Singapore Airlines
3 journeys equalling
32 individual flights (1 flight = 1 passenger x 1 route)
Singapore Airlines maintains a modern fleet of 105 aircraft.
As of 1 October 2013, the average age of our fleet stands at six years and
eight months - making it one of the world's youngest and most fuel efficient.
Flying to Singapore on the first leg of the journey to
Istanbul is the A380-800 and the A330-300 and then the B777-200 on the second
leg from Singapore to Istanbul.
Singapore is a very modern and clean airport.
Picture above - Singapore Airlines flight Istanbul Dec 2012
Of all the airlines, if you can manage to fly the A380-800
on the first leg from Sydney / Melbourne to Singapore, then you’ll have the
most comfortable of flights. It’s larger, more comfortable and makes less
sound.
SYD – SINGAPORE – 8.5 to 10 HOURS depending if you’re flying
there or back
SINGAPORE – ISTANBUL – 9 to 10 HOURS depending if you’re
flying there or back
Food: Very good
Baggage allowance in economy is usually 20KG but sometimes
they have specials allowing 30kg
I love flying Singapore airlines, service and food inflight
is good but, and it’s a big but! If you have young children, be prepared,
Singapore have a habit of changing your flights after you have booked to
different days.
On one trip they changed two of our flights, twice! This
made accommodation and booking arrangements difficult and offering no
compensation for lost money due to hotel cancelations. This has happened in
100% of our flights over 2 years with our young child. I would give Singapore
Airlines our highest rating otherwise.
But this has soured our experience and
we voted with our feet and our last trip in 2013 we took Etihad instead.
Another reason I am disappointed with an otherwise a great
airline, is their frequent flyer points. I’ve had them all expire each time
without being able to take them for all the red tape and hidden taxes they have.
We tried to use their frequent flyer points to buy tickets
on our domestic flights in Turkey with Turkish Airlines which is a partner
airline and covered under their Star Alliance frequent Flyer program. It turned
out that after all the taxes and charges Singapore Airlines charges, to use the
points, we had to pay some cash extra which was double, yes double the price of
buying the tickets direct from Turkish Airlines. How totally ridiculous!!!
That actually means their frequent flyer program was
worthless to us and we didn’t get a thing after paying what equates to 32
individual international flights! All frequent flyer points expired without
being able to use them. Thanks for nothing Singapore Airlines!
Etihad Airlines
3 journeys equalling
24 individual flights (1 flight = 1 passenger x 1 route)
They offer three travel
classes: Diamond First Class, Pearl Business Class and Coral Economy Class.
They have brand new aircraft with the latest in-flight entertainment systems.
If you fly to Istanbul on Etihad you will most likely fly on a BOEING 777-300ER JET on the long leg to Abu
Dhabi and an AIRBUS INDUSTRIE A333 JET on the short leg from Abu Dhabi to
Istanbul.
Both good and modern aircraft though they don’t have the isles space or
lack of noise of an A380-800. But their entertainment system is first class
(though the sponges on the ear phones tend to fall off) They also have a cool lighting
system for take-offs and landings, changing colours and providing a really nice
ambiance.
Food: Very good (though they ran out of variety by the time they served out meals so we had to go with what was left rather than a choice of 3)
Baggage allowance in economy is 30KG!!
The upside is, overall it’s a quick journey, around 19 to 20 hours flight time.
The down side is the first flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi is 15 hours!! That’s a hell of long time if you have a small child. My tip: Take the night flight, leaving late in the evening from Sydney. This flight chases the moon all the way. The flight is in complete darkness and you’re more likely to sleep naturally and more importantly, so are you kids if you have some. (The same advice for the Emirates Airlines as they have similar journeys)
SYD – Abu Dhabi – 14 to 15 HOURS
depending if you’re flying there or back
Abu Dhabi – ISTANBUL – 4 to 5 HOURS
depending if you’re flying there or back
Malaysia Airlines
1 journeys equalling 4
individual flights (1 flight = 1 passenger x 1 route)
The Malaysia Airlines fleet of 88 planes consists 6 types of aircraft, namely: the Boeing 747-400, the Boeing 777-200ER, the Boeing 737-400 and -800, and the Airbus A330-200 and -300 and Airbus A380-800. It was a Boeing 747-400 that I first took to Turkey in 2007.
With Malaysia the most common rout is via Kuala Lumpa.
SYD – Kuala Lumpa – 8.5 HOURS depending if you’re flying
there or back
Kuala Lumpa – ISTANBUL – 11.5 HOURS depending if you’re
flying there or back
Kuala Lumpa airport is modern and big. Just beware, they can
change the order of men’s / woman’s toilet’s around which can confuse the
unsuspecting (me).
I walked up one terminal passing 3 toilet blocks before
deciding to use the 4th which was near my gate. The first 3 were men’s
followed by women’s, however the last one was women’s followed by men’s. I didn’t expect this change.
It wasn’t until I was in and using the toilet before I realised
my mistake. I heard all woman’s voices outside the cubical door and much to my embarrassment,
had to walk out to their astonished looks as I was in the “women’s” toilet!
It didn’t end there. I walked out and also realised I had
left my mobile phone on top of the toilet! Duh! I had to walk back in and retrieve
it. It’s a good thing all the women spoke in a foreign language to me and I
didn’t understand a word they said! But I got the general message! lol
Food: Very good
Baggage allowance in economy is 30kg
My review is a bit dated but I always remember Malaysia
Airlines as by far the best service I received on all my trips. Maybe I just
got lucky with good flight attendants, but I remember they went out of their
way to make us all comfortable. I say us because I made friends with a host of
passengers bond for Turkey and we had a great time which was supported by the
wonderful and beautifully dressed flight attendants.
They may have an older fleet, but I never knew it as this was
one of the few flights I really enjoyed, and that’s saying something from a man
who at the time who had kidney stones to deal with! I have been on better
planes since and maybe better meals, but it’s always Malaysian service that
sets my bench marks.
Korean_Airlines
1 journeys equalling 4
individual flights (1 flight = 1 passenger x 1 route)
These days you’ll be on most likely a Boeing 777-200/200ER for both legs of the journey and it will still take you two days to get there as per below.
Another dated review so I’ll keep it short. My flight to Istanbul was via Seoul/lncheon on a very cold winter’s day. I remember the seeing the mountains around Seoul completely encased in snow, cold, non-inviting.
But the upside of a slightly longer flight was Korean Airlines put me up in first class accommodation for a one night stop over as part of the flight and that was made even better because the flight was also the cheapest to all others! I remember the Korean Airlines flight to Istanbul so well, because after the good night’s sleep, shower and meals at the 5star Hotel (also in the $1500 flight ticket), I arrived the most refreshed of any airline before or since.
It was a fascinating route over china to Istanbul with some great views from my window. The service was good, but lacked on the inflight entertainment.
Service: good
Food: good
Baggage allowance in economy is 20kg
SYD – Seoul/lncheon – 12.5 HOURS depending if you’re flying
there or back
Seoul/lncheon – ISTANBUL – 11.5 HOURS depending if you’re
flying there or back
One story to share. On my return
journey I was stuck at Istanbul Airport during a snow storm. All flights were
delayed by 8 hours. But one flight got out, My flight. The 747 was de-iced 2
times which was scarey to watch. No other flight was allowed to leave but somehow
Korean Airlines was allowed took the risk, fly out through the heavy snow. It
was risky and scary and gave me the impression they take risks where others don’t.
Great if your late and don’t care. But…..
:-/Score from Aussie in Adana: 7.5. Older fleet, but good stop over. Website is poor compared to competitors.
Now I have not done review on Emirates who fly Sydney to Istanbul because I have not flown with them, but my wife has. And by her experiences she would put them up there with Etihad.
My inlaws and sister in-law have done the journey from Istanbul to Sydney return with a combined flight of Turkish / Qantas Airlines Via Hong Kong. They said the Turkish international flight was good (Istanbul to Hong Kong and Return) and they rate well but Qantas was poor from Hong Kong to Sydney return.
Although I haven’t flown that route with Qantas, (my Australian National Airline), I would have to say I have plenty of experience with them to other international destinations. And from that I would say the Qantas of today is much less that the Qantas of the past.
Service is poor and their fleet is being neglected. Their management appears to be stripping the airline to the bare bones and the once “Spirit or Australia” is lagging behind the rest in spirit. Very disappointing for an Aussie to say this. I hope they get their act together, but until they do, I am not spending my money with them.
Here ends the International Flights review.
Domestic:
It’s only a 1 hour 10 minute journey to Adana from Istanbul (depending on airport and airline) and at Ataturk Airport you can walk easy from International to Domestic so fly from there.
I have plenty more to say about the Domestic Flight services in Turkey and will do so in future blogs but two tips for future travellers going to Adana.
1: Book you flights yourself online. A travel agent will book the highest price flight and you pay double. Since paying $500 for a return domestic flight in Turkey through a travel agent for 1 person, I now book for 3 for the same flights for half the price online. 3 people, less than $250 AUD!
2: Turkish Airlines! Safe, reliable, better service, higher luggage allowance and you get a snack and drink on flight. The others you pay extra for everything and it’s a bit of a cattle class.
Hope this has all been helpful.
Cheers
Aussie in Adana
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