The Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong flight is a bastard of a time, 2a.m in the morning. I made the mistake of going to the airport early thinking I could find a place to stay and ended up paying more than what a night cost me at at the W Hotel Istanbul. You can read about that in my review of the TAV Airport Hotel.
Anyway, they let you in the gate area, I had a carry on plus a big heavy back pack full of camera shit so thought I was just the man when I sat down in the seat nearest the boarding area, thinking I was going to get on first and secure the overhead (because I had the emergency row with no stowage in front of me). As is the case whenever I think I’m the man, about 45 minutes before boarding we all got told to line up outside outside the gate so in fact I lost my prime seat and had to line up again.
They board you in rows, and because I was near the front of the plane, I was going to be last, but I thought F that, it was 1:30a.m in the morning, I had a mobile boarding pass and just pretended I didn’t know my boarding group, and got on first, secured my overhead storage, which was lucky because the suckers after me had to put all their stuff about 10 rows back. That would be my worst nightmare, having to go back down the aisle to retrieve my bags when we land!
Anyway, the seat size was alright, I don’t really notice it too much because I’m about the size of a peanut. I don’t usually have to worry about getting an exit row because I have plenty of room for my legs with seats in front of me, I really only go it so nobody would be climbing over me to have a whizz. In turns out the two mainland Chinese next to me had bladders the size of Greenland as neither of them went to the toilet the entire flight I don’t think. The Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong flight is a bit shorter than going over, just over 10 hours, and we arrived 30 minutes early.
I didn’t eat whatever they served up for supper but the breakfast was a shocker. The menu said there was two selections. I never got offered and just got served up what I think was some kind of egg slop. To go with that was some sort of muesli slop and some form of pastry. None of which went down every well. I ate a few fork fulls then really couldn’t bare anymore. It was close to the worst food I’ve had, which was on an Air India Business Class from Hong Kong to New Delhi.
As with business class, the crew on Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong were really good, smiling, friendly, professional and nothing to complain about. The exit row seat I had was right beside the toilets, and the crew must have cleaned the toilets at last every hour. Let me tell you something, I’ve never seen so many people not know how to open the toilet door, and never seen so many people not wash their hands. How can I tell? They were out before the toilet had stopped flushing. Yes, they may have washed their hands before flushing, but then you’d have to touch the flush button, which…yuk! About half the people didn’t lock the door when they went it.
And yes, I witnessed all this on the Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong flight because I watched movies most of the way. The headphones were these shit little cheap things. Movie selection was questionable (both in terms of what I watched and what they actually had available!), not a great selection but enough to keep you mild entertained for 5-6 hours. What also amazed me was the acrobatics of some of the passengers. About an hour before landing, I thought Richard Simmons was on the plane because they all seemed to get out of their seats and do stretches at the same time. Of course, the exit row where I was seated had the most room, so that was the most popular area.
The two next to me on Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong flight were great, didn’t make a sound, slept most of the way and gave me the arm rest. Nice couple actually. I don’t think you can say any long haul economy class flight is a good or enjoyable one, but this was alright. I’d fly Turkish Airlines Economy Class Istanbul to Hong Kong again and having flown business class on the way over, don’t think it’s worth the extra (as it rarely is).
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