Deciding to get a hair transplant can be stressful if you are experiencing hair loss. After a lot of consideration, you may decide to get one. But that’s not the only hard part as soon after you’ll have to research the clinics that best fit your requirements and budget. While doing so, you’ll also have to be careful about including all the additional costs you might incur from flights, aftercare, hotels, and transfer services in case you’re traveling abroad. To learn more about how much hotels and transfers cost, keep reading.
Quite often, people end up thinking that going abroad may be nothing but expensive for medical treatment. But you don’t have to worry about that as the hair transplant cost can be very economical. The hotel and transfer costs in actuality are quite affordable. However, the prices can vary depending on location and your preferences.
Hotels
When traveling abroad for treatment, one of the most important things to take care of is booking a hotel. Once your itinerary is in order, it will significantly reduce your anxiety about the journey. Many clinics also offer hotel arrangements in their package, along with hair transplant costs, which you can avail to your benefit as the companies know their way around the cities and can arrange for good reservations. If not, there are, however, a few things to be considered while doing so.
Factors Affecting Price Variations
The prices of the hotels can vary from one city to another so you won’t be getting a fixed price. It even differs within the city according to the region and the luxury of the hotel itself whether it’s a three, four or five-star hotel. So, you should be prepared for such price variations if you are going to make your travel arrangements. You will have many options and can book a cheap or expensive hotel depending on your budget.
It is recommended that you choose a hotel that is close to the clinic, so you don’t have to worry about tiring transfers.
Turkish Exchange Rate
Another thing to consider if you are going to Turkey to have surgery is the exchange rate. Because of the Turkish economy, luxury hotels are not so expensive as long as the transactions are made in pounds, dollars, or euros. You can find yourself a very good hotel for only 15 pounds per night while a 5-star hotel in the city center can be booked for 25-30 pounds at most. This way, your overall hair transplant cost would remain low.
Transfer Services
Similar to the prices of hotels, you’ll also find variations in the cost of transfer services depending on the city and the airports within it.
Airports
Taking Istanbul as an example, let’s see how the price varies depending on the airport that you are using. The city has two international airports: one on the Anatolian side and the other on the European side:
New Istanbul Airport
Situated on the European side of the city (since it straddles both Asia and Europe), New Istanbul Airport is 50 km northwest of Sultanahmet, the historical museum located in the heart of old Istanbul. If you travel by car or taxi, the whole trip won’t take more than an hour. However, time may vary depending on the traffic situation.
You can also choose Havaist, an airport shuttle service that is associated with Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality and serves the New Istanbul Airport. Using that, a trip to/from Taksim Square will take 70 minutes at the cost of 18 TL (£2.40). The same trip would cost you £20 for taking a taxi. If you’re going to/from Yenikapı, you’ll reach your destination in 75 minutes in 18TL while the distance to/from Esenler Bus Terminal can be covered in 70 minutes at the price of 16TL (£2.14).
On average, the cost is no more than £2.50. The total number of passengers also plays a role in determining the total transportation costs. For example, the fare for four passengers traveling one-way between Istanbul Airport and the city center is around £38.
Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport
The second international airport serving Istanbul is located at Kurtköy. The airport is 40 km away from the Anatolian center of Kadıköy. And it’s 50 km away from Taksim Square, the heart of modern Istanbul located on the European side.
White-coloured shuttles parked in front of the arrival terminal can take you to Taksim at the cost of 15TL (£2.01) and to Kadıköy for 10TL (£1.34). Although choosing a taxi instead of the shuttle service can cost you much more. For instance, a trip from the airport to Kadıköy by taxi can cost 120TL (£16.07)
Easier than navigating a foreign country on your own is finding a company that arranges transfers for you and includes it in their package price. They can make sure that you travel in greater comfort and luxury, which might not be available in a taxi or bus. There’s also the added benefit that as everything will be arranged by your medical tourism company, you won’t have to worry about getting lost as they’ll know the location of your hotel.
