Turkish Airline
Just wondering if anyone has used Turkish Airlines for the K & T Safari Tour. We are flying from Dulles with a stop in Istanbul. Most seem to use Quatar
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Just wondering if anyone has used Turkish Airlines for the K & T Safari Tour. We are flying from Dulles with a stop in Istanbul. Most seem to use Quatar
Comments
Several years ago we flew to K&T on Ethiopian- good experience. Just a few years ago we flew on Turkish from IAD - IST - AMM for Jordan and Egypt. Excellent experience. Great lounge in IST.
Used Turkish in June to/from the Budapest to the Black Sea tour. Everything from planes, to service, to Istanbul airport were wonderful.
One comment on the lounge in Istanbul. It is great, like Alan says, but there was one difference from our last experience (which was prior to Covid for the Israel/Jordan tour).
The lounge in Istanbul no longer carried Coke or Pepsi products. I did not investigate if this was an anti-American thing, a dietary thing, or what. They had an abundance of free beverages for the taking in refrigerated storages around the lounge, but they seemed to juice and water based products.
We're using Turkish again for our upcoming Rome, Amalfi Coast, Sicily, and Malta tour.
The Turkish lounge in Istanbul also has wine available for you to pour yourself. I didn't notice any beer, but I wasn't looking for it.
We are using Turkish air for a trip to Turkey ( non -Tauck ) in a few days and are using it for 2 more trips in 2026 . I will report in. We liked TA a lot the last time we used it. Like Alan S, we used Ethiopisn last year for our Wildlife Odyssey tour.It was a very good experience. The airport in Addis Ababa is very interesting and busy. The service on the planes is great. The routes are very efficient. You can get almost anywhere in Africa from Addis Ababa.
Likewise we are flying Turkish in a few weeks for the Aegean Odyssey tour. My only concern is a 90 minute layover in Istanbul for our flight to Athens. Hope we make it! I’ll report back after we return from our trip.
Friends of ours are going to Tanzania in October. They were telling us yesterday they are using Turkish, the only negative is that the flight lands at 1-30am
We used Turkish Air: Dulles-IST-Kilimanjaro then Nairobi-IST-Dulles. 3/5 hour layover respectively. We flew business class. First leg (longest) the AC wasnt working well so cabin was very hot and difficult to sleep so points deducted there. 3rd leg a couple's toddler was an absolute menace majority of flight but not much the airline could do- always the risk you run these days unfortunately when people have so much money to willingly spend and no sense of social responsibility. Service was very good and food was excellent. The planes overall were on the older side id say. Id fly it again at the price we got ours for (about 3k cheaper per ticket than Qatar). We did land at about 130am in Kili but your brain is so messed up already im not sure the time of day mattered much to us- bigger downside was the 40 min drive to Arusha was pitch black so didn't get to "see" any of TZ for the first time until the following day.
I just met with my friend to hear about her trip. Yes the Turkish airlines flight from DC arrived at 1-30am and it was 4 am before they got to bed. They took a completely private tour, family of 4. They had a budget. I think 11 days of Tanzania, photos of animals and accommodations looked great. It cost them $6200 each all in. The guide presented them with a large acrylic African painting at the end of the tour which on the photo looked gorgeous. I’m ready to explore that option next time.
If you have any overnight flights on Turkish, look for flights that use the 787 vs the 777. The 787s have a 1-2-1 business class configuration, while the 777s have a 2-3-2 configuration. I've flown both.
The 777 is great from all day time flights because there is tons of leg room, but they aren't good for overnight flights when people are using the lie flight configuration. When that occurs, 3 of the 7 people in each row must climb over someone to use the restrooms.
On the 787, 1-2-1 configuration all seats have direct access (no climbing over anyone) to restrooms regardless of how the seat is configured (lie flat or upright).
The configuration is key, regardless of plane type, especially for overnight flights when the lie flat option is utilized.
Turkish, for whatever reason, oftentimes will have fairs considerably cheaper (perhaps $1000/person) that other airlines.
Sometimes it's at the expense of additional flight hours, but all of the various flight parameters - cost, routing, flight time, connection times, etc. are individual, personal preference choices.
I believe Ethiopian had the same 2-3-2 seating in their 777s. There is tons of leg room but the TV screen is too far away. Ethiopian now has more of each, A350s and 787s than 777s, but you need to be careful because a few of those have 2 - 2 - 2 seating. I don't know if they are just used domestically.
I consider any business configuration substandard where someone has to climb over someone else for aisle access. Lufthansa is another one. They are working on improvements, but they haven't been certified yet.