Etihad V Turkish Airlines

shadowcomplex

How do these 2 Airlines compare? I have flown with Etihad before and found them great, they also have a perfect safety record however on pricing return flights to Thailand, Turkish have a bargain price of 474 euro and Etihad are 658, flight times and layovers are roughly the same. Is Turkish not much of a step down to warrant almost saving 200 euro?

galwayjohn89

I'd definitely go for Turkish for that price. They've won loads of awards for their service

man98

I like Turkish. Relatively good safety record, regular flights, nice connection hub, nice flight and better staff rights than EY too...

sleepingghost

Turkish are a very good airline - comparable if not better than Etihad in some areas. Once there is no crazy long connection time in Istanbul definitely fly Turkish without hesitation.

GJAerLingus

For a similar enough service, Id fly Turkish considering its cheaper.

First Up

I use Turkish regularly and can recommend them. Also Istanbul is a fine airport. I haven't done long haul - just to Istanbul and onward flights to neighbouring countries and within Turkey so I can't comment on seat pitch etc on their intercontinental routes. I put all my Star Alliance miles onto Turkish so I use them for upgrades to Business Class and that is very good, plus the Lounge in Istanbul is superb.

I have used Etihad on the Dublin/Abu Dhabi route a few times and found it cramped and crowded in Economy. I really wouldn't fancy doing another 6-8 hour sector, or going all the way to Oz for example. However I'm told their Business Class is lovely and their First Class off the scale.

But from what I've experienced of steerage, I'd recommend Turkish and I prefer Istanbul airport to Abu Dhabi for transit.

murphaph

Turkish had a safety problem years ago but AFAIK they hooked up with Lufthansa to sort it out (mostly bringing maintenance procedures up to scratch). I wouldn't hesitate to fly with them either.

novarock

Have flown to Japan with Turkish - nice service in flight, my only criticism is they are not so helpful if certain things go wrong. They lost our luggage en route and it took a lot of persistence to get them to a solution that we were happy with relative to other airlines.

Comfort wise and in flight they are nearly identical. IST is a nice airport for a stopover.

dvdman1

I've flown both..not much difference just eithiad rewards miles are better

On a serious note personally I wouldn't fly Turkish at the moment, a lot of jihadis use the airline to arrive and enter Syria.

andy_g

Moved to travel forum.

jadie

I found Istanbul airport a nightmare, huge queues through security was waiting over an hour and a half and it was roasting. Surly, unhelpful staff. With the size of the airport they simply cannot cope with the number of passengers coming through. Also Turksih airlines in flight entertainment frequently doesn't work- happened on one 8 hr flight I was on and heard it happening to others. There food was excellent though I have to say.

sudzs

jadie wrote: »

I found Istanbul airport a nightmare, huge queues through security was waiting over an hour and a half and it was roasting. Surly, unhelpful staff. With the size of the airport they simply cannot cope with the number of passengers coming through. Also Turksih airlines in flight entertainment frequently doesn't work- happened on one 8 hr flight I was on and heard it happening to others. There food was excellent though I have to say.

I've gone through Istanbul 6 times over the last 3 months and never had any delays through security. But it might be different during the Summer. However a bottle of beer was an outrageous £5.00 :eek:

But I agree that the food on Turkish Airlines isn't bad at all. Much better than BA.

Entertainment has been hit and miss for me. I was on one 6 hour flight and only had the little TV screen hanging from the ceiling for 8 or 10 passengers so no choice of viewing. Last couple of times had my own screen but the choice of tv, films etc wasn't great imo.

I've never flown Etihad so can't give you a comparison but can't really complain about Turkish Airlines, they are value plus you get 30 kg baggage allowance!

killbillvol2

Turkish have better food, Etihad better entertainment. Neither Istanbul nor Abu Dhabi are particularly good airports but I've never had major hassle in either.

Etihad Business Class is a good bit better than Turkish (and way more expensive) but the lounge in Istanbul is fantastic.

Ed_Stephens

The Etihad lounge in Dublin is very nice and they've been upgrading the one in Abu Dhabi, am looking forward to seeing it in June.

First Up

jadie wrote: »

I found Istanbul airport a nightmare, huge queues through security was waiting over an hour and a half and it was roasting. Surly, unhelpful staff. With the size of the airport they simply cannot cope with the number of passengers coming through. Also Turksih airlines in flight entertainment frequently doesn't work- happened on one 8 hr flight I was on and heard it happening to others. There food was excellent though I have to say.

Not sure if you are talking about airside or landside security in Istanbul. Landside can be slow because of volume but airside/transit is usually a 5-7 minute job. I use Istanbul a lot and some of the connections I have made have been amazing. Did one earlier this year when I got off one plane and onto the next in less than 15 minutes -and my suitcase made it too!

mooseknunkle

Ed_Stephens wrote: »

The Etihad lounge in Dublin is very nice and they've been upgrading the one in Abu Dhabi, am looking forward to seeing it in June.

I don't think the OP is flying business,and the lounge in Abu Dhabi has already been upgraded well actually its a completely different lounge and a massive improvement on the previous one.

shadowcomplex

dvdman1 wrote: »

I've flown both..not much difference just eithiad rewards miles are better

On a serious note personally I wouldn't fly Turkish at the moment, a lot of jihadis use the airline to arrive and enter Syria.

hearing things like that puts me off slightly, another option that has arisen are British Airways. How do these compare?

First Up

shadowcomplex wrote: »

hearing things like that puts me off slightly, another option that has arisen are British Airways. How do these compare?

I thought it was a pretty ridiculous comment myself but no matter.

I've used BA a number of times to SE Asia. Main attraction for me is you can get settled down and get comfortable (sleep etc) instead of getting off, hanging around, re-boarding etc in the middle of the trip. BA also has "Premium Economy" which has bigger seats and more legroom (for a price). Another advantage is the number of connecting flights between Dublin and Heathrow, although Heathrow itself is messy because of changing Terminals.

Fred Swanson

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dvdman1

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

yes i see your point,...frankly yes it would affect me flying with any carrier connecting through Istanbul....I'll be called paranoid for sure but hey its everyone's decision.

not to be point scoring or petty... but I avoided flying across Ukraine before the tragedy, i just think airlines risk assessment isn't very good/ detached from the real world