[QUOTE=nacho;19500068]Especially when you are not going to the US :p

Yes, that was the scenario I was thinking about, with great trepidation :)
Thanks all for the replies.

Does anyone know what 'recliner' seats mean?

http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Tur...irbus_A340.php

I am flying on this in one week in Economy section. Is this a good seat?

This is a standard economy class seat.

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2481/3...1e84b800_z.jpg

seatguru calls everything a recliner seat. This is just a normal seat you'd see on any economy long haul

Is there any way to determine if the A321 serving VKO has the new J seats or the blocked middle? Is it safe to say all A320 have the blocked middle and all 738/9s do not or are there some exceptions? Also, for the blocked middle planes is there more legroom (equivalent to Economy Plus on United, for example) or is it standard coach pitch?

By reading the first few posts, it seems A333 in business is true lie flat, while A332 is angled lie flat. Does anyone know what aircraft usually is on SIN-IST and does it change often? I am flying April 29 2013.

Quick question. What lounge TK uses at Helsinki? Is it SAS (Star Alliance) lounge in terminal 1, although TK departs from the other end of the whole airport (non-schengen area of terminal 2). Thanks for the info.

Lounge Access
 

One of the perks of top tier TK status is owning a TK *A Gold card, which allows access to any *A lounge in the world, regardless of which *A airline you are flying AND regardless of where you are flying (domestic or international; see old 2012 TK status match thread).

One caveat: I’ve personally entered a few UA RCC’s and also a US lounge with my TK Gold card, but recently thought I would be able to enter a *A lounge at DFW even though I was not flying a *A carrier at the time. It turns out, at least in the DFW D-Gates Lufthansa lounge and in the DFW C-Gates RCC, you have to be holding a valid *A BP.

Nevertheless, for domestic *A travelers, a TK *A Gold card is a big deal because a *A Gold card issued from UA (or US) does NOT allow you into a domestic *A lounge like the TK Gold card does, unless you are flying internationally.

BTW, this is not the case for the RCC Club membership. With the RCC club card, you can enter a US *A lounge (past security) even if not flying anywhere.


FYI, the policy specific to these rules is here:

http://www.staralliance.com/en/benef...access-policy/

Star Alliance Gold Customers Travelling in Any Class:
Customers have access to any Star Alliance member carriers' owned lounges with the Star Alliance Gold logo at the entrance.

Customer must present proof of Star Alliance Gold level status via a valid frequent flyer program Star Alliance Gold level card or other valid indication of Star Alliance Gold level status

Customer must also present a boarding pass for travel on a Star Alliance flight departing from the local airport

Customer is entitled to one guest

United and US Airways Star Alliance Gold customers may only access the United Clubs and US Airways Clubs within the U.S. when travelling in conjunction with a Star Alliance international flight.

That means other *A members in the US can access the clubs even traveling domestically.

Hello Turkish experts!

I am flying from Stockholm to IST and then IST to Barcelona soon.

I suppose it´s the CIP Lounge i will have acces to when travelling in Business.
However, do they offer rooms for sleep? I would be really happy if i could catch up with 2 hours of more sleep before travelling to BCN.
Do you need to request these rooms before or is it first in - get´s em?

I am landing 05.00 AM (if on time) and that is when the lounge open.
Is it busy at this time of the day?
My layover is 3 hours.

That was my lounge question.

Also: I will be travelling with an A319 and an A321.
Does anybody know what the seats look like?

In KVS the A319 shows 4 rows of Business.
And the A321 shows 5 rows of Business.

/FirstClassSE
I guess it´s not the nice "Turkish" business class seats.
Just standard seats with the middle seat blocked, right?

People have said lounge is pretty busy early in the morning and late at night.

Perhaps you can get more answers to lounge questions in this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turki...st-lounge.html

Quite a zoo
 

Friday night at 11PM and the THY lounge is packed. Noisy, all sorts of lurkers and the like, and just plain conspicuous consumption everywhere you turn.

As you walk in, a group is playing pool as if at a local nightclub, just hangin' out.

To the right are free lockable lockers but each one is see-through; must be for security? in any case, a nice perk. Next to that is a small media room with those seats you see in basements of high-end homes, playing some musical of a movie, with a few people sprawled out, obviously here for a while.

Around the corner is a wall with NINE 40 inch TVs lined up 3x3 and a few chairs I guess for people who want to channel surf with their eyes rather than with a remote.

Keep walking and notice several food stations, one with a chef making pastry appetizers as fast as he can, rolling the dough and filling it before putting it into the firey oven. Nearby is a salad station. Another with grilled chicken and kebabs with grilled tomatoes, and other veggies, plus and a spice bar for the meats (unlabeled, try your luck- but oh so good). Another station with sweets; and a few stations here and there with beer, wine, sodas, juice, etc.

A small kiddie place looks kinda cute, but I wouldn't want my kid unattended there....

Towards the back left are the showers, a prayer area, and a concierge manning the showers. Somewhere in there are rooms to snooze in, but the rule is you have to be connecting between flights for between 4 & 7 hours- kinda narrow range, no?

The staff are incredibly friendly, always cleaning up after people, and smiling and ready to chat. This really adds to the tome of what otherwise could just be a zoo making you feel like only seedy types would wanna hang around here.

All in all a neat place (perhaps a destination for some!) but for some ferner-phobes, it could be a bit startling at 1st.

Fun!

Bought tickets to fly TK the first time, IAD-IST-MLE, there will be a 8.5 hrs layover at IST, and 7.5 hours in return. Is it a good idea to check baggage all the way to MLE? With such a long layover time, I am hesitate and this will be my first time flying TK. Please advice. TIA

You may be able to use the sleep room in the THY lounge, so if you need stuff from your checked in luggage, consider interrupting it in IST. It may be less risk of baggage connection mess if you just check it in all the way through.

Thanks for the reply. If I understand it correctly, the THY lounge is for biz class, elite miles & smiles and *G passengers. I will be flying only economy class and I am not elite member as well. So I guess I don't have access to the THY lounge or not able to take advantage of the free tour/room since my layover is less than 10hrs. Am I right? Or the sleep room has a different policy which I am not aware of?

I will be arriving IST at 445pm and leaving to MLE at 110am, I plan to kill time in Hsbc lounge (have hsbc premier cc) or is there a better option? Sorry if this is not the right place to ask, TIA.

If you don't have any *G and with a booking only in coach, thats right.
TK CIP Lounge is indeed by far the best lounge at IST, but any lounge is better then hanging around at the gate for so many hours :(

What you could try is a status match with TK. The match quite a lot, nearly any OW or ST mid/top level and EY GoldELite as well.