Business class to Istanbul - Turkish or Lufthansa ?

zagmund

Following many years of flights with work, I finally have a reward flight to use up with Contonental/United. The plan is to go to Istanbul for the weekend. I have enough points for one business leg and one economy - so one class in one direction and another class in the other.

The way the timings work, we can fly direct on the way out there with Turkish departing Dublin at 1600, but the direct return leg would involve an 0830 departure, so I'm not on for that. The alternative is a 1750 departure with Lufthansa via Frankfurt.

So, given a choice between one leg of business class with Turkish or two legs (and presumably lounge access for an hour in Frankfurt) with Lufthansa . . . which would you pick ?

z

cocoshovel

Take into consideration the aircraft they use. I dont know much about Turkish airlines but Lufthansa have a pretty good reputation I think.
Turkish Airlines use a 737 or A320 direct from Dublin to Istanbul
and Lufthansa use an A321 to Istanbul. They're pretty much similar sized aircraft.

It is a relatively short flight, and the aircraft size wont make business class as nice as they would be on trans continental flights.

Have a look at seat guru for how the seat layout/specs are. Gives great info.

Lufthansa A321: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Lufthansa/Lufthansa_Airbus_A321.php


Turkish airlines 737-800: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Turkish_Airlines/Turkish_Airlines_Boeing_737-800.php

Turkish airlines A320: http://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Turkish_Airlines/Turkish_Airlines_Airbus_A320.php

Having a look at the seat pitch and width sizes, Turkish seems to offer better in terms of about .5 inch, if you're lucky. Its not much different than lufthansa in that sense.

But when you look at Lufthansa's layout, You have a nice table in between each seat, giving you more room and privacy. Instead of the Turkish 2x3 layout its 2x2 for lufthansa.

Pics of each: Turkish - http://www.airreview.com/Turkish/321-Seats-Biz1.jpg

Lufthansa: (they dont seat people in the centre seat) - http://cdn-www.airliners.net/aviation-photos/photos/5/4/6/1889645.jpg

Over all they are pretty similar. Personally, I would choose Lufthansa in terms of which Cabin and Airline I'd prefer. But then again, the stop over in Frankfurt would add on a good few hours and could be a pain.
and to be honest, with the hour stop over in Frankfurt you probably wouldnt have time to avail of the lounge.

Joe10000

I would enjoy the extra take off and landing due the stopover, business class is a real treat, enjoy it.

tinkerbell

Between the two airlines alone, I'd pick LH over TK however if it's a case of direct vs a stopover, in that case I'd go with TK. Personally I wouldn't bother with business class if it's flying within Europe, it's a relatively short flight and business on the likes of the A320 etc doesn't really compare to that on the long-haul fleet like the 777, 747 or A380. So I'd save your points and keep them for a long-haul trip where you can really enjoy the business class seat and lounge experience!

zagmund

Thanks for the feedback.

I could have been a little clearer. The outbound flight will be Turkish direct - the timings are the best. The return flight with Turkish leaves at 0830 on Monday morning, so it wastes the extra day we could have. The alternative return is with Lufthansa departing at 1750 and getting back to Dublin at something like 2230 or 2300.

I know that short (or medium) haul business isn't quite the same thing, but in reality I think it will take me another 5 or 10 years before I can get enough points for business return to somewhere far away. I only fly to the US maybe once a year, so the points take a while to build up.

The real reason for the trip is as a treat for mini-zag who broke his arm a few months back and missed out on another holiday, so I don't mind using them up on this holiday. He will just be buzzed to fly business class at all. I think I might pitch for business on the Lufthansa flights - twice as many complimentary goodies for him to nab.

z

Stinicker

Why not save up those Frequent Flyer points and use them on a long flight of say 5hrs+ you'd much more appreciate business on a long haul than a short hop across Europe to Turkey.

zagmund

Stinicker wrote: »

Why not save up those Frequent Flyer points and use them on a long flight of say 5hrs+ you'd much more appreciate business on a long haul than a short hop across Europe to Turkey.

As above, it will take me a very, very long time to get enough points for a long flight (one outside Europe). I may be dead by the time I have enough points. Or I may be a grandfather. Or it may just be a really, really long time. Or the carrier might change their scheme so that the points expire (like happened to me with Stupid American Stupid Airlines) and I don't get to use them at all.

z

Badgermonkey

zagmund wrote: »

As above, it will take me a very, very long time to get enough points for a long flight (one outside Europe). I may be dead by the time I have enough points. Or I may be a grandfather. Or it may just be a really, really long time. Or the carrier might change their scheme so that the points expire (like happened to me with Stupid American Stupid Airlines) and I don't get to use them at all.

z

It may be worth buying top-up mileage via Lufthansa's Miles and More or another Star Alliance member to allow you access a long-haul reward flight.

Not sure which apply to ROI, but many FF programs allow mileage accrual via credit card purchases.

200yrolecrank

I have to agree with a previous poster I have flown Turkish last year on a long haul to the east.
I would never fly with them again,terrible cramped plane o the leg from Dub to Istanbul and it did not get much better for our connector.
Service was shocking,uninterested staff who had to strain to smile.
The missus would travel a good bit with work and she could not get over how bad it was,mind you a few other passengers we spoke to were of the same consensus.

ardmacha

As above, it will take me a very, very long time to get enough points for a long flight (one outside Europe).

Airmiles are only really useful for long haul business class. It makes little difference in Europe and the taxes are such that you might be paying almost the cost of flight in any case.

Continential miles don't presently expiire, I think, but all miles are at risk of expiry. Check out some of the hotel and car hire offers. Flying somewhere with Ryanair and having a few days free car hire or a free hotel might be the best way to use the miles.

Savman

Delta Skymiles currently have no expiration and they'll be around for a while yet, downside is that most of the good routes start in the US otherwise there's huge surcharges for "International Booking" :eek:

Back on topic, I agree Long Haul Business is the best use of miles however given the OP's dilemma I think it's much of a muchness. Probably more of an issue whether he/she wants the direct flight or can handle the LH connection in Frankfurt.

blackius

I'd go turkish airlines simply because they have a brand new rather fantastic lounge complex in istanbul.
It would be far better than what would be on offer in frankfurt or munich.

http://stuckattheairport.com/2011/07/28/turkish-airlines-classy-lounge-at-istanbul-airport/

On board,you will get a wider seat,all the drink you can drink and a 3 course meal.

The lounge used in dublin terminal one is probably the bmi/star alliance lounge which is nothing special.

That said,I'd agree with others,the best use of miles is long haul upgrades and not a full short haul redemption like you are doing.
Short haul only makes sense if you have banked enough miles for more trips that you are able to do or are earning a lot of miles regularally.
You could use your miles on any star alliance carrier long haul

zagmund

Thanks for all the info and suggestions. I know that long haul is probably the best use, but right now I have ~65,000 points with Continental which is enough to get me and another person anywhere in Europe and back in mixed class. If I wait a few years and work send me back and forth a few times I might scrape up enough to get two economy returns (120,000) for me and the missus to New York or elsewhere in the US. Or I could get one business return (100,000) and leave her behind.

I'm going to live in the day and use the points on these flights rather than hang on. If I ever get enough for the long haul flight it means I've earned another 60,000 points and can take another two returns across Europe. I wasn't going to waste them on a return to Leeds Bradford or somewhere like that. The other possibility was Moscow, but Istanbul won out in the end.

Thanks again for the suggestions,

z

p.s. as it stands the cost including all the taxes is about $60 per person - while I know it's not 'free', I think it's reasonable. Otherwise a return to Istanbul (which I would be unlikely to book otherwise) would be ~€400 per person.

ardmacha

Cyprus is another good one for the airmiles, being in Europe but fairly far away and not that easy to get to.

kevjob

Have flown business class on both LH & TK and I found both of them good.

If you have the option to mix airlines and fly TK direct to Istanbul and LH return in Business, I would go with that, as well as the better times you also have the extra baggage allowance in business class for the return (just in case you do some shopping in the grand bazaar).

Kev