chandu2013

Hi all,

I needed an opinion on whether flying Austrian or Turkish business class from the US is better in terms of hard product.

I have flown TK in J and love how wide the seat is - very good for relaxing and sleeping. I noticed that OS J is only 19" wide (vs. 22" on TK). Is this too much of a concern? You can't beat TK leg room in J (seat pitch 78").

I'm leaning towards OS because:
a) new product for me
b) better timing of arrival in Europe (gives me 6 extra hours)

The catering is DO&CO on both so it's a wash; Austrian has the coffee menu that I am excited about!

Might change to LH F anyway if there is space T-14 but if I have to fly J, which should I go with?

LH4116

Seats are equally comfortable in the lounge position. TK seat has the advantage of not having to put your feet in a cubby hole like on the Austrian seat. Personally I would go for Austrian, just for the sake of comparison since I'm very curious how their Do&Co Catering compares to TK's.

splite

For me Austrian is a never again. Same with wife. Way to narrow seats. But best food in the air...

Alpha Golf

YMMV. I love Austrian, the food, the service, the coffee menu. For me at least, the seat is great.

airoli

I would also go with OS, particularly if the flight times are better. TK has a terrible on-time record (especially should there be snow) and transiting in IST is much worse than compact and tidy VIE. While TK's food is good, so is Austrian's, and their staff is more professional / organized.

TPJ

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lufth...omparison.html

If it doesn't snow and the connection is AT LEAST 3 hours (to enjoy IST Lounge and avoid having to deal with 'wonderful' ground staff in the case of missconnect), I would choose TK.

worldclubber

If you do not want your plane to touch down before it gets to the actual runway, OS would probably be the better choice.

Oops, TK did it again...

weero

Doesn't it matter where the OP would like to go?

Even if I did not hate the TK ground staff attitude, I'd not fly to the edge of Asia from the if I wanted to visit Western Europe. I'd take LH PE over TK Biz in order to avoid the bus-bus & bus-bus transfers at IST.

When it comes to coach TX&OS race each other - horrible vs. terrible but in C, I'd take OS in a heartbeat.

harryhv

OS has the better timing and is more likely to adhere to it!

LH4116

I would personally fly half way around the world if it means getting a Business Class seat over Economy or Premium Economy.

YuropFlyer

TK vs. OS depends very much on where you're going to, if everything else equal.

IST security can be bad during rush hour - at other times during the day, it's a smooth breeze through. VIE can be annoying at rush hours too..

In the air, OS probably beats TK by a notch by pure food offerings, albeit both airlines have a very good food offering in Business class (in Y, TK is much better)

Everything else (seat, IFE etc.) most tend to slightly favourise TK.. but it's really more down to personal preference.

Lounge experience, well, that's kinda unfair TK brutally slaughters OS in this category.

And while TK isn't the most punctual airline in the world, having lots of frequencies (and actually spare airplanes) make it up vs. Austrian, where everything is knitted on the very edge. I've had my (more than) fair share of delays with OS. Again, I'd say it's equal.

In the end, unless we know your final destination, and probably you as a person very well, it's hard to impossible to say which product you'd enjoy more overall.

weero

I was like that too when I was young.

Today, I'd take a nonstop in PE over First Class with a transfer in any of the hell holes called LHR, CDG, FRA, IST any time of the day. Both experiences are pretty much crap as in being trapped inside a can, not worth money or the suffering of a transfer.
If you like the culturally very narrow, patronising food experience or embrace a pool table or a move&popcorn machine, then yes, absolutely.

You pay with bus transfers sans priority boarding though.

Germanfflyer

Well the TK lounge is WAY overrated - I found it to be crowded, loud and there was no food that I would really like -> and most annoying is the fact, that it is always very dirty with disposed food everywhere and also the bathrooms are very dirty for a premium lounge...
I would prefer any OS, LH or even UA lounge over it - much quieter, relaxing atmosphere....!

YuropFlyer

Well, my last four RT transfers via IST had exactly two bus rides in total. With most of them being "clean", thus just three security visits in total. Of which two didn't had any queue, and the single one I had to wait was a very modest one. My personal IST experience isn't bad at all, though I _DO_ know it can be bad at rush times. But so far, TK always managed to manage

I don't understand what you mean with "culturally very narrow, patronising food". IST does offer a great choice of food. Besides Turkish (obviously!) it had tasty Italian pasta, some kind of Asian noodles (I don't like those that much, but they're ok), soups, and my absolute favorite, the freshly prepared ravioli. And now we haven't talked about the salad buffet or the dessert offerings yet..

And their drinks - both soft and not-so-soft, aren't bad either. Finlandia session? Or Efes? Wine? Or anything else? TKs offer definitely beats most, if not all, self-service bars at lounges I know. I do agree a staffed bar would even better, but well, one always have to complain about something..

I'll add you to the group of people which I don't care about their opinion about lounges anymore

knit-in

Haven't flown TK (yet, considering a flight soon) but I love the OS business class product. Perhaps the 767 over the 777.