4K Trip Report on board Turkish Airlines’ 777-300ER from Istanbul to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.
Hi there! My name is Kevin and today we will take a look at Istanbul’s new massive airport, the business class lounge, our aircraft & seat, the food & amenities and of course plenty of views and graphics throughout- all wrapped up with The Flip Flop Score.
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✈️ Fare Details
Fare Category: Business Class (Paris to Istanbul to Saigon)
Total Fare: 31500 Turkish Miles & Smiles Points (30% off Sale December 2021)
📽 Next 5 Videos
⇢ 15 Sept: Vietnam Airlines A321 Economy Class Saigon – Jakarta
⇢ 17 Sept: Four Seasons Jakarta
⇢ 22 Sept: Raffles Jakarta
⇢ 24 Sept: Park Hyatt Jakarta
⇢ 29 Sept: Etihad Airways 787-9 Business Class Jakarta – Abu Dhabi
⏰ Videos posted at:
9:00 (New York), 14:00 (London), 20:00 (VN), 23:00 (Sydney)
—Video Chapters—
0:00 Flight Preview
00:23 Intro
00:34 Welcome to Istanbul
00:43 Walking through Departure Hall
02:19 Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge
02:57 Sad Lounge Food Offerings
03:51 All Night Long Drilling Noise
04:24 Smoking Lounge for “Fresh Air”
04:41 Walking to the Gate
05:09 Flights Stats Graphic
05:20 Boarding via Jetbridge
05:51 First Impressions
06:00 Seat Detail Graphic
06:30 Seat Tour & Amenities
07:07 Versace Eros Amenity Kit
07:30 Safety Video & Pushback
07:45 Turkish Airlines Rebranding
08:00 Taxi to Runway
08:22 Departure Route
08:27 Spool Up Growl
08:50 Take off & Service
09:26 Routing Across Middle East
09:42 Seat Covers & Fully Flat Mode
10:16 Full Menu
10:28 US Retail Prices for Wines
10:37 Disappointing Starter
11:07 Spinach Pie Main
11:18 Bouncy Engine, Snowy Mountains
11:25 Bathroom Amenities
11:36 Free Wi-Fi & IFE
11:56 Sunset Dinner Service
12:07 Cold Mezze & Pumpkin Soup
12:21 “Baby” Desert Chicken
12:51 Moist Turkish Desserts
12:55 Final Approach Routing
13:07 Beautiful Approach Over Saigon
13:46 Landing & Taxi
14:11 Final Thoughts
14:39 The Flip Flop Score
Music featured in this video is licensed under an Artlist Unlimited License.
This is NOT a promotional video. I pay for all of my flights and hotels (and I always tell you how much!) so I can be as honest and impartial as possible. I do not receive any special treatment that wouldn’t otherwise be publicly accessible, in fact, the hotels and airlines have no idea about my visit and that’s the way I like it!
#turkishairlines #tripreport #businessclass
38 Comments
I was in the IST lounge 2 days ago and the situation has changed there dramatically. Nothing is pre/individually packed anymore. Breakfast and salad self service buffets are open and all the hot food is available 24 hrs. The omelette maker was very cheerful and friendly. The airport is buzzing and all sections are open.
Sadly the the A330 and 777 seats are seriously outdated. I was flying business within Europe in a 4 legged flight (2x 321 neo and 2 737 MAX) and with the exception of the same dry chicken on my trip back home, the rest of the food on all 3 legs was excellent. The aircraft were beautiful and the new BUS seats on these aircraft are top. All in all I think that THY has big deficits on their long distance but huge advantages on their narrow body Euro Business.
I actually find Daxing a much more walkable airport than Capital, even though its footprint is bigger. A lot of thought apparently went into the design of the layout, as well as many traveler-friendly details such as the luggage check-in conveyor belt that slopes down to touch the ground and saves people the trouble of lifting heavy suitcases onto it. PEK's layout does indeed make you walk too much, and it's dotted with aesthetically questionable large-scale decoration pieces, but it doesn't appear/feel cheap and was not built with cheap materials. The "fair-faced concrete" of its columns has a clean, muted elegance . And the extensive use of skylights and glass curtain walls are a great touch, though not the most energy-efficient in winter. The entire terminal 3 is impressive enough, and modern enough, compared to its peer airports, but I agree it's not the most relaxing and welcoming.
Great review! I enjoyed it and you always provide really good information without the gimmicky crap from other YouTubers.
Great report!
I fully agree with your observations. Did 4 business class sectors and was super underwhelmed by all of them. Since then been flying Qatar, and it is light years ahead of Turkish.
I’ve been considering TK for a long haul trip I’ll be making soon .. but you’re not the first to mention the bad staff and crew attitudes .. and I’ll be at the back of the planes , so f*** knows what treatment passengers get there? Thanks again for your genuine feedback on another giant of travel and tourism.. once again passengers get treated as a necessary nuisance.. sometimes I think these workers can forget who is actually paying their salaries..!! 🙏
It doesn't surprise me. I have been to Turkey and found everyone in the hospitality to behave as revolting as your lounge staff description.
quand vous faites des vidéos mettez pas 6 mois a les poster j ai pris turkish en classe affaire y a 2 jours c est terminé les plateaux repas recouvert de plastique tout comme le personnel de bord ne porte plus de masque
This sounds pretty accurate. TK is pretty famous for often rude staff (it's part of the culture) and bad operational reliability. The new airport also has had tons of problems that are no secret. But better than the Berlin airport I guess that it actually opened.
I was planning to fly this route next year! Lol 😆 Great content as always
Did you have to lug around your luggage and camera gears the entire time you were delayed ? Were there at least places where you can store your things overnight ?
Istanbul Airport was constructed to be huge, because it is planned to be the worlds largest airport in the future, with up to 200 million passengers yearly. not for the sake of being big
Im sorry, that you had a bad experience with them, personally I have flown with them many times and was always satisfied. Also I don’t think that your experience is the norm. Otherwise Istanbul wouldn’t be the second busiest Airport in the World and Turkish Airlines the Airline being regarded by most as one of the best.
I had almost the exact same experience in May going from JFK
ISTSGN. Lounge agents extremely rude, and don't give a crap. Going in, had high hopes based on other YouTube reviews. Unless that 30% percent discount comes around again, no way I will fly Turklish again. Appreciate your honest reviews. I am also base out of SGN so I already hit up a few of places you reviewed.Love this brutally honest review! I always thought the chefs outfits were a fun touch giving the illusion of fine dining. Sounds like they got rid of it. Also can relate to the dreaded 2-3-2 configuration lol. Love your channel. Keep up the great work!
Those seats are really outdated. The Turkish 787s have a better, newer, seat but it sure is a slow rollout across the rest of the livery. I've never been impressed with food on Turkish. Those guys in chef's hats, I think, are just galley attendants with a unique uniform.
The desserts had all the moisture that should have been in the chicken 🤣🤣
Totally love your honest opinion! Thanks 😊
I agreed with your review. I flew 4 segment Long Haul in 2019. The food onboard was good and plentiful. The lounge was okay but I like the tea/cofee done turkish style. They also rejected me for pod request in brusque manner. The worst was once after takeoff the crew forbade passengers to go to toilet because turbulence. The turbulence wasn’t bad, so after 45 min waiting I went. A crew accosted me. I told him if I have to wait more the seats will be soaked soon. Then he shut up. Turkish is not even in my top 5 biz class, I had better crew service in economy of Garuda or even some Asian budget air. My favorite is ANA and JAL because the crew are exceptional
Turkish was on the short list to get to JFK from AUH or DXB, mainly because they were the cheapest biz class fare, but I was unsure on the comfort and service aspect. I ended up using every single one of my Etihad points and cash because EY now flies brand new-ish A350s on the JFK route.
How do you find cheap flight ?
Love you being bitchy😆😆😆
Haha. Thanks for your honest review. I always thought Turkish airline was an over hype from most travelers that been on. Glad i didn’t transfer my points to Turkish LoL
I just completed a business class HK – Istanbul – Berlin return trip and every one of their flights out of Istanbul and Berlin were delayed by between 2 – 5 hours. While I appreciate a flat bed, their planes, service and amenities cannot begin to compare to Asian airlines
I just think you got the crappy Covid food.
🤲🍊🍋🤝🤲
I live in the desert now and our chicken is nice and moist. Funny I made lemon chicken with capers tonight, my wife almost licked the dish! 😂
My experience with Turkish airlines which I once loved was extremely stressful, and then the incompetent staff at the airport, wasted money flying business class.. I really pray they will spruce up.
Omg, finally somebody said it. After hearing all the praise on youtube I booked 2 7 hour long flights with them and it was an absolute disappointment.
110% agree with your video about Turkish. I just returned from IST last week and here's my thoughts:
– Airport is annoyingly big, for no specific reason
– Customer service is non-existent at best. A smile if you're lucky
– I paid for a transit lounge only to find out I can't enter when I arrived
– Shocking as it may sound, the affordable fares on TK do make it a compelling one. But I'd say dead last choice.
Thanks for this vlog. I love your honesty on this presentation. Many thanks. Ciao.
Wow. Thank you for being honest. Sorry about your experience.
Well said !! I can’t see the hype with this Airline . Let the people how fly THY Try Qatar Airways !
Hi there,
thank you for your honest review. I have a special emotional bond to Turkish Airlines resulting from my childhood, and I have flown Business Class with TK before, nonetheless I always always try to be very honest and non-biased.
I agree, you did not have a TK Business Class experience as it should be. I am very disappointed, especially by the lounge employees. As you said, worse than them not being able to find a solution is their behavior towards you. This is not Turkish hospitality, and my background is Turkish so I can truly say that. The inflight meal service wasn‘t quite Business Class like as well, unfortunately. And yes, I do hate the middle seat in a 2-3-2 configuration as well. In their A350s and B787-9s they have a 1-2-1 configuration, which is how it is supposed to be nowadays, especially if you are a global brand.
Nonetheless there is one thing that you should have mentioned, in my opinion. Which is: Change the route, change the crew, and you have a completely different experience. This is applicable to almost any airline in the world. This experience does not depict how every single TK Business Class experience has ever been and will ever be. Change the route and the crew, and you have an absolutely flawless experience with TK. Change it again and you will have maybe a mediocre experience. Yes, airlines should have a certain standard and guidelines, but as mentioned, this would also apply to other airlines, even the fancy ones like Emirates, Qatar, British Airways, Singapore Airlines, etc.
Thank you though, I gave this video a thumbs up for your honesty.
Much love,
Emre
What? Do you seriously expect a vietnamese speaking crew on a TURKISH airline?
Sometimes it feels like you're being critical just for the sake of being critical.
Since the brand of your product is "honest unsponsored reviews" it feels like you were trying to be critical to emphasise that brand.
I understand this is not a typical example of your products. But some of the complaints in this video were exaggerated. Other felt like they were just made up.
Was your boarding pass torn at boarding gate?
Hi there. I'm so happy that someone revealed the truth about this terrible airline, and terrible new airport. We did have horrible experience on JFK Istanbul flights, and my cash money was pick pocketed at Istanbul's new airport. Horrible, and profoundly awful experience. When we took off from IST, insteads of offering drinks and cocktails they were spreading the bed mattresses in business class, cause they wanted to work less. The.y were hiding from us most of my flights in business class and tried to avoid requests, or orders. Lazy and badly trained crews. Istabul airport business class is OK, but nobody speaks English, and they are not helpful at all. They have their slogan – FLY DIFFERENT – yes, if you want to witness horrible service and total mediocraty
Great honest review! I really enjoy (and prefer) the vocal narration over the text ones. Just thought I’d share that!