IST-HEL With Trukish and DO/CO
Oct 27, 2016, 10:17 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Location: ATL/MCO
Programs: Costco Executive, RaceTrac Sultan of Soda, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 5,662
IST-HEL With Trukish and DO/CO
Turkish Airlines 1425
Istanbul-Atatürk (IST) – Helsinki, Finland (HEL)
Saturday, July 31st
Departure: 8:00PM
Arrival: 11:25PM
Duration:3hr25min
Aircraft: Airbus Industries A320
Seat: 01C (Business Class)
Well here goes my first trip report. SEE PHOTOS BELOW
I was flying from MIA to HEL via IST and I had booked Y which would've been an uneventful trip otherwise unless this surprise would've happened.
I landed at IST and hour early from MIA and went straight to the wonderful TK CIP lounge thanks to my Star Gold status. I won't be reviewing the lounge but I will say it's the nicest Business/Elite lounge I've been to
IST is very easy to transit internationally, the good thing about is when arriving from the EU or the US you can bypass transit security but even with transit security the process is painless.
Well after 5.5h in the lounge stuffing myself with pides and baklava, I headed to gate which was number 307 located in the basement of the airport. Boarding didn't begin until 8:00PM our scheduled departure time so we experienced a bit of a delay. The basement level with gate series 300 is always crowded, cramped with little seating and very hot. Boarding was a mess for the flight as everyone lined up the second the GA called for (priority) boarding. All gates in the basement are remote stands and involves a bus ride so priority boarding this case was useless so I decided to wait a while until the line was shorter. Another one of the gate agents went thru the whole checking their passports and bp as well as visas so that passports wouldn’t be needed during boarding.
So it came my time to board and I give my boarding pass to the GA and the scanner makes a “MRPP” sound and makes a red light. I didn’t know what was going on so he said “Oh, flight oversell and you get upgrade to 1C” so I thanked him and got on the crowded bus which took me to the plane.
I always get skeptical with Turkish when it comes to some sort of IRROPS so I ask the purser if my seat really is 1C which she confirms it indeed is.
The seat is exactly the same as economy class with a blocked middle seat which has a small table for placing a beverage or something. Unfortunately this flight was operated by an A320 which doesn’t have real J class seats like some of their 737’s and most of their A321’s. But it was a nice upgrade nonetheless as the meal service is far superior to Economy (even their Y meals are good) and I was first to deplane.
Once settled in I was given a choice of a pre departure beverage of water, juices. I went with my favorite TK beverage, lemonade with mint.
A Korean lady settled in next to me in 1A and it seemed to be her first time in a premium cabin as she looked very excited to be there despite the drab interior and was taking lots of pictures with her Galaxy S7.
Boarding finished up and we took off at 8:41PM, 41 minutes late.
The purser was rude when it came to turn off cell phones and electronics for take off and landing but I decided to ignore her as she couldn’t see me from her jump seat.
20 minutes after take off the two FA’s sprung into action. They presented us with menus and hot towels and returned 10 minutes later to take our orders and addressed us by name.
I went with the swordfish and went with more lemonade to drink.
The crew was attentive enough when it came to clearing appetizers but drink refills weren’t proactively offered. The service was comically bad. They said “enjoy" and "bon appetite" when taking away the tray instead of when offering it, and they had a weird way of placing things on your tray.
Both the appetizer platter and the main course were excellent and TK has the best Business class catering in Europe.
On the tray was also a small cheese plate which tasted OK and then there was the heavenly chocolate dessert. A small cup of Turkish yoghurt with herbs was on there too.
About 20 minutes the FA’s came thru with a cart with hot beverages and various liqueurs as well as tray with Turkish delights.
I settled for a cup of coffee.
The entire meal service took around 1 hour to complete.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and I spent the time watching a movie on my iPad.
All in all this flight was enjoyable and this operational upgrade was a great way to end the trip and I wouldn’t bat an eye to fly Turkish again.
I deplaned and proceeded thru immigration which was a breeze as is the norm in Europe.
Istanbul-Atatürk (IST) – Helsinki, Finland (HEL)
Saturday, July 31st
Departure: 8:00PM
Arrival: 11:25PM
Duration:3hr25min
Aircraft: Airbus Industries A320
Seat: 01C (Business Class)
Well here goes my first trip report. SEE PHOTOS BELOW
I was flying from MIA to HEL via IST and I had booked Y which would've been an uneventful trip otherwise unless this surprise would've happened.
I landed at IST and hour early from MIA and went straight to the wonderful TK CIP lounge thanks to my Star Gold status. I won't be reviewing the lounge but I will say it's the nicest Business/Elite lounge I've been to
IST is very easy to transit internationally, the good thing about is when arriving from the EU or the US you can bypass transit security but even with transit security the process is painless.
Well after 5.5h in the lounge stuffing myself with pides and baklava, I headed to gate which was number 307 located in the basement of the airport. Boarding didn't begin until 8:00PM our scheduled departure time so we experienced a bit of a delay. The basement level with gate series 300 is always crowded, cramped with little seating and very hot. Boarding was a mess for the flight as everyone lined up the second the GA called for (priority) boarding. All gates in the basement are remote stands and involves a bus ride so priority boarding this case was useless so I decided to wait a while until the line was shorter. Another one of the gate agents went thru the whole checking their passports and bp as well as visas so that passports wouldn’t be needed during boarding.
So it came my time to board and I give my boarding pass to the GA and the scanner makes a “MRPP” sound and makes a red light. I didn’t know what was going on so he said “Oh, flight oversell and you get upgrade to 1C” so I thanked him and got on the crowded bus which took me to the plane.
I always get skeptical with Turkish when it comes to some sort of IRROPS so I ask the purser if my seat really is 1C which she confirms it indeed is.
The seat is exactly the same as economy class with a blocked middle seat which has a small table for placing a beverage or something. Unfortunately this flight was operated by an A320 which doesn’t have real J class seats like some of their 737’s and most of their A321’s. But it was a nice upgrade nonetheless as the meal service is far superior to Economy (even their Y meals are good) and I was first to deplane.
Once settled in I was given a choice of a pre departure beverage of water, juices. I went with my favorite TK beverage, lemonade with mint.
A Korean lady settled in next to me in 1A and it seemed to be her first time in a premium cabin as she looked very excited to be there despite the drab interior and was taking lots of pictures with her Galaxy S7.
Boarding finished up and we took off at 8:41PM, 41 minutes late.
The purser was rude when it came to turn off cell phones and electronics for take off and landing but I decided to ignore her as she couldn’t see me from her jump seat.
20 minutes after take off the two FA’s sprung into action. They presented us with menus and hot towels and returned 10 minutes later to take our orders and addressed us by name.
I went with the swordfish and went with more lemonade to drink.
The crew was attentive enough when it came to clearing appetizers but drink refills weren’t proactively offered. The service was comically bad. They said “enjoy" and "bon appetite" when taking away the tray instead of when offering it, and they had a weird way of placing things on your tray.
Both the appetizer platter and the main course were excellent and TK has the best Business class catering in Europe.
On the tray was also a small cheese plate which tasted OK and then there was the heavenly chocolate dessert. A small cup of Turkish yoghurt with herbs was on there too.
About 20 minutes the FA’s came thru with a cart with hot beverages and various liqueurs as well as tray with Turkish delights.
I settled for a cup of coffee.
The entire meal service took around 1 hour to complete.
The rest of the flight was uneventful and I spent the time watching a movie on my iPad.
All in all this flight was enjoyable and this operational upgrade was a great way to end the trip and I wouldn’t bat an eye to fly Turkish again.
I deplaned and proceeded thru immigration which was a breeze as is the norm in Europe.
Last edited by miamiflyer8; Oct 27, 2016 at 11:36 pm
Oct 27, 2016, 11:33 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: The Baltic Sea
Programs: AY, BT, DY and SK. Scandic, Radisson, Marriott and HHonors. ClubONE
Posts: 5,890
Hmm. I can see no pictures, but from the description it sounds that it is exactly like TK economy with the exception of the blocked middle seat.
Oct 27, 2016, 12:37 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2015
Location: ATL/MCO
Programs: Costco Executive, RaceTrac Sultan of Soda, Chick-fil-A Red
Posts: 5,662
Oh no I failed with the pictures. I can view them fine but now that I pull it up on a separate device they don't show. I will try to include them