Turkish Airlines Business Class - WARNING AVOID!

[prozac]

No surprise to hear this. I have flown BNE-BKK-IST several times with Turkish. The BNE-BKK leg is codeshare operated by Thai. I can say without hesitation that the Turkish J product wipes the floor with the Thai J product.

Was TK BKK-IST proper J? If so I'll keep that in mind when next flying Asia to IST. I did not like the seats in SQ metal SIN-IST. A bit like coffins and not lie-flat so a little claustrophobic for my liking. What is the transit time like in BKK?

 

[Baysider]

Was TK BKK-IST proper J? If so I'll keep that in mind when next flying Asia to IST. I did not like the seats in SQ metal SIN-IST. A bit like coffins and not lie-flat so a little claustrophobic for my liking. What is the transit time like in BKK?

Absolutely. Usually angled lie-flats ala QF, but sometimes horizontal fishbone lie flats ala CX. Plus the food is superb !

 

[prozac]

What is the transit time like in BKK en-route IST?

 

[dajop]

I did not like the seats in SQ metal SIN-IST. A bit like coffins and not lie-flat so a little claustrophobic for my liking.

Not sure when you flew, but SQ have recently upgraded the J seats on most of their 777-200ER's that fly SIN-IST (+CPH, AMS, FCO, AKL, JNB/CPT). These planes now have 1-2-1 configured seating that can be converted to be fully flat, very similar to those on SQ A380's and 77W's. Most people see this as a definite improvement over the circa-2000 spacebeds (angled lie flat) that used to be on these aircraft.

 

[Baysider]

What is the transit time like in BKK en-route IST?

About 4 hours.

 

[Baysider]

Not sure when you flew, but SQ have recently upgraded the J seats on most of their 777-200ER's that fly SIN-IST (+CPH, AMS, FCO, AKL, JNB/CPT). These planes now have 1-2-1 configured seating that can be converted to be fully flat, very similar to those on SQ A380's and 77W's. Most people see this as a definite improvement over the circa-2000 spacebeds (angled lie flat) that used to be on these aircraft.

Yep, had one of these on Monday afternoon IST-SIN

 

[MEL_Traveller]

unlike the majority of EuroBusiness flights, TK is generally the one that stands out for providing proper 2+2 seating (similar to QF domestic business class) on the many of their key short-haul flights.

It seems some of their flights have the 'standard' eurobusiness of 3+3 with a spare middle. Thanks to the OP i am now aware of that as i actualy though all their EuroBusiness was the 2+2 product. Certainly worth bearing in mind.

The 3+3 with empty middle however is pretty standard (BA/LH/LX/AF/SN etc). Somewhat worse is that several of those carriers either schedule or substitute the 3+3 seating for flights as far away as TLV and AMM (plenty of reports of BA's club world being substituted with a short-haul offering on those sectors).

 

[Duffa]

Here's my update, Prozac. Like you I was concerned I'd get the "3 seat- space in the middle" rubbish but was pleasantly surprised on DUB-IST @ 11.05am two days ago.
We had the 2-2 config on the 737-800
It was a 3 1/2 hr flight so expected more than BA J



Am also taking the SQ J from IST-SIN and know it will be the 1-2-1 flat bed

 

[prozac]

Looking at the photo you posted Duffa, there certainly weren't any plush looking seats like that on the TK1951 IST-AMS flight I was on but it sounds like their product has had major upgrades since then. Please let us know what the SQ IST-SIN product is like now?

This thread notification got me looking back through advice given at the time I made these bookings back in 2012. I was such a newb! Great advice back then from markis, serfty, JessicaTam. Thanks to all these people and others too. You tend to forget the exact people who have helped you along the way to better understand the rules of the game.

 

[prozac]

Just did a bit of online sleuthing. It seems TK's IST-AMS flights use different a/c depending on day. Some are wide body Boeing a/c. TK1951 on a Sunday is still the same Airbus A321 with the J 3 seat/one blanked arrangement. Don't fly on a Sunday or you will get the same a/c and the J seat feels like it has no padding.
Looks like flights on other days of the week might be ok, but stay away from the TK narrow body a/c on this route.

 

[clifford]

I recently flew IST-DXB on an A321 in Business and the seats were new and proper business class seats (2x2).

Sounds like your info is somewhat out of date.

 

[prozac]

I recently flew IST-DXB on an A321 in Business and the seats were new and proper business class seats (2x2).

Sounds like your info is somewhat out of date.

And it sounds like you did not comprehend what was written and which was very specific. TK1951 is the Sunday service IST-AMS.

TK1951 on a Sunday is still the same Airbus A321 with the J 3 seat/one blanked arrangement. Don't fly on a Sunday or you will get the same a/c and the J seat feels like it has no padding.
Looks like flights on other days of the week might be ok, but stay away from the TK narrow body a/c on this route.

 

[clifford]

Well, Surprisingly I did understand what you said, but I found it hard to believe that TK would single out this particular flight for such poor treatment. But if that's the case, so be it.

BTW, I'm flying CMB-IST-OSL and ARN-IST-CMB in TK business class shortly, and do not expect such a poor experience as the one you describe.

 

[prozac]

It was 2 years ago and other AFFers have experienced better flights and seating as have you due to fleet upgrade. That surprised then when checking the Sunday flight with seatguru seemed to indicate that just this flight hadn't changed. Odd when the rest of the week gets upgraded a/c. I may have been quick to respond to what I sensed was your tone in which case I apologise.

I hope you have a good flight experience.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

After my recent trip to and around Europe you can add IB AY and OK to the list of carriers with economy seating with an empty middle seat layout in the business class cabin on intra-european routes.
This was the case on very short flights such as MAD-LIS and longer flights such as HEL-PRG and HEL-MAD.

Neither Finnair nor Iberia even put a tray/table over the middle seat. So while it's less crowded, and you can use the usual middle tray while in flight, there is no surface available during taxi, take off and landing.
Which might explain why neither airline offered the drink on boarding which I have come to expect in J class.

As the only non-One-World airline I flew, Czech Airlines was the pleasant exception. Same cabin layout with economy seating and an empty middle seat in the J class rows.
However, not only did they put a tray/table in the empty seat, they also had arm rests which bent/folded inwards to give the two occupied seats a greater effective width.
Still not full J class seating but better than nothing. And it did allow them to give me a pre-taxi champagne. Shame about the plastic "glasses" though ...

Despite my initial disappointment with the seating, overall I still found the business product worthwhile. The fares were extremely reasonable compared to the domestic J class fares in Australia.
Even though I would have enjoyed OWE priveliges with the two One World carriers in any event, the in flight J class service was good and generally the meals were of a reasonable standard.
The one exception to this was the Finnair flight from Bergen to Helsinki via Stockholm. I don't consider the plastic wrapped salad roll I was given on each sector to be an acceptable business class meal.
However, Finnair was very generous with some very nice champagne.

Iberia's catering on MAD-LIS and LIS-MAD was a stand out. Proper hot meals with dessert on two flights of just under an hour's duration. Attentive service and frequent drink top-ups. Decent glassware, crockery, cutlery and linen as well. No champagne but an excellet rioja made up for it!

 

[prozac]

Czech Airlines (OK) still OK. I flew OK in 1974 LHR-PRH-KUL and return. Terrific service. Beer, in glass, served from a jug and Cuban Romeo y Julieta cigars $2.50 by the box!

 

[Duffa]

Turkish Airlines lounge at Istanbul. WOW!
I have to say this was amazing. At about 4x the floor size of Silver Kris ( which I enjoyed 12 hours later) with a golf simulator, drink bars everywhere and 6 visible chefs on various stations, this is my new benchmark for J!

SQ J IST-SIN was indeed the usual 1-2-1 product on refitted 777-200 - very comfortable service.
(not my arm)


The J boarding experience was unexpected (if not dissimilar to the rest of Europe!)