Last week, I flew from Chicago to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines business class. This was one leg of a journey from SFO to KHI. We used United miles to get the ticket which cost us 80k points back in March when we got it. The prices seem to have skyrocketed, currently, United doesn't offer SFO -> KHI for less than 300k points in business class. Our journey included a first class leg on United from SFO to ORD (domestic first class in a 737-900 is almost entirely forgettable) and Turkish 330-300 on the IST to KHI leg, which is somewhat comparable to the 777-300ER we had on the ORD to IST leg.
This seemed to an older aircraft. We've flown Turkish many times from SFO and LAX and those legs appear to have newer planes. This is manifested as older seats, older infotainment etc. Turkish has decided we are in a post pandemic world and don't provide hygiene / sanitization kits any more, pity.
Seating
Full lie flat seats in a 2-3-3 configuration in two cabins. Our flight was full, with even the middle seats taken.The seats are decently comfortable with tremendous leg room when seated or lying down, more than in other, more "modern" configurations (1-2-1) which usually have small footwells. However, they weren't particularly wide and had poor storage for phones, headphones, bottles of water etc. And just under half the seats did not have direct aisle access. Cushioning was okay, not spectacular and the bedding provided was a little thin.
Infotainment
Decent selection of movies and TV shows, including live TV. Two cameras (front and down) - I'm still disappointed the most US airlines (and oddly Singapore) don't offer cameras. The navigation system was relatively run of mill, not prayer times or direction were offered.
Restrooms
Turkish offers some of the largest restrooms in the industry on their 777s. Even in economy they are large (some with windows). In business class, they weren't quite as large, and no window, but quite serviceable. The tap was auto sensing and the sink was large - good for making wudu. No cups though. And no toothbrush/toothpaste kits in the bathroom (though they did include that in the amenity kit they handed out to each passenger). Since there was no info on prayer times in the infotainment, you were left on your own to figure that out. The camera view did help.
Room for prayers
The front galley is a little quieter in non meal times and there is plenty of space by the front doors to pray. Failing that, there is also some space available by the exit doors in between the two business class compartments but that tends to be a busier area so I recommend the front. Also, the timing of the flight is such that if you're flying in winter (as I was), you can get away with having to pray only fajr on the plane (isha starts from departure and the sun sets after arrival).
Staff
I did not see a single person wearing a hijab in the entire journey. The staff was pretty accommodating when asked about prayers.
Food
Food was excellent. Good selection, good quality and plenty of it. All halal.They do serve alcohol, and they don't offer a good selection of mocktails.
