Background
This series will cover a recent TATL trip. While TK certainly does not always offer the most direct routing options to Europe, they do offer competitive fares compared to the main players in *A European market (LH Group and UA). TK offers 2x daily service SFO-IST. During the current low season, it is a B789 on the early flight (TK290) and an A359 on the late flight (TK80). During high season, a B77W usually replaces both. For this trip, I opted for the late flight to spend more time at home. This will be my first time flying an A350, which has thus far eluded me.
Routing
The routing starts with:
Flight routing
- 1TK80 - Business - San Fransisco → Istanbul - Airbus A350-900
- 2
- 3
- 4
This report will cover the flight from San Francisco to Istanbul and the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge.
Check-in/Security
I arrived at the airport 2h before departure. Check-in was fast and uneventful. The TSA Pre Check line on the Concourse A side was empty and I was airside instantly. Concourse A is quickly becoming the "others" terminal since only UA and its close allies remain in Concourse G.
A quick look at the FIDS this afternoon. Our plane is on-time, but would be later delayed to 19:00.
At check-in, I was handed a lounge invitation for The Club, which I didn't know existed, but then again I have not been in Concourses B or C in >5 years. TK is one of the many *A carriers UA is slowly kicking out of Concourse G. Since there are no *A lounges in Concourse A and it is a ~30 minute walk from Concourse G to Concourse A, 3rd party lounges are obviously becoming the trend. Intrigued, I'll head over to Concourse B versus just using a Priority Pass option.
From the connector between Concourses A and B, we can see the QR A35K in OW livery leaving as well as EK A380 and TP A339neo on stand.
QF B789.
The new connector now allows passengers to access all concourses airside.
I eventually found The Club, but the line waiting to get in doesn't bode well for the experience inside.
Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge
I decided to just continue over to Concourse D and stop by my favorite *A lounge at SFO, the MLL.
It is quiet with only a flight to YYZ still to board.
The buffet has a basic offering of hot and cold items and the bar is complimentary with a decent selection of drinks for US lounge standards. With a full meal to come on the plane, I just pass through.
I head straight outside to take a seat on their terrace on this unseasonably hot day in the Bay Area (~35C) to enjoy a coffee and a watermelon mint drink while watching the aircraft movements.
Pre-Flight/Boarding
I left the lounge 10 minutes before boarding was due to start to account for the walk back to Concourse A. We would be leaving from A11, which is downstairs next to the F9 gates.
At the gate, a delay was announced with boarding to start at 18:10, so I walked back upstairs to do some spotting.
EI A333 departing for DUB.
AF A359 arriving from CDG.
Our plane today is TC-LGA, which is the first A359 delivered to TK back in October 2020.
Heading back down to the gate, the hordes were already positioned so I will stand off to the side and wait for boarding to start.
Boarding finally started at ~18:20. I joined the back of the business class line and made my way in. They have the dots on the windows to block the sunset's glare, so this will be the best shot of our plane that I can manage.
We will board through L1. The welcome on board was very neutral, which doesn't bode well for the crew we would get.
A blurry picture of my seat, 8A, which is a window seat at the rear of the cabin. TK uses Stelia Symphony seats on their B789 and A359 fleet, which will soon be replaced with a new product giving some hint at the reviews these seats get.
Flight
Pre-placed on the side table was a gender specific amenity kit. Men's kits are blue and women's kits are pink.
Pre-placed on the seat were a soft pillow (too soft for sleeping) and a packaged throw blanket. The real bedding is provided later, which helps since you don't have to figure out how to store all the bedding during meal service.
The first thing you notice is that the seats were designed for a B787 so leave about 6" between the sidewall on an A350. They could have made a wider seat, but chose not to. The only advantage is that this gives you extra knee space as a side sleeper.
The foot well is deep, but narrow. If they took advantage of the width of the A350, it would be a lot more comfortable for sleeping.
Despite the flaws in comfort, the materials and finishes selected are excellent and the details are very nice throughout this seat. When the seat is in flat bed mode, the alcantara shell is very comfortable to use as a seat back when working on the tray table.
The color scheme is good and the design elements are nice touches.
A common criticism of this seat is that it is very tight on the elbows/shoulders with the winged seat design and this skinny armrest is not comfortable at all.
The overly complicated reading lights.
The outlets are inside of the storage compartment, which is bad placement since you can't charge anything when closed. I also don't know why a lock is needed for this compartment…
Mirror.
Seat controls, head phone jack, and touch screen IFE remote.
The Denon noise cancelling headphones, which are good quality.
The large crisp IFE screen that can be tilted down for better viewing when in flat bed mode.
The basic literature offering: safety card and air sickness bag.
After settling in, a FA offered welcome drinks from a tray. TK doesn't serve alcohol on the ground, but their juices are good. I will go for the mint lemonade.
The on-board chef came through and handed out menus.
We will have a dinner and breakfast service on this flight.
The alcohol offering. The wine offering is Türkiye centric, but still a large selection of options.
Boarding completed at 18:48 and the doors closed. The chef came up the aisle taking meal and drink orders. The J cabin would go out 100% full.
I noticed I didn't get slippers, so I waved down a FA and asked for a pair. She didn't come back after 5 minutes so I asked a different FA, he immediately went to the overhead bin and pulled one out for me apologizing. The first FA saw him doing this and she looked visibly embarrassed. It was probably a genuine mistake since she would be very friendly to me for the rest of the flight. Their slippers are very good quality and comfortable.
Now that the jetbridge is retracted, I can finally see outside as a flock of black birds crosses.
The safety video plays as we initiate our pushback at 18:58.
Taxing out to the runway as the sun sets.
After letting a LH A359 arrive from MUC, we align onto Runway 28L and take off at 19:23, almost an hour late. We make up the time in the air, but would have preferred an on-time departure to get more sleep on the front half of the flight.
We reach the Pacific Ocean before making a u-turn to start our trek east.
The last glimpses of dusk.
Our route out of SFO.
Service started with the distribution of an oshibori.
The cabin was kept quite cold even though there were individual air vents. The thin throw they provide on boarding is still needed.
The tray table deploys from under the screen and is bifold in design. It is large and sturdy and was good for working on as well.
Linens were laid and aperitif orders were taken.
A glass of Taittinger to accompany the mixed nuts (hazelnuts, pistachios, and almonds).
About 15 minutes later, the trolley came down to set the table for dinner and offer warm breads from a basket.
TK's table setting is always elegant with the minaret salt/pepper shakers and faux candle.
The trolley then comes down the aisle offering a choice of appetizers and soup.
My selection from the trolley.
Smoked salmon with goat cheese.
Kebab, mozzarella and tomato, and eggplant.
Pumpkin soup.
After the starters were cleared, my main was brought out. I had ordered the Grilled Turbot Fish with Tuscany style vegetables, chateau potatoes, and lemon butter sauce. My rosé wine was also refilled on request. The FAs do not proactively offer drinks, you have to request everything from them. They serve everything with a smile so I think it is likely just cultural and not a reflection of their attitude.
My first observation is that this was not turbot, likely barramundi. The second observation is that it was extremely dry to the point I could not eat more than half. My second time ordering seafood on TK and being very disappointed. I heard the chef recommending the chicken to someone else, so maybe should have taken note.
After the table was cleared, the dessert trolley came down with a selection of cheeses, fruits, and sweets. I was fairly full and needed to sleep so just took a fruit cup and a slice of the honey sultana cheese cake. Digestives were not proactively offered, so I just took a cup of coffee.
Water bottles were distributed as the service concluded.
The lavatory near L2 is very tight, but does have a fold down bench for changing into pajamas. The Molton Brown products were brought out later in the flight.
The amenity kits are by Ferragamo, which are in a good quality faux-leather material. The contents are the usual suspects (socks, eye mask, tooth brush, ear plugs) along with body lotion, lip balm, and facial mist.
After the meal service, the crew also offered turn down service. They place a mattress pad down, a thicker blanket, and a pillow case.
The bed in flat mode. The two armrests both retract to offer extra seat width. Despite the comfortable appearance, the narrow footwell and very flimsy pillow impacted my sleep quality.
I only managed about 3.5-4h of sleep waking as we crossed over Greenland. Since it was already approaching noon local time, I decided to just get up and get some work done. After using the bathroom, I asked the FA in the galley for a water and he handed me another bottle with a smile and offered me to take some snacks back to my seat.
TK has Wi-Fi onboard. Prices are on the more expensive side and they even charge for the chat pass (though free if you sign up for a TK FFP account). However, they do offer 1 GB of free data to business class passengers, which is accessed by just inputting your last name and seat number.
Connection is easy and it can be switched between devices. The speed was fast and the coverage was good (at least over the US and between Iceland and Türkiye where I used it).
While I was working, the chef came by and talked to me since I was up and offered a mid-flight snack, but I declined. Later, another FA came up to me as we approached Norway and offered the snack again, so I obliged not able to refuse twice.
The mid-flight snack was a smoked salmon sandwich and a carrot cake. I requested an espresso to accompany it.
The second meal service followed about an hour and half later as we were crossing central Poland. Hot oshibori were handed out.
The mood lighting slowly turned back on.
The FA then offered a selection of drinks from a tray, I just took an orange juice.
Flying over Kraków.
Flying past Nowy Sącz. The region would soon turn overcast as we crossed from Poland to Slovakia to Hungary to Romania.
The breakfast tray was offered along with a coffee. The FA also took my order for the main.
A nice fruit plate.
Along the back, we have chicken breast and smoked turkey, yogurt, and some cheeses.
Warm breads and pastries were offered from a basket.
After finishing my fruit plate, my main was brought out.
Feta cheese omelette with sautéed mushrooms, roesti potato, and tomatoes.
The potato was soggy as expected, but the omelette was decent.
I requested another coffee after my tray was cleared.
The cabin was prepared for landing as we flew past Varna and over the Black Sea.
The FAs handed out chocolates as the final service items were removed.
Our approach into IST.
Making our turn into Türkiye.
We cross over the Sea of Marmara to make our u-turn.
Views over Esenyurt as we align for approach.
Let's hope they can straighten it out…
We had a very smooth landing on Runway 34L at 17:19, slightly ahead of schedule, but had a long taxi back to the gate ahead of us.
The fire brigade and control tower.
Always great to see an A300, which is still popular with cargo operators.
We can finally see the terminal, but still need to loop around 35L/35R.
TK B737-MAX8.
SU A321.
TK A320 in *A livery.
TK A333 as we finally reach the terminal and turn in between the D and F piers.
We finally turn into our gate around 17:40 after a >20 minute taxi.
We will wait for L1 to engage.
A goodbye from the crew and up we go into the terminal.
Since Türkiye is part of OSS (One-Stop Security), there is an agent at the end of the jet bridge that checks boarding passes of connecting passengers before directing us back into the terminal through the gate area. OSS really simplifies the transit experience and wish it could be rolled out more broadly to cut out a lot of the redundant security screens.
I'll leave of this series here as I start my layover in Istanbul. Thanks for stopping by!
Flight Details
Turkish Airlines, TK80
Equipment: Airbus A350-900 [TC-LGA, delivered October 2020]
Departure: 18:35 (ATD: 19:23)
Arrival: 17:35 (ATA: 17:19)
Flight time: 11:57
Hi, thank you for your report today
i can practice my english here, its funny.
TK is a good airline and even better than European airlines. Seats look comfortable but a few tight for feet.
sometimes cabin crews are very nice, sometimes just normal.
i dont miss food on board, there are a lot ; its a shame for the dry fish meal.
time on the ground is very long in IST as usual
i will fly with us next month, let's try...
see you
Merci pour vos commentaires. Votre anglais est probablement meilleur que mon français^^
I think it would like be more comfortable on a daytime flight since I did find it comfortable for lounging when left in flat bed mode since the shell is soft enough to be used as a seat back similar to the AY seats.
On long-haul, there is probably a more pronounced difference in quality since you are more likely to find more senior, legacy crew. The younger crew seemed to be more proactive and friendly suggesting there is an effort to change their style.
Yes, one of the few airlines that has not reduced food quantity post-pandemic. The abundance of options on the trolleys are consistent with pre-pandemic times. They use Dnata at SFO, which also caters EK/QR so the quality is overall high. I should have known better than to order a grilled fish dish since it would be a feat not to overcook it on reheating^^
Bon voyage!
Beautiful review and I am super happy that Turkish Airlines' inflight service is consistently a party in the sky !
Thank you for stopping by! I feel like there is little degradation in service standard compared to pre-pandemic times, the trolleys for starters and desserts are as abundant as ever and definitely more food than can be comfortably enjoyed.
Nice to see the A350 was operating this flight. TK have way too many 77Ws with crappy J operating from the US. With 12h in the air, if travelling alone, the A350 (and 787) make for a much better experience with better privacy. Right now the 77W is the J cabin to avoid, but once they're refurbished with the new cabins, they'll be the ones everyone is chasing haha.
Eew, no, I would hate to have paid for a J ticket and have to wait in line to get in to a 3rd party lounge. Thank goodness all the concourses are now connected and you could opt to go to the much nice AC Lounge. I had a similar situation last with with AY in DFW...oddly, even though they are in Oneworld and operate from Intl Terminal D where there are several AA lounges, they use the Capital One Lounge. Both times I went through DFW, the Capital One Lounge had long 1h+ waits to get in...luckily, we also had access to the Flagship Lounge across the hall.
Nice to have slippers and a thick mattress pad. Makes a difference in comfort on such a long flight. Did they not have pyjamas? it sounds like you had your own.
The catering looks very nice visually, as expected for TK. And the trolley service is classy, though probably not as nice by the time the trolley gets to the back rows.
Thanks for sharing!
Yes, those old cabins have 0 privacy, but like Apex seats provide F-like space for sleeping if you can get lucky without a neighbor and they are still better than what LH offers on most of their fleet.
Offering a 3rd party is actually new for them, from what I’ve read they were previously telling people to go through into G to use the Polaris Lounge and then either foot it >30 minutes around the entire airport or risk their fate exiting G and re-clearing security on the A side. As you said, the advantage of OW is that Emeralds get access to F lounges that still retain some degree of exclusivity. Like your experience in DFW, it’s always a strange experience being at an alliance hub with no alliance lounge available.
They do not, luckily have a stash of OZ and BR to re-purpose.
I have not had very good luck with mains on TK’s long-haul, but overall they offer a very nice dining experience. They just need to be a lot more proactive with drinks (an empty water cup in almost every photo).
Thanks for stopping by Kevin!
Yep, totally agree that Aura Lite seats are the most spacious by virtue of being big rectangles and having to restrictions around the feet (Like APEX seats, as you mention). And I actually really like Aura Lite seats when not travelling alone.