I had bought an Economy Comfort ticket on Turkish Airlines for $1388. It was only a couple hundred dollars more expensive than the regular economy tickets and I had previously heard only wonderful things so I decided to go ahead and give the product a try myself.
Turkish Airlines is located in Terminal 1 and the day I flew out there were dignitaries arriving in New York for the U.N. General Assembly and as a result the Departures area was filled with police, black vehicles with diplomatic plates, and men and women in black suits wearing conspicuous ear pieces.
It was really easy to find the Turkish Airlines Check in counter which was staffed with friendly agents.
I waited approximately 5 minutes until I was called to an agent. The agent I spoke with was very friendly and asked me what A3 was. I didn't understand what she was asking and indicated so. She asked again "What is A3, it is not our airline, right?" Then I realized what she was talking about. I was crediting my flight to my Aegean account and she was looking at the FF information and wanted to know what airline A3 was. I then filled her in on why I was crediting the miles to Aegean and explained her the fast track method to Star Alliance Gold. She found it quite fascinating and cool. My bags were weighed, tagged and I then had to drop them off at a bag drop that was directly opposite the check in counters.
I made my way through security which went real smoothly and out to the gates. Today I was scheduled to depart from Gate B6 on Turkish Airlines Boeing 777-300. We arrived at the gate and found out that our plane had not come in yet and we would be delayed. I decided that a bar would be the appropriate place to wait out the delay. My friend got a becks and I got a German beer with orange slices that was delicious. I also managed to knock over my glass and cut my finger. The staff was really nice and good natured about it. They even gave me a band aid.
Our plane finally arrived and after waiting for the passengers to be deplaned and the aircraft cleaned I finally boarded. Economy Comfort passengers board first with business class customers, that was a nice perk. As I entered the plane I was greeted with a smile and "welcome aboard from the purser. There were white roses on the wall next to the galley that separated business and comfort. I thought that was a nice touch. The Comfort seats were amazing.
(no, that is not me.)
They have a ton of legroom and the seat is very wide. Each seat also has their own IFE, USB, and outlet to charge your laptop etc. The seating layout is 2 -3 - 2. I was in seat 14A and only has one passenger seated to my right. The seat is much better than a US domestic first class seat on the major carriers. The plane was boarded quickly but we ended up being delayed on the ground for 2 hours due to ATC restrictions. My layover time in IST was only 2 hours and I was getting nervous. After the 2 hour delay we took off from runway 4L and headed east over the Atlantic.
Food service was quick and efficient however my kosher meal all wrapped up in plastic and handed to me by the on-board chef (which was a nice touch) was terrible. It was frozen and inedible. The purser brought me fresh fruit which was thoughtful.
After the meal service was concluded I took out the eye shades that came in the amenity kit which was handed out before takeoff and settled down for a nap. The amenity was fully stocked with eye shades, socks, lotion, ear plugs, toothpaste, and a toothbrush. Each seat also got a pillow, blanket, and slippers. The slippers came in real handy when using the lavatory. I usually assume the liquid that is on the floor is not water and I usually take my shoes off for a long flight so just having to slip on my slippers was really clutch. I was not able to sleep for long but the free on-board wi-fi kept me busy, as well as the IFE which had a large selection of movies, TV shows, and music. I was tweeting, instagraming, and emailing from 33,000 feet above the Atlantic ocean, which I found to be pretty cool.
We landed in Istanbul where we had a problem connecting to an available Jetway so we parked and walked down air-stairs to waiting buses which took us to the terminal.
This was a first for me and standing next to the Boeing 777-300 was awesome! However, when we got to our connecting gate, the door to the Jetway had just closed and the Turkish Airline employees would not open it no matter how many people begged and screamed. I immediately went to the customer service counter to have myself re booked on the next flight which was in 6 hours. I spent my time in the PrimeClass lounge where I took a shower, ate nectarines, and drank lots of water. I also had free wifi and newspapers to keep me busy.
Turkish Airlines Economy Comfort is well worth the extra couple hundred dollars. I am a very satisfied customer.
( I Will add more photos, wifi is very slow at the moment.)
