when you book, or at least 48 hours before departure, directly with the airline.
- It is free. Airlines are required to provide it and cannot charge.
- What you get: help from check-in to the gate, priority boarding, assistance with hand luggage and a buggy or wheelchair across long terminals.
- Istanbul Airport is very large. Walking from check-in to a distant gate is a genuine distance, and worth avoiding after surgery.
- Tell your coordinator too, so your transfer and airport drop-off are timed with extra margin.
- If you are travelling alone after surgery, request it even if you think you will manage. It costs nothing and you can decline it on the day.
Flight services: frequently asked questions
No, deliberately. Bundled flights mean flying on our schedule, from our airport, at our fare, and they are far harder to change if your surgery date moves. We advise on what to book instead, which costs you nothing and usually saves money.
Istanbul Airport (IST) is usually the shorter transfer to our hotels and clinics; Sabiha Gökçen (SAW) is on the Asian side and takes 60–90 minutes. We meet you at either, so choose on price and convenience.
Only once your dates are confirmed after a clinical assessment — never on a provisional date. Six to ten weeks ahead is usually the price sweet spot for European routes.
For the return, if you can afford it. Surgery dates occasionally move for clinical reasons, and an unchangeable fare turns a minor rescheduling into an expensive one. The outbound is lower risk once dates are confirmed.
You can, but avoid it if you have any alternative. Changing planes while sore, swollen and carrying a compression garment is worse than it sounds. If you must connect, leave three hours rather than ninety minutes.
On the day your package states, after your surgeon has confirmed it. The stays are set by clinical need — clot risk, wound inspection and, after a sinus lift, cabin pressure. Do not book an earlier return to save hotel nights.
Yes, free on request from your surgeon. Ask your coordinator a few days before you travel rather than at the airport. Some airlines require one for travel within a defined period after surgery.
Free airline assistance from check-in to the gate, including priority boarding and a buggy across long terminals. It is not only for wheelchair users — it suits anyone who would struggle with distance or luggage after surgery. Request it at least 48 hours ahead.
We give you as much notice as possible, which is one reason we recommend changeable return fares. Your coordinator will help you work through the options, and hotel nights are adjusted at no charge where the change is ours.
Not usually, unless you are requesting assistance or travelling with drains, in which case tell them in advance. You do need to tell your insurer — non-disclosure voids policies far more readily than airlines refuse carriage.
Yes, and that is one of the practical reasons we do not bundle flights. Booking your own means you keep whatever fare, cabin or loyalty arrangement works best for you.
Spring and autumn for comfort — Istanbul summers are hot and humid, which is difficult if you are wearing a compression garment for six weeks. Avoid Turkish public holidays and the weeks around Ramadan and Eid, when fares rise sharply.
