Turkish Airlines Business Class Istanbul (IST) to Zagreb (ZAG)
This was without a doubt my favorite 1 1/2 hour flight in recent memory. It was a short flight, but well handled, I actually felt like they wanted me to enjoy my travel. This is unlike about every other airline, which seems to just want you in and out with as little interaction as possible…give us your money and shut up and take what you get…
The strangest part of the flight, however, was prior to boarding. There was a pair of what I am guessing were Croatian immigration officials (they were not wearing airline uniforms) sitting at a random airport table near the departure gate. They were regularly calling out to the people gathered to come see them if they were on the flight to Zagreb. At first, I ignored them, as they didn’t look legit. However, after seeing everyone else queue up to have their passports examined, I got in line. I’m not sure exactly what they were looking for, maybe just verifying names, pictures, and flight info for the international flight, but they did stamp boarding passes, not passports. I have seen this done at the gate counter, but never just at a random seat near the gate, and in plain clothes.
