TK Y IST-FRA (trip report)
Sep 23, 2010, 6:57 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Upcountry Maui, HI
Posts: 13,303
TK Y IST-FRA (trip report)
In order to fill in part of my trip, I needed to either buy a r/t from IST-TLV or a one-way flight from IST-FRA. Looking at the prices for IST-TLV for the dates I needed, I elected to use miles for that trip and try LH out of FRA, so I ended up needing to purchase a one way flight from IST-FRA. I picked an evening departure on TK, and booked it on expedia.
Verifying my info on TKs web site, once ticketed, they had my UA MP number in their record and that included the notation UASTARGOLD, followed by my MP#.
24 hours before flight time, I reserved an aisle seat in row 9, of the aircraft I assumed would be an A321, but it was actually a 737-800.
On the day of my flight, we ate at Gelik, which is not far from the airport and had another glorious meal in Istanbul. Then my friends dropped me off at Ataturk airport, far too early for my flight. I had to ask where the *G or business class check in was, because it's not that close to where TKs Y class check in is, but once found, they checked my bag, apparently marked it with the priority tag, which was, of course, ignored (same as UA domestic service). Check in was a breeze at IST, using the *G benefit. The hardest part of that process is the initial security check to get into the airport departures hall, but even that was fairly simple.
I checked out the famous lounge, found it to be quite reasonable, though I couldn't eat a thing having eaten at Gelek an hour before, so I just had an espresso drink and tasted a custard type dessert. Later on, well before flight time, as I was bored, I decided to make my way out to the gate. As I was about to get on an elevator, the gate was changed to a real gate, and I think it was about the farthest gate you can get from the lounge, but that was not a problem as I really had a ton of time at this point. I arrived at gate 201 (I think it was 201) before the security people and TK GAs got there, and just waited a few minutes until they arrived and were ready for the final security check at the gate. The metal detector was so sensitive, it went off on everybody regardless if they had any metal or not, so everybody ended up being wanded by hand.
When they were finally ready to start boarding, it was a complete free for all. There was no announcement, no pre-boarding for those that needed assistance. Everybody just crowded the gate entrance and there was no order.
It was sort of like driving in Istanbul: You follow 2 basic rules when driving in Istanbul:
1. Two objects cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time.
2. If there's an open space, any vehicle can take it.
and there's really a third rule, according to my co-worker who's family still lives in Istanbul. If you want to stop anywhere, even on an active roadway, turning on your 4-way flashers makes it ok.
Once onboard, there seemed to be room for everybody's carry on, I noticed that this plane seemed to have the best seat pitch I have ever seen on what is basically a domestic aircraft. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Is the entire aircraft like that, or was this their version of a premium economy seat? I really don't know, but I didn't notice any difference in the seat pitch throughout the aircraft. Is this typical of all TK aircraft? Even the long haul aircraft? How about the equipment they will use on the LAX flight next year?
At the end of the boarding process, they had to board two people using aisle chairs. So that took a while, but eventually we made it out of IST. But before we left, the FA noticed an empty aisle seat a couple of rows in front of ours, asked the two people sitting in that row if they wanted to move over to the empty aisle seat, and they declined, and then she offered the aisle seat to the elderly woman sitting next to me. I was lucky and elated to have an empty seat next to me with all this amazing pitch.
By this time, I wasn't really hungry, but of course I wanted to sample the coach food on TK, so I ordered the chicken dish, and it was really very good. In fact, it was really really really, very, very, very good. The chicken was of course marinated in something that made it very flavorful and tender, and the rice and side dishes were as good as the chicken. I was quite amazed at the food I was served on this short intra-europe flight.
Arriving in FRA, we made our way to baggage claim, going through passport control, and waited for my bag. That was when I noticed it had a priority tag on it, but that didn't seem to help the order it was offloaded and put on the carousel in FRA. Nonetheless, my wait was average, and I made my way to the airport Sheraton.
A few days later, my miles and EQMs posted to my UA MP account online.
In summary, I was very pleasantly surprised by the seat pitch, onboard service and food on my short intra-europe TK flight, and I wonder if the seat pitch is normal throughout their fleet and if that includes long haul and what we might expect from the upcoming LAX non-stop service next year.
-David
Verifying my info on TKs web site, once ticketed, they had my UA MP number in their record and that included the notation UASTARGOLD, followed by my MP#.
24 hours before flight time, I reserved an aisle seat in row 9, of the aircraft I assumed would be an A321, but it was actually a 737-800.
On the day of my flight, we ate at Gelik, which is not far from the airport and had another glorious meal in Istanbul. Then my friends dropped me off at Ataturk airport, far too early for my flight. I had to ask where the *G or business class check in was, because it's not that close to where TKs Y class check in is, but once found, they checked my bag, apparently marked it with the priority tag, which was, of course, ignored (same as UA domestic service). Check in was a breeze at IST, using the *G benefit. The hardest part of that process is the initial security check to get into the airport departures hall, but even that was fairly simple.
I checked out the famous lounge, found it to be quite reasonable, though I couldn't eat a thing having eaten at Gelek an hour before, so I just had an espresso drink and tasted a custard type dessert. Later on, well before flight time, as I was bored, I decided to make my way out to the gate. As I was about to get on an elevator, the gate was changed to a real gate, and I think it was about the farthest gate you can get from the lounge, but that was not a problem as I really had a ton of time at this point. I arrived at gate 201 (I think it was 201) before the security people and TK GAs got there, and just waited a few minutes until they arrived and were ready for the final security check at the gate. The metal detector was so sensitive, it went off on everybody regardless if they had any metal or not, so everybody ended up being wanded by hand.
When they were finally ready to start boarding, it was a complete free for all. There was no announcement, no pre-boarding for those that needed assistance. Everybody just crowded the gate entrance and there was no order.
It was sort of like driving in Istanbul: You follow 2 basic rules when driving in Istanbul:
1. Two objects cannot occupy the same physical space at the same time.
2. If there's an open space, any vehicle can take it.
and there's really a third rule, according to my co-worker who's family still lives in Istanbul. If you want to stop anywhere, even on an active roadway, turning on your 4-way flashers makes it ok.
Once onboard, there seemed to be room for everybody's carry on, I noticed that this plane seemed to have the best seat pitch I have ever seen on what is basically a domestic aircraft. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Is the entire aircraft like that, or was this their version of a premium economy seat? I really don't know, but I didn't notice any difference in the seat pitch throughout the aircraft. Is this typical of all TK aircraft? Even the long haul aircraft? How about the equipment they will use on the LAX flight next year?
At the end of the boarding process, they had to board two people using aisle chairs. So that took a while, but eventually we made it out of IST. But before we left, the FA noticed an empty aisle seat a couple of rows in front of ours, asked the two people sitting in that row if they wanted to move over to the empty aisle seat, and they declined, and then she offered the aisle seat to the elderly woman sitting next to me. I was lucky and elated to have an empty seat next to me with all this amazing pitch.
By this time, I wasn't really hungry, but of course I wanted to sample the coach food on TK, so I ordered the chicken dish, and it was really very good. In fact, it was really really really, very, very, very good. The chicken was of course marinated in something that made it very flavorful and tender, and the rice and side dishes were as good as the chicken. I was quite amazed at the food I was served on this short intra-europe flight.
Arriving in FRA, we made our way to baggage claim, going through passport control, and waited for my bag. That was when I noticed it had a priority tag on it, but that didn't seem to help the order it was offloaded and put on the carousel in FRA. Nonetheless, my wait was average, and I made my way to the airport Sheraton.
A few days later, my miles and EQMs posted to my UA MP account online.
In summary, I was very pleasantly surprised by the seat pitch, onboard service and food on my short intra-europe TK flight, and I wonder if the seat pitch is normal throughout their fleet and if that includes long haul and what we might expect from the upcoming LAX non-stop service next year.
-David
Last edited by LIH Prem; Dec 20, 2010 at 8:07 pm Reason: spell gelik with an 'i' :)
Sep 24, 2010, 9:49 am
#3
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Godalming, Surrey, UK.
Programs: Nowt of note.
Posts: 1,628
Thanks for posting ^ Next week I take my first flight(s) on TK, on a 737-800 from HEL-IST then the 77W from IST-BKK, so this is very timely for me! If the pitch and food are that good in Y, I'm really looking forward to seeing how they are in J 