Part 5: IST - AYT on Turkish Airlines in Economy Class

The walk between IST’s international and domestic terminals is an easy 5-minutes. It’s mostly hopping from moving walkway to moving walkway which makes the journey a breeze. We emerged into a somewhat chaotic domestic terminal; it wasn’t immediately clear where TK’s ticket counter was. Figured it out soon enough, though. Check-in was quick and efficient. At one point the agent asked to see the credit card I used to purchase the tickets. I was expecting this so it didn’t come as a surprise, but it’s not something that’s required in the states — a warning to anyone who buys a ticket on TK: DON’T FORGET TO BRING THE CREDIT CARD YOU USED.

Istanbul Domestic Terminal


Security was a pleasure. Totally casual, no shoes off, etc. I got spoiled with friendly security personnel on this trip, for sure. Once airside we stopped at a small coffee shop for a snack. With a combination of hand gestures and “yes” in Turkish, I ordered a toasted chicken sandwich. It’s great how you never have to worry about having cash in airports. It seems like invariably vendors take credit cards. This particular spot even had a little screen which showed how much things cost in a number of different currencies. It was a nice touch to know how much I was spending in USD even though the price was listed in Turkish Lira.

Still with an hour before departure, we parked ourselves in a corner by the gate (downstairs) and continued a game of Scrabble on my iPod. There was a crew of what looked like Turkish hipsters congregating in the boarding area (they look the same anywhere in the world. It’s amazing, really). Eventually boarding was called and we cued up to be bussed to the remote stand.

Boarding gate


Our plane


Air stairs


TK 2424, IST - AYT, A320-200
Sunday, June 27
Depart: IST 8:05 PM
Arrive: AYT 9:20 PM
Duration: 1hr15min
Seat: 16B (Economy Class)

Boarded via air stairs. My first impression: the plane is beautiful. Cabin looks brand new. One of the hipsters is sitting in my seat, looking seriously pissed that she has to move away from her friend in 16A. The FA says something in Turkish and she skulks off. Sorry honey, I know his chest hair and pendant necklace are totally rad, but we’re in B and C. Prior to takeoff one of these folks (completely bald dude with big bushy beard) pantomimed a safety demonstration to the sheer delight of his friends.

Legroom


Seats (side view)


I immediately fell asleep after takeoff. Must have been the jetlag catching up to me. I woke up to a big surprise with about 40 minutes left of our 1hr15 flight. Meal service. That’s right, we got a full dinner in the back of the bus on an 8pm flight. I was shocked. And if that’s not crazy enough, the meal was GREAT! Chicken sandwich, green bean salad with yoghurt on the side, and almond cake for dessert. The meal came with a packet of olive oil to pour over the salad as well. Everyone ate through the descent and FAs picked up the last tray probably 10 minutes before touchdown.

Dinner


Gun delivery?


Overall the flight — for the amount of time it was — was incredible. Friendly service, immaculate plane, and tasty meal. After touchdown and taxi, we disembarked into an Antalya airport that was pretty much deserted, although new-looking and clean. Once the bags came out, I grabbed some Lira from an ATM and we exited the terminal to meet our pick-up from the hotel. At this point I should mention that the “B&B in Antalya’s old city” I noted earlier is called Villa Tulipan. Emmy, its caretaker/proprietor was standing right outside the terminal with a sign that had my name on it. What a nice surprise! I wasn’t expecting the woman with whom I’d been communicating via e-mail to pick us up at the airport. She walked us to her small van and introduced us to the driver. It ended up that we weren’t her last pickup of the night. She’d be back a few hours later to pick up a couple arriving around midnight. The fee for the car was 35 lira, whereas a cab would have been 25. In my opinion, however, door-to-door service from the woman who ran the hotel was well worth the extra cost.

After 3 days of travel and 24+ hours in the air and in airports, we’d finally arrived.