Turkish Airlines Business Class
Istanbul (IST) – New York (JFK)
18:35 (19:01A) – 22:30 (21:35A) [9:35 Hours]
Monday 16 September 2019
Boeing 777-300ER (TC-LJG)
Seat: 2K
Cost: THB 89,933 (Promotion Fare)
This is a part of a trip Philadelphia 2019.
The Transfer
We arrived at the new Istanbul Airport at 15:08 on TK59 which means we have around two hours and a half for transfer and lounges. After completing a very long trek from the gate (despite arriving at a low numbered gate), we went to fast track security and was on the departure level in no time.
Lounging Around
Now, the lounge at Istanbul Airport is something that I was really looking forward to. If anyone has flown Turkish Airlines to their old Ataturk Airport, they would already know that the Turkish Lounge there was one of the best in the world. So I was excited to see how this completely new lounge at their new hub would be like:
Immediately after security, we try to find our way to the Turkish Airlines Lounge Business. It was a bit confusing to locate at first but we finally found the entrance located behind the duty free to the right after security. The first thing we did was contacting the concierge for the shower.
The shower room was very nice. It is located to the left of the lounge and definitely have the feeling of a hotel room shower. It was very refreshing to shower mid-way on the journey.
After the amazing shower was time to taste the food in the lounge. The layout of the food area was similar to what a hotel buffet would be, with many small stations for different types of food (grilled food, pizza, asian food, salads & cold cuts, etc.). I took some selection of Turkish food and it was amazing!
Boarding & Taking Off
The “Go To Gate” status was displayed quite early for this flight. I enjoyed my walk to the gate in this humongous airport. As this was the flight to the USA we had to go through secondary screening. After the screening we were left in the hold of the gate, which was very crowded as this Boeing 777 seemed to be quite full for tonight’s flight.
Boarding was a little bit delayed. What was worse than that was there was no enforcement of the priority lane at all. What happened was, because of the delay in boarding, everyone started to queue up. Despite having a separate lane for Business Class and Gold Card, it seemed that everyone rushed to queue in this late. I actually found it quicker to board using one of the Economy Class lane. I know this is probably the most first-world problem, but it was one of the more chaotic boarding experience.
Once on board, Orange Juice as pre-departure beverage. I love Turkish’s Orange Juice.
Despite delays in boarding we actually pushed back only a few minutes behind scheudle. Then, start to slowly taxi for take off. Did I mention that the new Istanbul Airport is huge? It took us 20 minutes (!) of continuous taxi prior to the take of roll. We took off at 19:01 into the dusk over Black Sea.
The Seat
This is the current standard long-haul Turkish Airlines Business Class seat, which is similar to the one found on TK59’s A330-300. It is a comfortable lie-flat seat arranged in a 2-2-2 configuration.
This is the newer version of this seat, noticeable by the interactive touchscreen remote. The storage cubicle is a bit larger than the previous version, but seemed more susceptible to things falling down into the seat. The shoe cubicle also opens from the top (opposed to the front) which means that you can access it when the seat is fully reclined.
The Dinner
The menus were provided by the “on-board chefs” before take off. There are two meal services on this flight: dinner and a light meal before landing.
This is the menu for today:
Dinner service began with sparking water and assorted canapes:
After the canapes, the flight attendant started setting up the table:
At this point we were above Croatia when the sun starts to set.
On long haul flights leaving Istanbul, there will be an appetizer cart service:
I had “a little bit of everything” mix and the pea soup. I remember the soup was good, but some of the appetizer mix tasted bland.
My Grilled Lamb Chops which was a bit dry and hard, but okay nonetheless.
At this point I was really full so I went with only mixed fruit:
My expectation for the meal on this flight was high, and I thought I was a little disappointed. Perhaps I was quite full and there was a lot of food, but I found that the lamb could be a little more juicy and the appetizer more flavorful.
The Sleep
The crew came around all the business class passengers to turn down the seat before dinner. The seat turn down consists of a thin mattress pad, a pillow cover, and a thicker blanket (in addition to the thin one given during boarding).
After dinner and finishing the movie, I went to sleep. Due to jet lag and fatigue, I slept quite well for most of this flight without any sleeping aid, waking up only shortly before the second meal service.
The Supper
Here is the menu for our light meal before landing:
The supper started with grilled vegetables and mozzarella. Note that the salad and dessert came pre-plated as well:
The appetizer then was swapped with my main, chicken:
This was also a mediocre meal. The chicken was even more dry than the lamb. I think I finished the dish because I was very hungry. Chocolate moose was enjoyable, though.
Landing
It was quite late so our descend and into New York JFK came with no holding and we landed into JFK almost an hour ahead of schedule. There was only a small queue this evening at JFK Terminal 1. We were able to collect our baggage and be on our way to our Airport Hotel (TWA Hotel !!!) in only a few minutes after landing.
The Experience
Overall, it was an uneventful flight on Turkish Airline’s Boeing 777-300ER from Istanbul to New York JFK. The highlight of this flight was definitely the lounge and the new Istanbul Airport. I had expected more from catering on this flight, but it is okay. I had a good sleep on this flight and was not tired after a 24 hours journey from Bangkok.
Long-Haul Business Class
- Departure & Lounge: 5/5 (amazing lounge experience so I won’t even deduct points for the messy boarding)
- Aircraft & Seat: 4/5 (good quality seat, but not all aisle access)
- Food: 3/5 (mediocre)
- Sleep: 4/5
- Service: 3/5 (not memorable)
- Entertainment: 4.5/5 (very good selection)
- Arrival & Time: 5/5
Total: 28.5/35 (81%) B-
Life Well Traveled 