FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - DEL - IST - JFK in Business, what to expect
Old Jun 12, 2012, 6:51 am
  #5  
brysal
 
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: UA 1K, AA EXPLAT, UA MM, DL Gold
Posts: 146
My mini-review : all went well

I just thought I would give an overall mini-review for my flight yesterday. I have to say I was a bit stressed about the potential of missing my connection in Istanbul considering the flight from DEL-IST was delayed for the 6 previous days by a minimum of 20 mins.

Check-in: No line in New Delhi. We checked in at 4am, 2 hours prior to departure. No line, very quick through passport control and security, although they spent about 5 mins trying to track down a metal collar stay from my shirt that was in one of my bags.

Lounge: Great lounge overall. Good internet, showers if you need them, good food and drink offering. Better than expected and pretty quite for this early morning flight.

Boarding: Quick and easy. It wasn't clearly marked for business class, but we walked right up to an agent at the left podium without a cue.

Onboard: After a bit of worrying, the flight was actually out of the gate 10 mins early! And with a long taxi across the airport to the runway, we were wheels up about 5 mins after our 6:05am scheduled departure. The cabin crew gave a quick service of a warm samosas appetizer within the first hour and then disappeared / lights out. I hadn't realized that the breakfast service would happen about 1 1/2 hours before landing. Great second service, complete breakfast. The aircraft was the A330-300, no internet, but comfortable seat and good video options. We landed 25 mins early and were at a gate (not a remote stand) 15 mins prior to our scheduled arrival.

Transfer: From start to finish my passport and boarding pass were checked 6, yes 6 times. I had 2 more checks then the person I was traveling with. We did hurry through the terminal in fear of big lines but overall we waited a max of 5 mins at the first US passenger check (by the windows), then the secondary check, and then about 5 mins through security. As reported, they opened an additional line quickly when it started to get busy.

Next Flight: TK 001 from IST to NY (new 777-300)
Overall a great flight. Attentive crew, free internet (not the quickest but functional), great seat, a ton of movie choices, and terrific meals from start to finish. We also got the IPAD cover amenity kits, which were different from the first flight. The only missing thing I would have liked for the 10 hour flight would have been pajamas.

Sorry, no pictures for the review. I might track down a few meal photos.
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