Public transport in Istanbul is an effective way of getting around the large city. In order to use the public transportation system, you need to have a Istanbulkart (Read more about the standard card here), which is a card you can load money on. However, did you know that there is also a version of this card for students? It works the same as the normal Istanbulkart, and it gives you 50% discount on every ride! Trips will no longer be 35TL, but only 17,50TL. It is a must-have for students, and I will explain how to obtain one.

Note: This is a guide for the application in a physical application center. It is possible to do an application online, but often the official Istanbulkart site does not work well for online applications. Therefore it is advised to do the application in a physical application center.

This list contains all the documents you need to bring, so make sure you have them with you:

• Passport
• Passphoto: A clear, passport style photo
• Student Certificate: This printed document must come from your Turkish University and must confirm your active student status.
• Application Fee: When you get the card you will have to pay a small amount of money (100-200TL). Credit Card or cash is advised.

Locations – Where to Go?

These are some of the most reliable and central Istanbulkart Application Centers (İşlem Merkezleri/İstanbulkart Başvuru Merkezi) in Istanbul where you can get your Istanbulkart for students.

• Karaköy; One of the central terminals, easy accessible.
• Eminönü: A big transportationhub next to the Bosporus.
• Yenikapı: Important hub for the metro and Marmaray.
• Üsküdar: A central point on the Asian side.
• Gayrettepe: Important metrohub, centrally located and easy accessible.
• Beşiktaş: Central point on the European side

To see all the application centers, you can visit the official website of Istanbulkart. Make sure you look for a Başvuru Merkezi, and not a Noktasi, When you hover with your computer mouse over the icon in front of the location, you will see “Yol tarifi al Tıklayın”. If you click on the link it will bring you to Google Maps, with the right location.

Important: It is possible that the application center is underground in the metro, for example in Gayrettepe.

The Process

When you arrive in the application center, you will have to fill in your Turkish foreign number on the machine, this will give you a ticket with a number. These machines are most likely not in English, only in Turkish. This can be quite annoying, but with Google Translate you should be able to overcome this.

When your number is called/shown on screen, you will go to the desk, hand over your documents, and pay the fee. Your card will then be printed and handed to you immediately

When you have your card, I advise you to load your card on a loading machine right away. Then you can start using the card also immediately. Loading the card works in the same way as loading a normal Istanbulkart, therefore you can check out the post on the Istanbulkart where I explained this.

This Istanbulkart for students is incredibly useful to have, it is not very difficult to obtain one and it will save you 50% of the money you will spend on public transport. There is no reason not to get one! This card is personal, and therefore is not allowed to be used by someone else.

Thank you for reading this post, I hope to have informed you well enough! If you have any questions, stories you want to share, or anything else, you can comment down below or contact me through social media or the contact form on the website.