Turkish Airlines

[paulo15]

Hi Joe,
Istanbul airport is busy and a bit of a scrum, but it's like all big airports I guess. Depending on the layover between flights you need a visa for Turkey so you can't easily go landside if that's a consideration, but the walks between gates are shorter than Dubai and the F&B outlets a bit cheaper. If you need Turkish Delight it's a no brainer really.
Not flown Turkish long haul in economy but their product can't be much worse than Emirates.

[joe552]

Thanks for the replies. Thanks scottish guy for the tip about the lounge - I might just give it a try. I think I'll stick with Emirates and use Dubai.

[gerefan2]

Friend of mine flew Turkish once. He said never again....there you go.

[FarangRuMak]

Etihad has pulled the complimentary lounge treat from their frequent flyer Silver card.
This is the sugary way the lady broke the news to me as I checked in
"Sir with your Silver card you can still avail of our Express Check-in Lane but it no longer gives complimentary lounge access" and my thoughts were "f-ck express check-in" and I told her I will swop the options.
Got nowhere of course.

[arsenal]

Many many years ago as a poor student I arrived at Istanbul airport at about midnight. I didn't want to go and find a hotel at that time so I sat down in a corner. Two armed guards were patrolling the concourse in a loop. I smiled and nodded at them a couple of times as they passed and they returned the pleasantries. I then happily went to sleep knowing that they knew I was there and every time they passed they'd give me a glance. Flew Monarch if I recall.

[latintopxxx]

should that be ...many many many many years ago when the dinosaurs roamed the earth...

[joe552]

Well, arsenal, when I was a callow youth travelling around Europe and the Middle East, trains and busses were as good as it got (the exception being the rather lovely ferry from Crete to Alexandria, which had a swimming pool on deck - sheer luxury!).

Scottish guy - about the lounge in Dubai - can I just arrive and pay the admission or do I have to have a pass of some kind bought in advance? If I need a pass in advance, where would I get it?

I've posted on my other thread that medical things might prevent me from travelling in January, but all the information you guys have shared has been really useful. Thanks to everyone who contributed. If I can't go in January, I'd probably be looking at March.

Thanks again for all your input.

[RonanTheBarbarian]

I travelled on Turkish Airlines this past May. I have no complaints about the quality of the service - pretty typical for any Economy class, the food was quite good compared to average, I thought. I wasn't going to Southeast Asia but I transited through Istanbul and had to do an overnight on the way, so the main annoyance was the queue to get through immigration and into the country.

My short trip there whetted my appetite for visiting Istanbul, and so in my opinion one advantage of going via Turkish Airlines is you can get a "free" stop-off in Istanbul that way. I am planning to go to Thailand in January and I am strongly considering Turkish airlines mainly because it will enable me to have a little stop-off on the way for a few days -the only problem is that Istanbul will be fairly cold at that time of year.

[christianpfc]

I have flown all airlines and transited at all airport mentioned, but all I remember is that I and my luggage arrived on time and at the same time at the destination. And if you what to know what kind of airplane I was in: one that has two wings.

Sorry I can't help you more, but airlines and airport are not my area of interest.

[joe552]

I'm resurrecting this to try to get some up to date information on transit at Istanbul airport. I arrive, and leave from terminal 1 and have about 90 minutes to transfer. Is this too short a time? Should I stop worrying about it?