dcmike

I’ve been an avid fan of trip reports for a long time. Many an hour of trip planning have been a direct result of reading a report on FT (or, forgive me, sometimes airliners.net). I’ve never written one, however, because one of the things I love the most, the photos, is also the part that freaks me out the most about making my own. I couldn’t imagine sitting in my plane seat, whipping out my camera and snapping my meal, all as my seat mate looked on in shock and horror (at least in my imagination).

Well, I got over myself and here it is, my first trip report. Please be kind, but I also welcome all constructive (or destructive) criticism.

I live in Moscow, a city I love. I really love living in Russia as well. But as much as I love the place, it’s not my homeland and little cultural differences build up and begin to gnaw at the back of my eyeballs so that every few months I have to take a trip abroad. It doesn’t have to be back to my motherland (to use the Russian term) but just somewhere else, somewhere different, just for a change of pace and place.

Back in June, I started looking for a place to go to over the Labor Day weekend. I thought by the end of August, start of September the weather would have been cool and rainy in Moscow for about a month, and someplace a little warmer would be nice. Little did I know that Moscow was going to go through its hottest summer in history and rather than rainy and cool for the prior month, the weather would only change a little over a week before, but such are the perils of planning ahead.

I originally planned on going to Spain, but then a friend convinced me to travel with her to Spain in November. So I started looking elsewhere. I wanted to use Hilton points for the stay and I wanted to go somewhere I’d never been, and after some trial and error, I settled on Hong Kong. Although I’ve traveled around Europe and Eastern Europe a lot, Asia is still a lot of unknown territory for me. I found a really good fare and was about to book it when, just for kicks, I searched for business class to Hong Kong. Much to my surprise, coming back at just a little over twice the coach fare I was finding, there was a business class ticket on Turkish to Hong Kong via Istanbul. Even better, there was a strong chance that I’d get to fly on one of the 777s TK is renting from Jet. I jumped on the fare and booked the Conrad with points. I wasn’t just getting out of Moscow for a break, I was going in some sort of style.

Part of the adventure of living in Moscow is the traffic. It’s pretty much a given that the city is going to come to a halt in the mornings around 9, but in the evenings and during the day, the snarls can be unpredictable and go on for hours. This makes getting to one of Moscow’s three international airports a little bit of a hassle, a situation which got worse in July when, unannounced, the city started construction on the main road leading North to St. Petersburg and Aeroflot’s home hub, Sheryemetovo.




Luckily, Russian Railways runs nice express trains to all three airports. Rather than risk traffic, especially on a Friday afternoon, I took a taxi to Belorussky train station and caught the express to the airport. For some reason this afternoon they were running old style cars – not the modern cars they usually run on the route. They’re still pretty nice, and they still get you to the airport quickly, but it wasn’t the ultra-modern trains they normally run on this route.



The train terminates in a nice new station built two years ago specifically for the Aeroexpress. As of a few weeks ago, walkways are open to SVO Terminal D,E,F (D is the new Aeroflot showcase, KLM/AirFrance have moved to E, and F is still some Aeroflot international flight and everyone else). You still have to take a bus over to SVO B and C (if you’re flying some of the Former Soviet Union’s more colorful airlines).



I headed off to Terminal F. I seemed damned, no matter how hard I try, to always end up in Terminal F. Aeroflot has moved almost all its ops over to Terminal D, and even if I book an Aeroflot flight it inevitably leaves from Terminal F. I don’t really hate SVO, I hate Terminal F, the erstwhile SVO-2, built for the Moscow Olympics in 1980 and suffering from benign neglect ever since. The whole set up is still Soviet. You have to got through CUSTOMS before you can check in. I can’t think of another place in the world…well, actually Chisinau, Moldova was still like that when I last flew from there, but I can’t think of another major airport in the world where that is the case. I wish TK and SAS would joing their *A brothers and sisters at DME and leave Terminal F, but I fear this will not be happening soon.

I checked the big board, found the check in desks and headed over. Check in was quick, polite, and efficient (not the usual scrum that lines in Russia can turn into – one of the things that gnaws at my eyeballs). I headed to passport control where the boarder guard didn’t seem to believe my passport was real. It got the UV treatment, held up to the light, examination through a loupe. Everything. Luckily, my documents passed the test, I passed through security (including the relatively new “nudie” full body scan) and headed into the terminal.



If modern airports are spacious, airy, open, Terminal F is the antithesis of modern airport planning. It’s a warren. It’s confusing. You walk in circles and never can see further than the next gate or two. The only think I like about the airport is the free WiFi (Beeline).

I stumbled around until I found the Amber Lounge, the contract lounge that TK uses at SVO. I never take it as a good sign when you have to head downstairs into a lounge, like heading down to a dungeon. I like the UA’s RCC in the D concourse at RCC, but that may be the lone exception. And even there, you have to encounter some dungeon dwelling vermin.



Unfortunately, the stairs were a bad harbinger. The lounge was crowded and claustrophobic. Seating came straight out of a 1970s wreck room. The food options were some “buterbroty” – cold cuts on sliced white bread and packages of chips and pretzels. Drinks and wine/beer were in a Pepsi display case like you’d find at a convenience store. And worst of all, you couldn’t pick up the free Beeline wifi signal in the basement. There was Beeline wifi, but you only got 15 minutes free at a time and had to watch 75 seconds of commercials to get that. I spent about 45 minutes hanging out then headed for the gate.



TK416
SVO – IST
Scheduled Departure 18:25
Aircraft – A321
Seat 2A

The arriving aircraft was late, so boarding didn’t start until about 18:10. One of the passengers asked the gate agent if the flight was full, and she said it was completely booked.

Turkish runs two A321 aircraft – one with American Domestic First Class seating for business and one that resembles European Business class, i.e. the same seats as coach, but with the middle seat blocked. You never quite know what you’re going to get, apparently, although some routes seem more prone to certain configurations. Coming around the corner on the jet way and entering the aircraft, I had my “moment of truth” – I got the European style, blocked middle seat. Maybe I will get lucky on my way back, although Moscow – Istanbul is mainly a leisure route for Russians, so I sort of doubt it.



The seats were ok, a little warn. The aircraft was packed, but the crew did everything possible to get everyone on board and we pushed back maybe 10 minutes late. I was a bit disappointed that there was no predepartue drink. I am not sure if this is normal, or if it was because of the tight turn around.


Moscow from the air on departure.

Shortly after take off the FAs came around with hot towels and menus. Photos and text below.




Menu SVO – IST
Assorted Turkish Meze
Mediterranean Salad
---
Please choose from our selection:
SPECIALS FROM TURKISH CUISINE…
“Islim Kebab” Lamb Coated with Eggplant/Buttered Rice
-or-
Chicken Satay/Sautéed tomato and onion/rice
-or-
Home Made Rigatoni Pasta/Tomato Sauce/Sautéed eggplants air dried tomatoes
--
Assorted Cheese
--
Home Made Apple Strudel
--
Ovenfresh Bread Selection
Freshly Brewed Coffee or Tea

Beverages
Champagne
Spirits – Blended Whiskey, Bourbon Whiskey, Gin, Vodka, Raki
Selected Turkish and International Wines
Beers – Carlsberg, Efes Pilsen
Liqueur and Cognacs
Juices – Orange, tomato, sourcherry
Soft Drinks – Ice Tea Lemon, Mineral Water
Freshly Brewed Coffee and Tea

There was no separate drink service. The drinks came out with the tray containing the appetizer, salad, cheese, and desert. I love Turkish food and had gotten excited at the prospect of Meza (and looking at some of the photos of meza from previous TK trip reports, although admittedly mainly the F class meza).





A couple of small touches which I did like – all metal silverware, including knives. A little clothes pin to fix your napkin to your shirt (I inevitably manage to spill something major on myself in the short flight leading up to a 8-12 hour flight, so I have to wear my shame for the rest of my trip). Sadly, I broke my clothes pin before I could get my napkin fastened (I still avoided disaster, luckily). And I like the little salt and pepper shakers. Too many airlines have done away with these in business in favor of packets. It’s just not the same.



For my main course, I got the Islim Kebab – I saw eggplant on the menu and needed to read no further. I love eggplant. I like the way this TK crew handled the main courses. Rather than taking orders, they plated a cart full of the meals in the galley and then came and explained and showed each option when delivering the hot meals. The kebab was really tasty – I enjoyed it thoroughly.



The rest of the flight passed uneventfully and we were soon landing in Ataturk International. Transit went smoothly, and low and behold, I soon emerged into the anti-Terminal-F.

dcmike

Once in the Istanbul airport, I headed directly for the THY CIP lounge. I was intrigued by all the mixed reviews I read about it on FT. The lounge seems to either inspire fanatical devotion (some calling it the best *G lounge in the network) or absolute hatred (the mix of styles seems to offend some of the more style conscious among us).



I entered the lounge and asked about changing my seat with the lounge attendant. The seat I had been assigned (9K) is listed as being near the bar on Seat Guru and I was worried in might be loud. She informed me there was only one other open seat in business, and it was in the middle. “Your seat is by the window and it is beautiful.” Fair enough, 9K it is.

The CIP lounge is certainly a mix of styles and functions. Some are not quite my cup of tea, but I actually appreciate the effort to give the place some character and not just have it be a run of the mill cookie cutter business lounge.


Main Seating Area


Bar Area


Food Area - prepackaged sandwiches and small pastry. Thought this was because of the hour, but my return trip proved otherwise.

My only beef with this (and many, many other lounges) is this – 99% of the time I am traveling by myself. I look around and see a lot of other solo travelers. Why group all the seating in groups of 4 or 5? I understand there are families, but come on, give us some refuge. And my second beef – all I want is a plug. I don’t care if its ugly. Throw out powerstrips left and right and I’ll be a happy man. I had to walk around in circles for 10-15 minutes before I found a relatively quite, solo refuge near a plug. Strangely, this ended up being in a room that looked like the Sultan’s bedroom.


The quiet room

My only other complaint about the THY CIP lounge – make the internet easier to access. For unknown reasons, my Russian cell phone refused to roam this trip, despite having roamed quite happily in Turkey before. In order to access the internet in the lounge, you need to put in your cell number and have a password and user id sent via SMS to you. Seems a lot of pain just to avoid a few unwanted users.

TK70
IST-HKG
Boeing 77W
Scheduled Departure 23:50
Seat 9K

I left the lounge a little early to pass through security, which IST does right before the gate, and get down for boarding. After passing through security I checked out the number of engines on the plane – two! TK is infamous for last minute substitutions to the A340 on their B777 routes, but seems I had dodged the bullet and was on the plane I had wanted after all. The boarding started with a very quiet “Hong Kong Passengers” call from the gate agent. Not over the loudspeaker. Just spoken. A few people in the immediate vicinity moved toward the gate, followed by the deluge. Luckily there was nowhere to sit in the gate area so I was close by when he whispered his boarding announcement.

Got on the plane and had two immediate thoughts – “Where’s the bar?” and “The cabin looks a bit banged up.” The bar seat guru had warned me about was no where in evidence. Later, I saw it was actually behind a curtain near the restrooms. The crew from IST-HKG only left out water and juice at the bar, so it was unlikely anyone was going to get too rowdy. However, on the return flight, the crew left out wine and champagne in addition to the juice and water. Still, no one got crazy and the bar was behind the curtain. I can’t imagine this would ever be that much of a disturbance.


Seat layout in C


Looking back toward the boarding door from 9K


Another view of the middle section of seats.

The cabin was nice, but parts of the herringbone layout that stuck out close to the aisles had taken a beating. This was my first herringbone C class and, overall, I really liked it. I travel solo most often and for privacy it could not be beat. The seat was very comfortable for sitting, perhaps a little lumpy for sleeping, but incredibly roomy. The new UA lie flat seats make me a little claustrophobic when in bed mode, but here I felt like I had plenty of room. The one thing I dislike about the 9A and K seats – the lack of a window to look out of. I found it disconcerting to be moving and not be able to see where. I was in 11A on the way back, and although you had to turn to look out, it was still nice to be able to see what was going on.


IFE Shot - all video on demand, lots of choice, however much of it rather dated.

I’ve seen some complain on trip reports bout TK that the crew is hesitant with English and tends to be a bit aloof for fear of messing up the language. While the level of English did differ depending on the crew member (all were far better than my Turkish) everyone was extremely welcoming and ready to serve at the drop of a hat.


Pre-Departure Drink and Chocolate

We departed about 40 minutes late. Something seemed to be going on in Coach and gate agents kept running back to the Y cabin and then dashing off the plane. Shortly after we were airport, the crew started the meal service.


After take off, the crew came around with TK's "Signature Drink" - which seemed to be a mimosa with some tropical fruit. It was served with a canape (not pictured).


Menu


MENU IST-HKG
ASSORTED SEAFOOD
Pickled Tuna/smoked trout
Smoked salmon/marinated prawn
Horseradish sauce/grilled zucchinis

-or-

POTPOURRI OF TURKISH MEZE
Stuffed Eggplant in olive oil/air dried beef/grilled chicken breast
“Cerkez “ chicken/grilled red pepper stuffed with goat cheese

--

MARINATED FRESH ARTICHOKE
PURSLANE WITH YOGHURT
GARDEN FRESH SEASONAL SALAD

-and/or-

ARTICHOKE SOUP
Olive and pepper croutons

PLEASE CHOOSE FROM OUR SELECTION:

GRILLED SEA BASS FILLET
Sautéed leaf spinach/red lentils
Lemon caper butter/fried potatoes

-or-

“ADANA KEBAB” & SPRING LAMB
Minced Beef and lamb chop
Grilled tomato and green pepper/ “bulgur”

-or-

CHEESE TORTELLINI
Sautéed leeks/ fried eggplants / cherry tomatoes
ASSORTED CHEESE, FRESH FRUIT, AND DESSERT FROM OUR TROLLEY

TURKISH DESSERTS
“Fistikli Kadayif”, “Kalbura Basti”, clotted cream
PANNA COTTA WITH MANGO
MOUSSE RIGO
Bitter and white chocolate
HOME MADE SOUR CHERRY CAKE
LEMON ICE CREAM

BEVERAGES

WHITE WINES
2007 Kavaklidere Narince – Anatolia Turkey
2005 Chablis Michel Laroche Chardonnay – France Burgundy

RED WINES
2005 Doluca Karma Merlot -- Bogazkere , Turkey
2006 Beronia Crianza Bodegas -- Rioja, Spain
2007 Bodega Norton Privada --Mendoza, Argentina
2003 Graham’s Late Bottled Vintage Port – Oporto, Portugal

APERITIVES
Gosset Brut Reserve Champagne
Chivas Regal, Johnnie Walker Black Label, Jim Beam, Smirnoff Black Vodka, Gordon’s Dry Gin, Efe Yas Uzum Rakisi

DIGESTIVES
Grand Marnier, Bailey’s, Turkish Sour Cherry Liqueur, Frapin VSOP, Glenlivet

BEERS
Efes Pilsen, Carlsberg

HOT DRINKS
Black Tea, Herbal Tea Selection, Instant Coffee, Filter Coffee, Espresso, Cappuccino, Turkish Coffee, Hot Chocolate

JUICES
Orange, Sour Cherry, Tomato

SELECTION OF SPARKLING SOFT DRINKS


The Meze and Salads


Artichoke Soup - it was very tasty


The Lamb Chop and Kebab - the chop was amazing, the kebab was good, nothing spectacular especially after the kebab on the SVO-IST flight.

I hate to say it, but this was the second dinner of the evening, so I skipped desert and hit the hay. I got about 5-6 hours of sleep, I found the bed very comfortable and the earplugs they handed out with the amenity kits were absolutely incredible.

I woke up about two hours from Hong Kong. Sadly, the breakfast menu is missing, since TK asks you to fill out your selections and hand it in to be ready for the morning. Here are a few pictures of breakfast:


Cheese, olives, cucumbers and tomatoes, along with fresh fruit and yoghurt.


Rookie TR mistake - I ate half of the main breakfast course before realizing I hadn't taken a photo. So, please forgive me, here's the main - it was egg, tomato, turkey ham, and cheese, all baked together and absolutely amazing. One of the best egg dishes I've ever had aloft.

After breakfast, I was off by the Airport Express to Hong Kong station and the Conrad.

dcmike

Luckily, due to my HHonors status, I was upgraded to a room on the Executive Floors (57th – lounge is on the 59th) with a peak view.





Seating area and television.


Bathroom with the Conrad Rubber Duck


The Conrad Bear on the bed after turn down service.


Chocolate "Dim Sum" and fruit plate.

First time in a Conrad and the Executive Lounge was too much at first. I kind of like the do-it-yourself approach to breakfast and happy hour and was unprepared for waiters in swallow-tail coats asking me what I wanted to drink and if I wanted toast in the morning.. After the first two days it grew on me and the staff in the lounge are all so unbelievably incredible, it was hard not to warm to them.


Evening view from the Executive Lounge

dcmike

There has been a lot of speculation and debate in the *A forum about which lounge at HKG is the best. I think it is a sure sign you’ve probably spent too much time on FlyerTalk when you think “Hey., let’s head out to the airport a few hours early and try all three!” Be it what it may, that’s exactly what I did. Call it rational. Call it a cry for help. I am going to look upon it as research.

Singapore SilverKris Lounge – By Gate 15

If you're not on an SQ flight, you're going to need to make a special trip to visit the lounge. It is before the train that takes you to the gates (40-80) where most other *A flights depart from. I showed boarding pass and *G card and was admitted without any problem. The lounge is dark and has no windows. It was relatively crowded when I came in, then an 8pm departure for Singapore was called and I was literally the only person left in the lounge. Despite the darkness, I kind of liked the design. It certainly was calm (perhaps a bit eerily so) once the SQ flight took off.


Main seating area, once I was the only one left.

Three main seating areas – one by the drinks/first class section, one on the way to the food area, and then the food area..


Food Area


Good selection of booze and other drinks.

Many said the SQ lounge has the best food out of all the options. If so, I thought, I am in for some disappointment. I had some beef (not bad) some veggie spring roll type things (disappointing after the previous four days in Hong Kong) and what I can only describe as fish mcnuggets, which were nasty. The little Haagen-Dazs was, well, Haagen-Dazs Hard to screw that up.


Free wifi (with no weird sign up requirements) and easy to find power outlets, so that gets a big thumbs up from me.


United Red Carpet Club

I admit it, I wasn’t expecting much. It’s an RCC. I figured dank, overcrowded., and limited food/drink options.


Side seating area in the RCC

Boy was I wrong. The design and layout were open, modern, airy. Lots of power outlets. There is wifi, it was all locked down. Rather than going back and trying to figure how to connect to the RCC's system, I just connected to the airport’s wifi which worked fine. Tons of newspapers and magazines. I couldn't believe I was in an RCC!


RCC Seating Area

And there was quite a spread of food and drink. I was really impressed.


One food station


More hot food options


Lobster chips, spring rolls, dim sum.

My only complaint – it was HOT. Very, very warm. Likely as a result of being exposed to the upper part of the terminal area. But overall, a really nice RCC. I would say the nicest RCC I've ever been in.

Thai Royal Orchid Lounge

Hands down the best food out of the three.



Other than that, though, I think the RCC is better designed. The Thai design looks a little dated. The place was EMPTY at 9pm. I could still see the Thai plane from the lounge (although it may have already boarded) – the place was far emptier than the RCC.



Thai Lounge also had a lot of newspapers and magazines, and the magazines tended to be more upscale newsstand type publications (Newsweek, Time, Der Spiegel) than the RCC’s trade market bunch.


Another seating area shot with the food options sort of on display.

Also warm in the Thai lounge – seems it's being exposed to the terminal and elevated that does it.

The Thai lounge also had locked down wifi (so I just used the free airport connection) and seemingly good plug distribution in the floor under metal plates.

Overall, my assessments:

Best Food – Thai
Best Design/Feel – RCC
Best Airconditioning – Silver Kris

If I had to do it all over again, I think I would just hang out in the Thai lounge. Less crowded, goo d food. And while it does appear a bit dated, the seats are comfy.

I sadly left the Thai lounge to check out the contract lounge (The Travelers Lounge) that TK uses for its C pax. Two pictures:


Seating Area


View to the food/drink options.

Overal, if you're flying TK in C and have *G status, I would skip the Travelers Lounge entirely and head for any of the other options.

I didn’t take many pictures on the flights home, figuring I would just be repeating much of what I took on the way out. Just a couple of remarks –

Both crews on both flights were amazing. Really top notch service from everyone. On the shorter flight, IST-SVO, there was a pre-departure drink service, so it might have been the tight turn around in SVO on the first flight that caused the lack of a drink service on the way out.

I got to the CIP Lounge in IST a little after 5am and took a couple of photos of the empty lounge. By 6am, it was completely full.


Empty CIP lounge, looking toward the food buffet.


Looking from the main seating area back toward the drink station and, beyond that, the entrance.

I was a little disappointed to find the food offerings identical to what was served at 9pm on the way out – prepackaged sandwiches and pastry. TK did really great breakfasts on their flights. It is a shame they couldn’t bring some of this catering into the lounge.

On the IST-SVO flight, I got an A320 with “American Domestic First Class” type seating. Here’s a photo.



And just one comment after completing my first trip report – holy COW it is a lot of work to type up and photograph this all. I had no idea! I just want to thank everyone for all the reports I’ve been reading over the years! I never knew how much went into each post.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks, Mike

briantoronto

Thanks For taking the time! Nice report.

sobore

Very Nice Report!

This is a great idea. I wish more airlines would do this.^

roadwarriorafrica

Thanks for a great report. I enjoyed reading it.

toyotaboy95

Excellent report and photos. Brought back memories of my SVO Terminal F experience

dcmike

Sorry about that!

arma5

I was there around noon, in November last year, and thought the temperature was just fine.

It looks like your HKG-IST flight left at 23:00 -- I wonder if it was the time of day, the time of year, or something else that made it so hot.

I'm going to have to try this one next time I'm there. I passed by the SQ lounge because it looked pretty dingy (and we all hear rumors about how they try to keep us non-SQ folks out), but I didn't realize I'd missed out on a chance to try a Thai lounge!

I agree. I flew FRA-IST and back last year. While the lounge is really quite interesting, the food it offers is really boring.

Thanks for the great trip report!

songbird

Thanks for the report - you are my hero just for:
- advising of the road construction enroute to SVO, and
- speaking of alternative transport.
I'll let you know sometime later whether you'll have specifically saved my backside...
Are most Turkish Air flights out of that terminal?

dcmike

It was really hot in HK the last two days I was there, so I am sure that had something to do with it, and the fact that the heat of the day had built up at by that point.

Check out the Russia forum as well - there are lots of threads on the Aeroexpress. Unless you're coming in on the weekend or early morning, the train really is the safest bet.

All TK flights go in/out of SVO Terminal F.

mcgahat

One of the better reports I have ready. I sometimes stop reading by the end of the report but not this one. Good work.

ccqueenanne

Great trip report!

I'm heading to Hong Kong for the first time next week and staying at the Conrad too. Did you eat only in the Lounge, or did you ever try the breakfast buffet?

Any special sites or restaurants that you loved and would recommend?

aw

Your first report? I thought you were a pro judging by your pics and writing. Thanks for sharing and glad you had a nice experience on TK. One of these days I will fly them.