Turkish Airlines has been expanding like crazy the past few years, in particular with their North America service. They have a nice business class product on much of their fleet, with an onboard chef offering DO & CO catering, and they have a gorgeous lounge in Istanbul.
Turkish lounge Istanbul
Turkish DO & CO catering
For that matter they’re also fairly generous about releasing award space, so are a great option for redeeming Star Alliance miles. There are two questions I get asked often about Turkish Airlines, which I figured I’d address here:
Which Turkish Airlines planes feature their new longhaul business class?
The answer is actually pretty straightforward as of now. All of Turkish’s Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A330-300 aircraft feature the new fully flat business class product, while their A330-200 and A340-300 aircraft feature the old, angled business class product.
Turkish Airlines new business class
Identifying the 777 should be quite easy, since all of Turkish’s 777s feature the same business class configuration.
It should also generally be easy to tell the difference between the A330-300 and A330-200 based on how the aircraft is designated. The A330-300 is usually designated as “A333,” while the A330-200 is usually designated as “A330” or “A332.” But just to be sure you can always compare the seatmaps.
The A330-300 with the new business class product has five rows:
While the A330-200 with the old business class product has just four rows:
For what it’s worth, most flights to the US are operated by 777-300ERs or A330-300s, though sometimes they do put A330-200s and A340-300s to the US. Turkish is also notorious for last minute equipment swaps, so it’s not unusual to see them swap an A330-300 for an A330-200 or A340-300, or vice versa. As a reminder, Turkish’s North American gateway cities include Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, Washington, and as of next May, Boston.
Which Turkish Airlines planes have onboard Wi-Fi?
Presently most (though not all) of Turkish’s 777-300ERs have onboard Wi-Fi. There’s no way to know in advance if your 777-300ER is one of the ones scheduled to have it or not. For those planes that do have it, Wi-Fi is complimentary for all passengers, so expect it to be extremely slow.
The Turkish Airlines Airbus fleet (A330-200, A330-300, and A340-300) don’t have Wi-Fi yet.
Hopefully that clears up a couple of common questions about Turkish!
Has TK upgraded the 330-200 Biz Class product? They are flying the -200 to/from ATL for the Winter and I'm only seeing 3 rows in Biz now, with economy starting at row 4. Hope so! Seat Guru still shows all angled flat and even the TK website now has vague references showing a wide variety of capacities on this type.
Turkish also flies from Istanbul to Miami. We flew last month on a nearly empty plane, though if I recall correctly it was busier last April before the political troubles there. Business class food and service were great, as usual, although the seats ARE hard without being made up into a bed. Configuration was 5 across; two by the windows and three in the center. The wi-fi is free for business class but they charge...
Turkish also flies from Istanbul to Miami. We flew last month on a nearly empty plane, though if I recall correctly it was busier last April before the political troubles there. Business class food and service were great, as usual, although the seats ARE hard without being made up into a bed. Configuration was 5 across; two by the windows and three in the center. The wi-fi is free for business class but they charge in economy class. We never hesitate to transit through Istanbul.
@lucky
What would you say is the best business class seat or a solo passenger on the a330?
Thank you
Ugh - called TK to get my seat assignments for an upcoming trip. IST-JFK is the 777, so got what I was expecting, though BOS-IST is served apparently by the A340, which I guess means crappy angled seats... Not particularly happy about that...
Just flew with TK in 777-300. Heard that in all 777-300 (except those which wet leased from 9W) has wifi on board.
Hi Lucky - Is there an update to this article? I wasn't sure if more of the planes had been updated. If not, what two seats would you recommend in case there was an equipment swap away from the A330 (ORD-IST route) ?
@ Ben -- Don't think there's a further update regarding the A330s. Regardless, I'd probably just do any aisle and window combination, the seats will all be fairly similar.
just booked a rewards flight YYZ to PRG with a stop over in IST on Turkish. From what I understand TK is pretty good about opening up J's. Looking forward to the flight and that lounge in Ataturk looks impressive!
Does anyone know if they fly the new business class product on IST-DEL departing on April 15? The itinerary shows A330 but doesn't show what series.
Also how do i find out how many seats are available on Turkish using United Mileage Plus accounts?
@ Jeremiah -- Since it's an A330-300 it should feature the new business class. That flight does seem to have at least six business class award seats available.
@ Jimmy -- I believe that Turkish sometimes sells upgrades at check-in, so I would hope for that in your shoes.
Hi lucky,
I'm flying LAX-IST-FCO next week. Unfortunately I'm flying on coach I was wondering if there's any advice that would be helpful? Including upgrades at check in .... Thanks
Looking forward to trying them out. Have biz class with 3 day stop over in IST on way to Tanzania. Managed to get biz back vis LAX too. Must have had my luck in. Wife is not sure why I am all excited, but is getting rather partial to flying around in the fromt of planes.
Thanks Lucky - Aside from Intra Europe, I was only able to find more than 2 seats going to Delhi. I am using Aeroplans search engine. I'll try ANA search tool to se if I get different results.
@ Mika -- They show more than two seats at a time, so that shouldn't be the case. My guess is that it's an inventory management decision to just not release more than two seats.
I have never seen more than 2 available seats on business class with Turkish on any route. Is it the same deal as with Thai, booking 2 at a time?
@ Abe -- Yes.
Is the information in this article up to date?
@ Tom -- As far as I can tell most dates the flight is operated by the A330-200, which would feature the old product.
HI Lucky,
On the itinerary show A330?
@ tom -- Depending on the time of year you're traveling, they operate different planes to Chicago. Is the flight scheduled to be operated by an A330-300? If so, it will feature the new business class.
Im taking TK to ORD. Is it going to be a new business class seat?
Just booked LAX-IST-LHR, 50k UA miles + $9.40 - travel Jan '14 (next month) for "protection" as I currently have SNA-DFW-LHR booked on AA/BA(F), which I plan to cancel if they send old F to DFW on BA193 (which there is a 50/50 chance of happening).
Now thinking I might just burn the AA/BA itin and get back AA miles and taxes refunded, as it is rare I will get the chance to try TK...
Just booked LAX-IST-LHR, 50k UA miles + $9.40 - travel Jan '14 (next month) for "protection" as I currently have SNA-DFW-LHR booked on AA/BA(F), which I plan to cancel if they send old F to DFW on BA193 (which there is a 50/50 chance of happening).
Now thinking I might just burn the AA/BA itin and get back AA miles and taxes refunded, as it is rare I will get the chance to try TK business. Plus, 50k miles for 16hrs in business + 3 hours in the IST *A lounge seems good value to me!
I booked back in March 2 IST-MLE (LGA-YYZ-IST on AC). Given that the MLE destination is very hard to get I felt lucky. This is part of the now burn HHonors and MileagePLus.
Last week I snaged 2 TLV-IST-JFK all on TK for Sep/14. My experience is that if you plan ahead there will be space.
What are a couple of good examples of "generous on their routes to Asia"?
I did HKG to IST return in Business and would not do it again. Cramped seating, unremarkable food, and going out from HKG a crude, grossly obese little man with dirty, smelly bare feat was upgraded to business. He seemed to be a friend of one the FAs. His friend came up from economy to sit with him. He was shewed away a couple times but eventually was allowed to stay. Terrible airline that spends a lot on marketing. I will never fly them again.
Turkish is also starting flights to Montreal next June with their A333s.
@ Stephanie -- That's probably the single toughest route for finding Turkish award space, so I'd recommend looking at another route.
I just did a quick search on United and didn't see any award space in Business on Turkish. (I was looking at their LAX to IST route). Any tips for finding business award space on Turkish? THanks:)
I flew their IST-IAH new business class back in July. To be honest, I wouldn't fly with them again.
The service was extremely rush.
Food was really just ok despite the fact that they had an onboard chef.
The hard product looks nice but really it's not comfortable at all. The blanket/comforter was short (I'm only 5'8"-5'9"), there was no padding to ease the stiffness of the seat itself.
Both my girlfriend and...
I flew their IST-IAH new business class back in July. To be honest, I wouldn't fly with them again.
The service was extremely rush.
Food was really just ok despite the fact that they had an onboard chef.
The hard product looks nice but really it's not comfortable at all. The blanket/comforter was short (I'm only 5'8"-5'9"), there was no padding to ease the stiffness of the seat itself.
Both my girlfriend and I had a sore back for quite a few days after the flight.
I wouldn't fly their long haul J again.
@Lucky Revenue
Is Turkish still doing status matches as an easy way to get you Star Alliance Gold?
@ Kyle B -- Are you looking at booking a revenue ticket or award ticket?
@ Greg -- Sorry, I should have clarified. They're somewhat stingy on US routes, and in particular on the LAX route. They're generally rather generous on their routes to Asia, though.
I have to disagree here. Furst its not that "new". The seats on the rows next to windows are horrible because you have to iterally strp over your seatmate to get out. Even the flight attrndants had such hard time handinv me things or taking items from me. The catering wasnt good. It was average at best. I think Brussels air food was beeter. Also Austrian.
The lounge is the only thing impressive.
You say that "For that matter they’re also fairly generous about releasing award space, so are a great option for redeeming Star Alliance miles."
Hmm, I wanted to fly from IST to LAX and was looking from January through August and could only find 3 days in those months with Business class available. I dont' think that is too generous.
What routes are they most generous on?
Since TK is expanding, I would recommend opening a Miles&Smiles account, just in case they are a transfer partner of Ultimate Rewards, Membership Rewards, or some other loyalty program. That way, you will have first dibs on their award seats from LAX, IAH, IAD, etc...
Does TK allow a free stopover in IST? I'm thinking of booking YYZ-IST-DXB but I want to visit both cities on the trip
Yes wifi is extremely slow. Basically enough to download emails but it's really tricky.
Most recent? Latest? Sorry, wasn't meaning to be snarky, but when I saw the title, I wondered if Turkish has a newer product than the one you recently reviewed...
@ wwk5d -- Well as a relative matter it is. There's a newer product and an older product. If you have an alternative way you'd like me to refer to it I'm happy to!
@ Lantean -- Well the catering is top notch, probably the best business class catering out there along with Austrian. In terms of seat it's a standard, "no frills" fully flat seat. Great if you're traveling with someone, in my opinion. Not quite as good as reverse herringbone, but still nice.
@ Geoff -- As Kris notes, United has access to all of the space Turkish is releasing, so in this case I wouldn't blame it on them.
Is this really a "new" product?
@Geoff
United doesn't determine the award availability of partners, if that is what you are implying.
How does their biz compare to Lufthansa or Austrian?
Thnaks Ben.
In doing IAD-IST United award searches Turkish was was virtually the exclusive choice.
It seems to have vanished having been replaced by UAL via FRA or MUC.
I assume this is part of the latest "enhancements" to the UAL award program?
We flew TK in Business to CPT from IAD this past February and had about 7 hours in that lounge. Amazing product on the ground and in the air. Would not hesitate to fly them again!
Don't forget to get row one or two on some of their 777s to have a first class seat