Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class (777-300ER) 

For the first long-haul flight of my Southeast Asia 2024 trip, we flew on Turkish Airlines from New York to Istanbul.  

Read on for my experience with the hard and soft product of Turkish Airlines’ older Boeing 777 business class.

Booking Turkish Airlines Business Class

I booked this itinerary through Air Canada Aeroplan as part of a one-way route from New York to Istanbul to Singapore, with a 20-hour layover in Istanbul. I booked the itinerary for a total cost of 207,000 Aeroplan points in addition to $168.60 in taxes and fees total, for two people. This itinerary included both the Turkish Airlines business class flight and the Singapore Airlines Business class flight from Istanbul to Singapore.

If you are interested in making a flight redemption like this, consider adding a premium Aeroplan credit card to your wallet, such as the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card. Just one card can get you enough points to make a one-way business class redemption. 

Apply Now Learn More

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege Card

The TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite Privilege* card earns Aeroplan points and offers cardholders a variety of Air Canada benefits including priority boarding, free checked baggage, and Maple Leaf lounge access.

Check out our TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege card review for more details.

BONUS
75,000 Aeroplan

MINSPEND
$24,000

NET VALUE
$976+

ANNUAL FEE
$599

FOREX FEES
Yes

EXPIRY
Sep 3, 2024

Cabin Arrangement

The plane, a Boeing 777, was configured in a two-cabin arrangement with 49 business class seats and 300 seats in the main cabin (49J 300M). There are 33 Boeing 777-300ERs in the Turkish Airlines fleet, 30 of which are in the above configuration. This layout results in there being middle seats in business class, which should be absolutely avoided unless you are traveling in a party of three.

The business class cabin is subdivided into two sections, one with 38 seats and one with 21 seats further back. My partner and I chose seats 7A and 7B in the rear section. It was quite a process to make the seat selection. I was unable to manage or locate the booking at all on the Turkish Airlines website, however, I was finally able to by downloading the mobile app and inputting both our reservation number and individual ticket numbers. 

Doing anything with the Turkish Airlines website or mobile application was a task with a low probability of success for us, as you’ll read below regarding our check-in. I am unsure how much this is due to the business class ticket being booked on a partner airline (via Air Canada Aeroplan), and how much is just down to bad Turkish Airlines IT systems.

Ground Experience

Check-in at Turkish Airlines Kiosk

Trying to check in for the flight on the mobile app or online was a process fraught with errors. First, Turkish required me to create an account in order to check in, even though I already had the flights saved in my app as a guest. Then after going through several screens and entering information, it showed an error “unable to complete transaction”. Ultimately, we realized we would have to check in at the airport.

We arrived at the airport at JFK quite early (around 7:30 PM for an 11:40 PM flight). The Turkish Airlines check-in desk had a separate business class line. After standing in the line for a few moments we realized nothing was happening and inquired with a nearby agent to learn that check-in didn’t open until 8:00 PM…

After waiting another 20 minutes or so and being the first in line, we were informed by the desk agent that we would need first to complete the SG Arrival Card & Health Declaration before we could be checked in. So we had to go stand off to the side to tediously complete this form before returning to check in.

While I acknowledge that it is not the airline’s job to hand-hold passengers on entry requirements,  this experience left a taste of subpar customer service. At multiple contact points with Turkish staff, they had simply grunted to go to the designated check-in line. 

Knowing that the only flight passengers were checking in for was the 11:40 flight to IST, the SG card definitely could have been mentioned. Furthermore, Air Canada or Turkish Airlines could easily program an email or notification of entry forms such as this. Instead, the already inefficient process is less efficient for everyone involved. 

Turkish Airlines Lounge

After our check-in experience and going through a painfully inefficient TSA security screening, we were in desperate need of a relaxing time in an airport lounge before our flight. Thus we headed straight to the Turkish Airlines Lounge which was available to us as business class passengers.

The Turkish Airlines Lounge is located at Gate 3 in Terminal 1, which is very easy to get to from the security checkpoint. 

The lounge was quite empty when we arrived but got progressively busier throughout our time there. We hadn’t had much to eat since lunch so we promptly grabbed a couch and plated ourselves a variety of the food options available. 

The hot foods including rice, beef, and chicken were fresh and tasty. As was the pasta salad. The coffee was available from a commonly seen expresso machine. Much to my chagrin, there was a lack of any alcoholic beverages in this lounge. 

Aside from the main open seating area, there was a small meeting room with one table, a printer, and seating enough for six people.

The bathroom was clean and functional as well. 

Overall the lounge was fairly minimal and basic but served its purpose of helping us relax and wait for our flight isolated from the bleak airport atmosphere.  

Seat

The Boeing 777 in the Turkish Airlines fleet is not outfitted with modern all-aisle access seats that can be found on the Boeing 787s or Airbus A350s. Indeed, the Turkish business class seat and cabin visibly showed their age once we got on board. I even had one of the panels on my armrest come slightly ajar at one point during the flight.

Nonetheless, there were many positives to be had with this seat. At 22 inches wide and 78 inches long, the seat offered tons of room. My feet couldn’t even reach the footrest while seated.

The footrest itself opened up to reveal a spacious storage compartment. 

Having three windows all to yourself is also a major plus, as this is more typical when flying First class as opposed to flying business class.

The downside of the seat is that with the 2-3-2 configuration, you can find yourself in a less optimal situation depending on who is beside you. If your neighbor is asleep and you’re in a window seat or middle seat in the aisle, you may have to climb over their feet to get to the aisle. 

Aside from the cosmetics, the overall function of the seat was good. The tray table was large and had a good range of motion including forward, backward, and laterally. If you are slender enough you could even shift it out of the way and get out of your seat without folding the table down.

The privacy divider was rather rudimentary. It only extended far enough to cover about half of the seat and you could still easily see what the person beside you was up to.

I found the seat controls to be refreshingly ergonomic. They were readily available at the edge of the armrest, right where your hand would rest naturally. 

Bed

As mentioned earlier, the generous length and width of this seat translated into a very comfortable bed. Many business class seats, especially newer products with all-aisle access, can have a short bed with a cramped footwell, making it hard to turn about while sleeping.

That was not the case here. In lie-flat mode, there were more than six feet available to fully stretch out, with no restrictive foot well. Tall people would do well on this product. 

Consequently, I was able to get over 5 hours of quality sleep on this 10-hour flight. 

Amenity Kit

Contrary to the majority of business class flights, the amenity kit was not present on the seat upon boarding. Instead, it was brought out closer to sleeping time (this had me sweating a little as I do love my amenity kits).    

The amenity kit was designed by Ferragamo, an Italian designer brand. The kit was slightly different for men and women. The men’s kit was blue while the woman’s was pink and included a hair tie.

Contained in my kit were socks, a sleeping mask, a toothbrush and toothpaste, lip balm, body lotion, and facial mist.

The bag was high-quality leather and the eye mask was thick and comfortable, not a flimsy cloth masks that come in some amenity kits.

Bathroom

The bathroom on board was rather large with ample space to move about in.

The sink was a nice size as well with a few Molton Brown lotions and creams available for use.

Dining

The chef on board personally handed us a food and drink menu quickly after we got seated. An attendant brought some fresh raspberry juice out just a few minutes later.

The main menu was a simple two-page menu and included a selection of ‘dine on demand’ main courses, as well as before-landing meal options. There were several non-alcoholic drink options, including an assortment of wellness teas.

The alcoholic beverages were offered on a separate menu. There wasn’t anything overly extravagant, but several premium options including Glenfiddich 15-year.

Dinner

As this was a late-night flight, we were presented with the choice to have our main meal (dinner) just after takeoff or after sleeping. We chose the former. 

I started with both the grilled goat cheese and beetroot salad and the sweet pumpkin soup, after a snack of assorted nuts with a glass of wine. 

The goat cheese and the soup were fantastic, one of the better appetizers I’ve had on an airline, and a highlight of the meal service. I was mildly fascinated by the salt and pepper shakers provided, which were magnetized to stay in place on the dish. 

For my main course, I decided to take a risk and go with the fillet of red snapper and chateau potatoes. 

The potatoes were delicious. I would describe the snapper as tasty, but a bit tough and rubbery. My preference for fish is definitely a more flakey texture like a salmon.

My girlfriend chose the safer option of grilled rosemary chicken breast with asparagus, gratin potatoes, and red pepper. She said it was all excellent.

For dessert, we enjoyed the potpourri of traditional Turkish desserts as well as the chocolate souffle.

I believe, of the three desserts, the dessert on the right was baklava with pistachio, a component of many Turkish desserts. The desserts were both good but I was a bit overfed at this point so I did not indulge too much.

Breakfast

Breakfast was served in two courses, starting with fresh fruit salad, yogurt, chicken breast, and turkey. 

The fresh fruit was tasty, as well as the yogurt, but I found the chicken just okay. 

I also couldn’t pass up trying a traditional Turkish coffee. It tasted like a very gritty expresso, as has been described to me before. But I really enjoyed the flavor.

Breakfast was finished off with some delicious pancakes with maple syrup and vanilla sauce. 

Overall the breakfast lived up to the standards set by the dinner service. I was left both satisfied and impressed with the food I received on Turkish Airlines. It was consistently of high quality and full of flavor.

Entertainment

The entertainment console was well laid out, showing a clear flight map with flight path, time left, and the time in both departure and arrival destinations. The selection of movies was extensive and included many newly released Hollywood movies.

I’m unsure if the console was a touchscreen, but it would have been impossible to reach anyway without getting up and walking over to it, due to the length of the seat. The entertainment controller was in a nice spot near the right shoulder of the seat. It was attached to a retractable cable and ejected at the press of a button.

A set of Denon noise-cancelling over-ear headphones were offered on request. I didn’t make use of these but they appeared to be of excellent quality. 

WiFi

There was WiFi available on the flight. I found the access was straightforward. After joining the network a login screen was triggered. Login was completed using surname and seat number. 

Different amounts of data were available in tiers, from a chat pass for $5.00 USD to unlimited data for $35.00 USD. However, 1,024 MB (1 GB) of data was offered complimentary to business class passengers who are non-members of Miles & Smiles. Meanwhile, Elite and Elite Plus members get unlimited access.

Of note, I was only able to join with a single device at a time and was required to log out of one device to connect to the other. This probably would have annoyed me more had this not been a redeye flight that I spent a great deal of time sleeping on.

Conclusion

Turkish Airlines business class on the Boeing 777 has a reputation as a dated product in need of updating. And while I’d agree with that sentiment from a purely cosmetic standpoint, the functionality of the spacious seat and the consistency of the meals and service were refreshing. 

Sometimes the tried and true product is all you need. After a great rest, this flight set me up well for the next leg of our trip onwards to Singapore. I’ll happily fly Turkish Airlines on the 777 again if the opportunity presents itself.