A very warm welcome to all Flight-Report members and visitors for this exclusive series of Flight-Report's which was an easy way having a Star Alliance Gold status. In addition, in this series I had the chance to experience the brand new Turkish Airlines Domestic Lounge at Istanbul Airport on the first day of its operation. This exclusive series would include 15 flights ( 14 on Turkish Airlines & 1 on SunExpress ) and 13 of these reports are flights to/from Istanbul Airport in Business Class. The other two flights are also domestic flights which are on Economy Class and they are not reports from/to Istanbul Airport. More details could be found in the routing section.
The fifth report of this serie would be a short flight from Ankara to Istanbul Airport on one of the 737-800 of Turkish Airlines in the Business cabin. This report would also include a short review of the Elite Plus & Business section of the Turkish Airlines Lounge in Ankara
The routing would look like this. All reports except #2 would include lounge reviews as well.
Flight routing
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5#5 TK 2125 ESB to ISL ( J ) 737-800
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- 10
- 11
- 12
- 13
- 14
- 15
Pax for this flight
Business Class: %100
Economy Class: %95-100
ONLINE CHECK-IN
I had issues checking-in for this flight online due to blocked seats on this flight. I was asked to proceed to a check-in counter
Also, an error screen like this appeared.
The Turkish Airlines webpage worked well but didn't allow me to select a seat
I was in Antalya Airport while I had these issues so I had went to the TK sales office and the employee there told me there were no issues regarding my flight. Then I had headed to one of the check-in counters. The reason that I wasn't able to check-in was that row 1 was blocked in case of a passenger requiring a baby bassinet. The agent assigned me seat 1F and I was all set.
ANKARA ESENBOĞA AIRPORT - ESB
After arriving from my previous flight from Istanbul, I have headed to the Turkish Airlines Lounge at Ankara which only has an entrance from the exterior of the terminal. There is no access to the lounge via the regular terminal building.
Turkish Airlines LOUNGE ANKARA - ANKARA ESENBOĞA AIRPORT
After validating my boarding pass at the counter and clearing security, I have headed to the Elite Plus & Business section of the lounge.
The offering was the exact same things as the Izmir lounge which I have visited that morning
TV area and newspapers
Later on boarding was announced and I have boarded the bus that would take me from the lounge directly to the aircraft
Our aircraft was visible at that time
AnadoluJet 737-800
TC-JVB, waiting for us to board
TK 2125 ANKARA ESENBOĞA AIRPORT to Istanbul Airport
After being welcomed by the same crew from the past two flights, I have headed to my seat. At that moment the crew had already memorized all the names of the passengers in Business Class as almost all of them were from the previous flight.
First, I have seated at seat 1F
Then I have swapped with another passenger which was seated separately with his child. My new seat was seat 1B
As a welcome drink, I have chosen to have a raspberry juice
Later on, nuts and menus were distributed
Today's lunch selection
Before takeoff, I had made a short visit to the lavatory. The front lavatory was clean at that time
Seat pocket content
Shortly after the doors closed, the safety video was monitored. Batman indicates that smoking is strictly illegal onboard
Shortly after takeoff, the meal service had begun
Best of Turkish Meze
Hunter's Borek with Beef
Mascarpone and Passion Fruit Tart
After my meal, I have asked for a linden tea.
The personal screens were on during this flight.
Photos before arriving to ISL
And we have landed on time
After saying goodbye to the crew, this time, I have headed to the exit.
Istanbul Airport - ISL
A last view of aircraft which had parked to gate G10b.
The long way to the exit
The baggage claim area
As most of the passengers were mileage runners, the bag delivery had been ended at that time. All bags were on the carousel
Simit Sarayı would open a store, just at the domestic arrivals area
Arrivals level
As the exits at the arrivals level are closed I had headed upstairs to reach the bus stop.
There was a test going on at the ticket office
Havaist buses
And the İETT ( municipality ) bus that I would use to go back home.
Thanks for reading this report and hope to see you in another report.
Hi Eryorulmaz,
I’m glad the seating drama turned out to be nothing but an auto-block on row 1. But nice that you could have brought a bassinet if you had you chosen to do so. ;-)
The Ankara lounge looks a little simpler than some of the others, but still quite nice, and still the direct delivery service. Very nice.
I wondered when you said in the previous report that you were heading back to ISL directly if you’d have the same crew yet again, and lo and behold, you did.
And of course, such fantastic catering from TK on such a short flight. Their attention to detail on this is a big differentiator for them.
Exiting the airport? Couldn’t squeeze in another back-and-forth on this day? ;-)
It’s kinda fun that many of your fellow travelers were on similar mileage runs. I wonder how many new Elites TK minted as a result of this promo?
Thanks for sharing. I look forward to the next segment!
Hi again and thanks for joining this report as well,
"I’m glad the seating drama turned out to be nothing but an auto-block on row 1. But nice that you could have brought a bassinet if you had you chosen to do so. ;-)"
- Yes, I should have brought a bassinet and carry one of the infants in Economy for free at Business Class. :) Of course this was the joke part. It's nice that they have solved the issue quickly at AYT by calling the ESB station manager.
"I wondered when you said in the previous report that you were heading back to ISL directly if you’d have the same crew yet again, and lo and behold, you did."
- The crew rotation was ADB-ISL-ESB-ISL-ADB so I knew I was going to have the same crew. They were also doing the same rotation the previous day and also recognized passengers who had flown ISL-ESB the day before.
"And of course, such fantastic catering from TK on such a short flight. Their attention to detail on this is a big differentiator for them."
- Yes, the "Hunter's Borek" is one of the new additions to the TK menu and of course it was delicious. Even though they have decreased the portions of the main course at Economy class, they have improved J class meals by adding a hot main course and putting new starters to the menu.
"Exiting the airport? Couldn’t squeeze in another back-and-forth on this day? ;-)"
- I could have flown back to Izmir and return next morning but I didn't want to pay another night at a hotel as all my friends in Izmir were unable to guest me at that time.
"It’s kinda fun that many of your fellow travelers were on similar mileage runs. I wonder how many new Elites TK minted as a result of this promo?"
- Around thousand people had been Elite, Elite Plus or had protected their existing status. Business Class tickets were sold out the third or fourth day of the campaign except for the Baku route ( which rt costed $599 - gave 18000 miles ), so there was one passenger flying 38 times in Economy from/to ISL to achieve Elite Plus and extend it for two years. That's why, they haven't extended the promo. Even during the whole series except for the last visit, the passengers in the ISL lounge were always the same ( of course with some exceptions :) )
Thanks again and hope to see you in another report.
Realized that I forgot to answer this phrase;
"The Ankara lounge looks a little simpler than some of the others, but still quite nice, and still the direct delivery service. Very nice."
- Yes, it looks simple to the IST and ADB domestic lounges, doesn't have that much to offer but it's still nice. The direct delivery service is useful sometimes but could be painful for disabled passengers and passengers in need as the jetbridges at ESB doesn't have elevators from the apron level to the gate level.