Nathan's Insights

Wednesday 07 June 2023
Highlights: The journey home begins, Turkish Airline Business Class Lounge

Today I begin the long journey home with my first flight leaving at 13:30 for Singapore. This is a rare midday international flight for me with means a relaxing morning before leaving for the airport.

After a nice buffet breakfast I checked out at 09:45, which was supposed to be 15 minutes early for my pick up but the car was here already which was a good start. The drive to Istanbul Airport is quite long and leaving from such a central spot in the city means a lot of slow traffic. I arrived around 10:40 so just less than an hour.

You must go through security just to get into the airport. I lined up at the Singapore Airlines business class counters which took nearly as long as the economy lines. The big bonus was the Fast-path access which saw me clear customs and security in just a few minutes.

From here I changed my remaining Turkish Lira to US Dollars getting a terrible exchange rate but only one company airside.

Next up was a visit to the Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge (review here) which I had access due to flying Turkish Airlines’ Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines in business class. I was very happy to redeem this 10.5 hours flight in business class using points.

The flight boarded early and departed on time. I was in the air and on the way to Singapore as the first leg home. Once this flight is completed I have a very long transit there followed by a short Singapore to Kuala Lumper (Malaysia) and then finally followed by a direct flight from there to Melbourne.