Istanbul and Turkish Airlines
My few experiences with THY were in Business Class and the service was excellent. I only used the old airport though. One thing which was very handy was a dedicated Business Class immigration lane for ARRIVING passengers. I went straight through bypassing the extensively long lines for the other passengers. Probably saved me an hour or two! Does anyone know if they have the same at the new airport?
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Thread Starter
Hello to all the helpful contributors and commentors on here
Well this was not the best holiday i ahve ever had since after only 5 days a dire emergency back hom emeant we had to return to the UK after only 5 full days .
Some comments on the airlines and some possible issues to wath out for if you ever end up ina simialr situation
Outbaound QR10 LHR to Doha business class on Qatar airways upper deck 380. Fantastic , lovelycalm environment, excellent seat/mini cabin affair good service and good food. Quick transit through Doha, I paid for th escorted transit which wasworth it not knowing the airport and witha tight -80 minuted transit. Onwards to Colombo Q suite 777. I am not a fan of the triple and this was noisy and suffered from their generlly slight wallowing motion. Rear facing Q suite cabin was rather dull, too much QR mauve. But very nice attentive crew , decent food so no complaints.
After having been their 3 days crisis -we have to go back to Uk . My ticket was non refundable on QR but did say it could be changed but fees would apply. Well QR couldnt get me out of CMB for 48 hours and at a price of GBP8000 ,which was more than the price of the two return tickets. The only think Ican say in their favor was that the agent did shop around and try and find us a beter deal, there was a slightly cheaper on but that way Economy comfort from Doha to London GATWICK after 9 hour layover.
So I decided if it was going to be that costly mightas well go direct on Sri LAnka for seven grand ( they had quoted me 9grand return for the original flight. UL used a A330-300 which is an aircraft I like . seating and cabin fittings a bit worn but not taty , a nice layout and comfy lie flat seat with reasonable entertainment and pretty good food.. A very very bumpy ride with seat belt sign on for 20 minutes out of the hour for the full 11 hour trip , captain had explained we had to cross a lot of jetstreams and the like and he wasnt wrong. So not much of a holiday.
As for other remarks about the trip trying to rebook flights was a nightmare, using mobile phone as a normal phone is very expensive (how a call from Sri Lanka to London can cost five times more in 2024 than it did in 1985 I cannot imagine, wellIcan but its akin to theft. This eats up your network providers spend or data cap or both . Now you cannot make any more calls nor can your receive any. tried to top up my bill payment to restore cap levels didnt work for nearly two days rather than the 30 minutes specified -few companies use whatsapp and so an old fashioned phone call is r equired which results ina big bill and no service.
Thanks once again for your comments etc, just to highlight the small world we live in today; while in the lounge at Columbo watched an Azur air 767 depart for Novosiberisk , what a trip Columbo, Temp 30 degrees at 0800 and landing 8 hours later at minus 10. Other gratuitous comments, excellent motorway from Columbo South built by the Chinese along with new deep water port and airport in th e south, fewer potholes than england even on smaller roads. Tourism recovering but not helped ny F&CO leaving their warning of civil unrest advice up on their web site for months after other countries removed similar , as 50% of their non Indian visitors are from Uk this had big impact, they also were very aware that people in Uk dont have as much money as they used to have , no doubt from news coverage of the state of the Uk economy. Staying right down in the south ti was noticeable that unlike previous trips there was no procession of monster container ships and tankers transiting enroute from the red sea to asia and as most of this now must head for Capetown to get onward to Europe/USA
Finally , if you haven't been give the place a try , friendly people , not overrun with hordes of them, quite modern in some places but with some nice game parks and pretty scenery as well as lovely beaches and great food its got a lot to offer in terms of getting away from Uk winter.
Well this was not the best holiday i ahve ever had since after only 5 days a dire emergency back hom emeant we had to return to the UK after only 5 full days .
Some comments on the airlines and some possible issues to wath out for if you ever end up ina simialr situation
Outbaound QR10 LHR to Doha business class on Qatar airways upper deck 380. Fantastic , lovelycalm environment, excellent seat/mini cabin affair good service and good food. Quick transit through Doha, I paid for th escorted transit which wasworth it not knowing the airport and witha tight -80 minuted transit. Onwards to Colombo Q suite 777. I am not a fan of the triple and this was noisy and suffered from their generlly slight wallowing motion. Rear facing Q suite cabin was rather dull, too much QR mauve. But very nice attentive crew , decent food so no complaints.
After having been their 3 days crisis -we have to go back to Uk . My ticket was non refundable on QR but did say it could be changed but fees would apply. Well QR couldnt get me out of CMB for 48 hours and at a price of GBP8000 ,which was more than the price of the two return tickets. The only think Ican say in their favor was that the agent did shop around and try and find us a beter deal, there was a slightly cheaper on but that way Economy comfort from Doha to London GATWICK after 9 hour layover.
So I decided if it was going to be that costly mightas well go direct on Sri LAnka for seven grand ( they had quoted me 9grand return for the original flight. UL used a A330-300 which is an aircraft I like . seating and cabin fittings a bit worn but not taty , a nice layout and comfy lie flat seat with reasonable entertainment and pretty good food.. A very very bumpy ride with seat belt sign on for 20 minutes out of the hour for the full 11 hour trip , captain had explained we had to cross a lot of jetstreams and the like and he wasnt wrong. So not much of a holiday.
As for other remarks about the trip trying to rebook flights was a nightmare, using mobile phone as a normal phone is very expensive (how a call from Sri Lanka to London can cost five times more in 2024 than it did in 1985 I cannot imagine, wellIcan but its akin to theft. This eats up your network providers spend or data cap or both . Now you cannot make any more calls nor can your receive any. tried to top up my bill payment to restore cap levels didnt work for nearly two days rather than the 30 minutes specified -few companies use whatsapp and so an old fashioned phone call is r equired which results ina big bill and no service.
Thanks once again for your comments etc, just to highlight the small world we live in today; while in the lounge at Columbo watched an Azur air 767 depart for Novosiberisk , what a trip Columbo, Temp 30 degrees at 0800 and landing 8 hours later at minus 10. Other gratuitous comments, excellent motorway from Columbo South built by the Chinese along with new deep water port and airport in th e south, fewer potholes than england even on smaller roads. Tourism recovering but not helped ny F&CO leaving their warning of civil unrest advice up on their web site for months after other countries removed similar , as 50% of their non Indian visitors are from Uk this had big impact, they also were very aware that people in Uk dont have as much money as they used to have , no doubt from news coverage of the state of the Uk economy. Staying right down in the south ti was noticeable that unlike previous trips there was no procession of monster container ships and tankers transiting enroute from the red sea to asia and as most of this now must head for Capetown to get onward to Europe/USA
Finally , if you haven't been give the place a try , friendly people , not overrun with hordes of them, quite modern in some places but with some nice game parks and pretty scenery as well as lovely beaches and great food its got a lot to offer in terms of getting away from Uk winter.
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Hello to all the helpful contributors and commenters on here
Well this was not the best holiday i have ever had since after only 5 days a dire emergency back home meant we had to return to the UK after only 5 full days .
After having been their 3 days crisis - we have to go back to Uk .
.
Well this was not the best holiday i have ever had since after only 5 days a dire emergency back home meant we had to return to the UK after only 5 full days .
After having been their 3 days crisis - we have to go back to Uk .
.
Just wondered if you have these extra costs covered by your Travel Insurance under Curtailment Cover ?
Thread Starter
rog 747, well I will find out soon enough but given the way insurers lie and cheat on just about everything to avoid claims I cannot say I am optimistic, but will dropa note on ehre. the main point i wanted to stress was the mobile phone aspects - you reallyare lost without them. I am surprised some companies dont go for Whatsapp now , my Sri Lank hotel had a whats app contact number.
PB
PB
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Just had a medical problem on holiday in Singapore..my revolut premium free insurance settled with a week in full. My Irish €350 ish a month health insurance didn’t. Good luck.
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Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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Pax Britanica
I share your view on Sri Lanka and its people and we have been there twice. I do refer to it as "India light" as its not as intense as India in my experience, as done quite a bit of time there sorting out issues for others.
The first time was just after the Tamil issue in the North, and that was still out of bounds, but we travelled around with our driver who was of Dutch ancestry, and towered over his fellow countrymen, indeed I thought he was South African when we first met. We ended up eventually in Galle and stayed at the Amangalla inside the walls which my wife loved, and she also got to watch some cricket while we were there, so I was awarded many Brownie points as a result. Best of luck with the insurers.
Cheers
M Mac
I share your view on Sri Lanka and its people and we have been there twice. I do refer to it as "India light" as its not as intense as India in my experience, as done quite a bit of time there sorting out issues for others.
The first time was just after the Tamil issue in the North, and that was still out of bounds, but we travelled around with our driver who was of Dutch ancestry, and towered over his fellow countrymen, indeed I thought he was South African when we first met. We ended up eventually in Galle and stayed at the Amangalla inside the walls which my wife loved, and she also got to watch some cricket while we were there, so I was awarded many Brownie points as a result. Best of luck with the insurers.
Cheers
M Mac
Last edited by Mr Mac; 29th Feb 2024 at 19:45.
