As my boyfriend Sam happens to have a birthday every year, it was time again to have small trip as his birthday present. Being the cold month of February I first looked into travelling to a slightly warmer and sunnier destination like Morocco, but the only interesting flights being either on Ryanair or Transavia and way too expensive for what they were or a long layover on TAP in Lisbon. In the end I stumbled upon a good hotel price-quality with the Fairmont Quasar in Istanbul and fair flight prices and timings on Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.
Originally we were due to be flying back to Brussels on the 13th of February, unfortunately due to a strike of the Belgian Air Traffic Controllers the entire Belgian airspace was closed and our Turkish Airlines return flight to Brussels was cancelled. We received a text and an email informing us of the cancellation with directing us to the app or call centre for a free rebooking.
As Sam had to work the next day, it would not be the most practical solution to fly back a day later as this would mean he had to miss a day of work (even though this is force majeure, and would not lose him a vacation day it still is better to avoid these type of situations whenever possible).
Luckily Turkish Airlines allowed us the rebook the same day but flying to Amsterdam instead. This would then also be on Turkish Airlines’ flagship A350-900 instead of the more mundane A321. As we now had the option of booking a business class upgrade for €300 per person, Sam kept nagging about doing that until I relented.
To get back to Istanbul Airport we took the metro back to the airport, which was quite an uneventful trip. The low frequency of only a train every 20 minutes does mean they are always packed, this could be improved by a more frequent service.
After arrival in the airport we headed up to the departures level. As is customary in Turkish airports we had a security check before entering the airport. After that we headed straight to the beautiful dedicated Business class check-in.
There were some nice seating areas where you could go rest and wait for a check-in desk to become available. All tables also had a bunch of water containers to quench your thirst.
We however didn’t make use of any of that was we were through to check-in in no-time. Even though we were checked-in online using the app I still wished to have a paper boarding pass as flying Business is always a bit special. The agent at the desk was very happy to hand us paper boarding passes and send us on our way.
As a Turkish Airlines business class passenger you can make use of the Star Gold fast pass emigration and security. Emigration was passed in no-time as there was no wait, while at security there was only a small wait compared to the huge lines of the normal security.
After browsing through some dutyfree shops we spent some time at the amazing Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge before heading to our gate.
Our plane was parked at gate B17, about the furthest away you can get from the central terminal area and the Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge. The plane was also parked at such an angle that you couldn’t take pictures of it before boarding. From the boarding bridge you could finally have a view of your plane.
Boarding gates B16 and B 17 are right next to each other and as at gate B16 they were boarding the flight to Tokyo which also left at 15:20 this made for a very chaotic corner in the airport. One might ask why they couldn’t have planned gate use better to avoid this type of gate chaos. Lots of people where queueing at the wrong gate.
We luckily found our black plaque indicating our priority boarding queue. Some economy passengers cut the line in front of us during boarding to be able to board quicker, but they were firmly sent back to the end of the Economy Class queue by the gate agent. At Istanbul Airport they used two jetways to board our aircraft, Business Class could use the front jetway and Economy Class the rear jetway.
Flight TK1953
From Istanbul (IST) 15:20 (15:41) to Amsterdam (AMS) 17:10 (16:34)
Flight Time 2 hours 54 minutes
Airbus A350-900 TC-LGA
Delivered to Turkish Airlines in October 2020
Once onboard we had the typical Turkish Airlines staggered 1-2-1 lie-flat Business Class seats. Sam had hoped to have one of the four Turkoflot A350’s with the enclosed suites as intended for Aeroflot that Turkish Airlines picked up second-hand, but we had the normal Turkish Airlines seats and configuration.
As due to our last-minute upgrade there weren’t any honeymoon seats in the centre available. Thus we decided to each pick one of the true windows seats on the right-hand side of the plane with the console in between the seat and the corridor for more privacy. All other choices would have meant having a seat next to the aisle and having much less privacy. While on my seat I had a small pillow, this was missing from Sam’s seat.
The seat could go fully flat using the controls on the side of the console.
The console also had small closet to store some items, but the lock was blocked in the closed position so you couldn’t properly close the door to it.
This also where you could find the single 110 volts universal power plug and USB-A connector. The plug for the headphones was located right next to the seat controls, but the connector on my seat was broken so the audio in my seat didn’t work.
The very kind flight attendant in my row tried to fix it by having two different reboots of my IFE system, but as that didn’t work it clearly was a hardware issue. The fact that plane is nearing 5 years of age is noticeable by the wear and tear of the seat with scuffs and usage marks, a drooping table and the non-functioning audio connector.
The flight attendant did offer me to move to another but as I wasn’t really planning on watching a movie and preferred having a window to look out from I stayed put. On this barely 3 hours long flight the defective audio was much less of an issue than on a 10 to 12 hour flight.
On the ground we where served a choice of pre departure beverage, we could choose between water, a mint-lemonade, a freshly squeezed orange juice or a raspberry drink. I selected the raspberry drink as it looked the most appealing. It was served in a fancy way with a strawberry inside of it and tasted delicious.
The cabin crew also provided complimentary headphones, which were a rather basic model without noise cancellation.
And they also handed out menus for the flight. Sam also asked for a blanket to get comfortable. As this was a short-haul flight he only got a thin economy style blanket, I hope long-haul provides better bedding.
Push-back and departure was quite uneventful. After take-off the crew first came around asking for our drinks choices. I asked If I could have a wine tasting with both the white and the red Turkish wines, but in the end only got a white wine.
We were all served the same tray, straight from the galley without trolleys.
It contained the starter of prawn cocktail with lettuce.
On the table linen covered tray where also a cheese course on a nice lime stone, a sort of gloopy spinach with Turkish yoghurt dressing (the least appetizing thing on the menu), the dessert which was a rice pudding, a cup of butter (which Sam thought to be a white chocolate mousse until he took a big bite of it) and of course the cute pepper and salt shakers which accidently ended up in Sam’s pockets.
A proper cloth napkin contained the metal cutlery with two knives and two forks to have a separate set for the starter and the main, a nice touch.
The crew also came around with a choice of warm breads. After we were finished with the starter, this was cleared and we were asked our preference of main. I preferred to have the beef, but as they ran out I had to choose between the chicken or the pasta, of which I chose the chicken.
As my flight attendant really felt sorry for me because of the issue with the faulty audio connector he also offered to see if he might be able to find something else like a fish dish if I preferred that as he was adamant not to let me get off the plane with a bad feeling.
The chicken dish was delicious however. Full of taste and not dried out.
Also the dessert of rice pudding was simple yet delicious.
After the meal we were offered tea or coffee, of which I kindly requested a tea and a bottle of red wine (to finish my wine tasting, both Turkish wines where delicious!). The tea was served in a porcelain cup with a cardboard holder around it so you could pick it up to drink (what’s wrong with a normal ‘ear’ on the cup?), the flight attendant also handed a package of roasted hazelnuts to go along with it. A bit later in the flight he gave another package of those hazelnuts, the Turks really don’t want you to leave with an empty stomach.
As of course after drinking two bottles of wine and a tea I had to go to the toilet, there was one at the front of the plane right next to the cockpit and two in between the business and economy class cabins. All 3 of them where provided with Molton Brown amenities, a proper hand soap, hand lotion and even some perfume to freshen up. It’s nice to see these amenities provided on a short-haul flight, it really gives a small sliver of extra luxury.
The remainder of the flight was uneventful but too short as the Business Class experience was very comfortable and relaxing. Sam clearly demonstrated the comfort and spaciousness of the lie-flat seat by taking a nap in it. He also grabbed my phone about halfway into the flight, just so he could configure the free Business Class WiFi on my phone, so we could text each other instead of having to get up to talk to each other. Just to discover I already did that.
Turkish Airlines generously gives 1 GB of free Wifi and unlimited messaging to its Business Class passengers, which is a nice touch as airlines often still charge Business Class passengers for in-flight WiFi. The speeds weren’t terribly fast but it was good enough to text and keep in contact.
All in all I had a great experience with Turkish Airlines, Sam would even go as far to prefer them for a next flight. Both their short-haul Economy and Business Class service are a level above what other European Airlines would offer on a similar length flight.
What they shined most in was how they handled things going wrong. The cancelled flight was very smoothly and efficiently communicated to us. The rebooking process in the app was smooth and intuitive, no need to phone customer service.
Thus the entire issue was dealt with in no time. I do wonder what would have happened had I rebooked the return flight to Brussels a day later and whether they would have arranged a hotel for the extra night or not, as that would be less straightforward, but luckily that was a non-issue for us.
Also the handling of the defective audio port was smooth and efficiently dealt with. The crew did all the actions they could think of trying to resolve it, and when they didn’t work offered me a different working seat. When my preferred meal choice wasn’t available they offered to look whether they could fetch me anything else.
The crew showed they were willing to go the extra mile in making up so we would surely get off with a good feeling. If this is the standard at Turkish Airlines I surely won’t hesitate to fly them again and recommend them to family and friends.
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