jmgriffin

You are awesome! Thank you so much! Still trying to make contact with a real person who has actually taken advantage of the free hotel during a forced layover. Will keep looking~

Read through this thread, it's loaded with info on the free hotel in IST: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1429423-faq-8-free-hotel-tour-when-connecting-ist.html

Mineau, could you post a review of your flight in 2013, including the free hotel issue? I know this is an old thread - sorry, hope you are still out and about on CC. We are facing the same situation coming up shortly. Thanks -

l1222,

Unfortunately I don't have any first hand info on the free hotel deal but I just realized that I posted my photo gallery months ago but forgot to post my full review of our Turkish Airlines flight.

You can view the full trip report here: Turkish Air Flight TK 8 – Washington-IAD to Istanbul-IST

I finally booked a round trip flight to Vancouver from Charlotte on United. I have a little over a 2 hour layover in Chicago leaving on Monday evening. I applied for the Explorer card and will get free checked bags. They said to check in at the airport in order to get the free checked bags. I am assuming that I will need to get to the airport earlier to do this and not do the online check in. Is this correct? Is there anything else I need to be doing prior to departure in May? Any advice/tips for flying will be appreciated! Also any flight etiquette I should know about!

You should be fine doing the online check-in, you just don't want to necessarily say that you're checking bags online because the system might charge you. And yes, you'll want to get to the airport a little early if you're checking a bag. Note at Charlotte-CLT Airport: "You must check in at least 45 minutes before departure (or 90 minutes if you're traveling internationally)."

I know there was some interest in a few of the past top 10 (or 7 or 12) lists I've complied and posted here so here's another. Admittedly, the other lists were likely more interesting than this one. Either way, maybe some will enjoy...

Full post with pictures and proper formatting available here: Top 12: Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights in the World

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I was browsing Wikipedia the other day looking for a ranking of the top US Domestic airlines based on passengers carried and came across this chart:

Screenshot

I had no idea that Delta was the largest airline in the world as of 2012! This got me thinking: what are Delta’s longest non-stop routes? This installment joins the others I’ve complied including:

• Top 7: Longest domestic US flights
  
• Top 10: Longest Domestic Flights in the World
  
• Top 10: World’s longest non-stop flights
  

Top 12 Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights

1. Johannesburg-JNB –> Atlanta-ATL comes in to take the lead with an 8,439 mile journey on a Boeing 777-200LR. JNB-ATL is scheduled at 16 hr 55 mins, however, the reverse route is only 15 hr 25 mins. This is currently the 2nd longest non-stop flight in the world!

2. Dubai-DXB –> Atlanta-ATL is scheduled at 15 hr 44 mins of flying and covers 7,599 miles on Delta’s Boeing 777-200LR.

3. Los Angeles-LAX –> Sydney-SYD is operated on a B777-200LR for a 15 hr 00 min flight. Total miles = 7,488.

4. Detroit-DTW –> Shanghai-PVG is on a, you guessed it, Boeing 777-200LR. The 7,137 mile flight is scheduled to take 14 hr 40 mins. Note: Sample dates I found price the flight at around $1,100 if booked through codeshare partners China Eastern and China Southern, but the price is near $1,900 if booked through Delta.

5. Atlanta-ATL –> Tokyo-NRT is one of Delta’s very few Boeing 747-400 routes covering 6,850 miles over a period of 14 hr 20 mins. Of the 16 B747 planes remaining in Delta’s fleet, 0 were purchased by Delta–all 16 of them were inherited when they merged with Northwest Airlines in 2010.

6. New York-JFK –> Tokyo-NRT is just marginally shorter than the ATL-NRT route at 6,745 miles. It is also flown on a B747-400 and is scheduled to take 14 hr 05 mins.

7. Detroit-DTW –> Seoul-ICN takes 13 hr 50 mins to fly the 6,636 mile route on a Boeing 747-400.

8. Detroit-DTW –> Beijing-PEK comes in at 6,631 miles. The 13 hr 45 min flight is operated by Delta’s Boeing 777. Note: codeshare partners China Southern and China Eastern price this flight at $1,102 but on the same dates Delta prices it at $1,890.

9. Detroit-DTW –> Nagoya-NGO = 6,552 miles and takes 13 hrs 25 mins on a B747-400.

10. Seattle-SEA –> Hong Kong-HKG is one of the newer Delta flights and comes in at #10 on the list. An Airbus A330-200 covers the 6,500 mile trip in 14 hr 11 mins. Service beings June 16, 2014 (link to article).

11. Detroit-DTW –> Tokyo-NRT is coded as flight # DL 275 and is scheduled to take 13 hr 35 mins on a Boeing 777. Total distance covered is 6,397 miles.

12. Minneapolis-MSP –> Tokyo-NRT switches between an Airbus A330-200 and Boeing 777. The distance of 5,950 miles is covered in 12 hr 50 mins.

Other Notable Mentions

• Lagos, Nigeria-LOS –> Atlanta-ATL = 5,843 miles and 13 hr 30 mins on a B767.
  
• Seattle-SEA –> Shanghai-PVG = 5,722 miles and 13 hrs 25 mins on a A330.
  
• Tel Aviv-TLV –> New York-JFK = 5,677 miles and 12 hr 05 mins on a B747.
  
• Los Angeles-LAX –> Tokyo-NRT = 5,451 miles and 11 hr 40 mins on a B747.
  
• Seattle-SEA –> Beijing-PEK = 5,407 miles and 12 hr 05 mins on a B767. Cheap prices now = $724.
  
• Seattle-SEA –> Seoul-ICN = 5,216 miles and 11 hr 10 mins on a B767. Service begins June 2, 2014.
  
• Accra-ACC –> New York-JFK = 5,111 miles and 11 hr 44 mins on a B767.
  
• São Paulo-GRU –> Detroit-DTW = 5,094 miles and 11 hr 00 mins on a B767.
  
• Paris-CDG –> Salt Lake City-SLC = 5,080 miles and 11 hr 20 mins on a B767.
  
• Rome-FCO –> Atlanta-ATL = 5,036 miles and 11 hr 10 mins on a A330.
  
• Istanbul-IST –> New York-JFK = 5,016 miles and 11 hr 06 mins on a B767. Seasonal service only.
  

Discontinued longest non-stop Delta Flights

Mumbai-BOM –> Atlanta-ATL was discontinued in 2009. It used to be the 2nd longest flight in the world and Delta’s longest flight overall at 8,510 miles. It was flown on a Delta B777-200LR. Scheduled flying time: 17 hr 55 mins!

Detroit-DTW –> Hong Kong-HKG was cancelled in August 2012. This was Delta’s 2nd longest flight for a while taking 15 hr 45 mins on a B777-200LR. The journey covered 7,857 miles, which means it would have ranked near the 11th or 12th longest flights in the world today.

Mumbai-BOM –> New York-JFK ended in October 2008, right around the time the Mumbai-Atlanta flight was announced. At 7,790 miles it also would have ranked around the 11th or 12th longest in the world taking 16 hr 00 mins on a B777-200LR.

-----------------------------------------

Full post with pictures and proper formatting available here: Weekend Blitz - Top 12: Longest Non-Stop Delta Flights in the World

In case anyone is interested, I just finished a post with the Top 12 Longest Delta flights in the world: http://weekendblitz.com/top-12-longest-non-stop-delta-flights-world/

Did the ATL-JNB (and return) this past March in Economy Comfort. Wasn't as bad as we expected, even though we went over the 17 hour point on the way over. The whole Delta crew did a super job. Originated in VPS and destination was CPT, so it was a long haul!

Cluso, what was the price difference between Economy and Economy Comfort? And did you notice a big difference in legroom? From my experience flying Economy Comfort on Delta's domestic fleet, I would rather take the exit row 9 times out of 10 over Economy Comfort.

So since SIN-EWR-SIN ends 23 November, and it's only 18 November, your list is completely inaccurate ;)

It's officially accurate now :p

I've read that the ultra-long hauls are slowly being discontinued. The sheer weight of all the fuel they have to carry eats up more fuel and makes them less economical.

I'm not sure about that, Emirates just placed a huge order for the new Boeing 777x which is all about operating ultra-long haul flights. In fact, gcmap.com put up a pretty interesting graphic showing the range of the new B777x and how Emirates will now be able to fly virtually anywhere in the world non-stop:

Also, just updated the map to include the flight that will become the new #3 in a few months:

Update: Etihad Airways has announced service from their hub in Abu Dhabi-AUH to Los Angeles-LAX. This 8,390 mile route is expected to begin June 1, 2014 and would move Etihad from not even ranking in the Top 10 to having the 3rd longest non-stop flight in the world. The airline expects to fly the route using a Boeing 777-200LR.

Unlike the aircraft in the photo, the 777-200LR is expected to have windows

I know there was some interest in a few of the past top 10 lists I've complied and posted here so here's another. Admittedly, the other lists required much more research and were likely more interesting whereas this info essentially on wikipedia. Either way, maybe some will enjoy...

Full post with pictures and proper formatting available here: Weekend Blitz - TOP 10: WORLD’S LONGEST NON-STOP FLIGHTS

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So we've covered the TOP 7: LONGEST DOMESTIC US FLIGHTS and the TOP 10: LONGEST DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN THE WORLD, but what about the longest non-stop flights in the world? Airplane manufacturers are always pushing the envelope trying to design planes that fly faster, farther and more efficiently. So far, the plane that has held the record is an Airbus A340-500 with a range of 9,000 nautical miles (10,357 miles) but it's interesting to see that Boeing largely dominates the ultra long-haul list.

So, what are the top 10 longest (by distance) non-stop flights in the world?

1. Sydney-SYD <--> Dallas-DFW is the clear leader at 8,578 miles (13,804 km). Qantas flies the route using their 747-400ER (more details on this specialized aircraft here) at a schedule time of 15 hr 25 min. Pretty crazy that this thing carriers 364 people nearly 9,000 miles w/o refueling.

2. Johannesburg-JNB <--> Atlanta-ATL comes in at 8,439 miles (13,582 km) and is operated by Delta's Boeing 777-200LR, taking 16 hr 55 min.

3. Dubai-DXB <--> Los Angeles-LAX comes in 3rd aboard Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER or, at times, their Airbus A380-800. The 16 hr 30 min flight covers 8,339 miles (13,420 km). Cool part? The A380 model seats 489 people! "Emirates A380 offers 14 Private First Class Suites, 76 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 399 spacious seats in Economy Class."

4. Dallas-DFW <--> Brisbane-BNE is another Qantas route served by their Boeing 747-400ER. At 8,303 miles (13,363 km) they'll get you there in appx 16 hrs.

5. Dubai-DXB <--> Houston-IAH takes 16 hr 20 min on Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER and covers a distance of 8,168 miles (13,144 km).

6. Dubai-DXB <--> San Francisco-SFO comes in at #6 at a distance of 8,103 miles (13,041 km) on Emirates' Boeing 777-300ER. The scheduled flying time is 16 hr 00 min.

7. New York-JFK/Newark-EWR <--> Hong Kong-HKG -- this route is basically a tie between United Airlines departing from Newark-EWR and Cathay Pacific departing from New York-JFK. Technically the Cathay Pacific route is 8,072 miles, just 7 miles further than United's flight. The 16 hr 05 min flight is aboard CX's`Boeing 777-300ER.

8. Doha-DOH <--> Houston-IAH is operated by Qatar Airways' Boeing 777-200LR. At 8,047 miles (12,951 km), the 16 hr 20 min has been in service since 2009.

9. Dubai-DXB <--> Dallas-DFW gives Emirates its 4th route in the top 10 longest non-stop flight. The 8,040 mile trip takes 16 hr 20 min and, unlike the other 3 Emirates flights, uses a Boeing 777-200LR, not 777-300ER.

10. Johannesburg-JNB <--> New York-JFK rounds out the list at #10. The 7,969 mile (12,825 km) flight takes 16 hr 05 min on a South African Airbus A340-600.

Shout-out to: Newark-EWR <--> Singapore-SIN which held the title as world's longest flight for nearly 10 years (service ends Nov 23, 2013). The all-business class Airbus A340-500 flew the planned distance of 9,535 miles (15,345 km) in 18 hr 50 min. Interestingly, despite Emirates having 4 of the top 10 longest flights, Singapore's next longest flight isn't even in the top 30.

Future record holder? Turkish Airlines has announced plans for a route from Istanbul-IST to Sydney-SYD, 9,293 miles apart. This route would beat current record holder, Dallas-Sydney, by nearly 800 miles. More details on the announcement here: Turkish Airlines to start world’s longest non-stop flight, to Australia. The airline says they'll likely use a Boeing 777-300ER on the route.

Full post with pictures and proper formatting available here: Weekend Blitz - TOP 10: WORLD’S LONGEST NON-STOP FLIGHTS

Longest non stop commercial flight is

Singapore Airlines SQ 21, EWR to SIN

9535 miles = 8285 NM

18Hr 50 Min

DFW-BNE/SYD on QF is a good one of you want a long flight.

Just created a similar post on the top 10 longest flights in the world:

Top 10 Non-Stop Flights in the World, check it out here: http://www.weekendblitz.com/top-10-worlds-longest-non-stop-flights/

My only complaint was it was very difficult to book seats. We had to call several times; 30 days out for the IAD-IST legs and 7 days out for the IST-TLV legs, and even then, they ended up changing aircrafts and we got totally different seats.

I'm running into the same problem on a flight we have booked for December. We were able to select our seats for the Business Class legs at 3 months from departure but was told that the seats for the Economy legs can only be reserved 7 days from departure.

The bad: we'll be in the middle of our trip and likely won't think to call TK to select seats.

The good: it sounds like all passengers are required to follow these rules so it's not like you're at a disadvantage

I think we're going to book-but have a few questions:

1. Our flight arrives in IST at 15:55 and departs the next day at 8:15 so, we qualify for the free hotel-will they let us retrieve our checked bags to take to the hotel? Same thing on the return-arrive from Venice at 17:45 depart for Houston the next day at 13:05.

 

2. We would like to explore the city-will we need a visa? Thanks

There's any extensive thread on this over at FlyerTalk, it should answer all of your questions and more: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1429423-faq-8-free-hotel-tour-when-connecting-ist.html

Are these pictures of standard coach cabin seats? If so, what aircraft?

 

Thx

Yes, that's a standard coach on a Turkish Air Airbus 340-300 about to take off from Washington-IAD to Istanbul-IST.

It looks like the IAH-IST route is operated by a Boeing 777-300ER, who knows if that will be the case by Apr 2013 though. They're configured with 28 Business + 63 Comfort + 246 Economy seats.

Here's a video someone shot while flying "Comfort Class":

Please do:)

We are travelling Manchester UK to Singapore via Istanbul. We were wary about booking as the price was so much cheaper than all the other airlines (why?), but reviews are good, so we decided to risk it

No need to be wary, Turkish has been releasing some very cheap fares over the past few months, mostly because they've been adding routes to the US like crazy. The Houston route is new and they just announced a route to Boston starting in 2014.

I've already had a few comments that I missed a few flights. I've updated the main post here, of course, Weekend Blitz - TOP 10: LONGEST DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN THE WORLD. Here are the additions (causing some to move down on the list):

UPDATE 8/10: Added AMS-BON route, thanks Scottbee/Boffin.

Worth noting: A 3rd place medal goes to the Amsterdam-AMS – Bonaire-BON route flown by Arkefly’s 767-300 for 4,844 miles, scheduled flight time is 11h 0 mins.

Longest non-stop domestic flight within contiguous country

Update 8/10: PlymSpotter points out that:

• The longest domestic flight in Russia is actually AER-KHV at 4,287 miles
  
• Moscow-VKO – PKC is actually a few miles longer than the DME-PKC route.
  
• DME-UUS is 10 miles longer than SVO-UUS.
  
• Updates have been made below.
  

Winner: Khabarovsk, Russia-KHV to Adler, Russia-ADL clocking in at 4,287 miles is flown on a Transaero B767-200 in 9h 30 mins. Interestingly, the Transaero website says that they fly the route in 4,271 miles making them either guilty of a typo or magicians.

Runner(s) up: Just about all Moscow airports (VKO, DME and SVO) fly direct to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport-PKC (I mean is that really necessary, Russia?), super impressive that these flights don’t pass over borders or water:

• Moscow-VKO – PKC = 4,228 miles on a Transaero 767-300.
  
• Moscow-DME - PKC = 4,224 miles. The flight takes 8h 40mins on Transaero’s B777-300.
  
• Moscow-SVO - PKC = 4,203 miles. This flight takes just 8h 05mins on Aeroflot’s B777-300ER (Rossiya Airlines sells tickets as well).
  

great article, but... The Netherlands should be #3 with

 

AMS-BON being further (4844 miles - flown by Arkefly) than either;

 

- Paris-ORY - Cayenne, French Guinea-CAY (ISO Country: FRANCE) - 9h 15m flight - 4,401 miles. Flown by Air Caraibes & Air France from ORY; or

- Paris-ORY - Fort-de-France, Martinique-FDF (ISO Country: FRANCE) - 8h 50m flight - 4,259 miles. Flown by Air France, Corsair International and Air Caraibes from ORY.

Thanks for pointing that out! Update has been made.

Just wondering if anyone has recent experience flying with Turkish Air. We would save quite a bit of $$- but would have a 4 hour drive to Houston with layovers in Istanbul both ways. The agent I spoke with said due to the length of the layovers we would be provided with a free hotel room at the airport. Is the process fairly easy or not worth the trouble? Thanks

Yes, very true about the free hotels. If you have a "forced" layover, ie there's no other flight leaving that day then you get free lodging! Should be ample time to pop into Istanbul to see some stuff.

We also will be flying on Turkish Air next month (for $233 lee pp than any other carrier) We'll be on a non stop JFK-Istanbul. I've been reading that it has a very high satisfaction rating and is considered "one of the best" European carriers.

I flew TK last year from Washington-IAD to Istanbul-IST in economy and was very pleased. Their service was excellent! I'll try to find and upload a few pictures of the cabin....

EDIT: Uploaded a few here: http://www.weekendblitz.com/turkish-air-photos/

I realize that this post might come off as borderline spammy (as I'm reviving a dead thread and linking to a blog), but I used a few of the suggestions I found on this post when researching and wanted to share the end result. Hopefully someone will find it interesting!

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Could only include 6 images, the full post can be found here: Weekend Blitz - TOP 10: LONGEST DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN THE WORLD

You'd think that this was a cut and dry topic, but it's far from it. What flights should count? Non-stop only? Contiguous countries? Territories and dependencies (they do often have the same currency and government as their mother country). As a result we've had to categorize the list a bit. We'll start with a little background: the IATA (International Air Transport Association) defines "domestic" as two places with the same ISO country code. Contrary to the IATA definition, however, the regular passenger considers domestic flights as those where they do not need to pass immigration on departure and arrival.

LONGEST NON-STOP DOMESTIC FLIGHT

The winner: St. Denis, Reunion-RUN to Paris-CDG operated by Air Austral covering 5,809 miles in 11h 10mins on a B777. This is same ISO code to same ISO code, so quite technically it's the longest non-stop domestic flight in the world.

In addition to the CDG-RUN route, Air France, Air Caraibes and Corsair International operate flights from Paris-ORY to Reunion-RUN, which is just 7 miles shorter than the CDG-RUN route for a total of 5,802 miles.

Runner up: USA coming in for a strong second with New York-JFK to Honolulu-HNL at 4,983 miles in 10 hours and 50 minutes. Operated by Hawaiian Airlines on an Airbus A330.

Worth noting: Either France had a much larger Empire that I realized or they've just maintained control of the territories longer than say Portugal or Great Britain and can therefore be qualified as domestic. Either way, with these two flights below, France's total has jumped to 3 of the longest domestic flights in the world.

- Paris-ORY - Cayenne, French Guinea-CAY (ISO Country: FRANCE) - 9h 15m flight - 4,401 miles. Flown by Air Caraibes & Air France from ORY.

- Paris-ORY - Fort-de-France, Martinique-FDF (ISO Country: FRANCE) - 8h 50m flight - 4,259 miles. Flown by Air France, Corsair International and Air Caraibes from ORY.

Longest non-stop domestic flight within contiguous country

Winner: Moscow-DME to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky Airport-PKC clocking in at 4,224 miles. The flight takes 8h 40mins on Transaero’s B777-300. A very close second, but technically the same market, is Moscow-SVO to PKC, coming in just 21 miles shorter at 4,203 miles. This flight takes just 8h 05mins on Aeroflot’s B777-300ER (Rossiya Airlines sells tickets as well). Super impressive that this flight doesn’t pass over borders or water.

Runner-up: The second longest domestic flight is from Sakhalin, Russia-UUS to Moscow-SVO for a distance of 4,140 miles. Aeroflot’s Airbus A330 makes the trip in 8h 50 mins.

For comparison: The longest non-stop flight in the contiguous 48-states is Miami-MIA to Seattle-SEA on American Airlines at 2,724 miles in 6 hours 40 minutes. So, yes, if there’s one thing Russia is still better than us at, it’s being fricken enormous–really giving Texas a run for its money.

LONGEST DOMESTIC FLIGHT WITH STOP

The winner: Paris-CDG to Papeete-PPT with a stop in Los Angeles-LAX. The cool thing? LAX couldn’t be anymore perfectly in route: the total distance with a stop at LAX of 9,765 miles – exactly matching the total distance if it could be flown directly. The flight is operated by both Air France (on a B777) and Air Tahiti Nui (Airbus A340) and takes a total of 22h 30mins: 12 hours from CDG-LAX, a 2 hour stop and a final 8h 30 mins on the LAX-PPT leg.

Now should this officially count? Ehh, French Polynesia is just a territory but…Francois Hollande is the president. They do use their own currency, though. Either way, it’s on this list and pretty cool that you can fly CDG-LAX-PPT all on the same Flight #, without ever having to deplane (I think), although I’m sure you would at least want to!

Runner-up: Houston-IAH to Guam-GUM with a connection in Honolulu-HNL. Flight #201 is operated by United Airlines and is technically 7,705 miles, though you could argue that only the direct distance of 7,446 miles should be counted. The total westbound trip takes 17h 1min: IAH-HNL in 8h 12mins, a 1hr 4 min stop and a 7hr 45 min flight from HNL-GUM.

Same debate applies with Guam as did Papeete, should it be included? Well Obama is the President, they have a governor and they use the US $ as their only currency. Sounds like ‘Merica to me.

FRICKEN COOLEST DOMESTIC FLIGHT?

Winner: RAF Brize Norton, UK-BZZ to RAF Mount Pleasant Airport-MPN (Stanley, Falklands) would come in at 7,840 miles if flown direct but since they have to stop for refueling in Ascension Island-ASI the total is 8,096 miles.

But what’s so cool about this flight? The British Ministry of Defence (sic–as with most words in the Queen’s version of English) arranges the flights and sells only between 10-30 seats per flight to civilians. It used to be flown entirely on Royal Air Force (RAF) equipment, but now is contracted out to different charter companies. They fly a few times a week and sell seats that aren’t needed for British Military personnel. Don’t expect any deals, though: the flights will run you about £2,222 roundtrip ($3,450!). More info available here.

Weekend Blitz - TOP 10: LONGEST DOMESTIC FLIGHTS IN THE WORLD