I will be flying from Ottawa, Canada to Istanbul late next month, for the European Society of Medical Oncology conference (I am a medical oncologist).

I will likely be flying on Air Canada (either discounted business class fare, or an upgrade to business class from full fare economy fare - I am a Star Alliance Gold member through AC's Aeroplan) from Ottawa via Toronto or Montreal to a Western/Central European city (served by AC) - which may include one of LHR, CDG, ZUR, AMS, FCO, FRA, or MUC. (note- I do not have any status with any airline of the other 2 global alliances).

From there, I have to connect on another carrier. I am considering connecting on a Western European airline.

However, I have not totally ruled out the Turkish airline.

How is the service - if one flies in the economy class cabin, vs flying in the business class cabin? Does it offer lounge access in IST and the cities mentioned above? Does it interline with airlines of the 3 major global airline alliances (I will be buying one ticket; not two separate tickets).

Should I consider flying on Turkish Airlines, or stay with one of the major western European airlines, when connecting from the Western European city to IST?

I have flown TK in J from Paris to IST and I thought they were a decent carrier. Their seats on the A300 was nicer than other western european airlines. It is a 2-2-2 configuration with rather large and plush chairs. I think the 737's are just like other carriers with a 3-3 config. The food was good. The IFE was just one TV screen at the front of the plane like they have on 747's in economy. The lounge in IST is nothing special. There were some warm tidbits but I was not impressed. No shower from what I can recall. As far as interline ticketing I know they partner with many airlines including AA so I am sure they have agreements with may airlines.

I hope this helps.

I have flown TK in J from Paris to IST and I thought they were a decent carrier. Their seats on the A300 was nicer than other western european airlines. It is a 2-2-2 configuration with rather large and plush chairs. I think the 737's are just like other carriers with a 3-3 config. The food was good. The IFE was just one TV screen at the front of the plane like they have on 747's in economy. The lounge in IST is nothing special. There were some warm tidbits but I was not impressed. No shower from what I can recall. As far as interline ticketing I know they partner with many airlines including AA so I am sure they have agreements with may airlines.

I hope this helps.

Thank you, for the information. I do have some followup questions.

If I fly business class on Turkish Airlines, is there any lounge access in the European cities mentioned in my post - if so, how good are these lounges?

If I fly on AC on an economy ticket and upgrade, I will likely be allowed only to fly in the economy cabin on Turkish Airlines. How is the economy cabin in terms of service, and seat configuration/comfort?

If you do end up choosing TK, i'd recommend connecting via one of their destinations in germany. fares from there are quite cheap in y or c.....

I have flown TK in J from Paris to IST and I thought they were a decent carrier. Their seats on the A300 was nicer than other western european airlines. It is a 2-2-2 configuration with rather large and plush chairs. I think the 737's are just like other carriers with a 3-3 config. The food was good. The IFE was just one TV screen at the front of the plane like they have on 747's in economy. The lounge in IST is nothing special. There were some warm tidbits but I was not impressed. No shower from what I can recall. As far as interline ticketing I know they partner with many airlines including AA so I am sure they have agreements with may airlines.

I hope this helps.

When was the last time you went to the CIP club in IST? ;)

The new club on the main floor has --
business area with PCs,
conference rooms,
Resting(sleeping) rooms,
Showers (just walk in, grab towels and enjoy),
Smoking Room,
Children's room,
Prayer room,
HUGE food and drinks selection (all self-serve),
Large multiple plasma screens that you control (NO american football games!!),
Very nice zen decor with a museum twist.

Warning -- You need a business class or proper membership to go in. I could not using AA-AC card and/or EXP card. HOWEVER -- if you have a Y ticket and either of the aforementioned, you can request a pass from the check-in agent.

In addition, some of the A340s have individual IFEs. Don't know in other A/Cs

LHR-IST is only a bit over a 3-hour flight. No need to upgrade.

ORD or JFK to IST in Y is nice too. Very confortable seats. Ammenity kits. Descent food. Free flowing alcoholic drinks (for those that need them). An option worth considering.

Very professional F/As.

I do JFK-IST about once a month in Y and/or C classes. Never had a problem with them. It certainly beats connecting through LHR.

Cheers,

J

1. The new lounge has only been open a couple of months, so anyone would be excused not knowing about it.

2. If you fly LHR-IST every month you would know that the flight tends to be more like 4 hours, rather than 3.

3. OP- THY IS a major European carrier. I believe that it now has the fifth largest fleet in Europe and will be fourth largest in two years time.

4. Lounges are generally general contract lounges in Turkey, sometimes piggy-backing on other airlines lounges, they have few dedicated lounges outside of Turkey, and often these ain;t so great.

5. The a/c are fine, newest fleet in Europe. Safety is top notch. Y class is no better or worse than other carriers, s/h biz is average (for shorthaul European flights). Should be noted that they often flip a/c on routes due to capacity, so on flights to LHR in the summer for example there is sometimes a chance you'll get a A340 with long haul biz, which is excellent for the route.

6. THY flies no A300's, they do fly A310's however.

7.

I found it substantially cheaper to buy THY tickets inside Turkey than outside.

I flew from IST to ANT (Antalya, only a <1 hour flight) and the fare was half buying in IST vs. here in the US.

A310 both ways, fine flight, left on time, arrived on time.

Thanks, for all the information.

I will consider buying a Turkish Airlines ticket from one of the other cities which are served by AC, if I can confirm that the 2 airlines interline.

PS-What lounges do business passengers of Turkish airlines have access to, in these Euroepean cities mentioned in my post?

PS-What lounges do business passengers of Turkish airlines have access to, in these Euroepean cities mentioned in my post?

LHR: Admirals Club
CDG: Salon Icare
ZUR: Bellevue Lounge
AMS: Globeground Intercontinental Lounge
FCO: Le Anfore
FRA: Red Carpet Lounge
MUC: Atlantic Lounge

(Valid Feb 2006 according to Miles&Smiles FFP guide, assuming list same for Business Class travellers)

See full list here (http://www.thy.com/en-INT/miles_and_smiles/about_us/card_levels/cip_list.aspx).

LHR: Admirals Club
CDG: Salon Icare
ZUR: Bellevue Lounge
AMS: Globeground Intercontinental Lounge
FCO: Le Anfore
FRA: Red Carpet Lounge
MUC: Atlantic Lounge

(Valid Feb 2006 according to Miles&Smiles FFP guide, assuming list same for Business Class travellers)

See full list here (http://www.thy.com/en-INT/miles_and_smiles/about_us/card_levels/cip_list.aspx).

Thanks.

PS-How is the airline's customer service? Is the airline on time frequently?

Thanks.

PS-How is the airline's customer service? Is the airline on time frequently?

Latest punctuality stats by airport and airline are available from the AEA web site (http://www.aea.be/aeawebsite/DataFiles/Pr06-030.pdf). At a quick glance TK seem pretty comparable to other major airlines in Europe. Not much help if you do end up on the % that are delayed though!

I think customer service comes down to personal experience. I've always found them fine so am happy to recommend them, others may not have had an enjoyable experience and will warn you to steer clear. Which is right? Both probably. You'll get what you get!

If you have a problem, TK CS is generally poor, perhaps better than AF, but that isn;t saying much. This is their biggest problem and why they are often my second or third choice (and I actually live in Istanbul).

Stupid question: Is Turkish meanwhile a non-smoking airline ? I am looking at their companion business fares but would not want to travel with them if they still permit smoking.

Stupid question: Is Turkish meanwhile a non-smoking airline ? I am looking at their companion business fares but would not want to travel with them if they still permit smoking.

Non smoking.

J

Non smoking.

J

Thanks ! ^

and where would you get that idea? They haven't allowed smoking since 1995 or so..........(much like most other airlines)

If you have a problem, TK CS is generally poor, perhaps better than AF, but that isn;t saying much. This is their biggest problem and why they are often my second or third choice (and I actually live in Istanbul).


I wonder if you can give one or two examples on the poor CS. Maybe others can give their experience on good CS.

I am wondering about CS, esp. if there is a problem - ie late flights, missed connections, missing luggage/baggage, last-minute cancelled flights etc.

Presumably, the CS dept of Turkish Airlines would like to show the best face possible, especially during a major conference, such as the European Society of Medical Oncology meeting, to be held Sept 29-Oct 3 (I will be attending the conference).

Ooh, let's see:

1) Your bag comes out on the conveyor totally destroyed (and I mean really destroyed, handle broken, large slash across your bag so that things are spilling out..) representative asks you, "How do I know you didn;t do this to your bag yourself??"

2) At a foreign station the runway is closed due to an incident, all departures are delayed, while every other airline offers food vouchers to pax because the airport has already announced publicly that the runway will not be open for another 3 hours, THY tries to herd its pax onto the plane just so they do not have to feed their pax.

I've got a lot of other examples, BTW. There are major conferences in IStanbul every week, what makes you think that THY cares at all about one particular conference?

Well good luck. I live in IST and NEVER fly the lousy airline except when forced on internal flights to Ankara or to Cairo. The service on board is non existant J or Y. Each plane seems to have different seats, some clean, some dirty, some with holes and the list continues. The new lounge is nice.

Sometimes they cancel the J class due to overbooking and mark your ticket as "voluntary downgrade" so no refund. TK cares little about passengers, try it out but I would recommend coming in on one of the main European carriers.

On time performance has improved in recent times, so there is hope, but not much!

Normally I have discounted any thought of flying them, mostly because I can't earn points in any program useful to me. But I can't get past the fact that I can get a J fare BCN-BKK or BCN-SIN for about 1200EUR for any date I try. That's less than half of what I'd pay for KL, AF, or LH.

My one experience in the IST airport was waiting in a line for nearly 3 hours to hand over the "arrival tax" before I was allowed to go to my hotel. I don't relish the thought of going through that again, though I suppose it isn't necessary on a connection.

Can anyone comment on the J experience to Asia (specifically BKK or SIN)? Aircraft, seats, etc? The few photos I found on airliners.net were not much help. They did show a 737 (I think) with "new business class" that was 2x2.

Alanw, the rate is compatible with the product. They usually operate a 340 to BKK in a 2x2x2 confinguration. Have flown it on an internal flight to Ankara. Basically old F seats from twenty years ago. Nicely worn, small cabin 4 rows if I remember correctly. 737 and 320 flight have a real 2x2 or a 3x3 with a middle seat empty. You never know what you get.
Airport is very nice and yes if busy it can take time to get your visa on arrival but the worse case is an hour most of the time 15 minutes max including immigration. From BCN you could check if SQ is offering anything interesting with their new flights. From IST to SIN SQ charges Euro 1500 rtn.

The only times I fly them are:

a) There fare is just so ridiculously cheap compared to the competitors. (i.e. blew off miles on one of my regular carriers last month when the TK fare was less than 200 Euros, while the cheapest I could get on Any other carrier was 500 Euros)

b) They fly somewhere that no one else does, or where it would be daft to fly another carrier (i.e. domestics or someplace like Athens or Sofia).

c) They are the preferred carrier on the route (certain ME and Central Asian destinations come to mind)

Normally I have discounted any thought of flying them, mostly because I can't earn points in any program useful to me. But I can't get past the fact that I can get a J fare BCN-BKK or BCN-SIN for about 1200EUR for any date I try. That's less than half of what I'd pay for KL, AF, or LH.

My one experience in the IST airport was waiting in a line for nearly 3 hours to hand over the "arrival tax" before I was allowed to go to my hotel. I don't relish the thought of going through that again, though I suppose it isn't necessary on a connection.

Can anyone comment on the J experience to Asia (specifically BKK or SIN)? Aircraft, seats, etc? The few photos I found on airliners.net were not much help. They did show a 737 (I think) with "new business class" that was 2x2.

if i remember right you can credit your miles to AA on turkish.

right?

dp

if i remember right you can credit your miles to AA on turkish.

right?

dp

Yes it is a code share with AA TO JFK AND ORD.

From IST to SIN SQ charges Euro 1500 rtn.

Can you recommend a Turkish Travel Agent ?
To get to Turkey from Germany is very cheap and if I can get a SQ J ticket for this price ... :D

Can you recommend a Turkish Travel Agent ?
To get to Turkey from Germany is very cheap and if I can get a SQ J ticket for this price ... :D

SQ use a a gsa in IST, the number is on the SQ web site. Since three weeks you can also get the fare online. Just log in as a resident of Turkey rather than Germany. I am on the way home so do not have the number handy. They take all major credit cards.

To get to Turkey from Germany is very cheap and if I can get a SQ J ticket for this price ... :D

There are also a bunch of low cost carriers that connect a variety of German cities with a variety of Turkish cities; and the result is that prices can be quite good. However, on short notice you could still find the prices high.

Anyone know if the new J cabin upgrade has been completed ?
Is the new J seat now available on all planes or just a few ?

I too would be interested to find this out. I am thinking of taking TK on ORD/JFK-IST and then IST-ICN. The ICN and ORD flights are listed as A340s, while the JFK flight is an A330.

The seats look decent, but I just want to make sure these are what I'll be getting: www.airliners.net/open.file/1113094/M/

Does anyone have an update? I have seen pictures of the new seats on A343s but the website only shows old seats on this a/c?

Wasnt in the mood to shell out $1900 to fly CO on a non-stop. So I was lucky (I think) to score a free coach tkt using my AA miles, for an april trip. wanted BIZ but all AA had available within a 3 day range was THY and in coach.

Does anyone know where I get ahold of a seat map, I will be on THYs A-340, A-310 and A-320 or 321. Or which seats are good for someone 6'2" and which to stya away from will help out too.

I have mixed expericences with TK.

I was very positivly surpirised on a mid-haul flight (on 737).
On one leg we had propper brand new C-Class seats (2x2).
On the way back we had the convertible C-Class seaats (2x2 like LH).
Food and Service in C: Excellent!

The Y-Class Germany-IST was OK.
Food: Excellent, better than many carriers in C.

Service: Flight back was full, FA were a bit stressed. So I would rate it average.

I am really looking forward to fly them again.
One problem are the heavy loads Germany-IST that make you flight uncomfortable...

Does anyone have experience with purchasing tix for TK from in-country, either with a TA or from TK? I will be in Turkey in April and want to fly internally while there. I would imagine purchasing in advance will be best price wise?!

very decent airline in y and c

good onboard service

try to get points on other loyalty programmes - miles and smiles is pretty useless for non TK residents

I am almost positive TK is joining the big 'ol union that is Star Alliance. If I were to travel in March (before they join in April, I believe) can I still get miles on my UA account? Can I do at now, at ticketing time, or do I have to wait until after they join? Or is it not valid at all until 1 April?

Thanks!

Where have all the J redemptions gone? I thought - looking at the chart for the first ever day of TK in *A that there ought to be good availability - but hardly any Y on the route I wanted and absolutely nothing in J.

Still, I couldn't get J on the route for any other airline, so I might as well be uncomfortable in Y through IST as anywhere else.

Where have all the J redemptions gone? I thought - looking at the chart for the first ever day of TK in *A that there ought to be good availability - but hardly any Y on the route I wanted and absolutely nothing in J.

Still, I couldn't get J on the route for any other airline, so I might as well be uncomfortable in Y through IST as anywhere else.

Looking at TK website under redemptions, they have lots of blackout perioids should you want to make a redemption at the cheapest rate (they have "guaranteed" redemption rates but at a higher cost). This blackout period might extend to other *A programs should youi want to redeem a TK ticket.

tk in general is very good

i like their staff as they have not learnt how to spit on passengers (we will see it in some years)

polite, smily, happy on-board staff - even if their english is not that great they give you a nice smile and bring what you want

i took TK 6 times in the last 3 months and they were great - got two upgrades showing my gold card

indeed their fleet is modern

all flights on time

enjoy it

NB - turkish people fly a lot with kids which are quite noisy (but that s life and we can t change it)