I saw an old string regarding Turkish Airlines that was closed but I wanted to offer an update. We just returned from a trip JFK-IST with a 3 day layover which Turkish allows and actually promotes. We then continued on to FCO for 2 weeks. Our return was FCO-IST-JFK, makes for a long day but that was our choice. From the beginning, Turkish Air was very professional and orderly. They feed you far more and far better than any US airline that I've flown on internationally and I'm referring to economy. The flight attendants were helpful, the lavs clean and if you would like a drink, they're free. We flew on a recently reconfigured 777 on both trans-Atlantic legs and on Airbus 32X for our flights to and from Italy. We chose TK out of frustration on fares from DFW-FCO ($1800 ea for coach), TK was half that, now we did have to fly our of JFK. If you are a family travelling with a small child, lap baby, they will put you in the bulk-head row and put a small bed up for the baby. Very helpful for moms, for those of us who don't have kids, don't sit near the bulk-head and wear earplugs, no slam just the facts. I will fly TK again and I would highly recommend them.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
I'm vegetarian and I've ordered a special meal through them multiple times, and it was truly delicious (cross between Indian and Middle Eastern food). First they came around offering Turkish Delight (candies) and fresh squeezed lemonade, a hot towel, and then came the actual meal...coffee and dessert was good too from what I remember. They're my "go to" carrier because they treat you well, even in Economy. It was funny that I ended up in the "baby" row where all the Moms sat (except for me) and where they adhered multiple cribs to a vertical panel facing the seats, including one that spilled over into the front of my seat. The babies all slept well - I thought it was very child friendly - I have not seen anything like that before (I have no kids though so maybe I don't know what to expect).
Posted by
Knoxville, TN, USA
7209 posts
I've found that food comparisons on USA Airlines and European Airlines are just on vastly different scales. USA airlines serve some of THE most unappealing food while European airlines tend to keep it simple and come up with astonishingly good meals and drinks. Don't know why USA airlines can't learn something from that??
Posted by
Seattle
544 posts
It looks like they have 9-across in economy on their 777s vs. 10-across on many airlines. I imagine that helps for a more comfortable long flight.
Posted by
New York, NY, USA
11294 posts
"They feed you far more and far better than any US airline that I've flown on internationally and I'm referring to economy. "
That was my experience, in 2011. In fact, as we were deplaning in Istanbul, a chef in a toque was at the exit door. My mother said, "there's the man who made our food!" I tried to explain that he may have been involved in the first class section's food, but I highly doubted he had anything to do with ours, since we were in coach. But that's how good it was - she could surmise that a chef made it personally for us!
Posted by
Houston, Texas
910 posts
Keith, thank you. We are returning on Turkish Air to IAH in August from Rome; United Miles.
Posted by
Portland, Maine
2916 posts
as we were deplaning in Istanbul, a chef in a toque was at the exit door. My mother said, "there's the man who made our food!"
On most airlines, it would be a microwave by the exit door. Makes me want to fly Turkish Airlines.
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
I saw the chef too when disembarking my flights - could hardly believe my eyes.
Here's an brief article from Skytrax with photos:
http://www.airlinequality.com/news/turkish-airlines-provides-best-inflight-meals/
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15584 posts
I'm flying Turkish (not for the first time) to the U.S. in a week. One of the things that's bothered me on previous trips is that I can't find an ATM "airside" to get liras, so I always end up paying too much for food and drinks in the Istanbul airport between connections. Has anyone found one?
Posted by
Washington DC Region, USA
7049 posts
Chani,
I've always used an ATM to get Lira at the IST airport. For what it's worth, the one I used wasn't as prominently placed as the Bureau of Exchange but it wasn't too hard to find even after a red eye flight. There was no line for it either (I remember one was flush on the side of a wall and you can walk past it without noticing). I'm fairly sure it was an Akbank ATM (I used it even last September).
http://www.ifly.com/istanbul-ataturk-airport/ATM-banks-currency
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15584 posts
Thanks for the link, Agnes. Now I know what to look for.
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
449 posts
From Harold's comment: "In fact, as we were deplaning in Istanbul, a chef in a toque was at the exit door."
In 2014 I flew from London/Gatwick to Ataturk Airport/Istanbul. When we boarded the plane most of the crew was lined up to greet us. I was pleasently surprised to see a young lady in a toque standing there with the crew. I was impressed! As other people have posted, the meal was much better than that provided by other airlines.
On the other hand in early 2016 I flew from Seattle to London and back on IcelandicAir, and they did not even pass out a bag of peanuts/crackers on the flight though the non-alcoholic beverages were free. This was my first experience using an airline where all of the on-board food had to be purchased. For sure there was no one wearing a toque on that flight.