tr3k

Oh, that's too bad. Really not interested in the domestic lounge in this case. I was hoping to see the famous international lounge once before IST is closed. Thank you for the information.

matis11

Am scheduled to fly ORD-IST-TLV in business class with a 1:50 layover. How safe should I feel about this? Could also book on Swiss with a 3:30 layover in ZRH.

ISTFlyer

1 hours 50 minutes for international to international transfer is pretty enough. You wouldn't need clear security again at Istanbul if the ground staff could issue your boarding pass to TLV at Chicago ( I don't know the transfer procedure for Israel flights ) , and you would have time for the lounge as well.

tr3k

Swiss to TLV is a better choice IMO as they have the lie flats on a widebody (I forget - A330?), while TK has regular recliner seats for the most part (though they do have an occasional 777 on that route).

matis11

I am booked on a TK routing flying the 777 both legs. Any idea if TK has last minute equipment changes on a regular basis? Would for sure book Swiss if 777 not fairly certain for second leg.

ISTFlyer

If your TK flight to TLV is scheduled to operate with 777-300ER aircraft; it's possible that the aircraft type could be changed with A330 series aircraft. If the date you're going to fly is a national/religious holiday in Israel or a travel period that most people travel on that route, the aircraft would be definitely a 77W.

I had experienced last minute equipment changes several times, mostly on domestic flights. Once, one of my flights to Europe was change from an A330-300 to an A319 at OLCI which is quite a rare situation. I also had several changes at the opposite direction as well (narrow-body to wide-body).

So, no one could guarantee the aircraft type for short/medium haul flights operated by TK.

matis11

Thanks all. I rebooked on LX. Sounds like hard/soft product will be worse, but safer connection and better chance of widebody on second leg.

tr3k

I don't know much about TK, but LX J was very good - one of the best I've flown so far, both in terms of hard and soft product.

The only issue with LX is that on some tickets they want an extra-fee for the best business class seats or reserve some of them for MandM elites. So, you may have to pick a suboptimal seat early or wait until check in. However, they are individual pod-type seats vs. doubles on TK.

Also, to be fair, LX does sometimes change their equipment to an A320 (which would be pretty bad, as you'd be stuck in what is essentially a Y seat for a longer flight) - I saw this on flightradar.com. Not common, but it could happen in theory.

matis11

Not worried about the seat as I'm flying with the wife so will need two together .

The equipment change can happen anywhere, and agree that the 4 hr flight in Y is worse than 1 hr. Seems to me like risk of equipment change on LX for this route is lower than TK, but who knows.

tr3k

Then LX is great IMO - I wouldn't hesitate to pick it again.

shawbridge

I am flying from BOS to VIE. Lots J options at a bit above $10K. I see a flight on TK at $5700, but it has a 1 hour 15 minute layover in IST on the way to VIE and lands at 5:30 PM.

I have a dinner meeting that evening. Is 1 hour and 15 minutes changing to VIE sufficient or is there meaningful risk?

I know there is a later flight to VIE but would miss dinner.

This would save the client about $4K. Not huge but generally a good thing to do.

Thanks for your help. I've never flown TK but hear that business class is terrific. I have to fly back to Washington DC.

ISTFlyer

As you would arrive from BOS, you won't need to clear security again which would save you time connecting to your next flight. 1 hour and 15 minutes is a reasonable transfer time for international-international connections but related to experiences that I heard from friends TK 82 is a flight that could be easily delayed due to the unorganized and late boarding at BOS and arrive 15-30 minutes after scheduled arrival time. TK 1887 to VIE usually arrives before schedule ( looked at flightradar24.com ) so that won't be an issue. There is no specific terminal assignments at IST so you may need to walk 25-30 minutes from/to your gate if your flights would arrive/depart from different sides of the terminal. Also, you should add the fact that %50 arrivals/departures from IST are made from bus gates which would take extra time depending on the parking position which could take up to 20-25 minutes as well. And, of course you may be lucky to arrive to a jetbridge and have a two minute walk to your onward flight's gate. If the dinner is important I won't risk it but the $4000 difference is huge. You have a really difficult choice and good luck with that.

shawbridge

Thanks ISTFlyer. I'd love to try TK Business class (and can always use TK Miles to keep up Star Alliance status, but that seems like too tight a connection. We use a couple of travel agents and one can sometimes be a bit of a magician and found a flight through London for $7800. So, I will fly through London Don't need the miles there (I'm Gold for Life on BA) but no problem making my dinner in Vienna or in fact my dinner in DC on the way back. If there is another Vienna trip, I will try TK. I went last month through Frankfurt on LH. I don't love LH business class (nothing bad at all, just little warmth and don't love their food).

erik123

Flying KTM-IST-AMS in J with a 1:05 connection time. The KTM flight seems to be late most dates (30+ min). The AMS flight only a bit (10+).

What are my chances? As that is the last flight of the day IST-AMS what will TK do if I miss-connect? E.g. can I ask for the later flight to BRU (easy train tide) or will I have to overnight? And if overnight do they tend to put you up?

ISTFlyer

In most circumstances, you would make your flight. IST gets crowded evening so slight delays occur and boarding gates closes later than usual. I don't exactly know if you could transfer to another destination ( BRU seems difficult because there is only a 40 minutes time difference with the AMS flight - Maybe you would be accepted if you don't have checked baggage ) but I know that if you would overnight, TK would provide you a 5* hotel ( J class ) and all your expenses ( transportation to/from hotel, food ) at Istanbul. By the way, just wanted to add, in case of a misconnection you won't be able to ask for EU 261/2004 compensation as TK is not a EU carrier and the reason of your late arrival would be linked to the KTM-IST sector.