miamiflyer8

What they should do is add an extra X-ray machine and another immigration officer to speed it up during peak hours. Indeed is a nice exclusive benefit.

boosh

You are entitled to whatever opinion you have but that is just a demeaning and pointless comment

merijn

I fly about for the last 12 years almost on a monthly mid and long haule flights to and from IST in business class.
In my experience, in the cases we had dedicated business class buses they where also filled with economy class passengers.
Often they don't stop economy class passengers from leaving the airplane before business class resulting that the business class bus is full with economy class passengers and the business class passengers don't have space on the bus.
I'm not not a snob and normally i don't care that they use the free space for economy class passengers but i paid very well for this and expect at least that we can use the bus if it is available.
But what really makes me angry is the arrogance and disinterest in the ground staff and specially the transfer desk staff.
They are in my eyes useless and don't care about the costumers.
Many times they just disappear for a coffee break or a social chat while many costumers are waiting.
According to the ground staff there should be a dedicated business class transfer desk but nobody knows where that is and i not able to find it also.
One staff member send you to the left and the other to the right :-(
When you are able to get your BP you have the pleasure of using the business class security lane (if it is open in case i just open it myself) which is many times filled with economy class passengers and therefore the fast track is useless.
I know that people will say that we all are even but i don't fly for fun or holiday and i pay a hefty premium for this and i expect that i receive something in return for that. (outside the plane experience self)

nacho

The fast track does get you faster to the security screening - the queue merge with Y pax just before the screening machines.

What you describe about the staff - you can find that in Sweden, Denmark and France.

deniah

agreed on first statement.

wouldnt go that far on 2nd statement. entire ground staff at IST (tk, non-tk, security, check-in, ticketing, xfer, etc) is frustratingly indifferent to a degree ive never witnessed anywhere else in the world

hfly

Let's talk about an experience I had in the last few days. Long haul J into IST on a 777, 47 of 49 seats taken. 777 with a remote stand. Deplaned as usual from the middle door, and is often the case FA's had not closed the curtain from Y into J, meaning that Y pax were already mixing with the back J pax in getting off the plane. Two CIP buses were waiting, which would normally be ideal as they seat about 22 pax each BUT, there was an important (and in this case famous) Turkish person who was in J, he was directed to HIS OWN CIP bus, which meant that about 26 of us fit into the CIP bus (I would estimate, about 18 J pax, and 8 Y pax) which meant that about 24 J pax, or the majority, were herded into the Y bus, meaning that they had to wait for it to fill to the brim. Here is the best part though, I know the Turkish VIP involved, we were talking on our way down the jetway, and we were going to board "his" bus together, but I was stopped and told it was only for him, he insisted that I be allowed aboard the bus, but they would not let it happen, so I quickly got on the other bus..... Just overall bad execution.....

frenchft

Guys, you have to understand something : TK does not care about paying C pax. Period. They care more about their silver in domestic more than C pax long haul.

nacho

I lived in Denmark, living in Sweden and have you tried the transfer desk at SAS in Scandinavia? Do they have a C dedicate desk? No. Would the gate agent treat you differently? No. If you get into a clinic and want to talk to the receptionist, you will have to wait until that person chatting before you. Try calling any Swedish company during lunch time and see how many of them are actually open? Oh it happens when you are queuing at check out at supermarket too - if the staff are chatting, you need to let them finish their conversation before serving you.

This is what the Scandinavian are proud of - being indifferent. Doesn't matter how much you paid and who you are - everyone get the exact same bad treatment. I'm so used to it that I don't feel that strongly about how TK treats their C pax. I don't mind cramping in a bus when I fly C as long as the bus leaves soon. I don't mind Y pax get off before me.

For France I have experienced the supermarket thing, airline desk etc. I haven't lived there but from my experience from short visits and from what I read from other people's experience, it's similar. However I do think that flying AF J would be better flying TK J.

hfly

Actually Nacho, and I say this as a Lifetime Platinum with FB, flying AF in J is NOT better than flying TK in J. The last time it was a better experience was maybe 15 years ago, when TK was essentially a regional carrier with a half dozen long haul a/c and AF was a big international carrier. Since TK's expansion, and AF's making almost every conceivable wrong move, this has rarely, if ever been the case. You can search the FB forums high and low for the last 15 years on FT, and you will rarely see anyone talking about how wonderful teh Af J experience is.

merijn

One question which i cant get answered.
According to TK economy transfer desk there should be a dedicated business class transfer desk in the arrival area.
The only direction they could give was at the end of the walkway.
But i was not able to find anywhere a TK business transfer desk.
Is there a TK business class dedicated transfer desk or where they just helpful in their own usual way. :-(

nacho

Used to fly a lot of Y with AF and I saw their C looks attractive - and France has more class difference compared to Scandinavia, so I guess you ought to get more if you paid more. I heard that AF was willing to delay a flight because a F pax (celebrity) forgot to bring her ID card when she got to the airport. I guess TK will probably do that if it's a Turkish VIP

PVDtoDEL

I've had the misfortune of dealing with staff that are more indifferent than the typical IST staff at WAW and ULN recently. "Never witnessed anywhere else in the world" is a huge overstatement.

deniah

what i've witnessed, was the qualifier

ive mis- and lost- connections in MNL; 'held captive' airside in DEL; denied and attempted denied boarding in MAD, VCE; grew up in the part of the world not known for its hospitality; started my flying with US carriers that the flyertalk community loves to decry....

but its repeated failures of such simplicity, like getting absolutely stonewalled when asking for a reprint of my TK-E card, that leaves me the most disappointed.