What a hair transplant quote leaves out
A hair transplant quote is usually a headline figure attached to a graft number, and the gap between that figure and what you eventually pay is made of about eight recurring lines. None of them is exotic. They appear in packages in every market that sells to foreign patients, Turkey included as the largest of them, and they appear in domestic clinics too. Knowing the list in advance turns a sales conversation into an audit, which is the only advantage you need.
| Line that appears later | How it usually shows up | How our quote handles it |
|---|---|---|
| Grafts above the quoted number | Priced per graft on the day | Package covers a session up to 4,500 grafts; no per-graft top-up |
| Add-on treatment on the day | Offered in the chair as a growth booster | Not sold here; the plan is the plan |
| Medication and aftercare items | Bought at a pharmacy after discharge | Pre-operative blood tests, the procedure with the medical team, post-operative medication and care products, hotel accommodation in Tirana, airport transfers, and the follow-up checks |
| An extra night, a changed flight | Your cost, discovered on day 2 | Package covers the hotel stay; flights and personal spending |
| Transfers | Airport included, clinic runs not | Airport and clinic transfers both inside the package |
| A second session | Quoted after month twelve | Priced in writing before you book the first |
| Revision if growth is poor | Undefined | A written guarantee for life: if transplanted grafts do not grow as planned, the corrective session is covered, though not the natural thinning of hair that was never transplanted |
| Deposit and payment method | Non-refundable, card surcharge | €200 deposit, payment by by card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) or bank transfer, in euro |
Send us the quote you already have with your three photographs. We will mark which of these eight lines it does not answer, and what we would charge for the same plan.
The eight lines, one at a time
Grafts above the number you were quoted
The commonest surprise. A package says 3,000 grafts, the surgeon harvests 3,400 on the day, and the extra 400 are billed per graft while you are still in the chair. Ask the question in advance and in writing: what happens if you take more, and what happens if you take fewer. Our package is written to a ceiling rather than a target, so a session of 2,600 and a session of 4,500 cost the same and the extracted count goes in your file either way.
The add-on offered on the morning of surgery
Somewhere between the shave and the anaesthetic, a second treatment gets suggested to improve your growth, at a price, today only. Whether or not such treatments have merit is a separate discussion; being sold one while gowned and committed is not a discussion at all. We do not offer them and we do not sell anything on the day of surgery.
Medication and the aftercare items
Antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, painkillers, the special shampoo, the spray, the pillow. Individually small, collectively a real number, and often left to you to buy in a foreign pharmacy on the evening you least want to go looking. Ours are in the package, and the line reads pre-operative blood tests, the procedure with the medical team, post-operative medication and care products, hotel accommodation in Tirana, airport transfers, and the follow-up checks.
The extra night and the changed flight
Quotes assume a perfect timetable. Then the surgery runs long, or you land late, or the day 2 wash falls after your flight. Any of those costs a night and sometimes a change fee. We plan the dates from the flight you actually book, and if your schedule does not fit the day 0 to day 3 pattern we say so before you pay a deposit, not on arrival.
Transfers
Most packages include the airport pickup. Fewer include the daily run from the hotel to the clinic and back, which on surgery day matters because you are not going to feel like negotiating a taxi. Both are inside ours.
The second session
If your plan needs 5,000 grafts, the quote you are looking at is for part of the work. That is legitimate, as long as it is said out loud. Ask for the second session to be priced before you commit to the first, so you know the whole cost of the whole plan rather than the entry price.
The revision policy
The line that matters most and appears least. What happens if growth at month twelve is poor in one zone? Who judges it, by what method, and what does the remedy cost? Ours reads: A written guarantee for life: if transplanted grafts do not grow as planned, the corrective session is covered, though not the natural thinning of hair that was never transplanted. A policy you can read before paying is worth more than a promise made in a chat window.
The deposit, the currency and the card
Whether the deposit is refundable, whether the balance can be paid by card without a surcharge, and which currency the price is fixed in. Albania accepts euro, so there is no conversion surprise for a euro-zone patient, and ours is €200 deposit with payment by by card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express) or bank transfer, in euro.
If you only ask one question, ask this on WhatsApp at +355 69 691 1118: “Is this figure final, and what would make it change on the day?” Then keep the reply.
Why the headline number exists at all
Because it works. A package price is the easiest thing to advertise and to compare, and a low one wins the click even when the clinic knows the average patient will pay more. The fix is not outrage, it is arithmetic: ask for the total cost of the whole plan, including anything a second session would cost, and compare those totals rather than the two headline figures. The published bands by country are on Albania versus Turkey, and the line-by-line contents of our own package are on what is included.
How to read a quote in five minutes
Look for four things and you will have found most of what is missing. A graft number with a ceiling or a target stated. A list of inclusions long enough to include medication and the first wash. The person who operates written on the document, not just a clinic logo. And a sentence about what happens at month twelve if the result is not what was planned. If all four are present, you are dealing with people who have written this many times. If none are, the figure in the message is an advertisement.
FAQ
Are hidden costs common in hair transplant packages?
Undisclosed costs are less common than under-described ones. Most quotes are technically accurate and simply silent about the eight items above, which leaves the patient to discover them at the least convenient moment. The defence is boring and effective: ask for the inclusions as a list, ask what makes the price move, and get both in writing. A clinic that answers in one message has answered honestly; a clinic that answers with a phone call often does not want a written record.
What should a complete quote contain?
Your graft number and how it was reached, the technique per zone, the session ceiling, the price and the currency, the inclusion list, the exclusion list, the deposit and balance terms, the dates and duration of surgery, the aftercare and medication provided, the follow-up schedule, who will operate, and the policy on poor growth. Our full breakdown, including hotel nights and what the second session would cost, is on the cost page.
If fewer grafts are harvested, do I pay less?
Not with a package written to a ceiling, and that cuts both ways: you pay the same for 2,600 as for 4,500. What you should insist on, everywhere, is that the extracted and implanted counts are recorded and given to you. With per-graft pricing the arithmetic is different and the question becomes essential, because the invoice is a multiplication of a number nobody in the room counted except the clinic.
Are flights and meals ever included?
Rarely, and you should be sceptical when they are, because the cost has simply been moved inside the headline. Ours are excluded and stated as such: Flights and personal spending. Booking your own flights is also the cheaper route in practice, since you know your own airport, your own dates and whether you want to fly home on the afternoon of day 3 or the morning of day 4.
Is a deposit normal?
Yes. It holds an operating day that the clinic then cannot sell to anyone else, which is exactly why it exists and why a small number of patients a day makes each date valuable. What matters is that the amount, the refund conditions and the deadline are written down before you send anything. Ours is €200 deposit.
Upload the three photographs to the free hair analysis form and attach any quote you want checked. The surgeon who will treat you reviews the photographs personally, and the reply lists the graft estimate, the package price, what is inside it and what is not.
Clinically reviewed by the treating surgeon. Last reviewed 25 September 2026.