Inflight:
Our plane for today:
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When boarding was started, there was no priority called for Business Class/Star Gold etc. It was pretty much a free for all. A second gate agent did eventually call any Business Class passengers over to her, but by that point it was a slightly futile gesture. Once on board, the seats were comfortable leather ones with some reasonable pitch. Those in business class were lucky, this was one of TK's 737-800's with "mid-haul" seating - similar to domestic First in the USA
Seat pitch:
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Soon boarding was completed, and we were on our way. The cabin wasn't full, so I had no one in the adjoining seat - no bad thing, even with the reasonably spacious seating. When you get extra space, one might as well make use of it! Newspapers were offered, followed by lunch menus and earphones (This aircraft had overhead IFE, and some radio channels). A drinks service was offered then. Cabin crew were pleasant, and seemed like they wanted to deliver a good service. As has been noted by other TK trip reports, their lack of proficiency in English does show, and I think that some might see that as the crew being "stand off"-ish or rude. I think it's actually a little more fear and embarrassment: they aren't confident, so decide to say nothing instead of making a mistake.
Menu:
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Pre-dinner drink (and Hazelnuts!):
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Menus are a nice touch, it must be said. A rare sight in Economy class these days! I chose the chicken dish for lunch, which was tasty, but the chicken itself was dry. The cake was pleasant, if not outstanding and the starter of green beans dressed in olive oil was exactly what it's name implies - nothing too outstanding. Still, TK get bonus marks for trying to serve up something other than the usual gloop in a tub. The quantity and quality was pretty good all in all.
Lunch:
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The rest of the flight was uneventful, with Fame being shown on the overhead monitors for anyone who wished. I resorted to my iPod and a book. Cabin crew didn't come around with water during the remainder of the flight, which seemed odd - there wasn't much else for them to do!
Post-flight
We touched down on time, and the queues for the visa stamp were mercifully short (just 1 person ahead of me). The same, however, could not be said of immigration - which was slow moving to say the least. Of course, there were multiple people in the queues who hadn't gone to purchase their visa etc, which just held us up more. Note to them: arguing with the immigration officer is unlikely to result in them waving you through
And so I went to the baggage belt, and waited. As a sign of how many people on my flight were transiting, a grand total of 6 bags came out on the belt from the Dublin flight. There we hit a problem: mine were not among them. I waited. I waited. I waited some more: there was no sign of my bag. I found a member of staff, who directed me to the Lost and Found office, staffed with people who didn't seem to care a lot. Eventually they phoned someone, and told me to go back to the belt and wait. Assuming they had located the bag, off I went to wait. And I waited. And waited..and waited some more. There was no bag. In the meantime, I was being paged as the hotel driver I had arranged was obviously waiting on me. I waited so long, that the Dublin flight even disappeared from the carousel sign. I think it was pretty obvious by then that the bag did not make the flight. I returned to the Lost and Found office, explained that all the other bags originating in Dublin had long since been collected and the flight had disappeared from the display. Another phone call was made, and a piece of paper shoved at me. Turned out to be a lost baggage form. The staff didn't really seem to care all that much, giving me less hope than ever that I might actually be reunited with my luggage. My bag had never even left Dublin - when it did arrive, it had an Air France tag on it. I dread to think what the outsourced ground handling in Dublin were actually doing with it, or where it almost went!
Despite me telling the agent 3/4 times that I had come on the Dublin flight (and all the information on luggage receipt etc), he seemed to assume I had come from London, and was pleased to tell me they had three flights a day from London and my luggage would surely be on the next one. Something told me this wasn't a fight worth picking - it had been 90 minutes since I touched down, and now I just wanted to get to my hotel. Off I went, with no luggage (much to the surprise of the very patient driver). When the next day's flight arrived, I rang the number given to me and thankfully, my bag had arrived in Istanbul. The bad news is that I wouldn't receive it until the next morning. It did turn up, almost within the time frame given - but I'd pretty much lost day 1 of my trip.
So far, my experience with TK had been bittersweet!