This article departs from Istanbul as a transit location experiencing a constant inflow and outflow of (African) migrants, and the strong narrative among African migrants that Istanbul has nothing to offer and should be transited as fast as possible. As a consequence of this, the article identifies migrants' constant anticipation of each other's potential leaving - the logic of transit - as a useful concept to understand social and economic migrant relations in a situation of transit. Thus it offers an analysis of how this logic permeates the formation and maintenance of social networks and, consequently, impacts on trajectories of mobility. Developed through in-depth analysis of the migrants' lived experiences, it offers a new angle on transit movements and the condition of transit in general.