JFK - IST - TLV on Turkish Airlines
Flight scheduled to leave JFK 11:40 pm. Got email (not from Turkish but from checkmytrip) that flight delayed to 11:55. Came to airport and checked in. Turkish is very particlar about weight but didn't care about size for luggage.
They also weigh all wheeled carry on (8 lb limit) but not knapsack. So I put am empty knapsack in a wheeled carry one. When it was time to weigh I took all the heavy things and put in knapsack. After they weighed the carry on and put an "accepted" tag on it, I put it all back in the carry on so didn't need to shlep a knapsack also.
Went to Air France Lounge using Priority Pass which is only open for Priority Pass in off hours which was fine for this flight. They only let Priority Pass users on the first floor. Lounge is nice but was very full with Priority Pass ppl. They have lots of not kosher fresh food, and Lay's chips, some fresh uncut apples, free alcohol (nothing fancy but Johnny Walker, Dewar, a few others, wine, lots of beer - Sam Adam's, Corona and more), cans of soda, and some fruit drinks, some kosher, free newspapers, and lots of charging outlets. There was also a shower and some ppl were getting towels from the front desk but I didn't check it out and not sure if available for Priority Pass.
Flight left 2 1/4 hrs late. Pleasant flight, they gave out packet with eye shades, foam slippers, socks, earplugs, toothbrush, toothpaste, and ear plugs. Seemed to be a wide selection of things to watch as well as games. They have the Quran translated audio book and also show which direction is Mecca and what time for all the (5?) prayers. (see pic) Which was interesting because it seemed unsurprisingly to match up in part with the davening times I got from myZmanim.com. There was also a camera view facing forward from the plane as well as down which was cool if you don't have a window seat. Seats were average size/comfort.
For those still concerned even tho tons of ppl have not had issues , there were a few frum ppl on plane but not a lot. Lots of clearly identifiable Muslims although I didn't see any issues and I put on talis/tefillin in my seat. I wanted the guy sitting next to before I put it on, an he didn't care, Sai he's Muslim and will be praying soon too. I was thinking we should start a minyan and I've always been itching to try out one of those cool looking prayer mats...
We arrived in Istanbul too late for the connection to TLV. There was a flight shortly thereafter that had a few extra seats and some ppl who rushed were able to get boarding passes for that. I got lost and finally made it to where I needed to go, but too late. I'm terrible with directions but if you're in his situation it would be really helpful to know how to get to the proper place. It's called the Transfer Desk and there's a separate one for Turkish Airlines International flights. They kept saying it was by Gate 214 but that's only partly true. Near Gate 214 you have to find signs for transfer desk and then take the elevator down one flight and follow signs for transfer desk. The elevator is right by the Food Court area l. I went down the escalator instead (because the elevator is tucked away on he side) so if you see the escalator down to the Lounge (I don't remember which one but think it was Primeclass CIP) then it's immediately to your left before going down the escalator. Turkish has a customer service desk near Gate 218 but they said they only give out meal vouchers so wasted time even tho that's where I was first directed.
Tons of interestingly dressed ppl from all over that we don't see even in NY. I didn't feel uncomfortable but I tried at least a bit to not look obviously Jewish. The Lounges are nice but crowded. Have lots of outlets for charging but I forgot to bring Israeli type outlet adapter.