Is this that sweet of a deal? I have always heard about how lovely the redemption rates for TK Miles & Smiles are and finally put my leg down to redeem a ticket! While it is certainly nice that a Singapore to Europe Business Class flight only costs 45,000 miles, at least pre-devaluation, the taxes are worth mentioning too. TK have high taxes. While it is miles light as compared to let’s say SQ which charges 103500 miles for a ticket to Europe, the taxes and fees that you will pay for TK are almost 6 times more. I paid 45,000 miles and 404 SGD for my ticket. You still have to count on an additional transit in Istanbul. With my valuation, the real cost of the redemption will be around 67,000 miles for this ticket. I transferred over my Citibank points and snagged a ticket to Dubrovnik when I found the availability. From my experience, it is harder to see availability and TK ground service is bad. I have not tried TK Premium Cabin before and was excited to be flying with them for the first time. It is always lovely to try out a new product. It can be worth it if you need to transit to a city that SQ doesn’t fly directly to.

Checking In

While my flight was scheduled to be departing at 10.15 am, I only got to the airport at around 10am. TK doesn’t allow flights departing from Singapore to check in online and use e-boarding passes. They use Terminal 1 in Singapore. There is something very wrong with this flight and TK. IT IS CONSTANTLY DELAYED FOR 2 TO 3 HOURS!!! Even today as of writing, 10 Oct, TK209 is delayed. It is not just that the flight is delayed but TK doesn’t make any effort to communicate this to passengers. There is no notification, no email, no sms etc! This is honestly quite ridiculous! Perhaps they should just change the time for TK209. I only knew about the delay when I checked the Changi App flight schedule and emailed to confirm it with the TK Singapore office the night before. Passengers were arriving at Changi Airport at 7am for nothing! This delay will also cause me to miss my scheduled transit tour in Istanbul.

The revised flight time was 12.45pm before it got further delayed to 1.10pm. TK uses check-in counters row 9 and the nearest door will be door 4 if you are coming by car. There was no one in the business class queue and I was immediately helped by the staff. Check-in took quite some time since there is so issue with my frequent flyer number. Do note that they will always invite passengers to the Marhaba Lounge but you can access the much superior SilverKris Lounge and KrisFlyer Gold Lounge if you have the time to do so.

Boarding Process

Boarding time is scheduled for 11.45am for the flight that departs at 12.45pm. This feels kinda early and it got me into a rush. We were assigned gate C13 which is not too far away from the terminal area. In reality, the crew only got to the fate at around 11.55 to clear security. Surely, boarding isn’t going to be on time. Security at Changi Airport’s main terminals are at the individual dates. I love that they had a priority line for business class passengers which came in handy where security lines can be long. They should do this at all airlines including SQ. We went through in less than 5 minutes.

Boarding in reality started at only 12.30pm with passengers requiring assistance before business class and elite holders. I was one of the first to board and jump down the bandwagon to get some nice pictures of the cabin. It is always so exciting to see a new cabin for the first time. It is always such a rush. I was welcomed at the door by the crew before they user me over to the seat. It spends most of the time getting pictures and also chatting with the crew. We even got some pictures with the chef. That was a novelty to have a dedicated “crew” on board that was in charge of the food. The crew soon came by to offer welcome drinks. There was a choice between three different kinds of juices. I went with TK signature lemon juice with mint. It was so refreshing.

I later tried one of the raspberry ones too. The crews are happy to offer refills. Ezgi who was working my aisle was lovely.

We were then presented with an amenity kit from Salvatore Ferragamo. There was both a male and a female version with different designs. The contents are the same. Inside, you can find a sock, dental kit, lotion, facial mist and lip balm.

The chef then came over to present the menu for the flight and take meal orders. The chef is called Dennis! What a coincidence! Hot towels were also presented by the crew on these little dishes. Business class ended up being about half full. We start to push back at around 1.20pm which makes this about a 3 hours delay. I will most likely miss my transit tour. I kept myself entertained with the live camera function during take-off. This is a cool feature. I will share more on this later.

Turkish Airlines A350 Business Class

If you find these seats familiar you got it right! These are the same seats as the ones you see on SQ regional flights! You will see SQ flying these on their 787 and the 350 Medium Haul aircraft. You can find some of my reviews of those SQ flights here. We must have been pampered badly since TK is using these seats even for their long-haul flights to the States. These are the Symphony seats that are slightly customized from Stelia Aerospace’s Solstys III seats. Here is to my very first time flying these for 10 hours. Let’s hope that it goes well. While it is not my favourite, business class is still business class. These are TK’s latest business class products and a better version from those onboard their 777. These are in a 1-2-1 configuration. They have a total of 32 business class seats over 8 rows. All business class seats are in a single cabin.

The seats are alternative between being closer to the aisle or closer to one another /  window. The true private seats are those that are nearer to the window in the even rows. The middle seats in the odd rows are great for couples. The seats look very cool and classy with the stitching and the colours. Sadly half of the seats are very badly designed by the privacy screens. They are either blocking the window view or right smack in the middle of a couple of seats. These don’t require the privacy screen at all. I was seated in seat 2K which is on the right side of the plane. The seat comes with a pillow left on it. This is a seat that is nearer to the window. As per usual, these seats come with a narrow entrance and it was a squeeze getting in.

Since my seat is nearer to the window, the console is to the left. This is a platform for you to keep some of your loose items and there is also a drinks holder. There is a headphone holder, a pull-out mirror and a compartment to store some items. Here you can find the headphones for the flight. I love that they come with a locking system which might come in handy although I can never get that to work. This will be nice for valuables.

The controls for the seats and the remote can also be found on the side of the console. They are intuitive. Besides the remote, you can also control the IFE directly from the screen which is the touchscreen.

The table slides out from under the screen. It is of a good size for both eating and working on. Do note that due to the location and the placement of the table. You will not be able to get out of the seat when the table is open.

The armrest on both sides of the seat can be retracted to make it into a bigger surface for you to laze on or to sleep in bed mode.

One thing that I don’t like about these seats in general are those annoying three-point seat belts which feel really tight. Can someone tell me why some aircraft seats need additional shoulder straps?

The seats come with an ottoman cubby area for your leg rest and this forms part of the bed when the seat is fully flat. Under the ottoman is a storage area for your shoes or bags. Left on it is a pair of slippers.

Bullhead seats in row 1 come with an additional storage area beside the screen.

TK Planet Inflight Entertainment System comes with a healthy selection of movies and TV shows. There are more than enough options for your flight. I love the Denon noise-cancelling headphones. They are high quality. I love that the cable is detached and separated. This allows you to use them as a muffler when sleeping without the wire getting in the way. I wish that more airlines adopt this style. The crew will come by to collect the headphones before landing. The TV is of a good size and high quality. The screen is touchscreen too.

The system also with live TV feature and I was actually watching the Olympics broadcast onboard. This is such a great feature and the service is already available even when on the ground. One of my favourite things about TK is their live camera function. This is downright awesome. You can watch the plane take off and land from another perspective.

Wifi is also available for elite holders and business class passengers. You get a 1GB quota. You can purchase an additional allowance. The pricing is quite high. The wifi was quite spotty and I didn’t even finish the complimentary allowance on a 10-hour flight.

The crew offer turndown service after the meal service with them setting up the bed with a proper duvet and a mattress topper. They also put in a pillow case for the pillows which end up being very comfortable. These extra amenities made the sleeping experience much better as compared to Singapore Airlines. You can adjust the seats to be fully flat with the controls. I slept for a good 4 hours till the crew came by for the second meal service. This is as good as it gets for a flight of this duration. The mattress topper makes all the difference.

On the very first look, I realised that the toilets are actually very spacious and much more spacious than what I am used to on Singapore Airlines. They are also nicely stocked with Molton Brown products. Dental kits are left in your amenity kits. I am not a fan of their perfume which is too musty and strong.

Somehow you feel that the crew don’t like it when you use the front toilet as they keep directing us to the one in the back. They have a total of 3 toilets for business class cabins and this makes it 2. They are badly enforced and the middle toilets are used by economy class too which makes the toilets a long wait. They are also not well maintained throughout the flight. I have not waited for a toilet this frequently while flying in premium cabins.

Meal Service

Right after levelling off and the seat belt sign turned off, the crew came by to offer after-take-off drinks. I got some champagne to start. Turkish Airlines is pouring the Taittinger Brut Reserve a very decent business-class champagne. This was served with some nuts on the side.

I guess the good thing about the delay is that now we get lunch service rather than a lacklustre breakfast service. The second meal was breakfast which is rather weird be it in Turkey time or Singapore time. I have no idea why it is designed this way. You can find the menu for the flight here. There is no way to pre-book your meal in advance like SQ BTC. There are 3 choices for the main course.

I love how TK set up the table. It was very classy with a cute little electronic candlelight. The table size is of a good size. The crew then came by with the trolly down the aisle. I get to choose the appetizer that I am keen on. I went for a little of everything and the soup. The platting was done seatside and so tasty. I love the Mushroom Soup too. It is chunky and delicious. The prawns and salmon were delicious too. The chicken breast was a little dry. I dare say that this appetizer is one of the best that I had in the air. It’s very rare to get a soup course in business class. I went for seconds.

For my main course, I got the steak. It was flavourful but slightly tough. The potato was very nice and delicious. I had high expectations of the meal given the Do&Co catering and an onboard chef but sadly the steak turned out to be overcooked.

We then got desserts where the crew was. I got some baklava, chocolate cake, ice cream and cheesecake. I ordered some Turkish tea to go with it. The crew then passed out some bottled water and offered turn-down service.

The second meal service started about 2 hours out when I was waking up. The second meal was done through a tray. It started with a fruit and cheese plate. The crew also came by with some pastries. I got a croissant. The chicken breast cold cuts were delicious. I have no idea if they switched the meals around due to the flight delay. It felt super weird having breakfast at 5pm Turkish Time or 10pm Singapore time.

I was then brought the main which was a choice between waffles of omelette. I got the omelette. It was quite not too bad. Service ended when when were overhead Turkey and about an hour out.

Conclusion

Will I fly TK J Class again? Probably not! It is not as if the flight was bad but the product certainly isn’t top notch and the food isn’t much to be wowed at too. Furthermore, with the high taxes and fees plus the now devaluation, I don’t see a reason to fly with them unless there is a ridiculous deal going on. Turkish Airlines flights are also super unreliable. Just look at how often their flights are delayed. I think I will stick to my beloved Singapore Airlines. It is refreshing to try out a new premium cabin and another airline. I got into Istanbul shortly after 7pm after the delay. TK should address why their flights are constantly delayed. I appreciate them offering a mattress pad.

Turkish Airline Premium Cabin✔️