Oct 5, 2018, 9:18 am
Last edit by: ISTFlyer
Please note that this thread discusses only TK operations from the new airport. There will be no discussion of the politics involved. These can take place in OMNI PR. Anyone interested in general issue surrounding the new airport may find these in the "Europe" forum. The usual FT rules apply.
For a general discussion about the airport, not related to TK, please visit: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe/1955797-istanbul-new-airport-ist-isl-master-thread.html
Lounge questions have now a dedicated thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1963594-tk-istanbul-airport-thread-2-lounges.html
starflyergold
TK forum moderator
-----------------
This is the list of all Istanbul Airport threads where you could find more details related to your question if it's discussed in one of the forums below.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #1 - General Discussion ( YOU ARE HERE )
This is the thread that you could ask your questions about the airport related to Turkish Airlines which doesn't have a dedicated thread. For example questions about check-in desks, the Miniport service, fast-track security, care points, etc... could be asked here if they are directly or indirectly related to TK.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #2 - Lounges
This is the thread dedicated for lounges and questions about the TK lounges at Istanbul Airport. Sleeping rooms in the lounge could be discussed in the third thread as it's mainly related to longer connections. Please do refer to the respective threads in the Europe forum for other contract lounges at Istanbul Airport and PriorityPass lounges.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #3 - Stopover Hotel, Touristanbul, Sleeping Rooms
This is the thread for passengers booked a long connection. The thread has a guide that would give basic information about the free city tour, the stopover hotel option for eligible passengers as well as the sleeping rooms in the lounges in Istanbul Airport. For issues onlyrelated hotel suggestions refer to the Europe forum.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #4 - Transferring/Transit at Istanbul Airport
This is the thread were you could ask your questions about any type of transfer at Istanbul Airport. Such as what to do within a xxx hour layover, or facilities at the transfer area directly related to transit issues. Also questions related to transfer security, immigration in single/seperate tickets could be discussed here. As well as what to do in case of misconnections. The transfer hotel where passengers could access by paying: YOTEL has a dedicated thread where you could find here.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #5 - Miles&Smiles Card Pickup at Istanbul Airport
If you want to pickup your Miles&Smiles card in Istanbul Airport, please consult this thread where you would be able to find the locations of the card print points for Miles&Smiles members.
There are also threads not only related to the TK pax but to all passengers traveling from Istanbul Airport. These take place in the Europe forum.
Istanbul Airport Master Thread
For any question related to the airport instead of TK ( facilities, pay-to-use services not related to TK, transportation, rental car services, hotel services, non-TK lounges ) please consult this thread in the Europe forum. Also please discuss, Flightradar24 related ADS-B issues, delays related to the airport here, unless it's a direct TK issue.
PriorityPass Lounges in Istanbul Airport
There is no PriorityPass Lounges at Istanbul Airport at the moment. However, I would update this thread when there is an available lounge for PriorityPass at the airport.
I (ISTFlyer) have removed the FAQ's as they are now all answered in the respective WIKI sections of the respective forums.
For a general discussion about the airport, not related to TK, please visit: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/europe/1955797-istanbul-new-airport-ist-isl-master-thread.html
Lounge questions have now a dedicated thread: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1963594-tk-istanbul-airport-thread-2-lounges.html
starflyergold
TK forum moderator
-----------------
This is the list of all Istanbul Airport threads where you could find more details related to your question if it's discussed in one of the forums below.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #1 - General Discussion ( YOU ARE HERE )
This is the thread that you could ask your questions about the airport related to Turkish Airlines which doesn't have a dedicated thread. For example questions about check-in desks, the Miniport service, fast-track security, care points, etc... could be asked here if they are directly or indirectly related to TK.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #2 - Lounges
This is the thread dedicated for lounges and questions about the TK lounges at Istanbul Airport. Sleeping rooms in the lounge could be discussed in the third thread as it's mainly related to longer connections. Please do refer to the respective threads in the Europe forum for other contract lounges at Istanbul Airport and PriorityPass lounges.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #3 - Stopover Hotel, Touristanbul, Sleeping Rooms
This is the thread for passengers booked a long connection. The thread has a guide that would give basic information about the free city tour, the stopover hotel option for eligible passengers as well as the sleeping rooms in the lounges in Istanbul Airport. For issues onlyrelated hotel suggestions refer to the Europe forum.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #4 - Transferring/Transit at Istanbul Airport
This is the thread were you could ask your questions about any type of transfer at Istanbul Airport. Such as what to do within a xxx hour layover, or facilities at the transfer area directly related to transit issues. Also questions related to transfer security, immigration in single/seperate tickets could be discussed here. As well as what to do in case of misconnections. The transfer hotel where passengers could access by paying: YOTEL has a dedicated thread where you could find here.
TK in Istanbul Airport: Thread #5 - Miles&Smiles Card Pickup at Istanbul Airport
If you want to pickup your Miles&Smiles card in Istanbul Airport, please consult this thread where you would be able to find the locations of the card print points for Miles&Smiles members.
There are also threads not only related to the TK pax but to all passengers traveling from Istanbul Airport. These take place in the Europe forum.
Istanbul Airport Master Thread
For any question related to the airport instead of TK ( facilities, pay-to-use services not related to TK, transportation, rental car services, hotel services, non-TK lounges ) please consult this thread in the Europe forum. Also please discuss, Flightradar24 related ADS-B issues, delays related to the airport here, unless it's a direct TK issue.
PriorityPass Lounges in Istanbul Airport
There is no PriorityPass Lounges at Istanbul Airport at the moment. However, I would update this thread when there is an available lounge for PriorityPass at the airport.
I (ISTFlyer) have removed the FAQ's as they are now all answered in the respective WIKI sections of the respective forums.
TK operations from "Istanbul Airport" aka Istanbul New Airport (ISL/IST)
Mar 23, 2019, 1:52 pm
#526
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2006
Location: TUN
Programs: TK E+
Posts: 11,230
Mar 23, 2019, 2:01 pm
#527
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
In the FAQ on the website of Turkish Airlines point 44 (link below) it is stated that there will be three different lounges available. Domestic, Business and Miles&Smiles. I would expect them not to state this in such an FAQ unless the lounges will open as of 6 April? Any thoughts?
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-s...faq/index.html
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-s...faq/index.html
Mar 23, 2019, 2:18 pm
#528
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,340
Mar 23, 2019, 2:19 pm
#529
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,340
Mar 23, 2019, 2:22 pm
#530
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
I also have some experiences that I have witnessed somebody being rejected to Star Alliance *G Lounges even though they either have a Star Gold card or a First/Business Class ticket on a *A carrier.
An example,
In 2015, I had Lufthansa FTL status and I was flying BOS-FRA-IST in Y ( I was the only one who booked that flight ), with a large group of people ( 15-20 pax ) that was flying J class on TK that day on the direct service which most members didn't had status but some had TK*G. Some of us went to the Lufthansa Lounge in Boston, with my boarding pass I was granted access to the Business Lounge, however, all of the party flying TK was rejected ( even the *G card holders ) and was asked to use the Air France/KLM Lounge ( TK contracted this lounge at that time ). Btw, this is before LH expanded their lounge in Boston in their new location. This event occurred, in the old, small lounge which had limited seating, however, the deny reason was not capacity.
As this thread is not the appropriate thread.
If you want we could also continue to discuss this in the Star Alliance forum.
Mar 23, 2019, 2:24 pm
#531
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,454
I can only believe that was a misunderstanding of some sort. Never heard any staff member to deny *A C/F pax being denied entry..
In fact, whenever I fly *A in Y and have to use the "Gold" lounge in SIN (yeah, things happen!) I do overhear quite often the staff telling C flyers to visit the Silverkris lounge "since it's much nicer".. and twice on such occassion I was able to be guested by a *G member flying C into the Silverkris lounge upgrading myself from the Gold one after explaining it to them in German (They wouldn't believe the lounge staff - and yeah, spotting those SEN tags pays out
) and once even to the Silverkris F lounge by a HON (flying F) - as a Y pax 
In fact, whenever I fly *A in Y and have to use the "Gold" lounge in SIN (yeah, things happen!) I do overhear quite often the staff telling C flyers to visit the Silverkris lounge "since it's much nicer".. and twice on such occassion I was able to be guested by a *G member flying C into the Silverkris lounge upgrading myself from the Gold one after explaining it to them in German (They wouldn't believe the lounge staff - and yeah, spotting those SEN tags pays out
) and once even to the Silverkris F lounge by a HON (flying F) - as a Y pax
Mar 23, 2019, 6:09 pm
#532
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: MD/DC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, TK Gold
Posts: 1,536
An example,
In 2015, I had Lufthansa FTL status and I was flying BOS-FRA-IST in Y ( I was the only one who booked that flight ), with a large group of people ( 15-20 pax ) that was flying J class on TK that day on the direct service which most members didn't had status but some had TK*G. Some of us went to the Lufthansa Lounge in Boston, with my boarding pass I was granted access to the Business Lounge, however, all of the party flying TK was rejected ( even the *G card holders ) and was asked to use the Air France/KLM Lounge ( TK contracted this lounge at that time ). Btw, this is before LH expanded their lounge in Boston in their new location. This event occurred, in the old, small lounge which had limited seating, however, the deny reason was not capacity.
As this thread is not the appropriate thread.
If you want we could also continue to discuss this in the Star Alliance forum.
Mar 23, 2019, 6:10 pm
#533
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: MD/DC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, IHG Platinum, Marriott Titanium, TK Gold
Posts: 1,536
An example,
In 2015, I had Lufthansa FTL status and I was flying BOS-FRA-IST in Y ( I was the only one who booked that flight ), with a large group of people ( 15-20 pax ) that was flying J class on TK that day on the direct service which most members didn't had status but some had TK*G. Some of us went to the Lufthansa Lounge in Boston, with my boarding pass I was granted access to the Business Lounge, however, all of the party flying TK was rejected ( even the *G card holders ) and was asked to use the Air France/KLM Lounge ( TK contracted this lounge at that time ). Btw, this is before LH expanded their lounge in Boston in their new location. This event occurred, in the old, small lounge which had limited seating, however, the deny reason was not capacity.
As this thread is not the appropriate thread.
If you want we could also continue to discuss this in the Star Alliance forum.
Mar 23, 2019, 6:42 pm
#534
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
I am not really sure what you all are going on about here regarding LH, Star, etc. Having held Senator status with LH for over 14 years and TK Elite Plus status since it started, (and BD top tier when they existed) I can tell you the following:
*Gold gets access to all *Gold lounges. The biggest weirdness/exception/whatever that has been highlighted many times on FT over the years are the multiple lounges that SQ maintains at Changi. It is akin to the same weirdness that QR has in Doha, where they maintain another lounge for Oneworld Emerald who are not flying on QR.
What people sometimes do not understand are that there are often several types of exceptions. One, whereby a lounge is small, or the timings do not necessarily fit to have everyone slam into a lounge at the same time, meaning that your carrier might contract with a third party lounge that is NOT another Star carriers lounge (as was the LH case in Boston above).
You may find that at a certain station, one Star carriers lounge may not in fact be "their lounge" but rather a contracted third party lounge, in which case your carrier might contract a different third party lounge.
Lastly, lounges, especially at terminals where there are multiple lounges may retain the right to refuse entry, or politely guide you to use other lounges due to capacity restraints. An example of this would be if you wanted to use the LH lounge at T2 in London, where they have a "polite" sign up saying as much and suggesting that if you are at remote gates to use the UA or SQ lounges for example.
I do not agree with the above statement that Star lounge access is in some way inferior to the other two alliances. I would say that it is slightly better than Skyteam, and slightly worse than Oneworld. The big difference being that Oneworld Emerald flying business gets access to Oneworld FIRST lounges, while Star generally does not (neither does Skyteam BTW). Oneworld also has better policies on the use of US domestic lounges than the other two.Skyteam WAS better than Star several years ago, but not really anymore.
*Gold gets access to all *Gold lounges. The biggest weirdness/exception/whatever that has been highlighted many times on FT over the years are the multiple lounges that SQ maintains at Changi. It is akin to the same weirdness that QR has in Doha, where they maintain another lounge for Oneworld Emerald who are not flying on QR.
What people sometimes do not understand are that there are often several types of exceptions. One, whereby a lounge is small, or the timings do not necessarily fit to have everyone slam into a lounge at the same time, meaning that your carrier might contract with a third party lounge that is NOT another Star carriers lounge (as was the LH case in Boston above).
You may find that at a certain station, one Star carriers lounge may not in fact be "their lounge" but rather a contracted third party lounge, in which case your carrier might contract a different third party lounge.
Lastly, lounges, especially at terminals where there are multiple lounges may retain the right to refuse entry, or politely guide you to use other lounges due to capacity restraints. An example of this would be if you wanted to use the LH lounge at T2 in London, where they have a "polite" sign up saying as much and suggesting that if you are at remote gates to use the UA or SQ lounges for example.
I do not agree with the above statement that Star lounge access is in some way inferior to the other two alliances. I would say that it is slightly better than Skyteam, and slightly worse than Oneworld. The big difference being that Oneworld Emerald flying business gets access to Oneworld FIRST lounges, while Star generally does not (neither does Skyteam BTW). Oneworld also has better policies on the use of US domestic lounges than the other two.Skyteam WAS better than Star several years ago, but not really anymore.
Mar 24, 2019, 8:35 am
#535
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
********************
However, my next international *A flight from ISL ( to be IST ) would be IST-WAW on LO in Premium Economy Class in mid-May. As there is a Star Gold sign at all Turkish Airlines Lounge's at Istanbul Airport, I would try first going to the Exclusive Lounge, if rejected or if the lounge is not opened to service, I would head to the Business Lounge and if rejected at the Business Lounge, I would head to the Miles&Smiles Lounge. I would report my experience here or in a possible future "Which lounge" thread.
Probably there would be some other FT members that would fly before me and report the situation.
In addition, from an insider, I have heard that the Exclusive Lounge would be only available for E+ pax flying on TK J. He told me that he had heard this from another person and there is no source of the information. Currently, this lounge is marked as a *G Lounge at the signs at Istanbul Airport.
Mar 24, 2019, 8:40 am
#536
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,340
*Gold gets access to all *Gold lounges. The biggest weirdness/exception/whatever that has been highlighted many times on FT over the years are the multiple lounges that SQ maintains at Changi. It is akin to the same weirdness that QR has in Doha, where they maintain another lounge for Oneworld Emerald who are not flying on QR.
SKL SIN is similar to UA's Polaris lounge - you have to be traveling on a J or F international ticket to get access to that lounge. It's not a *G lounge.
Last edited by PiperAtGatesofDawn; Mar 24, 2019 at 9:13 am
Mar 24, 2019, 8:54 am
#537
Join Date: Jul 2017
Programs: KrisFlyer Gold, Marriott & SPG Plat, Hilton Gold, ShangriLa Jade, Enterprise Plat, Taj Gold
Posts: 3,340
I do not agree with the above statement that Star lounge access is in some way inferior to the other two alliances. I would say that it is slightly better than Skyteam, and slightly worse than Oneworld. The big difference being that Oneworld Emerald flying business gets access to Oneworld FIRST lounges, while Star generally does not (neither does Skyteam BTW). Oneworld also has better policies on the use of US domestic lounges than the other two.Skyteam WAS better than Star several years ago, but not really anymore.
What OW has as you mentioned are lots of first class lounges and access for OWE elite that *A doesn't have.
Mar 24, 2019, 8:58 am
#538
Join Date: May 2009
Location: SIN (with a bit of ZRH sprinkled in)
Posts: 9,454
FTL do have lounge access when flying ANY *A carrier at all LH group hubs (and the few outposts still having dedicated LH lounges..)
Mar 24, 2019, 9:09 am
#539
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,347
Because piper, until quite recently, it was THE ONLY exception in the entire Star Alliance system for over 17 years, that is why, and for those who do not frequent Changi it is seen as a "weird one". For those who frequent Singapore, or are SQ elites, it is not "weird" but the problem that Singaporean's and SQ elites always never really acknowledge is that SQ's image punches far beyond its weight, and the rest of the world think such things odd.
So Piper, you essentially agree with everything I wrote?
So Piper, you essentially agree with everything I wrote?
Mar 24, 2019, 10:34 am
#540
Moderator, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles & Accor ALL
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: BRU
Programs: TK*G, Accor ALL Platinum
Posts: 7,586
Can we revert back to the airport discussion please?
starflyergold
TK forum mod
starflyergold
TK forum mod