Turkish includes 30 kg of baggage, a good choice of meal, and all drinks including alcoholic as well as soft drinks, all in the basic price. The flight leaves Birmingham at 1115, so I can go to the airport by train. No need for an overnight hotel or a taxi. The return flight gets in at 1015, so again is good for public transport connections. Otherwise I could park at the airport, but at a price.
The budget airlines depart at around 0900 and return at around 2130, thus making sameday travel to Worcester very difficult if not impossible.
The Turkish Airlines price is very similar to the budget airlines once the extras have been added in. Approximately £320 return. The other options, of direct or indirect flights from Heathrow or Gatwick are much less convenient at the British end, although much better as they get me direct to Luxor. So I am trying this TK route.
Easily connected onto the 0716 train to Birmingham New Street, but if I had missed this then there is another at 0749 that would still ge me to the airport in time. The train arrived at New Street on time, but at the A end of the platform, so I had a long walk to the lift or escalator. Then a choice of trains to Birmingham International. I chose the London Midland rather than the Virgin because I find the doors easier\\\\\\ less difficult with luggage, and my case was nearly 20kg. I chose the centre of the 8-carriage train which was the correct place for the escalator. Cost, Worcester to International £6.95 single with a Senior railcard. The shuttle to the airport was full of young men heading for a wedding or stag party, cans of lager in hand, and behaving not much better than Chelsea 'supporters' on the Paris Metro, but c'est la vie.
The Turkish Airlines check-in and baggage drop is section 55 to 59, so fairly central. My on-line checkin was in order so I was very quickly processed.
Very short queue at security. I simplified things by wearing braces rather than a belt - I hate having to remove my belt at airports. Gravity has been known to take effect on my trousers. Not a pretty site! So on, through duty free, to the shopping area and Wetherspoons for my last pint this month. Unfortunately Wetherspoons is being refurbished and will not open until mid-March, so I had to spend an hour elsewhere. £4.30 a pint for Purity Mad Goose. Knowing that I was going to eat on the plane I resisted the temptation of the Full English at around £10.
Turkish Airlines was at a gate at the end of the airport, but only about a 300 yard walk. The plane was a few minutes late due to weather in Turkey, but took off at 1135. It was full all bar one seat, and my neighbours were broad in the beam so we were a bit crowded.
The 737-800 has good seat-back tables - they fold in half which is a great bonus for those of an ample waistline. I was able to balance the food tray and drinks on the half-table. Service was quick - I had ordered a special menu (as a test to the airline) and was served first. The oriental vegetarian menu was tasty, although only the main course was different to the standard "chicken or beef". Complimentary drinks - there was a choice of 3 red wines in quarter bottles, all of which were good. They also have a choice of 2 beers, and 4 spirits served from the bottle rather than in minuatures. A good selection of soft drinks, although they quickly ran out of Apple juice.
The seat-back consoles worked well, although the version of Freecell in the games section was a pain in the butt - it would not autocomplete. The journey to Istanbul passed quickly, and was not interrupted by the duty-free show as TA do not sell any duty-free on board.
The bad weather in Istanbul, mentioned earlier, turned out to be about 6" of snow, but this had been ploughed and caused no difficulties except that they could not handle as many flights per hour as they would normally. We arrived around 1800 at gate 223, and because I had already got my boarding card for the connecting flight I could cross directly into departures without going the length of the airport to passport control.
So far so good, but with over 6 hours to wait for my connection I had no idea of the onward gate number. I opted to sit at the nearest cafe/bar and await information. In retrospect it would have made sense to stay on the arrivals level and use the travelators to get to the centre of the airport where all the main shops are. The travelators on the departure level operate only in the other direction.
Having no Turkish Lire or Euros with me I had to use US$ at the bar. Everything seemed to be US$9, although the marked prices in TL or Euros veried. So I am sorry, Angela, your Turkish Delight was very expensive.
Not knowing what catering was going to be on the 0030 flight I had a large meat and cheese roll. Good, and I would probably have paid US$9 or equivalent at Pret-a-Manger at a British airport. :-(
At 2230 the departure gates were announced. The Hurghada flight would be at gate 220, about 400 yards away on the same wing of the airport as my cafe/bar. So I slowly made my way to the departure gate. No security checks on the way into the waiting area, and plenty of seats. And at about midnight boarding commenced.