Turkish Airlines Economy flight review videos (including missing seat cushion!)

[Iluvcruising2]

Turkish Airlines is a growing international airline that has earned a decent reputation according to the various airline rankings. They fly to most major European cities as well as cities in USA like Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Newark, San Francisco & Washington DC.

 

For a recent family trip, we flew from Singapore to Copenhagen (via Istanbul) and then later on from London Gatwick back to Singapore, on Turkish Airlines.

 

Ever boarded a plane to fly off and be confronted with a metal chair and a missing seat cushion? I admit this has never happened to me until our recent experience on Turkish Airlines. We were flying from Singapore to Istanbul and onward to Copenhagen. This was on the Istanbul to Copenhagen leg. We had to take an airport bus to board the plane. It was a nice and sunny morning. We got on board, walked to our seats, and were confronted with this....

 

Hmmm, I didn't know we had to fit our own cushion? But that can't be. More likely some maintenance crew did not complete his job! And it certainly didn't help that the dirty cushion left on the metal seat looked like this.

 

Not a great way to start a flight, I reckon. I first alerted a male cabin crew, who didn't seem too surprised. But he disappeared. Really! Then I alerted a female cabin crew, who said she will help sort this out. True enough, she came back within a few minutes with a new cushion and fitted it. Well done!

 

Here is a short video clip of the missing seat cushion experience.

[YOUTUBE]ZuCDVPkBPkE[/YOUTUBE]

 

Thankfully, after that cushion episode, everything was smooth. In fact, we did quite enjoy our Economy flight on Turkish Airlines. We flew Singapore to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Copenhagen. On our return leg, it was London Gatwick to Istanbul, and then Istanbul to Singapore. Along the way we had a separate British Airways one-way flight from Copenhagen to London Heathrow.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Iluvcruising2

[Iluvcruising2]

To be fair, the rest of the flight and also the earlier leg was pretty good. We were on a holiday and headed to Copenhagen. Originally we planned to book SQ (Singapore Airlines) for the 4 of us, but the option of Turkish Airlines came along and we could save almost $2K (SGD) for the 4 of us. So we decided to give Turkish a try. Here are the videos of our experience.

 

At Singapore Changi Airport, when we checked in, I was informed by the check-in staff that I could use the SATS Premier Lounge (even though I was flying in Economy) because I was Star Alliance Gold status. Well, I recently turned Star Gold and I don't even have my card yet, so I wasn't expecting this. Anyway, it was great, though I could only bring one guest. At the lounge entrance, I asked nicely if I could bring both my kids and the reception staff kindly agreed. My wife stayed outside though, she went shopping. Later on, I found out that SATS Premier Lounges were also Priority Pass lounges, so we could have used the lounge, albeit for a fee.

 

Here is the video of the lounge, which is used by a good number of airlines. I guess this is called a contract lounge. They had a decent hot food selection, not as good as the SilverKris, but good enough for most. There was the signature laksa, which tasted good. Also they had 3 OSIM massage chairs at one corner. Cool!

[YOUTUBE]ON-d0ejgy78[/YOUTUBE]

 

Our flight was TK55 and departed at 2200hrs from Changi Terminal 1. The plane was almost full, with a good number of passengers from Singapore, including some aunties (if you watch the video, you can hear some of their voices during boarding, exclaiming that 2-4-2 is good). What is 2-4-2? That's the seating configuration on the plane, 2-4-2. Flight time was 11 hours and two meals were served. Flight was smooth and we got to Istanbul slightly ahead of schedule.

[YOUTUBE]Hj_dpNLB5yY[/YOUTUBE]

[IsanTom]

Incredible!

[Iluvcruising2]

Incredible!

 

You mean the missing seat cushion? Yeah. :):)

[Iluvcruising2]

We arrived in Istanbul slightly ahead of schedule and the next flight was a good 3 hours or more away. We had already decided beforehand, and having read how busy Istanbul Airport would be, that we would park ourselves in a Priority Pass lounge. Both my wife and I are Priority Pass holders (get the card free from our credit card), but we have to pay for lounge admission at US$27 per person. Well, since we had factored in this expense, we went for it, and it was a good decision because the airport was indeed crowded and the lounge provided a nice oasis to rest for a bit, with some food and drink. Here is a video of the experience.

[YOUTUBE]yzcJkZRPwxM[/YOUTUBE]

[Brighton Line]

Now you know where the arm straps are for using seat cushion as a flotation device.

[Globaliser]

Now you know where the arm straps are for using seat cushion as a flotation device.

Aren't they just the Velcro strips that stick the cushion to the seat pan?

 

On the face of it, this aircraft would be highly unlikely to have seat cushions to be used as flotation devices.

[FlyerTalker]

Yes, they are velcro on one side to attach them to the seat frame. However, they are almost always on a kind of strap (with little play), through which your arms will fit.

[brian1]

Hi,Ithink Ill take my chances in the ocean than cuddle that thing lol,cheers,Brian.

[Globaliser]

Hi,Ithink Ill take my chances in the ocean than cuddle that thing lol,cheers,Brian.

The lifejacket's a better bet, anyway.

[Iluvcruising2]

We enjoyed the peaceful time in the lounge, and when it was time to board, we made our way to the gate. We had to take a bus to the plane bound for Copenhagen which was flight TK1783. The bus ride was nice, could see many planes. When we boarded, we found the missing cushion that I had talked about earlier. Once that was fixed, everything was smooth. Flight was good and we got some food to eat. We arrived in Copenhagen about 10 minutes ahead of schedule.

[YOUTUBE]AXQU2j_pqDY[/YOUTUBE]

 

We didn't really spent a lot of time in Copenhagen. The objective of going there was to board a cruise ship for a cruise to the Baltic seas. The hotel we stayed in was called Hotel Bethel, a 2-star hotel at River Nyhavn - basic but clean and one of the least expensive options we could find. We stayed one night.

 

Since I have made the videos of the Hotel and surrounding scenes, let me share them here. First is Hotel Bethel which is a very clean and good 2-star hotel right at River Nyhavn.

[YOUTUBE]vvCHnoh8sz8[/YOUTUBE]

 

This next video shows you some scenes from Copenhagen, River Nyhavn, as we were walking around.

[YOUTUBE]J7cYA0usF3Y[/YOUTUBE]

 

Part 2 of scenes from Copenhagen.

[YOUTUBE]1r6Liseofvo [/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

When we disembarked from the cruise ship in Copenhagen, we immediately made our way from the cruise port to the airport for a flight from Copenhagen to London. Copenhagen airport was pretty nice, but we almost missed our flight because they put their passport control after all the restaurants and shops in the restricted area. What happened was that after we got past security, we thought we had plenty of time. So we went into a Priority Pass lounge and chilled out till about 25 minutes before flight departure, and then we made our way to the gates, only to be confronted by passport control! And there were only 2 counters opened with a fairly long line. Thankfully the lines cleared quickly and we still made it to the plane, even though boarding was well underway. Phew!

 

Here are two videos, the first is the Aviator Lounge at the Copenhagen Airport, which is a Priority Pass lounge. We had quite a lot of time to spare so rather than wander around the airport, I decided to just bring the entire family into the lounge to get some rest. Nothing great in terms of food selection (as you can see in the video) but seats were comfortable and the coffee was good. I also did some plane watching.

[YOUTUBE]m6YdNP-780k[/YOUTUBE]

 

Again, thank God that we made the flight. If you fly out from Copenhagen, beware the immigration counters! Here is a video of the British Airways flight from Copenhagen to London Heathrow. Somehow, when we fly between Europeans cities, we end up going with British Airways. They are a bit more expensive than the low cost carriers, but I think we are happy with the product. On this flight, I asked for whiskey and coffee. Never had this combination before, but there is always a first time.

[YOUTUBE]b7R5VqmHnzY[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

We spent some days in London, just chilling out and having fun. Some random videos of our time in London before I resume the Turkish flight back to Singapore.

Foyles Bookshop, a very beautiful bookshop in London. Enjoyed browsing.

[YOUTUBE]KWuxLjPQu9A[/YOUTUBE]

 

OKI Noodle and Sushi bar near Wimbledon Tube station. Had lunch here after visting the Hampton Court Palace.

[YOUTUBE]jgMw11TFH3A[/YOUTUBE]

 

This building, which was a public library, looked a bit like the Sandcrawler from Star Wars.

[YOUTUBE]BsFx9ebQUyo[/YOUTUBE]

 

A visit to Harrods at Knightsbridge, and I spotted this decorated Sari cake. Look at the price tag!

[YOUTUBE]_Nz_fHWZx7I[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

Some more food videos from our time in London. This is from a restaurant in London Chinatown called Young Cheng which serves wonderful Lobster Noodles. Oh, so delicious! We ate a lot of stuff and the bill was under 50 GBP.

[YOUTUBE]UXEjE7SRljQ[/YOUTUBE]

 

We tried the one Michelin Star Yauatcha restaurant's taster menu called 'Taste of Yauatcha' in London SOHO. The cost was 30 pounds for 2 pax, before taxes. It is a taster menu, so you get one piece each of the following: Har gau, Crystal dumpling wrap with pumpkin, Baked venison puff, Prawn shui mai with chicken, Mushroom spring roll with black truffle, Garden Dumpling, Prawn and beancurd cheung fun and Sticky rice in lotus leaf with chicken and dried shrimp and choice of Chinese tea.

[YOUTUBE]X9JgdldVz1c[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

Alright, after that distraction, it was back to air travel. First, we had to get ourselves to London Gatwick. At first, we thought of the Gatwick Express, but after some research realised that there were cheaper options that cost much less and took just as fast. So here is the thing - the train station at London Gatwick is a common station that is used by several train companies, and it is not monopolized by the Gatwick Express, unlike the Heathrow Express at Heathrow. So we ended up buying tickets for Southern Railway, one day in advance, for off-peak travel for the four of us. Cost about 32 pounds for the 4 of us, which was fine. However, the train was jammed packed! Reason was that many earlier trains were cancelled. So we had to squeeze into the train. Thankfully the journey was very smooth and after 30 minutes of standing, we got to Gatwick in very good time. Video footage of some clips onboard the train.

[YOUTUBE]mfvgMzrZFgA[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

Some scenes from London Gatwick airport. Checking in for Turkish Airlines was easy enough as there were no lines when we arrived. We got into the restricted area fairly quickly and had some time to spare. Here are some scenes from the check in and restricted area.

[YOUTUBE]tHA3AceEmB4[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

Soon it was time for our flight. Hanging around in the Gatwick restricted area wasn't too bad. We quickly found our way to the gates for the London Gatwick to Istanbul service on Turkish Airways. I think they fly thrice a day, and ours was the third flight of the day, flight TK1998. It was a single aisle Airbus A321 aircraft. We were seated one row behind the emergency row seats and the legroom in that row was awesome. Not sure how to get those seats, maybe you got to pay more. The flight was about 3 hours and a hot meal was served - some Turkish minced meat on rice. Taste was not bad. After the meal, I settled down to get some rest.

[YOUTUBE]7MF4Sy5b3WU [/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

We arrived at Istanbul airport in good time. Our next flight (Istanbul to Singapore) was scheduled to depart at 0150hrs and we had arrived before 2300hrs the night before. So we decided to look for the same Primeclass CIP Lounge and hang around there for a couple of hours, just to chill. This first video shows us walking to look for the Primeclass CIP Lounge, which is also a Priority Pass lounge. The lounge was located at one corner of the airport, below a food court.

[YOUTUBE]NVh9u1CkLfI[/YOUTUBE]

 

Well, the lounge didn't serve burgers and my kids wanted some burgers. So the easiest way to get them was to step outside to buy some burgers from Burger King. Truth be told, the airport felt very different outside the lounge. It was crowded! Not sure why there was only one counter opened when there were so many people and the crowds looked to get a bit out of control, but things soon settled down. Anyway, I got my burgers and brought them back to the lounge. Definitely not cheap, but hey, this was an airport after all.

[YOUTUBE]GerwBcOYxP4[/YOUTUBE]

[Iluvcruising2]

Soon, it was time to head to the gate. This video shows you some footage of the walk to Gate 228A where Turkish Airlines Flight TK 54 would depart. Now, when I googled Gate 228A, I couldn't find it! It looked as if there were no gates beyond 226 based on the map of the airport, at the Istanbul Airport website. But the screen clearly said 228A, so perhaps the website was not yet updated. That turned out to be true. We walked and past Gates 225, 226, and then that area of the airport looked new. It must be a new wing of the airport, so Istabul Airport was expanding. Business must be pretty good!

[YOUTUBE]XK3o6PsR0GA[/YOUTUBE]

 

When we go to the gate, there were many passengers waiting, however it was not yet time to board. Once boarded started, it was quite smooth and we got onboard the aircraft and settled into our seats. It was the Airbus A330, similar model we flew on a couple of weeks back on the Singapore to Istanbul leg, with a 2-4-2 configuration. This video shows you the interior of the aircraft and the meals service. The food was very similar to what we had on the earlier London to Istanbul leg, so I didn't eat much. Overall, it was a smooth flight and we landed at Singapore Changi safely. Thank God for safe travels and thanks for watching!

[YOUTUBE]57VBeB5OJHc[/YOUTUBE]

[cruisemom42]

I also just returned from Europe and flew Turkish Airlines. I wasn't overly impressed. The in-flight experience and food in economy cabin was no better or worse than any other major airline I've flown on a TA.

 

Three of the 4 flights I had with them (2 going, 2 returning) had significant delays, which was not great. On the second of the two return flights (IST to ATL) I believe there was a bomb threat, although it was unannounced. We had a four hour delay, everyone was made to leave the gate area and go through another round of security screenings (after two already) including the screening for explosives residues. Then, once onboard, security crew swept the flight and had pax identified every single piece of cabin luggage....

 

When we got to ATL at 11:00pm, we also faced a long delay getting our luggage delivered. We were told it was a mechanical issue but I suspect they may have been re-screening all the bags before letting them into the airport.

[FlyerTalker]

Three of the 4 flights I had with them (2 going, 2 returning) had significant delays, which was not great. On the second of the two return flights (IST to ATL) I believe there was a bomb threat, although it was unannounced. We had a four hour delay, everyone was made to leave the gate area and go through another round of security screenings (after two already) including the screening for explosives residues. Then, once onboard, security crew swept the flight and had pax identified every single piece of cabin luggage....

 

When we got to ATL at 11:00pm, we also faced a long delay getting our luggage delivered. We were told it was a mechanical issue but I suspect they may have been re-screening all the bags before letting them into the airport.

And this was somehow TK's fault??

[cruisemom42]

And this was somehow TK's fault??

 

 

The bomb threat? No. But maybe you missed the part where I said that only one of the four flights was not delayed. The other two were each delayed by more than an hour (and not by weather conditions).

 

Communications at the gates was nonexistent regarding any of these delays.

[Iluvcruising2]

A video of the collection of kiddy and other stuff we got from the Turkish Airlines flight from Singapore to Europe and back. On one leg, the cabin crew gave a nice teddy bear to just one of my kid and not the other. Check it out!

[YOUTUBE]mtNKyRkMq0s[/YOUTUBE]