Turkish Airlines Review – Mumbai to Istanbul
The stage had been set our first family trip together to Europe had suddenly been finalised. While I and my wife had our passport our seven-year-old daughter did not have a passport, with some luck and quick thinking within five days we managed to get a Tatkal passport for her. Once the passport was sorted our next most important decision was to select the best budget airless while keeping in mind some comfort and good service.
Since there were no direct flights from Kolkata to Rome we had to decide upon Mumbai or New Delhi as our departure point. The best option from Mumbai was Turkish Airlines while from New Delhi it was Aeroflot. Somehow for me, Turkey had always been a land of mystery and even though at that point of time we did not plan to visit the city during our transit still I wanted to at least try to look out for Blue Mosque from the airplane window. While Istanbul airport is very near to the main Istanbul city centre the same cannot be said for Moscow airport. So chances of venturing out were very much possible in Istanbul while for Moscow it was near impossible.
So we finally booked our tickets for the sector Mumbai – Istanbul – Rome with Turkish Airlines. From Kolkata, we booked with Jet Airways as the timing was perfect considering our office schedule. We booked the ticket through an online travel portal and the transaction was smooth. What was missing was the option to select the seat. Since it was a long flight and with a kid on the team, I would always go for a window seat just to keep it as an entertainment factor.
A little research online and I found out that some passengers were able to reserve a seat by contacting the Turkish Airlines. Since Turkish Airlines had an office in Mumbai so I decided to try my luck and after a second reminder, I was able to get a confirmation email from them. Alternately you can always check in online twenty-four hours before your departure to secure a preferred seat.
Reaching Mumbai
The first set of the challenge was to reach Mumbai from Kolkata. This was a challenge for me and my daughter was booked in one flight whereas my wife had to take the next flight as she had some important work at her school which she had to complete before travelling. I simply did not want to change my ticket as the price difference would mean almost paying triple for the same tickets.
Mumbai to Istanbul by Turkish Airlines
Our flight TK721 was scheduled to depart from Mumbai Terminal 2 at 6.20 AM (Indian Standard Time) on 31st of March 2017. We had reached the previous evening at around 10 PM since the flight was next day morning. We wanted to collect our boarding pass and check in so that we can catch some sleep in the waiting area but came to know that boarding pass would only be given after 3 AM this would mean actually no sleep. With no other option, we decided to wait near the counter. Rianna (daughter) was fast asleep in the chair but unfortunately for me, I had to stay awake.
Getting Turkish Airlines Boarding Pass
At around 2.45 AM the counters opened and we queued up to get our boarding passes. Our first surprise came when we saw that even cabin baggage was being weighed. The limit was 8 Kilogramme per bag. We had only one Cabin luggage which was a camera backpack as we wanted to travel light but since I had multiple lens and other accessories it was around 10 Kilogrammes. The person at the counter refused to issue Cabin Baggage Stickers which is necessary as it was overweight. I tried to make him understand that we were three passengers travelling together so that would entitle us to 9 X 3 = 27 Kilogrammes of cabin baggage thus to let us take one instead. Since the discussion was leading to nowhere thus I decided to take the camera out of the backpack and hand it around my wife’s neck. Now the weight was below 8 Kilogramme and we were given the tags. Personally, I found this funny as it actually made no difference to the overall weight.
After immigration control and security clearance, we headed to the gate where we found some unoccupied chairs and settled down. While wife and daughter were sleeping I decided to take a look around the Mumbai Duty-Free.
Boarding Turkish Airlies TK721
The boarding call was announced at around 5 AM and we proceeded to board the Boeing 777-300. We were travelling economy thus were in the back of the aircraft. Turkish Airlines is some of the few airlines which have 3 – 4 – 3 seating configuration thus the economy class really looks crowded.