Trip To Osaka and Hong Kong Flying Thai Airways First Class & Turkish Airlines Business Class
Since I knew Mike would be in Australia and New Zealand with his Singelresor group in February, I needed to travel somewhere for a few days and thought I'd book a flight from Europe to Japan and back from Hong Kong using my Turkish Airlines miles. So last November, I redeemed 67,500 miles for a first class award flying from Frankfurt to Osaka via Bangkok in Thai Airways First Class. The taxes was just about 800 SEK which was very reasonable. On the flight back from Hong Kong to Stockholm, I redeemed (I actually borrowed miles from Mike) 45,000 miles to fly Turkish Airlines in Business Class. I've been to both Osaka and Hong Kong a few times in the past so my plan was not really to explore them but rather to just see a few sights during this period. I have to admit, to be able to fly on one of my favorite airlines in first class (thanks to their Rimowa amenity kit and excellent first class lounge in Bangkok among others) and visit two amazing cities is just awesome 😉
Photo Review: Holiday Inn Frankfurt Airport
Review: THAI Airways A380 First Class, Frankfurt to Bangkok
Review: THAI Airways A380 First Class, Bangkok to Osaka
Review: THAI Royal Orchid Lounge, T1 Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX)
Review: THAI Airways Boeing 747 First Class, Osaka to Bangkok
Review: THAI Airways First Class Lounge Concourse E, Bangkok (BKK)
Review: THAI Airways Business Class, Bangkok to Hong Kong
Review: Hilton Garden Inn Hong Kong Mongkok
Photo Review: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge, Hong Kong (HKG)
Photo Review: THAI Airways Royal Orchid Lounge (HKG)
Photo Review: Plaza Premium Lounge, West Hall T1 (HKG)
Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class, Hong Kong to Istanbul
Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class, Istanbul to Stockholm
Turkish Airlines Business Class meal, Istanbul to Stockholm
Flight: TK 1793
Departure time in Istanbul (IST): 08:50
Arrival time in Stockholm (ARN): 10:40
Aircraft: Airbus A321-200
Seat: 4A
Duration: 3h 50m
Date of flight: February 22, 2017
*This is an award travel, Business Class flight #129
Turkish Airlines Lounge, Istanbul
I stayed about an hour in the gorgeous Turkish Airlines Lounge and around 7:45am, I left the lounge for the departure gate.
Aircraft, Airbus A321-200
Our ride to Stockholm 😉
Boarding, Gate 210
I was at the gate around 7:50am which was the scheduled boarding time but it was not until 15 minutes later that boarding started. Turkish Airlines normally uses the older gates downstairs so it was nice to be boarding from this part of the terminal as it gave us direct access to the aircraft.
Seat, 4A
My seat 4A, was a window seat. Already waiting at my seat was a pillow and a blanket.
Seat pocket and coat hook.
Legroom
Skylife magazine and Safety Instructions Card
Personal screen
Headphones and IFE controls
Parked to our left was a Turkish Airlines Boeing 777 😉
The cabin consisted of rows 1-4 with a 2-2 configuration and on that morning flight to Stockholm, 12 seats were occupied.
Around 8:34am, the captain came on the PA to welcome us and to give us some flight infos including our flight time of 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Moments after settling in, we were offered some welcome drinks and I chose a glass of lemon mint. Again, the usual back and forth system was there where the flight attendant would go back to the galley and refill the tray of drinks every time two to three passengers get their drinks. We were also offered newspapers although I declined.
Around 8:50am, the inflight safety video started to play.
Five minutes later, we started our pushback and about 15 minutes later, we took off.
View after take off.
Dining
As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off, hot towels were offered as well as the menu card. Drinks order were also taken and I chose my usual apple juice.
The breakfast menu read as follows:
The whole meal was served on a tray. It became a bit turbulent during coffee and tea service so the crew were forced to stop the service for awhile.
For my main course, I chose the scrambled eggs with tomato and green pepper. I was also offered some tea and I had my usual green tea.
The captain came on the PA to give us updated flight informations and that we would be landing at 10:45am.
To end the meal service, liquor and tea were offered although I declined.
I was also able to use the lavatory and saw this note written somewhere: "Should you wish a dental kit, please contact the cabin crew." I was not sure if they were really giving dental kits to passengers though.
There were some sort of slight snowstorm in Stockholm, so we were forced to make a detour.
Arrival at Stockholm Arlanda Airport
An Ethiopian aircraft at Arlanda Airport
We landed around 10:45am at Arlanda Airport although it was already 10:58am by the time we reached our gate which was gate F35.
CONCLUSION
I've flown this route a lot of times in the past and just like my past flights, it was very nice. The departure gate which was located in the main terminal was a big plus since we did not have to use buses to reach the aircraft. The food was tasty and the service was friendly. The seats (which were real business class seats) were comfortable and they also had personal screens. I liked the fact that they are now offering dental kits to passengers (upon request) although I was not able to verify it. Overall, a very nice flight.
Related Posts:
Review: British Airways Business Class, London to Stockholm
Review: SAS Plus, Prague to Stockholm
Since I knew Mike would be in Australia and New Zealand with his Singelresor group in February, I needed to travel somewhere for a few days and thought I'd book a flight from Europe to Japan and back from Hong Kong using my Turkish Airlines miles. So last November, I redeemed 67,500 miles for a first class award flying from Frankfurt to Osaka via Bangkok in Thai Airways First Class. The taxes was just about 800 SEK which was very reasonable. On the flight back from Hong Kong to Stockholm, I redeemed (I actually borrowed miles from Mike) 45,000 miles to fly Turkish Airlines in Business Class. I've been to both Osaka and Hong Kong a few times in the past so my plan was not really to explore them but rather to just see a few sights during this period. I have to admit, to be able to fly on one of my favorite airlines in first class (thanks to their Rimowa amenity kit and excellent first class lounge in Bangkok among others) and visit two amazing cities is just awesome 😉
Photo Review: Holiday Inn Frankfurt Airport
Review: THAI Airways A380 First Class, Frankfurt to Bangkok
Review: THAI Airways A380 First Class, Bangkok to Osaka
Review: THAI Royal Orchid Lounge, T1 Osaka Kansai Airport (KIX)
Review: THAI Airways Boeing 747 First Class, Osaka to Bangkok
Review: THAI Airways First Class Lounge Concourse E, Bangkok (BKK)
Review: THAI Airways Business Class, Bangkok to Hong Kong
Review: Hilton Garden Inn Hong Kong Mongkok
Photo Review: Singapore Airlines Silver Kris Lounge, Hong Kong (HKG)
Photo Review: THAI Airways Royal Orchid Lounge (HKG)
Photo Review: Plaza Premium Lounge, West Hall T1 (HKG)
Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class, Hong Kong to Istanbul
Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class, Istanbul to Stockholm
Flight: TK 1793
Departure time in Istanbul (IST): 08:50
Arrival time in Stockholm (ARN): 10:40
Aircraft: Airbus A321-200
Seat: 4A
Duration: 3h 50m
Date of flight: February 22, 2017
*This is an award travel, Business Class flight #129
Turkish Airlines Lounge, Istanbul
Aircraft, Airbus A321-200
Boarding, Gate 210
Seat, 4A
The cabin consisted of rows 1-4 with a 2-2 configuration and on that morning flight to Stockholm, 12 seats were occupied.
Around 8:34am, the captain came on the PA to welcome us and to give us some flight infos including our flight time of 3 hours and 30 minutes.
Five minutes later, we started our pushback and about 15 minutes later, we took off.
Dining
As soon as the seat belt sign was turned off, hot towels were offered as well as the menu card. Drinks order were also taken and I chose my usual apple juice.
The breakfast menu read as follows:
The captain came on the PA to give us updated flight informations and that we would be landing at 10:45am.
To end the meal service, liquor and tea were offered although I declined.
I was also able to use the lavatory and saw this note written somewhere: "Should you wish a dental kit, please contact the cabin crew." I was not sure if they were really giving dental kits to passengers though.
Arrival at Stockholm Arlanda Airport
We landed around 10:45am at Arlanda Airport although it was already 10:58am by the time we reached our gate which was gate F35.
CONCLUSION
I've flown this route a lot of times in the past and just like my past flights, it was very nice. The departure gate which was located in the main terminal was a big plus since we did not have to use buses to reach the aircraft. The food was tasty and the service was friendly. The seats (which were real business class seats) were comfortable and they also had personal screens. I liked the fact that they are now offering dental kits to passengers (upon request) although I was not able to verify it. Overall, a very nice flight.
Related Posts:
Review: British Airways Business Class, London to Stockholm
Review: SAS Plus, Prague to Stockholm