Turkish Airlines A350-900 – We Really Wanted To Love This Seat But Couldn’t
We were super excited to try out the Turkish Airlines premier product of the A350-900. From what we have seen on many videos, the pods looked absolutely beautiful. However, as we settled in and tried to get comfortable, we found many flaws. Read on.
The A350-900 is Turkish Airlines latest aircraft to feature these pods, on the outside, they look sleek and modern. However, right from the get-go, we sat down in the two middle “honeymoon” seats and it seemed like Turkish was destined to get us separated. The pods feature a beautiful wraparound style body with Alcantara which looks and feels great and also helps to absorb sound. The downfall is that it gives you a bit of a claustrophobic feel as it is quite narrow. We have heard this from other well-known Youtuber’s and have to agree.
As you settle into your seat, the headphones are neatly tucked into the secure door which is nice but we never bothered to use the small cubby or even tried locking it. Slippers, blanket and a pillow on your seat await you. A vanity mirror pulls out just beside the cubby hole.
The seats are all staggered so if you prefer sitting closer to the window, choose the even numbered seats. The odd numbered seats are still private but you will be closer to the aisle. As mentioned, we sat in the “honeymoon” seats but you really cannot see your partner unless you lean way forward. This is because the reading lights stick out from the wraparound pod. Singapore Airlines also has a wraparound pod for privacy, but in Turkish Airlines, it feels like you sit way further back into the pod which also makes it narrower. We really wanted to love this hard product, but man, it just didn’t feel right. That’s not to say you won’t like it, but at 5’6″ tall and 155 lbs, even I felt it was a tight fit.
As I tried to take more pictures around the cabin, a flight attendant yelled out at me to stop taking pictures. I did so right away to avoid any issues but felt like a scolded little schoolboy. Others were getting up and taking pictures a few minutes later without issue. Oh well, I guess she just didn’t like me.
As tight as the space felt, it was still a nice place to spend for the next 10 hours on our way to Singapore. The screen was very clear and a good 18″ size. The footwell is a bit tight but it was straight forward unlike Singapore Airlines that was off to the side. To read more on our Singapore Airlines A380-800 flight with Book The Cook, click here. The shelf space was ample and the controls for the seats were well laid out. There was also a coat hook, IFE controller and literature pocket below.
The slippers were a nice touch as not all airlines provide them. The mattress pad was placed by the flight attendants after the main meal. They were stored in the storage bins taking up space and they were not in any packaging so we just hope they were all cleaned prior to this flight. The mattress pad was a bit of a pain as it wouldn’t stay up and kept flopping down. It also didn’t provide much padding as it was pretty thin and when lowering the seat, it was lumpy as hell. So I had to have at least a 10 degree angle to make it comfortable enough to lie back without it digging into my lower back.
The flight attendants did go around handing out amenity kits as they provide one for men and women in different colour bags from Salvatore Ferragamo. They were decently stocked with eyeshades, socks, lip balm, facial mist, body lotion, toothbrush and Colgate toothpaste.
Now, on to the food! The food service started decently quick but wow, did it slow to a crawl. It took 2.5 hours to finally finish dinner which is extremely slow. As much as I would like to praise the main course of lamb, I do have to say that the bread was probably the tastiest item on the menu. I ordered the Turquoise mocktail to go along with the warm nuts.
Turkish Airlines is known for their trolley service of appetizers. The selections consisted of mozzarella & cherry tomato, smoked wild salmon, prawns with cocktail sauce, “nohut asi” chickpea ragout with yoghurt, beetroot with almonds, “lahmacun” Turkish style flat bread with minced meat tomatoes and herbs, smoked beef & celeriac parmesan salad, cheese tomato cucumber salad with fresh herbs, and creamy sweet pea soup. As there were two us, we happened to order pretty much everything on the trolly, it wasn’t just one person, we can’t eat that much! Out of the choices here, the smoked wild salmon was the winner. The others were good but even the bread was better than the other appetizers in my opinion.
The mains consisted of a good choice too. Medley of lamb chops and adana kebab, grilled wild seabass, and homemade ricotta mezzelune. My lamb was decent, a bit gamey, but overall, I was quite happy with the dish. The rice was flavourful and I pretty much polished it off. My better half was OK with the seabass as she said it was pretty fishy still and the smell kind of turned her off.
The dessert was also rolled out on a trolley which consisted of a potpourri of traditional Turkish desserts, tiramisu, apricot crepes with hot chocolate sauce, clotted cream ice cream from kahramanmaras, and assorted cheese & fresh fruits.
Before landing we had the following: chicken salad with mustard dressing along with prawn with curry sauce, quinoa salad with roasted red pepper, or fresh berry and vanilla trifle. Neither of our choices were to our liking and we both just kind of picked at it.
So here is our honest opinion on the meal service and the aftermath. The appetizers were rolled out and I thought we were in for a real treat, especially with the cute minuet salt and pepper shakers along with the faux candle. The bread was fabulous and I gobbled it down. The smoked wild salmon was also divine and I wish I could have just ordered five of them instead. It then took a very long time to receive the main dish. Clean up and dessert also took a very long time so all-in-all, it took about 2.5 hours to eat dinner. However, that was not the worst part, the A350-900 had only 1 washroom near the very front of the plane. It was absolutely tiny and everyone had to wait in the galley where the flight attendants were trying to clean up, serve and even eat at the same time. It was a bit comical as we all stood there for 20-25 minutes, so everyone ended up talking to each other which made the cabin even louder and impossible for anyone to sleep. The crew also had to open all the overhead bins to pull out the mattress pads and set them up. Usually they are packaged in plastic and at your seat but here they were just folded and placed in the bins.
Finally, about 3.5 hours into the flight things calmed down, got quieter and less traffic up and down the aisles. The seats were lumpy when flat so I had to raise it about 10 degrees to find a position where my pelvis wasn’t thrusted to the ceiling. After that, I settled in with a movie and got some sleep.
The crew were professional but I have to say, they weren’t particularly friendly. It was a real business like feeling of get things done and dust off your hands. I put the scolding of my camera issue aside as the flight attendant may just not like having her picture taken but after that, I really felt she didn’t like me at all. Luckily, she stayed on the left aisle and I didn’t have too much interaction with her. The 1.5 hour flight we had on the Turkish Airlines 777-300 just hours earlier in the day had a much friendlier crew. You can read that review here.
We honestly feel a bit gutted. We really wanted to love Turkish Airlines and all that it had to offer. In the end, we felt disappointed more than impressed which is unfortunate. Would we fly them again? Sure, but if there were are other options like Singapore or Emirates we would probably go with them.
PROS:
- The A350-900 is a great plane, quieter and more comfortable
- The pods are stylish
- Unique trolley style serving of appetizers and desserts
- Decent selection of movies but not full TV series (3-4 episodes each)
CONS:
- Pods felt claustrophobic and was hard to talk to your partner in the “honeymoon” seats
- Hard to find a comfortable lie flat position as it was very lumpy
- Meal service took a very long 2.5 hours
- 1 washroom for the business class area which took another 20-25 minutes of waiting in line at the front galley
- Crew were business like and not particularly friendly
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