Turkish Airlines = Idiots.com

[AEK1]

Agree-but if you can pay the extra for Elal exit row seat, not worth the hassle

problem with el-al is the comfort exit row seating is by reqst only not garanteed until ck (gold/platinum matmid gets 1st choice on those seats and they get them free)in  too  late to switch flts

[David B]

The UA 777s (that operate EWR-TLV) will have E+ with about 5 extra inches of legroom by 05/31/12.
I'd imagine the buyup to those will be pretty popular.

But just FYI (as I'm sure you already know), the TK Comfort Economy cabin is not just some extra legroom.  It's a pretty nice cabin -- seats completely designed for the cabin that are wider than coach seats, back of the seat reclines much more, and the legs lift up (plus a leg rest).  There is a reading light on a gooseneck, and a 10 inch video screen with hundreds of movies (there were around 300).  Seating is 2-3-2 compared with 3-3-3 in TK coach.  Food service is on china (for the non-Kosher folk), and out of JFK, KSML  was somewhat enhanced from ordinary Coach, and there was an additional sandwich snack if you wanted (dinner, snack, then breakfast).  Out of IST to TLV, the KSML snack for the 2 hour trip was a nicely packaged snack box produced in Turkey under local hechscher PLUS the OK.  Generally, by way of comparison, it is FAR superior to any domestic US First Class I've been on -- except for JFK-LAX for example.  Cabin service has more people than Coach and they were quite nice.  Their counterparts in the call center and at the Transit Counter in IST on the other hand....   

[David B]

serves you right cheapest price=worst service! you normally get what you pay for

im sure the hand matza you took along will also be man handeled by chometz munching airport security personnal (their goes your 200.00 savings when youll need to buy new matza ) 

1) I had a great inflight experience -- plane was extremely comfortable and the Comfort Economy was cheaper than El Al coach, and I would do it again for the additional comfort. 

2) Are you under some delusion that security personnel in El Al are all pious matza eating jews?  I certainly hope they weren't eating Matza so close to Pesach.  The El Al staff would munching on the same treif Chametz as the TK staff...so keep deluding yourself.

And lastly, if you joined DDF to tell someone "it serves them right" == go find another forum in which to be a moron.

[David B]

How was the lounge in IST?

Is there more than one lounge for Amex Plat/Priority Pass?

Two lounges for AMEX Platinum, across the hall from one another -- the PrimeClass lounge, and HSBC Lounge.  They are across from one another and you can go into both -- HSBC is a bit nicer with perhaps more food that you can have self service (salad bar with undressed lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, etc.), self service alcoholic bar, but it seems it may be a bit more crowded than the Primeclass lounge.  They each had +/- -- PC lounge has softdrinks in bottles self service, HSBC is only fountain.  PC has iPads for use at lounge chairs, and some massage chairs with TVs to rest at, plus two shower rooms.  HSBC is a bit newer and nicer looking with a Lavazza espresso/cappucino machine.   

[shmooz]

The UA 777s (that operate EWR-TLV) will have E+ with about 5 extra inches of legroom by 05/31/12.
I'd imagine the buyup to those will be pretty popular.

Where can I read up on that development? any idea of cost?

[Galitzyaner]

Two lounges for AMEX Platinum, across the hall from one another -- the PrimeClass lounge, and HSBC Lounge.  They are across from one another and you can go into both -- HSBC is a bit nicer with perhaps more food that you can have self service (salad bar with undressed lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, etc.), self service alcoholic bar, but it seems it may be a bit more crowded than the Primeclass lounge.  They each had +/- -- PC lounge has softdrinks in bottles self service, HSBC is only fountain.  PC has iPads for use at lounge chairs, and some massage chairs with TVs to rest at, plus two shower rooms.  HSBC is a bit newer and nicer looking with a Lavazza espresso/cappucino machine.

Thanks!

Ehhh... If only, I had my Amex Plat. a year ago when I flew TK...
Was running around like a zomby, with all those Sheiks everywher...  big big Chaval!

[Yossi.]

Well I can somehow retract my previous "positive" comment about THY. I just landed this morning from a ~27 hours trip from TLV to JFK which was supposed to be only ~13 hours (including connection in Istanbul) but apparently Turkish Airlines outdid themselves this Pessah. After being 30 min late to board the plane, 10 passengers (including myself of course) realized that we were assigned to seats already designated to other passengers... took a good hour to sort that out. I got seated in 15K (business class - 777) instead of my meager 51K so that's the upside but the flight was only 2 hours so I couldn't enjoy the full benefits The non-english speaking pilot didn't even catch up with the delay so instead of an 1h52min flight, it lasted 2h20min due to ground traffic in istanbul. If it was only up to that point, I would have been somehow satisfied but unfortunately, I and the 25+ passengers that were in transit for JFK missed our flight scheduled @ 1:05pm when we landed @ 1:25pm... So instead of having an hour transit in istanbul, I had to run like I never did from my business class seat to the gate of my JFK flight. I was first to reach the gate (which of course was the furthest away from the plane coming from TLV) and the "nice" turkish lady told me that the doors were closed and that there was no way for me to get onto that plane for security reasons... Then the other 25 passengers arrived and that was it. We were all redirected to the transit desk to be transferred to the next flight a nice 5 hours later... Landed finally in JFK @ midnight (instead of 10:30pm of course...).

So, as my ~10th flight with THY, I have to say I am disappointed (but I still love their planes and on-flight service). We all agreed that they did it on purpose not to wait for 25 passengers from TLV since apparently they did the same thing to ~40 passengers erev hag. Most of the time security or ground service is there to escort transit passengers from the first plane to the next...

Well, I was still able to enjoy free wireless in the terminal. For whoever interested, you have to sit by the starbucks next to the turkish airlines lounge. Wifi: THY_Lounge | Login: thy | Password: 2012