Going to Istanbul for Laser Eye Surgery with EyeSTAR

I have wanted to have my eyes lasered for a number of years, however in the UK; it costs over £3000 for both eyes. I found myself on a journey to Istanbul for health tourism and decided if I could find a good clinic I would also get my eye surgery.

I checked out some reviews for Istanbul and came across a single review for Eyestar. I checked out their website and continued to research them. I was seeing their patients saying good they were on Facebook and I was sceptical. Anyway, I got in touch with them. The price would be €1199 equivalent to £920 or $1306.

This is part of the information I received via email.

We recommend you to arrive to Istanbul one day before your appointment, because we want that our patients are rested and relax at them pre-op examination. The fully concentration and co-operation of the patients at that day is requested from outside.


Please be informed, if you wear contact lenses, to take them off before your appointment in our institute. For soft contact lenses the break should be 4 or 5 days, but better 2 weeks and for hard contact lenses 3 weeks, but better 4 weeks before your appointment date.

Two nights in Istanbul will be sufficient for your treatment, or one night if you arrive to Istanbul in the morning.

The EyeSTAR package costs 1199€ and includes the following:


1. EyeSTAR LASIK treatment: Wavefront Optimized, Opti-Lasik treatment with state-of-the-art technology
2. All exams and medications
3. EyeSTAR insurance, covering your vision fully lifetime, to and including an enhancement procedure in the rare event that it becomes necessary
4. Transfers from/to the airport, hotel, and EyeSTAR.


After the pre-op examination you can make the payment in cash (euro) or credit card. Please note that an additional 3% bank commission will be charged for payment by credit card (Visa, MasterCard, Diners Club, American Express, JCB or Maestro). We do not request from our patient a prepayment.

This sounded good, also, they offer a lifetime guarantee, they state the below:

The aim of all EyeSTAR vision correction is to improve your eyesight. To achieve this, our team of highly-trained vision correction professionals and our leading procedures aim to deliver the highest standard of care. We believe that this individual attention should last beyond just the day of your eye surgery treatment. That is why we back up our commitment to you with the EyeSTAR Lifetime Care Guarantee.

We arrived 6am in Istanbul, our driver was late, not a good start. He took us to Nippon hotel which was about 45mins away as the airport was on the other side on Istanbul. Thankfully the hotel allowed us to check in early, we managed to have breakfast and OMG if anyone goes there, ask for the Spanish omelette (it is delicious). We rested a bit and we were picked up by the relations manager with whom I had been communicating, his name is Fred and he is the nicest man.
We walked to Eyestar which was less than 5 minutes walk. Nippon was definitely a good location. We waited in the waiting area and there were 3 other people getting their eyes done. I filled in some information sheets about my health, they then took me to an examination room where I had to see through 5 machines (there were all to test my eye sight and my glasses prescription). After that I then met with the surgeon, he advised that there is a potential of getting 20/20 vision however I’m more likely to get 80-90% of 20/20. I was so happy to hear 80-90%. I was okay with that, it was better than what I have now. He also advised I have big pupil and I make have difficulty driving in the dark for the first few weeks, he stated they would provide me with drops to combat that if I was happy to proceed. I agreed. I came this far.

I should add I have been concerned about going blind during this procedure but I know the risk is very rare. But I was too excited that I could see in about 15 mins to care.

I went into the operating room where I was given drops into my eyes and advised to always look straight at the red dot. It was difficult at times as I had fluids going in but my eyes were clamped open, I have a video to help you realise what happened.

I was given instructions to rest my eyes for the day and if possible to sleep til the evening. And then to wear eye patches for the first few nights. I was given eye drops and given instructions on how to use. I was also given pain relief medication and a sleeping tablet in case of any difficulty. My husband took me back to the hotel I slept like a baby. When I woke up, it was such a great feeling to wake and no search for my glasses I’ve worn for the last 20 years. Went to dinner and it was great, I asked my husband for the time and he just lifted his phone up he was about a few feet away, I wasn’t squinting or was it a blurred mess. I could see the time clearly. He laughed at me to when I swooned with excitement at reading the time. Lol

I am happy to answer any questions, but at least make sure you read the review first. Thanks