Am considering Turkish Air for Long Haul… any views?

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  • SwissExPat
    Participant

    I find myself in Sarajevo in a few weeks and now have an instruction to get to the USA east cost in a hurry, hence departing SJJ directly.

    The best connection (in J at a decent price) is vis IST with Turkish Air. This is an multi Sector arriving back in ZRH. A330 for the transatlantic sections.

    The Turkish site presents what seems to be a decent business product (elbeit 2-2-2 cofig with flat-bed) and reasonable lounges in both IST and Lufthansa lounges ex USA east coast.

    Any experiences/views ?


    tomwjsimpson
    Participant

    I’ve never flown long haul but on short haul I’ve always found Turkish to be excellent. Great food and drinks service, excellent IFE.


    Mister C
    Participant

    I’ve flown Turkish to ATL, YYZ & JFK and have found the food & beverage and service to be excellent. I would go as far as to say that the inflight dining is amongst the top handful worldwide.

    IFE is very good with a wide variety of movies and TV shows although the flight map is not the best out there.

    I find the actual seat to be comfortable enough albeit not on a par with the latest offerings on some airlines with the 2-2-2 configuration not ideal but also not a major issue.

    The lounge at the old IST airport was rightly lauded as being amongst the best offerings but I can’t comment on the new airport as I’ve not flown from there as yet.

    All told, a very good product for a consistently very reasonable price.

    One final point to note is that I find the Miles and Smiles programme is excellent with no restrictions in terms of miles redemption bookings. I used the miles accrued from my flights to ATL and YYZ alone to book a return award flight from LHR to DXB with the minimal of fuss.

    All told, an excellent airline.


    Simon58
    Participant

    I have flown TK long haul to GRU/ICN/BKK. Their 777 aircraft come with fully flat beds 2 x 3 x 2 config. Their 330-300 also come with fully flat beds 2 x 2 x 2. Beware of their 330-200 as to date I have only experienced flat beds but at an angle. Service on board is very good. Just take care when transiting the new airport in IST – taxiing to the gate after landing can be long, as can the distances between gates (via security). First time I used this airport I missed my connection. Now I wont accept a connection of less than 2 hrs.


    agsteele
    Participant

    TK business class is good. Service is friendly and attentive. Meals are as good as most airlines and better than many.

    My only reservation is a change of flight at IST. Since the new airport opened earlier this year taxi times are lengthy and there can be a long walk from the arrival gate to departures. At the old airport TK had connections down to a fine art but I would not be comfortable with less than 90 minutes for a change of planes at the moment. They are improving but don’t plan tight connections.


    maxgeorge
    Participant

    Use the Business Class Lounge, as opposed to the Miles&Smile Lounge, at the new IST.

    Less crowded.

    Food offerings in either put BA’s galleries to shame.

    Ditto on-board catering.

    One complaint – TK keeps their cabins warm. Dress lightly.


    traveldoc1
    Participant

    I have used TK many times long haul and they are very good BUT…. as long as things go according to plan. If things go wrong then beware – they simply wash their hands of you and it becomes a nightmare trying to get ay information or assistance. Haven’t used the new IST but reviews seem very mixed, bordering on negative. A shame as the old IST ws a nice transit airport.


    paul
    Participant

    Excellent service regular traveller in business on Almay-London and Almaty-Havana transit via new IST airport, agree with other comments long taxi, and healthy walk between gates, cannot fault service on board professional crew, comfortable cabin and good catering


    SwissExPat
    Participant

    Thanks for observations. My connection times are 2.5 hours and 4 hours on return hence will hopefully be ok.


    Andy/Thailand
    Participant

    I went through airport a couple of weeks ago and the flight from LHR was late they just open the doors to go straight through to departure gates to make sure people got there flights saved the long walk connection walk. The service and food was excellent.

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