Sign In
Create Account
Introduction
After a long school year, I finally decided that I deserve a vacation. I always wanted to see the east coast and i thought that there's no better place than New York. Since i'm still a student I can't really afford an expensive vacations. So my journey began with finding the cheapest ticket to New York. The cheapest I found was KLM untill AMS then on Delta to Newark. The price was good and better than LH,AF,BA,AZ. I was hoping to fly BA to earn some miles but with the strike going on and the high prices it wasn't my best option.
So KL and Delta were the cheapest but when i looked at the baggage allowance it wasn't generous at all. The last time I traveled to the US was 4 years ago and it was on Cathay Pacific. Back then the allowance was 2 bags x 32 Kg. Now it's 23kg in one bag and if you wanted to bring an additional bag it would cost you €50 each way. I knew that i would do a lot of shopping in the US as it's a lot cheaper than Europe so this was one factor that had held me off in purchasing the KL/DL flight. Somehow I found a really good deal on Turkish airline and voilà it's a little bit cheaper and i can actually bring 2 bags 23kg each!!! Plus they offer a free IST tour if you transit time exceeds 10 hrs.
The plus is that i was trying to apply as an exchange student either to the Netherlands,Belgium or Turkey. I was always fascinated by IST being in between Europe and Asia, but in the end i got assigned in Santiago de Compostela in Spain, of which i kindly declined. I'll try again next year, where i might actually get a better destination.
TK 1874
departure 11am
MXP-IST
I decided to take the train since i had a 3 euro discount with my seami card and hopped on the Malpensa Express. The flight was to leave at 11 am so i calculated to be at the check-in by 9. Unluckily i missed the 8.30 train so the next train was at 9.00 meaning that i would be checking-in at around 9.30-9.40am
The check-in
When I arrived at the check-in desk there was only 1 person in front of me so what seemed like a good start actually turned out a little bit problematic.
When it finally was my turn I weighed my luggage and it turned out to be overweight. The guy said i had to pay for the excess but then he noticed that I was going to JFK and he said that i had more free baggage allowance. Then they asked me for my ESTA. Which I did online after buying the ticket and wrote down the code on a piece of paper on my desk. I didn't know that i had to show a proof of ESTA to the airline. Nothing was written on their website and nothing is also said in the US govt. site. So the ground staff was not keen to check me in before verifying my ESTA. They took my word though so and asked me to retrieve the ESTA code in IST, but yet they couldn't check me in as the staff clearly didn't know the procedure on how to check-in some one going to the US. Their kept getting error on their system and the check-in agent ended asking me why i chose this strange route. She said I was the first one going to JFK. In the end they decide to issue me a BP till IST and said i had to sort things out once I arrive in IST. With only 30 mins left before the gate closure i rushed past security and Immigration. I had no time to enjoy the airport and take pictures. I was in fact the last one to board the bus to the airplane.
The Flight
Our bird was TC-JPK an A320. The flight had a 98% Load Factor. Newspaper were being handed out but somehow they managed to miss me. I had to call the FA twice before being handed out a newspaper.
For a small plane i was surprised to see a lot of Flight attendants. I could have at least counted 8 of them.
Menus were handed out and i actually found them cute.
You can read the Menu in this picture.
I ended up in choosing the chicken, and i have to say that it was really good.
The rice was one of the best I've ever eaten, although i didn't really enjoy the ratatouille. Over all the catering was excellent. Although the bread roll that you see was actually stored on the overhead bin of the last seats of the plane. I managed to have a glimpse of them when i boarded the plane.
After the meal service they offered tea and coffee with turkish hazelnuts
I didn't really take a look on their IFE since I was already stressed out and just wanted to relax.
The flight continued smoothly beverages were always being handed out and I actually had the chance to try a new flavour. "Sour Cherry Juice"
Prior to landing onward connections were shown on the screen. Although we departed late by 30 mins we actually arrived on time at IST. I really enjoyed the good service that i actually wrote a good feedback and gave it to the crew.
Once in IST i proceeded to the transfer desk, I collected my boarding pass and headed to my next gate
I passed through Duty Free first and bought some Turkish Delights and stopped at the starbucks kiosk near my gate.
Once i arrived at my gate i was pulled by a security personel and was asked a lot of questions like who packed my stuff, what's the purpose of my visit and etc. I did really feel like a criminal! I've never experienced something like that before. Nothing like this on my MNL-HKG-LAX flight in 2006. So I asked if there was anything wrong and she said that it's the normal procedure that they stop transiting passenger to NYC and ask them questions since they haven't been asked at the check-in desk. It actually took a lot of time and I was once again among the last to board and we were being shouted by the staff to hurry. They had to check my ESTA again, luckily my friend was able to send me a message with my ESTA code.
TK11 was an A340 with a special Star Alliance Livery. It was my first time on a plane with a special livery. The flight was i think 80%-90% full but you have to consider that this is the second flight of the day to JFK from IST.
Take off was rushed. The FAs weren't really nice and no menu was handed out. I was too tired to take any pictures at all but i took a picture of the dinner.
The choices were Salmon and Chicken. Having previously eaten the chicken I took the salmon. IFE was AVOD but what they advertise on their website and magazine is not what you get. Their featured film wasn't available.
I was actually expecting a better service being this a Longhaul Intercontinental flight. TK didn't really stand out among it's competitors.
Although I believe it's a lot better than flying Delta over the Atlantic.
We landed 30 mins earlier in JFK, landing was smooth but as usual immigration took a lot of time as we landed together with a Korean Air flight and some other flights.
Next part will be YYZ-JFK. Coming Soon!
Back to top
