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avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

My latest TR

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/trip_reports/read.main/225642/

airindia787 · Member Joined: 18 Nov 2007 Posts: 770 Location: DAB & ZTF

Excellent TR. It is inexcusable how TK handled your bag, everything from not making it to your connecting flight on a 4 hour layover, the way the ground staff delivered it to you, and how it was damaged. I had a 45 minute transfer in ATL last May enroute to MAD, and my bag not only made the flight, it arrived completely unscathed. It also had to be transferred from Concourse A to Concourse E, which are not close to each other at all. If DL baggage handlers can manage this daily in the world's busiest airport, I wonder why cannot TK on a 4 hour layover.
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Spiderguy252 · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 3:34 am Post subject:

Thanks for the share and sorry about your bag; Turkish sound a lot like our very own 9W - they offer you a decent aircraft but pretty much lack everyplace else. IST also seems like a wreck of an airport, and clearly unable to handle such a burgeoning carrier.

Though you scoffed about the disappointing quantity food served on the TXL-IST sector, it looked enough for a flight of that duration. Maybe it's just the picture. In any case, this kind of stuff seems to be standard Y fare everywhere these days, and especially on short haul routes.

Once again, the rest of the pictures were well clicked too. I'd say this one's come off as the best of the lot:

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sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Ojas, thanks for a very nice trip report. The baggage handling was bad outright. Thanks to your description of IST, I do not look forward to transiting via the place, in case I have other options. TK's service also does not quite sound stellar. It is nice to see you active on this forum - it leaves us wanting much more from you!
Cheers, Sumantra.

me111993 · Member Joined: 04 Sep 2009 Posts: 3225 Location: MAA/AMD

Fantastic TR Ojas, neat pics as well.

We are all so used to the EY and the EKs, that it just feels so strange to leave an European destination on a narrow body and arrive in India onboard a wide body. Smile

Fully agree with your comment that the big 3 are EK, QR and TK!

The various references you make on TK's mad-nning network just goes on to show how a good geographic location can be exploited.

Once again, thanks a lot for posting, and hope you had a nice holiday in Germany.
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Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

I've flown TK in Y (IAD-IST-BOM) and J on the same route and return. Personally, I like the quality and presentation of TK's meals even in Y, and think it's the best in the sky today. I guess one has to like Turkish food (it's a lot like Middle Eastern food, but with less garlic and spice) because it is showcased heavily in TK's meals. One issue I had with the IST-BOM route was that they treated it like it was a regional route when at nearly 6 hours it was more like an eastbound transatlantic run. Thus, there was only one meal/drinks run, and you could tell that some pax were expecting a snack or a refreshment a few hours before landing.

Their J Class lounge at IST is, perhaps, the best J Class lounge around, but I had one very bad experience at IST airport in the J Class line while checking in with my parents. Stuff like that can sour someone on the airline, but overall my experiences with TK were very good. The crew can be a little reserved, but when they open up, they can be very good. I suspect it's the language barrier, plus the relative youth of the crew.

sumantra · Member Joined: 28 Oct 2007 Posts: 4685 Location: New Delhi

Sanjay, can we have some Integration-by-parts? ;-D
Cheers, Sumantra.

The_Goat · Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 11:48 pm Post subject:

I also flew TK last month (LYS-IST-BOM and return). Luckily I had no unfortunate experiences with my bags like avbuff did and had quite a pleasant experience overall. Just a few things that I must mention. First, the narrowbodies they use on their EU network look tired and in are dire need of cleaning. On the BOM-IST and return leg, we had their brand new A333s (TC-JNL onward and JNI on the return). But even these were starting to show some signs of wear Shocked

(some seats not reclining, some IFE's broken etc). Luckily I was not one of the unfortunate ones who suffered). Besides there were cleanliness issues like the (rather inexperienced) flight attendant throwing a nearly full water bottle into the galley trash only to have it leak out and run down the cabin. Also there was no toilet paper even a couple of hours after takeoff on the return journey (almost no one had used the toilet) etc. Not something you find on other EU carriers or maybe even Gulf ones.
Second, IST is a good airport, quite convenient to transit through but a tad overcrowded like avbuff mentioned. As for the staff, my experience was that the ladies were sweet and the males a bit boorish.

Overall they were OK (DEFINITELY not Europe's Best Airline by a mile). What is definitely going in their favour is that they are the cheapest option and you get what yu pay for. Their Middle eastern and European (West, East , Central and CIS) network is the best. Apart from the EU carriers in Europe and Gulf ones in the middle east, no one else comes even close. They are also catching up on Africa, North America, and the rest of Asia. As far as India is concerned, I believe their main drawback is that they fly only to DEL and BOM, unlike EK/QR.

Have to agree with Jay about the food though. It was excellent in quality, and totally insufficient in quantity.
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I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
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Jaysit · Member Joined: 19 Dec 2006 Posts: 4346

Well, there aren't very many top notch airlines left in continental Europe today, so TK doesn't have a whole lot of competition.

Among flag carriers, IB and AZ are dreadful. AF is hit or miss, and KL barely feels like a premium carrier. You have the Germanic trio of LH, LX and OS, and the Scandinavians with SAS and Finnair. I can't speak for the latter, but among the former, I'd say LX is the best, and IMHO, they're better than TK overall.

ameya · Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:13 am Post subject:

Great TR Ojas !

TK network is impressive, over 200 destinations, I am not sure if this is the largest for any airline.

However, I have had a very bad experience in terms of aircraft with TK. They changed it to a older A332 while I was travelling, the flights to India are more or less late everytime and now will depart BOM at 0640hrs. Its irritating to be awake all night for the 0640 flight. I am not sure what connections are now missed because of this delay.

On your bag front,did you register a complaint, was / is there any response ?

avbuff · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 5031

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore

Thanks for taking out time to post the report Ojas. I have never flown Turkish Airlines but it is on my "To Fly" list if I fly to North America so gives a good perspective.

Although I am not impressed by the IST transit hub so that could be a worrying thing specially when you have a tight turnaround. Vegetarian food which I guess if one had ordered a special meal it should be taken care of

Sorry to note that your bag did not arrive and when it did it was torn. SQ once broke the handle of my bag and they gave me SGD 40 as compensation immediately. They had an option if I did not take cash they will send someone to fix it but I thought SGD 40 was a fair deal as by topping it up a bit more I could buy a new one as well.

Sri_Bom

sri_bom · Member Joined: 22 Dec 2006 Posts: 2365 Location: Singapore