Review business class flight on Turkish's A350 to New York: good, but not great

A flight that does not begin as a simple transfer from point A to point B, but as an integral part of my 6 Continents Challenge to conquer the million miles. A challenge that Turkish Airlines had issued and which has long been debated, except to make backtracking in a resounding way, as we have recounted in several articles in TFC.

Specifications

Aircraft:

A350

Class:

Turkish Airlines

Treat:

IST - EWR

Price:

954 €

Book

When the news of the Challenge's early closure came, I had already started to build my itinerary. The cold shower did not stop me, I hurried to close reservations so as not to miss the opportunity.

Turkish's challenge

The Challenge involved flying with Turkish Airlines to six continents: North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Oceania and Europe.

This was the first card in the series. I had actually already bought a similar one, again with Turkish, but I had to cancel it. Thanks to the Cancel For Any Reason by Revolut I recovered about the 70% of the penalty and was able to rebook, placing the trip within the valid time window for the challenge.

Reservation

Many members of our Community had thought of trying their hand at the Challenge. Unfortunately, Turkish's sudden backtrack discouraged them., forcing them to give up. Instead, I decided to go ahead.

I booked a one-way ticket from Riga, where I was on vacation.. As I have told many times, my family is largely Latvian and I spend many times of the year there. The fare was really cheap: Riga-Istanbul-New York in business class for just over 950 €.

A very good price, also because I had already planned to return from the U.S. to the next day with an Aeroplan (Air Canada's loyalty program) ticket to fly on Lufthansa's 747-400. In short, an almost perfect fit.

First part from Riga

The first route, Riga-Istanbul, was operated by an Airbus A321. I have already flown several times with this machine and I also have already reviewed on the l economy channel. Of course, it is not a set-up WOW like that of ITA Airways, but you definitely fly comfortable and with plenty of room to spare.

An ordinary flight, which is not the subject of this review. It did, however, confirm how TK offers a full service even on routes that people in Europe are used to using low-cost outfitted aircraft, where the difference in the seat is, at best, free center space.

At the airport in Istanbul

Once I arrived in Istanbul, I discovered that I had not completed my online check-in. I then had to go through the whole rigmarole again: transit counters, security checks and finally the lounge.

Istanbul Airport is spectacular but immense, so much so that it looks like a modern cathedral. Travel is interminable: from point A to point B takes a very long time, and it almost seems as if the gates are always placed as far away as possible. Unfortunately, like modern cathedrals, it is an immense Shopping center with the highest prices in the Hotel de Paris square in Monaco, but fortunately those who travel in business or have status can access the Turkish airline's beautiful lounges.

I spent about four and a half hours in the Turkish Airlines business lounge., which confirms its reputation as one of the best in Europe. The environment is diverse, cozy and rich in details: quiet areas, bright areas, more reserved spaces. For those with long layovers, there are double or single rooms, showers, ironing facilities, and even a museum with temporary exhibitions that change periodically. Unmissable is the piano playing by itself, almost an icon of the lounge.

This time I also tried virtual reality: with a viewer I "flew" over Cappadocia., an amazing experience.

At the gate

Just before departure I headed to the gate, which was naturally distant: about a 20-minute walk from the lounge. Gates in Istanbul are closed, modeled after other major airports such as Abu Dhabi or Singapore, but in this case the space was too small for all the passengers. The result: people standing, others sitting on the floor, a chaotic atmosphere.

Embarkation began about 50 minutes late, increasing some of the tension among travelers.

It was not a TurkoFlot

The first surprise, unfortunately negative, was to discover that I would have flown on the A350 configured by Turkish, and not on an aircraft that was supposed to fly for Aeroflot, purchased "zero kilometers" from Airbus after it failed to deliver to the Russians. These aircraft are known in the industry as Turkish-Flot (or Turkoflot).

Aeroflot had equipped its A350s with top-of-the-line cabins, suite with port and a configuration almost at the level of Qatar Airways' Qsuites. Given the embargo, some of these machines ended up at Air India and others precisely at Turkish.

The one I flew on, however, was an A350 outfitted with the Turkish "Legacy" business class, certainly better than that offered on A330 and 777.

But definitely inferior to Turkoflot and the new seats developed in-house and unveiled in London in 2023.

The configuration is 1-2-1, with Stelia Aerospace Symphony seats: modern, comfortable, also used by Singapore Airlines on 787s and by Vistara. Direct aisle access is provided, but Personal space is limited and the cabin appears very dense.

The chair

My seat was 6A, fortunately not changed for me: it is one of the most isolated seats with respect to the aisle. Those familiar with "checkerboard" configurations know that there are seats closer to the window and therefore more reserved, while those closer to the corridor offer less privacy.

The seat also allows "honeymoon seat" configurations, popular with couples in the middle rows. The two armrests can be folded down and in bed mode offer additional space, a detail missing, for example, on Emirates' new business.

The center console is spacious and accommodates a laptop or personal items well, but storage is almost nonexistent.

The fact that TK did not customize this seat much is shown by the amount of wasted space in the cabin, in an environment where every cm is precious. Here, between the fuselage and seat structure, there are so many cm that could have been used to increase comfort, but instead are simply empty and unusable.

In terms of storage, it is very little. The cabinet looks big, but it really holds very little stuff. Then there is the space under the leg support, but when the chair is in bed mode it becomes inaccessible. And apart from the leg space, there is no other storage where to leave one's belongings.

The idea of having a lock for your own storage is really interesting, and it's the first time I've seen it on an airplane, too bad it was unusable.

Great that there are air vents, much less that the hat racks were full of service stuff.

The armchair in bed mode is comfortable, partly because being able to fold down the two armrests definitely gives you more living space.

The seat elements are all placed in the right places, easy to reach and comfortable to use-not a given in this environment.

The service

Here came the real disappointment of the flight.

I perceived a lot of disorganization: I was almost always the last one to receive attention, I risked being left without my meal choice, and they didn't even serve me the initial hot cloth.

The service was started without setting the table, and overall I noticed a sequence of small shortcomings that added up and weighed on the experience.

Turkish remains one of the few airlines with an onboard chef (in this case a chef). This is a special figure, who is in charge of food & beverage but is not part of the crew with safety functions, somewhat like the shower attendant on Emirates' A380s.

My doorbell challenge has been successfully completed. It took about 20″ to get to me to ask what I needed, and a little over 4 minutes to fulfill my request.

Clean bathrooms throughout the flight, but definitely bare.

There are two amenity kits distributed by TK, different according to the gender of the passenger. Standard content, but definitely reusable.

Infotainment

The 18'' screen appears small compared to the size of the chair, and Bluetooth connectivity for personal headphones is missing.

Those provided, however, are of very good quality.

There is plenty of content, including three channels of live TV, but Italian is missing from both the interface and the selection. There are games, external webcams, and of course Wi-Fi.

Wi-Fi is free up to 1 GB for business passengers, while Elite and Elite Plus statuses enjoy unlimited access. Not super fast, but enough to work and stay connected.

Food & Beverage

If the service disappointed me, the food offering was the exact opposite.

Of course, arriving in New York at 11 p.m. and getting breakfast. was not a brilliant choice, but the quality was unquestionable.

The cart with entrées, the ability to compose your own appetizer and dessert, and the care in presentation impressed me positively.

I chose a risky dish: "home made" fettuccine with lobster and shrimp sauce. Well, it turned out to be delicious.

The typical desserts also lived up to Turkish's reputation.

In conclusion

Delayed flight (not TK's fault), changed plane, reviewable service, but amazing food offerings. This is a summary of my flight aboard TK. It was not my first time in business with this airline, but the last one was in the post-Covid period and the world was completely different. Now we will see if the next stages that will take me toward the million-mile mark will confirm these impressions.

The verdict

The midnight breakfast penalizes the final rating, otherwise even with the major service flaws, it would have been a real top experience.

6.5

Service

5

IFE

7

F&B

8

Cabin and Armchair

7

Pro

• Gastronomic offerings
• IFE
• Wifi

Against

• It was not the plane I had booked
• Inattentive service
• Breakfast at 11 p.m.