[AlanOrton1]

I would suspect the TK J 737 product is the 2×2 recliner seats which come with their own AVOD. Perfectly pleasant for a few hours and decent food. Would not want to do this on an overnight or much more than around 5 / 6 hour day flight.
Great lounge at IST, but transit queues can be a bit hit or miss.

[FDOS_UK]

Manyatta – 31/01/2016 18:43 GMT

“Anyone know if TK in J on a 737 is any good? Sounds horrendous!”

This YouTube clip may assist

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jqv44i7fg0

I have flown overnight on TK’s 739 from Africa to Istanbul and foudn the deep recliner seats comfortable enough to sleep on for several hours. They also provide the best food of a European based airline (IMHO.)

Remember though that is anything goes wrong, TK have a reputation as a nightmare to deal with and they are outside the scope of EC261 – personally, I’d avoid where possible.

[first_class_please]

I agree the charge for non status premium passengers is excessive, would be far better to just add GBP50 each way to the ticket price and give seat allocation for free.

If you will travel BA / Oneworld again, could be worth taking this route on Qatar via Doha, as you will earn 140 tier points on each flight, so 560 round trip in Business class.

This will get you Bronze status where you can book flights for free 7 days prior and be only 40 points away from the Silver tier where you can book for free at time of booking.

[FDOS_UK]

LHR-NBO is a distance of 4,243 miles. LHR-DOH-NBO is 5,336.

Is it really worth a detour of nearly 1,100 miles and a possibly fraught transfer at DOH, to earn the ability to choose whatever seats are left at -7 days?

Or would it make more sense to find a direct flight, pay for business and choose seats at the time reservation?

As much as I find Emirates product very good, there is no way I would willing add extra flying/ground time and fight through DXB, when I could fly direct.

Even if I wanted to fly TK and noting the extra distance is only 150 miles or so, the mayhem at IST known as correspondence would soon put paid to that thought.

[Nejohn01]

Flying AKL to LHR via HKG in WTP. Auckland to Hong Kong with CP – free seat allocation at time of booking but with BA from HKG to LHR; fee required to book seat. I will just take my chance with BA rather than pay a minimum of £40. Both in same alliance!! Will look at other airlines in future.

[JohnHarper]

Manyatta – 31/01/2016 18:43 GMT

The recliners that TK use on A320 & 737 series aircraft are fine for sleeping, at least I’ve had no problems and they are preferable to some flat seats which I find rather tight once in the flat position. Food is usually excellent but I’ll add the usual caution, while TK will gladly serve you as much alcohol as you want you do need to request it as they do not push trolleys of bottles up and down the aisles – remember it is the airline of a muslim country and alcohol consumption is not the norm but really, all you need to do is ask.

[cityprofessional]

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. As a BA status passenger, I think the charge is fantastic, I think it should be higher, and in fact, I don’t think non-status passengers on discounted tickets should be allowed to reserve seats at all in Club…

Why do I say that? Often when I travel last minute on business to business-heavy destinations (e.g. transatlantic, Dubai, Hong Kong, Joburg), the only thing available is middle seats a few days before the flight. That’s even when I pay the most expensive last minute fares. Can you imagine what the seat map would look like if any old person could reserve a seat?!

I now spend my own hard-earned cash to boost my status to gold, so that I can at least change that seat and get the first available aisle or window as it becomes free. If you too want that benefit, you can either (a) pay for it, or (b) fly BA more. Simples.

[FDOS_UK]

“I don’t think non-status passengers on discounted tickets should be allowed to reserve seats at all in Club…”

I don’t think you’d find a BA marketing manager willing to sign that one off 😉

[BEYbrit]

Let’s guess that 50% of people pay, and so put the price of everybody’s ticket up by 34 quid and then everyone can choose FOC.

Nobody will notice an extra few pounds on a crazy-priced business class ticket anyway and everybody will be happy.

Same goes for 5 star hotels that then ask $25 a day for wifi. Put your prices up a little and include it!

[SimonS1]

Just booked a couple of flights down to Africa on EK. Pleased to see seat selection is still free to all passengers in all cabins.

I must remember to pop down between free glasses of champers in the lounge to see what is happening at BA’s LGW facility. The complaints on some forums are so vociferous that I suspect people must be sleeping rough outside the door 🙂

[FDOS_UK]

Maybe you could take a couple of free glasses of champagne with you, as I hear the BA folks are having to pay for theirs.

[BEYbrit]

Honestly SimonS1, you’d imagine some people’s worlds are ending because they changed the brand of toilet paper in the concorde room.

Too many ‘first world problems’.

[SealinkBF]

I never pay to prebook seats, except on those occasions when I fly easyJet and Ryanair.

Last week I checked in for my economy flight to Krakow. Chose seat 5A.
The next morning it was changed to 25A, as 5A was now in front of the Club Europe partition. And remained empty throughout the flight.

At T5 I asked if there were any prices for upgrades to Club Europe available and was advised “not on that flight”.

[Selbyjay]

I’m learning the hard way that there’s little point in paying to chose a specific seat; Virgin cancelled our advanced seat assignment (made in August) and bumped us in to standard economy seats (from exit) with no explanation, no refund and no offer of suitable alternative.

VS arent on their own in this practice so i’d not recommend handing over additional money for a specific seat – it guarantees nothing.

[EveryAirlinesIdealPassenger]

I totally agree, a traveller should be able to ask for the type of seat that they prefer.

[Author]

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