Turkish Airlines 787 Business Class - Istanbul to Atlanta

hmm good morning guys from an overcast Istanbul today I'll be flying from here to Atlanta Georgia with Turkish Airlines on one of their Dreamliner it's in business class my flight this afternoon departs towards the north at a Turkey's largest city will cross over much of Eastern Europe and in Scandinavia traversing the northern Atlantic will pass over Iceland and Greenland and then down the height of Eastern Canada continuing south into freedom land will arrive in Atlanta Georgia which has the as-of-yet largest airport by passenger volume in the world in total will take over 13 hours to fly the fifty seven hundred and sixty miles Istanbul is a beautiful place in perhaps an unorthodox way it's not heavily gentrified and the old city is as it has been for hundreds of years and that's where the beauty lies you need to know its history to appreciate its splendor and you need to know its past to appreciate its present this city has seen empires come and go its Hellenistic roots preserved by its consequent Roman and Ottoman conquerors her people are a living legacy to the vast amount of history that circles is small yet infinitely consequential stretch of land with sentiments aside at this place is a must visit not only for history buffs like myself but everyone who loves to travel she's been the foci for the known world for over a millennium and continues to be the Conflux of east and west so today I'm showing you Turkish Airlines with whom he can stop over in this magnificent city and tour her attractions all for no extra cost if you're flying in business they'll even put you up in a five-star hotel for two nights for free I absolutely love the amount of history you can find here Istanbul is one of my favourite cities in the whole world with that said for the past fifteen hundred years or her traffic that's really not improved and getting anywhere by Road in the core of the city can be a struggle during rush hours especially on the lead up to the bridges and tunneling the Bosphorus thankfully the metropolitan area has a comprehensive tram and metro system that connects the two continents on which the city sits the city is currently served by two major airports Istanbul International Airport all the way in the north on the coast of the Black Sea and said bhai York gen international on the Asia side near the coast the sea of lomar as of the posting of this video the new metro lines the new airport is still being built so you can't really get there by public transport unless we're talking about a bus instead of taxis are probably your best bet they are cheap and once out of town convenient as a newly built Airport highways are never really congested I've never personally had any issues with the taxi drivers here but there have been some reports of tourists being scammed or ripped off so just be alert and don't be stupid like anywhere else in the world and as Istanbul has two airports be sure to specify which one you're going to just refer to the new airport as the new airport or a big airport and the driver will usually understand if he or she doesn't well then I wish you good luck now before we go I would like to explain that yes I do have three pieces of luggage all which I intend to check-in on this flight hashtag team check-in hashtag hands-free why should I go ahead and press that unsubscribe button and the reason I can check in all three pieces for free is because I have starline's gold status which among many other privileges allows me to on Star Alliance flights check in three pieces of luggage each wing 32 kilograms regardless of the class of travel which is frankly kind of ridiculous but I'm taking advantage of it in this case now you're probably curious as to what is in those three pieces of luggage oh my look at the time yeah we've got a goal Istanbul is brand new International Airport aptly named Istanbul International Airport is a behemoth of a building there's a small domestic section but otherwise the rest is made up of international gates there's a huge check-in area and then an equally massive central concourse with tons of shopping lounges and other amenities from here there are branching piers a home to dozens of gates but be prepared to walk because you're going to be doing quite a bit of it to get your departure travelers and Turkish Airlines business class and select status holders can use a super well thought-out and convenient stream from check-in to border control this starts from the curbside or business class passengers and status holders have a special entrance I don't care what anyone else thinks the new copper and black palate of Turkish uses for its business class products and branding is so aesthetic right after the entrance is the first of many security screens I'll be going through today turkeys had some not so fun things happen last couple years so understandably there is heightened security and in the airport this translates to a security checkpoint for anyone wishing to enter to check-in halt this one is dedicated to passengers in business or those who have status it can be a chore especially for me in this case as you do have to pass all your checking luggage through the x-ray machine once through you'll find yourself next to the priority check-in area and once again I can't help but admire two sleek and sexy signage in decor on the right side is the business class check-in hall and on the left side is another dedicated check-in area for status holders starline's goal the turkish elite elite plus and corporate club members if you both have status and are traveling in business class then you can choose whichever check-in area you want inside they're pretty much identical in just a mere a copy of one another and all the times that have passed through here I've never had to wait more than a minute to get checked in if they see a line they'll open up more counters if you're traveling to the US UK or Canada you'll have to first clear a passport and visa check before they let you check in this got a little confusing because the sign is awarded very well and the staff for apologetic of that after the very easy and expedient check-in that you'll find yourself once again just outside the dedicated border control area for business passengers and status holders Turkey is one of those countries where you have to pass a migration a migration with an e but this was once again no issue since there were no lines and the officer was super friendly she bid me farewell and said that she hoped I had a good time in Turkey immediately after this is the main security point which is once again reserved for business class passengers and you get the point the staff are super nice and even offered me a water bottle afterwards a sense you can't bring your own water through the security that's actually super thoughtful and I wish more airlines and airports did that anyways the whole thing didn't take me more than 10 minutes and as strict as the security was the process was streamlined at least in my case can't speak for the economy check in and never been through that here post pat-down you'll rejoin the people who came out of the numerous casual flyer security screens to find yourself in this beautiful atrium here you'll have two choices in terms of lounges towards the right is the business class lounge and towards the left is the miles and smiles lounge they work much in the same way as check-in meaning once inside they're pretty much identical in an effort not to make these videos hour-long feature films and because I'm going to be referencing these lounges on other trips I've uploaded a separate video going over them in detail I even managed to get kicked out of one of them for filming despite having asked for and received permission disregarding that these lounges are famous for the amount of amenities they have and I do urge you to pause this video to check out that one but for those of you who can't be bothered here's a lightning round M food food food food food food food food food food business center meeting rooms kids play area kids arts and crafts area PlayStation 4 room Scalextric Strack golf simulator movie theater library whatever the [ __ ] this is Modern Art Gallery's nap room shower Suites Hotel style bedrooms tea stations coffee stations alcohol stations food food food food food and food and that's not even all of it this place is absolutely amazing in every sense of the word link to the full thing is in the corner and the description below anyways back to the trip after having been kicked out of one lounge and brooding in the other one for three hours it was time to board my flight all right let's get out of here yes I left a little earlier than usual as it does take a while to walk to most gates as was the case for me the airport has travel leaders absolutely everywhere so I guess you can also stand and get to your destination but I've been eating too much lately and could definitely use the extra exercise at my gate I was greeted with yet another round of security but there was a dedicated priority line which I got to take advantage of I had the same backpack as the guy screening me so he let me through without a fuss once you're in you're in if you want to leave you have to redo the entire pat-down process which can take 20 minutes given the line there are no bathrooms in these closed-off gates so get your business done beforehand as boarding time approached it did get a little crowded in here and with social distancing no longer an option I brought my mask out in the healthcare field there are a few different schools of thought when it comes to using surgical and n95 masks in public I'm in no part qualified to preach but I think it's situational and a good idea to carry a one with you but please don't go out buying as many as you can washing your hands and not touching your face is still the most impactful way to prevent contraction anyways here's a plan that will be taking me to Atlanta and hopefully not in the corona viruses with me a 7 8 7 - 9 which at this point is still a relatively new addition to the Turkish fleet having only been in service for over a year I'm not gonna lie I was very excited to see that though in Co catering van boarding commence shortly and was done by class and then by rose so there's only about three boarding zones if you count business class as its own zone Turkish Airlines doesn't offer premium economy or first-class on any of their flights so it's only business and economy we boarded through one bridge to the l2 door and I quickly found my seat 8a or 8 alpha I hope that like stop telling me to use the phonetic alphabet I know what I'm not gonna use it because you guys can hear me clearly um anyways these seats are made by Stella yes and if they look familiar that's because they are also the same seats found on Singapore Airlines medium-haul Dreamliner's in a350s although i'd argue the color palette on turkish is much more modern and pleasing there's one business class cabin which comes in a one-to-one format for a total of 30 seats if you're questioning my math the middle aisle stops are row 7 whereas the windows and a row 8 on number seats in the middle aisle are directly next to each other and offer a bit more privacy than the even number ones the opposite is true for the window seats where the even number seats are more private situated next to the window and set of the aisle let's now do an exhaustively detail the seat tour starting off with the beautiful 17 inch touchscreen IFE display which also tilts out like this to give you better viewing angles when reclined legroom was not overly generous but entirely adequate 181 centimeters tall and have completely ran out of Imperial jokes at this point and I had a metric ton of like Roman the compartment does go quite deep but is not all doubt wide and deleting entered the leg rest also flaps around like this there's room down here for stowage handy for keeping your shoes which I ended up doing the tray table deploys out from the underneath of the IFE screen I can be folded open like this one that doesn't rest on anything it's still quite sturdy it's also very generous with how far it slides out to accommodate people of varying girth les Turner says the fact that you're stuck in here though should your seat not be next to the aisle putting this away I quickly learned that instead of trying to find the latch all you have to do was give it a almighty shove almighty shelf come on there we go and it's those away all right moving on over on this side you have a literature pocket down here where you will find all the literature if that's something that excites you within a coat hook surely will as well the crew will also happily closet your outerwear for you should you wish okay moving on to the site console and storage cubby this thing opens when you engage both latches a kind of overkill but whatever there's less storage space inside than it would otherwise appear but there is a universal power outlet and USB type a charge point so I guess it at least keeps your wires tidy and out of the way a headphone hook and a decent amount of table space on the side of the cubby hole there's also a mirror that slides out down here there is a touch panel for your seat and lighting controls there's also a dedicated button to turn the TV on and off there's a three-prong headphone interface and down here gee ever-popular Panasonic IFE controller we'll have a closer look at this with the IFE system later this leather upholstered armrest lines down to give you more shoulder room when sleeping as does this one on the other side appear on the inside of the pod enclosure are three reading lights and you can adjust their respective intensities it doesn't show up very well on camera you're just gonna have to take my word for it these are also very fun to play with of course you get a pair of massive Dreamliner windows but the placement and is a little unfortunate in my seat two forward one is somewhat obscured by the seat in front of me and the rear one is blocked by the pods enclosure but you can still get a clear view if you try the seat in pod comes in the same goldish copper and black color palette absolutely stunning evident to in the craftsmanship is the investment Turkish made into this product for its longevity the materials and stitching is very solid on every fabric and seam contributing to a high-end aesthetic and high quality build while some other airlines and British Airways uses felt for their pod enclosures to achieve comfort and Joy's dampening Turkish Airlines uses Alcantara need i say more or Elysa feels like it it's definitely not cheap each seed also has a pair of its own air vent and overall it's just a beautiful cabin mi see waiting for me when I got here was a small pillow light blanket and a pair of slippers no pajamas but that's just me letting you know it's definitely not an expectation after boarding the flight crew came around with the tray of fresh tea made fruit cocktails and juices I chose the lemonade which is becoming a favorite of mine and though to be honest I haven't ever tried any of the others anyways here's some footage of me struggling to perform basic human tasks three-zone boarding proved to work quite well and before long to full flight was fully packed and we began pushing back as the jet bridge pulled away is slowly revealed two highly sought after a wing an engine view [Music] if you pay attention to these things you'll know that Turkish Airlines holds a reputation for making some of the most fun but also over the top and ridiculous safety videos anyone still have this song stuck in their head imagine this video playing with a Plane full of impressionable 12 year olds I've lived through that thank God for noise cancelling headphones anyways these days they're showing a much more toned down but still very cute animated film this safety video played three times in three different languages in our taxi out to our departure runway which took a good 30 minutes since it was the furthest one from Red Gate so please also allow me to use this opportunity to highlight this very flamboyant seat belt [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] after the seatbelt signs were turned off the meal service began immediately and with the imminent arrival of food let's have a look at the menu which comes in the shape of a minaret these things are quite big what I mean is both the size of the menu itself and the scope of the food available inside Turkish Airlines partners with dough & Co under joint venture named Turkish dough & Co they cater airlines operating through and out of many Turkish cities and have a well-earned reputation for excellent food all the food in the lounge I mentioned before are catered by these guys and they even have their own chefs on board to oversee meal service and business class so if I sound excited about the food that's about to come that's because I very much am anyways in addition to the food menu there's also a beverage list with cocktails and a separate wine list oh my god I am going to get even fatter now service started with a drink from the bar I didn't really fancy anything on the cocktail menu so I ended up getting a glass of champagne this was accompanied by warmth mixed nuts I was also given the first of many many hot towels which came out on the tray which is a nice touch soon after canapes arrived this tarted aubergine thing had to be my favorite dining on Turkish is very much an occasion and if anything is indicative of that instead me some class it seems these days that every airline is trying to spice things up a little bit with their salt and pepper shakers but Turkish Airlines really knocks it out of the ballpark with these porcelain minarets as they aren't order of magnitude cooler than anything else out there another hallmark of this airline is three candlelit dinner obviously these aren't real candles but still a very elegant touch appetizers come out on the tray and from the cornucopia of food you ask for what you want I would have loved to show you the trolley but the flight attendant didn't seem very comfortable with my camera so I didn't bother her I went for a salmon tartare DOMA and prawns this was accompanied with a pumpkin soup all of which was unequivocally delicious [Music] [Music] [Music] for the main course I went with their signature dish the grilled swordfish I can't really tell what its spiced with all I know is that I was very sad when I finished it now the portions may look a little small but that's because their tendon structure it's more like a buffet than an a la carte style so you can always ask for more of the same thing or try something else I was tempted but decided against it instead I waited patiently for the dessert cart to roll around what ended I made a selection of baklava and pistachio ice cream this was not the cheap stuff it's the good [ __ ] that they drenched with expensive honey and these two pieces probably had the same energy content as a small hydrogen bomb and on the subject of large reactive masses of hydrogen by the time dinner service was over the Sun had begun to set to us the sky will stay in this perpetual state of Twilight for quite a while as we chase the Sun towards the east opinions of these dimmable Dreamliner windows can be quite polarizing but in this instance it was nice to be able to watch a sunset without going blind service ended with another hot towel that came out on another square dish they really seemed to line 2 square dishes they have a lot of those [Music] wanting to get a head start on my jet lag I asked for a Turkish coffee if you don't know Turkish coffee is kind of like a hot coffee bean smoothie if you're hypertensive might not be a good idea to drink this it's also a natural laxative which brings us on to the next segment the bathroom now this is a pretty bog-standard Dreamliner bog there are some plants in here which is a nice touch as well as some creams and perfumes but when you step in here and you do notice the scented diffuser as it was quite pronounced smelled kind of like a Lebanese bachelor party there's no window in here but there is a full-length mirror the bathroom is also adequately spacious and there's even a bidet which makes sense given that it's a Middle Eastern airline for some reason even though it's not that special I really like Turkish Airlines cabin something about the black seats and contrasting white interior anywho there was supposedly supposed to be Wi-Fi on this flight so I gave that a try but I didn't get very far before I realized that there was actually no Wi-Fi this is beginning to become a recurring theme for me oh well it's not like I'm gonna do any work on this trip onboard roaming did work though but the prices as these things always are was incredibly steep so instead I contented myself by watching the sunset [Music] all right let's check out what they have to offer in the form of entertainment starting off as always with the noise canceling headphones and if you're wondering why there's so much sunlight well the Sun didn't actually set do pay attention to what I said about the perpetual Twilight and the dimmable windows back to the headphones they actually looked and felt very premium and had a decent amount of noise suppression as far as airline noise cancelling headphones go these were pretty good but then again do not really boast as QC 35s which are still kind of the gold standard the IFE interface was a little bit cluttered but still intuitive and underneath the UI there was tons and tons of content in many different languages the movie selection was good with a decent library of new releases there were lots of contemporary pieces from all over the world and I fail to see how anyone cannot find something they'd enjoy watching there were also abundant TV shows be it english or otherwise you've had a selection of popular North American and UK productions although not that many episodes from each show the choices from other parts of the world were also good everything from old Syrian soap operas to Chinese celebrity cooking programs I was happily surprised to find Top Gear among the selection but was absolutely horrified when I realized the thumbnail had light and this was in fact a new Top Gear I immediately turned it awfully someone sees me commit this unforgivable act of heresy but in all seriousness there's almost too much content and functionality for me to cover everything from live TV to the ability to follow stock markets and view investment portfolios the remote controller even works in portrait mode which is something all airlines should do given how easy it is to that way you can use the interface to direct the crew to wake you up for a meal or at a certain time you can even connect your own device wirelessly to cast your own content to the screen the moving map is also quite versatile with the newest version of Voyager 3d there's even a little pointer to the Kaaba and a countdown to the local prayer time for those who wish to be pious at 30,000 feet there's also two outboard cameras whose feeds even stream over all this system is incredibly forward-thinking and impressive solid 10 out of 10 [Music] [Applause] the next five hours or so of my time was spent watching a couple of movies looking out the window as we pass over certain countries and periodically checking the see if there is any Wi-Fi service there never was during this time the chef came around to pass out mid-flight snack menus for those who were still feeling peckish I didn't get anything but it did look good hands across the northern Atlantic and the Sun finally dipped below the horizon and I came to the conclusion that I had stayed up long enough for the worst of my jetlag to be over and was six hours left in the flight I would catch some sleep before we do that let's take a look at the amenity kit the male version comes in a few colors with mine being this burgundy it's provided by Versace but not the clothing brand instead it's the fragrance the bag itself is made from leather but otherwise there's nothing too special here inside it's pretty well stocked there's a fuzzy pair of socks above average I shade dental kit and the sample size perfume or specifically Oda toilet or toilet water in English you also get a face mist body lotion and lip balm in addition to that you get a set of stickers to stick on your seat or should you wish to indicate your intentions to the crew there's also a handy pair of earplugs which comes in this handy case which is very handy and lastly it turns a small brochure in here [Music] after the first meal service concluded the cabin lights were dimmed and the crew came around for turndown service with mattress pads and duvets offering to turn my seat into a bed at the time I'm politely decline to which the purser told me to call her 101 of the go to sleep lotto airlines voluntarily offer a turndown service so once again this was a nice touch the mattress cover and pillow case were pretty easy to put on so I did it myself although the flight attendant wasn't very happy that I stole her job anyways once reclined at the seat is quite comfortable with both armrests lowered there is a fair bit of wiggle room for your torso and upper body legroom was adequate the width was a little conservative but good height if you sleep on your site the padding was also soft enough to comfortably do so once reclined the seats enclosure also provided a cocoon of privacy especially with these window seats you can definitely shut yourself out of the outside world the seat controls are also in a convenient location and there's no way to accidentally press on a button here is me pretending to be asleep but after I put the camera down I did get a few hours of solid shut-eye when I woke up we had just passed over Lake Ontario about two hours away from our destination in Atlanta the sleep was good but not the best it wasn't the widest bed and I can understand why Singapore Airlines chooses not to use these seats for their longest flights anyways when the crew noticed that I had woken up they brought around yet another hot towel on yet another square tray and offered me a juice I think I got about seven hot towels on this flight at this point it really wouldn't hurt just to install a couple bathtubs they also asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner lord give me strength here we go again the second meal came out on a train but still feature two three courses the appetizer was a beautiful smoked salmon and celeriac salad which came on a single slice of tomato there was another pair of these adorable minarets a Turkish rice pudding and a bowl of what Americans call leftovers did you really think that I was going to go a whole video without including an American joke oh come on now I would highly recommend that you give Turkish or Arabic rice pudding a try if you ever get the chance it's not what you think it's super light yet very creamy the main course came soon after and I opted for the prawn and lobster tagliatelle everything about the food on this airline is so good I really can't say that enough and I don't have anything else to say anymore about it damp of course there were desserts but at this point I was already filled up to the brim so I contented myself with just some coffee as the dinner service was wrapping up and I received yet another hot towel we began our descent into Atlanta I don't get to fly Turkish out often at least not anymore and I wish I did I really don't know why Skytrax won't give these guys five stars they're more deserving of that in some of the airline's and have five stars out Lufthansa their food and business class is often much better than the first-class fit of other Airlines and their service is just amazing the attention to detail the intricate service items the energetic and super hard-working staff it's just a fantastic airline that goes well above and beyond the industry standard it's so immaculate what I mean is the branding the products the presentation of everything the tiny little details and oh well I guess this is happening so this is what you call a go-around or in the industry somebody [ __ ] up ladies and gentlemen age of the procedure to facilitate view to the preceding aircraft in France the kids from real-time you have to go around third parties inconvenience and thanks for understanding the abilities I'm a detective he lied we landed in 11 minutes and 28 seconds Oh if you minted this fart go check out my Delta one experience on their 8350 afterwards it was a great experience when I say great I meant terrible okay a few things to touch on before I finish the video the service wasn't perfect there was one instance when a cabin crew member forgot a drink order I had and another instance where and I asked for bottled water and that didn't get delivered and then I didn't get some I didn't get offered bread on the last meal but that's perfectly fine with the amount of details and pieces and plating and just the things that happened with their service it's totally excusable the Wi-Fi didn't work which was kind of a bummer but whatever it wasn't really a business heavy trip so I didn't really need that apart from that it was a great experience I hope that I managed to show you some of that through this video and until the next time safe travels [Music]

Channel: Vicarious Voyager

Views: 769,416

Rating: 4.8110571 out of 5

Keywords: Turkish Airlines, 787, Dreamliner, Business Class, Boeing 787, 787-9, Istanbul, Altanta, Istanbul Airport, Istanbul International Airport, Atlanta, Atlanta Airport, Istanbul Lounge, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, Flight Review, Review, Trip Report, IST, ATL

Id: RXTgubWKvMc

Length: 32min 21sec (1941 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 18 2020