We Traveled to Spain Through Istanbul and then back from Portugal Through Istanbul

We used Turkish Air as they had an excellent price for traveling. Turkish Air did pretty well but there were some issues at the airport in Istanbul.

One minor issue was resolved. The coke machine in the first image  advertises itself as having Coke Zero and Coke Light but when we arrived at the airport, the machine was out of both. They fixed that in about an hour.

One issue was annoying on both flights to the airport. The airport doesn't have enough gates for the incoming flights and so you have to get off the plane and get on a bus to get to the arrival deck. 

One issue was a bit scary but resolved. When we got to the Istanbul Airport after our sightseeing trip, it was Nov 6 and our outbound flight was Nov 7.  

If we had wanted a hotel it would have required a VISA and Turkey might have been tough about it but we did get through without having to get VISAs (and a hotel room). 

We did have to walk a good 40 minutes through various passport areas but we finally would up at the Premier Lounge - we paid 59 Euros each and got to sit on nice chairs, have free wifi, free soft drinks and beer, etc. while we waited (about 20 hours) for the flight back to the US. 

The airport has multiple lounges. 

The 2nd image is the Turkish Airline lounge.

The third image is the HSBS lounge, the 4th is the Premier Lounge 

(2nd, 3rd and 4th image are from various Istanbul airport websites).