Is This Really Europe's "Best" Airline?

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I took a flight onboard what is touted as Europe's best airline on a 4 hour flight across Europe. Is it really as good as people say?
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[@steelspark115]

In thinking about it Noel, have you ever done a sort of "Behind The Scenes" video of how you go about booking your trips, prepping for your trips, what the people or assistants you may have do to help you? I think it'd make for a rather interesting video.

[@JettTyler17]

I would definitely be up for watching a video like that!

[@cceatl]

Ditto

[@SebsTruckStop]

I’d love to see that!

[@007knick]

Agreed!

[@Hauntedguy27]

good idea

[@DannyA3579]

Flew Turkish this past July / Aug to Zurich (via Istanbul)…route was a bit backwards but that’s ok. Flights and staff were superb. Even though return from Istanbul to Miami was delayed 3 hours, gate staff handled things well, given the situation. Love the airline.

[@danseaman5367]

I flew Turkish last week IST-ATH and was very impressed! Shame it was such a short flight but I’ll definitely be returning 😃

[@gridlore]

The Turkish Airlines lounge at Ataturk was just amazing, we kept expecting to see James Bond saunter by. This new one looked more like an upscale food court. Not an improvement!

[@Tom-vb5jo]

Really enjoy your reviews, you look for the positives which makes it more enjoyable. So many of the airline reviewers are overly critical and dramatic about the smallest thing. Thanks Noel

[@noelphilips]

Thank you Tom!

[@andrewdavy9921]

@@noelphilips have you ever been to Anchorage?

[@paulchung9921]

He is very moody in these videos compared to the other ones he has made. He sounds happier traveling around the world econo class than flying business going back home.

[@stevenichols4639]

I was in that exact Lounge twice in April. On the way to Rome and on the way home from Barcelona. Seems a bit disorganized but I think they spread out the food to avoid congestion. Food is free and plentiful and lots of drinks. Enjoy.

[@hmbpnz]

Wondering how fresh a prawn is after biting into it is kind of silly, isn't it? It would be rather obvious by its taste.

[@dennisdevries2745]

That Meraj Airlines is actually an A300-600

[@mikefish8226]

Compare that with BA's business class and it's embarrassing for BA. Depending on the price, you'd be mad to fly that distance in CE when you could have a decent seat on Turkish Airlines.

[@krisztianforgacs1316]

While there was a flight between LCY and BUD operated by LOT Polish Airlines, I've tried their business class on an Embraerjet, and I've tried LHR BUD flight with BA on an Airbus A320 business and LOT was way more better experience. They had espresso for business class, and the service was much better. The advantages of BA were the business lounge on Heathrow Terminal 3 - it actually looked like a holiday hotel in the socialist Hungary in the 80s - and the bigger onboard food selection for people with special dietary requirements. Embraerjet was more cosy, the seats were more comfortable. It's a shame LOT cancelled 2 of their 3 routes from LCY since covid.

[@sammccormick9109]

I’ve never had issues with BA. Always been decent. Though everyone falls short in europe with Turkish. Air France are total wank.

[@mikefish8226]

@@sammccormick9109 The main issue is BA's business class is the same seat as economy with just the middle seat empty (blocked with a tray on older planes and just empty on newer). No IFE, no extra legroom. This isn't an issue for MAN-LHR, but on the long EU routes and mid-haul routes, it's bad. In fact, BA is running CE to Cairo and Amman, those are approximately 5hr flight. It's a disgrace.

[@samapple789]

Was on the 737-900ER with Turkish there a few weeks back in business class one of the best flight exp I ever had, lovely food, lovely coffee and drinks, good service could have anything I wonted, I think from Dublin I paid like 900 euros return in total to Antalya, There Turkish delights are amazing onboard had a plate of them to myself haha

[@coopa2002]

Wow! Quite a rare aircraft too

[@natvader8090]

i flew on turkish 737 900ER to Dublin aswell but in economy. It was all fine but for a nearly 5 hour flight the seats were very uncomfortable

[@samapple789]

Yah was delighted to get on one 1st time on a 900ER to, But 5 hours in economy does not sound fun at all but the seats looked grand to Me

[@tonytony3895]

Your videos are full of interest. In some cases where you find problems affecting your journey you lighten such cases with your keen sense of humour. Always you appear cheerful even in the most trying circumstances.

[@noelphilips]

Thank you, I appreciate your support!

[@istanbullet]

I love the guy in the check in counter. %100 Turkish way of speaking English.. 😅

[@Anderten1989]

8:30 highly motivated guy :D

[@eaubert1]

The Turkish guy at the check-in mentioned a country called "United Cities" and Noel took Kevin James for Simon Wilson!

[@glxynukedude]

lol

[@hydrogenvshelium6851]

wow. Flew between Birmingham and Hong Kong with different airlines, so far my favourite is with Turkish. Can enjoy a meal on the Brum leg while having a proper long sleep w/ 2 meals on the Hong Kong leg. With Emirates I can't properly sleep and the Airport was filthy; with Lufthansa service was bad, there was no meal on the Brum leg and Frankfurt is sub-par; if not for the price I wouldn't have flown with Air France next trip. Istanbul was bright and charming, connection time was perfect (~3h) and everything was spotless. Love it.

[@fishingjimcolon4339]

No loo review! Always look forward to it.

[@ianwhiting8822]

The reason the fare was so high is due to the two landing fees incurred when arriving in Birmingham.

[@C2K777]

Nicely done!

[@BBS7523]

Hence why Qatar stopped operating there and Emirates stopped A380

[@john07973]

A mug buy

[@pandamisha]

Hello What do you mean two landing fees for landing at BHX?

[@ianwhiting8822]

@@pandamisha Plane touched down twice!

[@markwarwick2920]

Oh no! Noel I miss your loo review! You might have needed to do it after that landing.

[@ryankenyon5010]

Great video! Loved the design of Istanbul Airport, despite the odd lounge layout.

[@randomgeographer4410]

The frequency of your trips is absolutely insane. I wonder how to often do you change your passport.

[@thecreativecontessa]

And yes, I totally concur about the new TK lounge at IST. The one at Attaturk was WAY better. Better layout, more beautifully designed. Felt like part of Topkapi palace, whereas this one feels, well, like an airport lounge. and yes, I know - totally a first-world problem 😅

[@marcelshousewife]

Comes with disco lights, so cool!

[@ATtravel666]

I did a Turkish airlines return flight to Istanbul pre covid. I had heard about their wonderful business class, their amazing seats. Out to Istanbul, I got the odd plane odd that had the standard European style Business Class - economy seats with the middle seat blocked off. But the flight back had the proper Business Class product, which was really good. Back in May, I went with British Airways, and it was no where near as good as Turkish. A lot cheaper than Turkish, but not as good. Turkish charge for each flight so in essence you are buying the equivalent of two one way tickets, and they were asking for roughly £500 per flight and BA was £350 return.

[@ILLVMBlog]

I kind of miss when you flew with the regular people...LOL!

[@antonnym214]

I used to do international credit authorizations to 30 different countries in 10 different languages every day and the Turkish people were among the nicest on planet Earth. I trust you had a great time in Istanbul. All good wishes!

[@WhiskyLoversSociety]

I love the new lounge. I use it about 15 times a year and it’s much better than the old lounge.

[@skoro-vernus]

Same impressions from a business lounge in Atatürk a/p RIP. A lot of food counters (mostly the same in every corner), quite noisy, a whole area with free arcade games, quite dark, not always clean and not many options to sit without being distracted. Great video!

[@fervorrrt8956]

I flew on the TC-LTC

[@mattwood086]

TK business class is excellent. I just hope they update their 777’s at some point soon. 2-3-2 isn’t ideal!

[@davidcole333]

2-3-2 is an ironclad deal breaker for me. Regardless of how nice the seat or how good the food is, it's all lipstick on a pig for a horrendous cabin layout.

[@HumminbirdMoth]

I enjoyed the business lounge at both the Attaturk and the new one.

[@justoldthings]

i watch a lot of these reviews and ive never seen anyone say the turkish lounge is bad. they all love it. not sure if its changed or you missed something but its odd for everyone else to love it and you not.

[@C2K777]

If it makes it better. I concur that the lounge at the new airport is crap compared to the old one. Very much a case of 'style over substance'. It looks nice and pretty but nowhere near enough seating, weirdly laid out and tbh just nonsensical on the most part. Once the 'Oooo, isnt it pretty' felling has worn off you're left with many questions about why they did half of what they did the way they did. On a second visit it just gets worse as you don't have the visual surprise factor. It's of course subjective but he's far from the only one ( including trip reviewers) who feel the same way. Especially on a return visit.

[@neilrmartin1984]

I wouldn't say it's bad but it's not really comparable with the old business lounge at Ataturk - which was exceptional. There are also several TK lounges at the new airport - eg if you upgrade on TK miles you get sent to a different lounge

[@nordlands8798]

@@neilrmartin1984 The TK business lounge and the TK miles and smiles lounge at IST are basically mirror images of one another, only with some small additional features in the business lounge. Visited both in the last 3 months. Agree it is not bad, while different than say an LH Senator lounge at FRA in that it doesn't have as simple a layout with eg. all the food in one corner, I actually like the TK lounges at IST better.

[@neilrmartin1984]

@@nordlands8798 my only real issue with the different lounges was that I upgraded in order to join a colleague who was traveling business! Eventually, I was 'exceptionally' allowed to join him in the real lounge. Can't really see the point of having 2

[@nordlands8798]

@@neilrmartin1984 As mentioned above the lounges are now basically identical, so my recommendation for a similar situation would be that it is much simpler for the business passenger to join the upgrade/gold members in the the miles and smiles lounge (it is actually often less crowded, and has a higher frequent flier to tourist ratio). They need the combined lounge capacity to accomodate all the passengers with lounge access, and I do not think 1 even bigger lounge would be better. Actually it would at least be more convenient if they had additional smaller lounges out on the piers, like LH has in FRA.

[@TheCoIdestWater]

Can you please review royal air Maroc business class on the 787-9

[@andrebaumbach9447]

Yeah but tell us, what did u think of the lounge? I think u may have mentioned it but I didn't catch it....

[@ancupola1994]

They offer a good service overall

[@n1msu]

A brilliant shot of EGBE/ Cov airport at 19:32. I used to have flying lessons once every 2 weeks from there between age 12-16 (1999-2004). I still recognised it instantly! I'm not sure if this is true but I heard that the runway is one of the flattest in the UK, The only other airport I've landed at is Sywell (with an instructor) when Sywell was just a grass strip and a bloody bumpy one at that! It's paved now I have read though.

[@mattscarf]

Thanks for the ident - I always want to know what I’m flying over when I see other airports like that

[@chrisrobling]

I was on QR back to Doha and went to its lounge, which is shared w others. That lounge was enormous, but the food was terrific once you found it. Istanbul International is GORGEOUS and very, very big.

[@jusalii]

Not as gorgeous as Doha Hamad international airport 😂!

[@josephaygun8147]

it 100% is, I've flown Turkish more times then I can remember, 8 times just this year and they have amazing seats, ife selection, and especially food, I will admit the crew vary lots from flight to flight though

[@kevinfirmager9488]

Why don’t you get a Bluetooth mike?

[@keanesmith2457]

My local airport is Birmingham and when I landed from Antalya in July onboard corendon 737-800 operated for TUI the landing was just the same with the bumpy landing and coming in fast.

[@jonnylons1]

The check in girl was cute!!

[@louisstennes3]

That landing was a "love tap" Now the real thing is when you hit the first time, bounce up and come down about 100 feet further down the runway with a THUD! In the Air Force the crew would look at the navigator as we went to the crew bus. We wouldn't say anything but just look at him until he took the blame.

[@nikolaykumchev9530]

My favourite part of the Bulgarian coast at 11:28, from Sozopol on the right to Burgas on the left

[@mholtebeck]

I once had a crosswind landing at a DFW, and there were thunderstorms in the area. We made quick corrections at the end, and I heard from nearby "Don't check the pilot's underwear." And I still remember a late night flight OAK-LAS on Aloha Airlines. I wanted to ask if he knew who shot him down. I can only assume we stalled 5 feet above the runway.

[@clarkpj1]

Also known as a "code brown" by pilots.

[@Lad7478]

Welcome home but I have to say my favorite 321Neo so far has been MEA. Don’t know why I really liked the seats and the service was over the top. Hope your back feels better 😂✈️

[@rhettshipley4593]

Why do Josh and you both speed up the take off? Spoils the fun.

[@mjtallon7101]

Lovely views coming into the UK, thanks so much for sharing those -- nicely filmed!

[@noelphilips]

Thank you!

[@markclayton626]

Food looked great onboard Noel 👍

[@On-Our-Radar-24News]

How did you get the impression that Turkish Air is the best airline in Europe??

[@chimrichalds5205]

How did he get the impression that Turkey even is in Europe?

[@uzmaahmed.catmoon]

Good heavans that was a landing and a half Noel! Lovely vid dispite it. Glad you enjoyed it all things considered.

[@spidyman8853]

A few years back in 2017 I think. Was flying Turkish via Istanbul in November and it was very Windy in Istanbul. As the plane landed at the old Ataturk airport, it bounced, swayed left and then right and eventually the pilot managed to get it under control. I thought we'd crash. Even passengers were screaming. Thank God we taxied to the airport. Since then I have been nervous of flying. But, it has not stopped me flying. Just plain old nervous and especially when plane lands and I tend to grip my seat.

[@uzmaahmed.catmoon]

@@spidyman8853 sounds horrific! Glad u could overcome it.

[@waynej747]

The flight crew enjoy landing so much they do it twice! 😂

[@TheRareVideosXL]

What a wonderful flight and a great video as always.

[@noelphilips]

Thanks for watching!

[@TheRareVideosXL]

@@noelphilips you're welcome.

[@aMnezia]

Lol the Lift safe distance is funny. Imagine if people follow that haha

[@kieranrobinson4593]

That surf board placement though 👌🏼

[@gunvaldsandhaland7757]

Turkish have a real Business class on fligth in europe.Gtreat work

[@WhoDeyNati513]

When you said "Cheers" it sounded like "Charles", an homage to the current King. By the way, my condolences to you and all those in the United Kingdom on the loss of Her Majesty. Her funeral was quite beautiful. Glad we in America are strong allies with the UK.

[@tinag7381]

I would have liked to see the Biz class loo on Turkish!!!

[@benbrist]

"What's on TV" needs a "Noel Phillips Loo Review" style intro/outro

[@rodrigoarenasi]

Better than Lufthansa, no doubt about it.

[@steelspark115]

Another wonderful vacation courtesy of Noel! Much love to you and your family Noel on a safe move to Houston!

[@noelphilips]

Thank you so much!

[@ILoveQazaqstan]

He’s moving to Houston?

[@steelspark115]

@@ILoveQazaqstan Yeah he's mentioned it in his Instagram feed. Now there's a number of Houstons (Texas, BC & Scotland) which one of those it is he hasn't mentioned (for obvious reasons).

[@lucascalma605]

Well Noel, I think that considering friendly people of Istanbul, and with Istanbul as of the most beautiful airports to me, I certainly hope that it will close to being one! Who knows? BTW Noel, welcome home to the UK!

[@Mbp3Mbp3-y5i]

Not at all imprpressed with with Turkish and the horrendous way they handled a 5 hour delay at Bangkok Airport. It is easy to give an airline a good review if everything runs smoothly but it is how they handle things when something goes wrong and the way they handled matters is much more important The delay meant we missed our connecting flight to Edinburgh. Other people also missed connecting flights at Istanbul. On the flight to Edinburgh, a couple of passengers endured a 24 hour delay from Manilla and said they would NOT be flying with Turkish again Many other passengers said the same

[@inflighttravel5304]

Great video noel ! I also started my flight report channel recently do u have any tips ?

[@bora8254]

I hope you had a great time in the city, greetings from Istanbul !

[@SirCarlosMusicBMI]

I’ve been enjoying watching your channel for quite a while now. I’m just curious 🧐 Do you ever go back to certain airports and countries to give them a second chance? Thank you Noel Blessings,Carlos ✝️🙏❤️😊🇺🇸

[@maylloyd3348]

Sorry to say, but that was such a predictable ending - the most memorable time on Turkish was when he slammed into the British tarmac so hard multiple oxygen masks deployed with the shock. Surely it's not the same pilot - but hadn't we hope it is?

[@ant647448336]

Maybe an ex-Ryanair pilot haha

[@ScepticalBrit]

The guy checking the boarding passes at the boarding gate was FIT!!! 😍😍

[@DANE89]

Shit pusher.

[@nickhiscock8948]

Fit and Quite Hot looking too

[@CallieMasters5000]

He had to roll up his short sleeves to go over his massive arms.

[@toshovl]

On TK flights i used to watch live champions league football but i don't know if it's still there.

[@ianjones7488]

Birmingham is very often bumpy.

[@crestavid]

What's that old pilot school saying... "Any landing you can walk away from is a good one." ;)

[@3enLiamMichael]

Fantastic airport, Istanbul. Flew through there also on TA in 2019. Great experience.

[@noelphilips]

👍

[@k6kaysix675]

Flying and different time zones always fascinates me, essentially you're back in Birmingham from Turkey in just over an hour! Don't think you would be affected by jet lag either, but coming home from America is certainly a killer!

[@jessekiefer0206]

The airport looks amazing! Breakfast looks good! A lot of movies! Cheers 🥂

[@leandroinski1320]

Nice Video as always! Hard Landing Day today! My uncle arrived at Charlotte yesterday and had a quite firm contact with the runway. - very firm one... and I was just wondering if you ever had a hard landing. - so well, you had. Have you ever had a very hard landing?

[@rais1953]

Landing with a tail wind means you have to maintain a higher than normal ground speed to avoid stalling before you touch down.

[@frederikrasmussen606]

Stalling has nothing to do with speed.

[@rais1953]

@@frederikrasmussen606 Stalling occurs when airspeed is too low. If you have a tail wind you have to maintain enough airspeed to maintain lift which means a higher ground speed. That's why it's easier and safer to land with a head wind. That's what an airline pilot told me, but I'd heard it before from other pilots.

[@Yeviscount]

@@frederikrasmussen606 too slow, bye bye.

[@Hauntedguy27]

love your adventure’s noel!

[@craigmiller2935]

Wow £900 i mega expensive but suppose it was a late booking. Im a regular traveller to Turkey on Turkish Airlines & you can normally get a business seat for around £400 flying london-istanbul

[@DennosManCave]

Seems to be a premium flying into BHX (and MAN too).... even SYD to BHX flights are usually a few $$ more than when I do SYD to LHR

[@davidmaclachlan]

Had a bad landing like that back in the 80s on an Eastern Airlines L10-11...flight attendant was announcing welcome to Miami while passengers further back were hit by ceiling panels and wires hanging down. Bad crosswind landing. Was headed to Key West. On the return we flew out of EYW on an Eastern Express DC-3. One of the smoothest most comfortable flights ever but was weird climbing up the aisle to row 1. Engine was bubbling oil like tge Beverly Hillbillies. Lol

[@l3v1ckUK]

Have you tried the domestic terminal at Sapporo (New Chitose) yet? Everything is before security. A million restaurants/cafes, a chocolate factory and a cinema on site. It'll put that business lounge to shame with all its little areas, shops and cafes.

[@CallieMasters5000]

More like "two landings for the price of 3 or 4".

[@dannydanny9875]

1:40 she is cute, nice, great smile... give her a Tip!

[@WELSHDESI]

@ Check In counter, 2 Backpacker’s spotted! I thought they be traveling in cattle class😂

[@Dylan-bh6uj]

Never knew how stunning Istanbul airport is! Must have been a joy to have some air conditioning haha.

[@Historyjea]

Yeah same but too big and also it takes an age to taxi to runway.

[@prestwickpioneer3474]

Me at the end getting the Potable Water off the screen at L1 for the loadsheet 😅

[@mukhtarhaddadbelem5341]

Great video Noel!

[@JeffCD77]

It's always amazes me at how many European+ Countries you fly over in 3 hours, where in the US after 3 hours, you're barely half way across one.

[@tent7014]

BHX is always an interesting landing. I have flown many times around the world but BHX is always a demanding landing.

[@nigelmedcalf4148]

Aer Lingus is my favourite one because it is very frienly unfortunely very expenisve i prefer to plan on my own...oh dear its expensive but price risen sharply.

[@cabottaxi]

Great video Noel. As a professional video blogger could you do a video on how to go about claiming for flight delays ? Had the misfortune to be travelling on a 3 hour flight yesterday which was an eye watering 4 hour 40 minutes late getting to destination. Knackered.

[@anthonydavid5121]

Noel - have you ever flown LEVEL AIRLINES in and/or out of Barcelona? I'd love to watch one of you video reviews on this airline.

[@xkristianx4747]

When you said does that look like Simon Wilson 😂😂

[@lincolncityful1]

Bugger! That was hard!

[@ukmaxi]

First person to complain about the new lounge for Turkish, usually people rave about it xD.

[@airfoxtrot2006]

Great video Noel

[@noelphilips]

Thanks for watching!

[@americanneopilot]

Cool Video!! Though I believe the Meraj Airlines was an A300. An even older plane!

[@tomlangley2416]

We flew bhx - Istanbul - cape town return in February 2020 before Covid..agreed regarding Istanbul airport is a huge sprawling town on a par with Dubai but the customer service not so good..very chaotic. Fare not bad in premium economy around £43o return.

[@davidrumbelow]

Sometimes Turkish give you 2 nights free in Istanbul 5 star for business and 3 star for economy on long haul. Also if your layover is over a certain time there are free city tours. I am retired and don't work for anyone.

[@spidyman8853]

Not always, they can be a bit funny and refuse. Unfortunately staff at the old airport were rude and had no idea of the principles of customer service.

[@paulygeee]

From the footage of you entering the lounge, I count no less than 24 seats. Really confused by your take on the lounge. Visited it once-was flying SQ. Found it novel, but otherwise comprehensive and spacious. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@fightingdingo]

Thanks for another great video!

[@noelphilips]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@easterncapeexperienceonlan5940]

Would love to see what economy class is like. As always I enjoyed your show. ✌

[@thecreativecontessa]

They can get grumpy about filming in the TK lounge - they forced me to stop filming when I was last there. Thankfully, I had already gotten most of the footage I needed...😅

[@thecreativecontessa]

And I should add that I was NOT filming people, but only empty spaces with no one in them in the middle of the night!