Turkish Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | I am writing a review to express my extreme dissatisfaction and poor experience with Turkish airline in flight number (TK758) on 2nd January 2024 which was canceled due to weather condition. We arrived at the airport via 2 separate cars (costs £120) eager to return home after an enjoyable holiday, we checked in our luggage and went on our way to the gate - until we were met with the news that our flight was delayed for 2 hours (this comes after we were told the day before during the online check in that our flight had been cancelled and we were forced to book another flight). We’ve been informed by the airlines representative that we are eligible for a £10 food voucher, which I had to wait a long time to receive. After the long 2 hours had passed, we headed to the gate hopeful to board our flight - this is when we found out that the flight had been cancelled. We were forced to wait in line for an hour at the UK border control - even though we hadn’t left the country, and then went to collect our luggage, one of the suitcases had been destroyed. Then we’ve been informed that our next flight was the next day at 11am, we deny this option and chose to extend our stay in the UK until Saturday . We haven’t received a compensation for our damaged suitcase, and we had to make our way home using Taxi and train to reduce the cost. This experience left me deeply unsatisfied and disappointed

✅ Trip Verified | The rather clunky online check-in system would not allow us to check in because one of the connecting flights (on the same ticket) was with another airline. However, the airport check in was very fast. The Egyptair lounge was basic but had a range of tasty snacks (no alcohol). Boarding of this evening flight was smooth and the crew's welcome was warm. The seating was comfortable and the meal was pleasant, though again no alcohol was available. The flight operated 45 minutes late, so we missed our onward connection to Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. It took a long time and a bit of running around from one end of the huge Istanbul terminal to the other, but TK was able to reroute our flight via Bangkok 15 hours later. They provided a nice hotel (40 mins drive from the airport by free shuttle) and we were able to get some sleep at 4.30 a.m. More information on the flight delay could have been provided at Cairo airport, but otherwise we felt that TK had done everything possible to put us back on track.

✅ Trip Verified | The lounge used by TK at KLIA is very pleasant but you need to take a short bus ride to a different terminal to get to it. Once onboard the first flight, the welcome onboard was friendly with a chef taking food orders. The B777's seating is 2-2-2 but the seats were wide and comfortable with adequate storage, The food and drink options were good. TK's business lounge at Istanbul is very impressive with many food and seating options. For the second leg to Casablanca we were bussed to the aircraft, but the operation was reasonably efficient. Onboard the onboard service was professional, and the A350's 1-2-1 abreast seats were very comfortable for the regional flight. Both flights operated on time, and baggage was available without much of a wait. Overall this was an excellent experience for the price paid.

✅ Trip Verified | Our boarding passes had already been issued at the airport the night before, so we were able to go through security and straight to the marvellous TK business class lounge. At the gate, unlike all other airlines I've encountered, TK did not recognise my Australian e-visa (even though I showed a paper print-out). The rather confrontational gate supervisor took no interest in my passport, all the while looking in the passport of someone else with a different nationality and telling me that I had a problem. Eventually he conceded and waved me away saying "you may go", the way cops in police dramas talk to murder suspects being released after their interrogation. But things improved greatly from then on. The cabin crew was very friendly and efficient, the food was plentiful and tasty, and the seat was comfortable despite being from an earlier generation of business class seat. The flight arrived 50 minutes early.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew from Vienna to Istanbul to catch a connecting flight to Jakarta. Istanbul airport does not have gate information for a flight until about 1.5h prior to departure. It is also a rather large airport. By the time we found the gate information we made our way there. Due to a medical issue I spent some time in the bathroom but still managed to get to the gate 20 minutes prior to departure. Ground staff, however, insisted that we are too late and we would not be let onto the plane. We were asked if we paid for seat reservation, when I answered that we didn't, the response was: then there's nothing I can do for you. The plane was still there, people still getting on but they refused to board us. Heading to the 'Care Point', more unhelpful, unfriendly staff was encountered. In the end they extorted over 3000 Euro for a new flight the next day, 24h later. Without paying double of what the flight cost initially, they would have also cancelled our return flights. Istanbul airport is the most expensive place place I've ever been. Over 300 Euros for about 10 hours of rest in the airport hotel, 25 Euros for a McDonalds burger. The flight back from Jakarta was no different. Ground staff in IST is beyond unhelpful, extremely rude and arrogant. Avoid this airline and IST airport at all cost. Pay more elsewhere and you'll be glad to have done so!!

✅ Trip Verified | Worst airline experience I could ever imagine. My father died in February and least of all I wanted to deal with the flight and airline issues. I booked flight in January for March and when my father got worse I exchanged the flight online for 4 passengers to February. Turkish Airlines deleted my flight from the system and didn’t refund the money also didn’t notify me about the cancellation and the reason. Looked like an error. However the money was paid. I called the airline to ask why I can’t check my flight status online ? And they said your flight is deleted, submit a ticket to customer support and we will get back to you. To make it shorter they got back to me AFTER I returned back from funeral. I called about 50+ times in order to resolve THEIR mistake. When I finally got my ticket after paying another 550$ for exchange, they canceled my husband and daughters flight 48 hours before the departure and again they don’t know why and asking to submit the ticket online. Each time I called their representatives had different excuses: either their system is down or their ticketing will get back to me or they were just transferring me to Chinese line without request, I don’t speak Chinese. I had sleepless nights as my flight was canceled and airline was not resolving the issue but by dads funeral was in few days. They don’t have any support for those whose flight is within 24-48 hours or less. They just advise to submit a ticket on their website a some mysterious team will get back to you within 7 days. Even if your flight is tomorrow. So I will never ever recommend to anyone to deal with Turkish Airline if you don’t want a stress and headache. I paid $300+ for seat with bassinet and called to add my husband and child to pay for their seats with me. I was told it is impossible and I need to buy the seats at check in. At check in they said there are no available seats near me so I would have to fly 13 hours with a baby in lap. So I asked them to give us some random seats but together on the way back due to this nonsense. Also the airline could not add my infant to the reservation. They said I will have to add and pay in the airport before departure. The amount of stress I got with this airline is immense.

✅ Trip Verified | I wanted to share my personal experience with Turkish Airlines and warn you all as I got screwed over by them hard and am absolutely shocked by their level of customer service. During the Eid holidays I booked a flight from Dubai to New York with my husband to celebrate our honeymoon. Due to my chronical backpain conditions, we saved up quite some money in order to book a Business flight. All went well, up to our return flight from New York as I shockingly found out at the airport that they downgraded my seat to an Economy seat. I spoke to the staff at the counter and showed them proof that I had booked and paid for a Business class flight. You would normally think that the staff would investigate in what went wrong right? Well the complete opposite happened. Everyone was extremely rude, no one wanted to investigate and look into the issue. One of the staff even shouted and scolded at us saying we never booked Business Class in the first place. I am beyond shocked, never in my life have I witnessed such terrible customer service for an airline. We did not have much time before our flight was taking off and due to my health condition I am not able to sit up straight for such a long flight. The only option was for us to pay the upgrade of $1299 in order to get on the Business class. My husband gave his credit card and paid. Then the next shocking thing happened, the guy at the counter charged us twice the amount! He said the first payment didn't go through (even though the amount got deducted from the statement). We obviously didn't get a refund of the first payment, so in total we topped up 2600 dollar! Once we got back to Dubai, we tried reaching their ticketing and online customer service and no one is replying us or they are saying we will look into it and they don't get back to us. Honestly, shame on you Turkish Airlines!! You completely ruined it for me. Not just by your rude staff, also your incompetency to fix things and help your customers when needed. This is my warning to everyone to never fly with them! You are fine if everything goes well with your flight, but the moment you need customer service help, you can forget it.

✅ Trip Verified | Worst customer service, very rude employees. Flight should be 13:20 It was delayed at 13:20 for 10 min, then the employees were too late to appear by the desk, literally no was there and there is nobody to ask about the flight, then when they finally arrived, and we’ve been standing by the line for more than 30 minutes, the lady did not accept to let us check in first because our seat number is 11 and as she said only seats number 18-36 can check in first. After ten minutes, the flight was delayed again for another 15 minutes.

✅ Trip Verified |   I was unable to rebook my flight as their app failed consistently due to technical failures. I then tried to explain my issues to seven different staff who could not communicate in English well enough to understand, My father was unwell and I simply needed to change my departure date but their system and staff were incapable of booking me onto a new flight that Skyscanner and the app said was available.

✅ Trip Verified | Quality in reverse. Flying to Bogota from western Europe always meant that Turkish Airlines (THY) would face stiff competition from Iberia, KLM, Air France & Lufthansa. For one, passengers from western Europe needed to fly EAST or SOUTH to Istanbul and then fly WEST from IST to BOG – adding up to 4 hours to the journey when compared to the other airlines. Returning back, there was the 3 or 4 hours added to the BOG-IST journey due to a stop at Panama City (PCY) – in addition to travelling WEST/NORTH from IST. In the face of the competition, THY offered overnight free stays (in Istanbul), limousines and decent FFP rewards that compensated for such inconvenience/increased travel time. Sadly, with the changes to the FFP (Miles & Smiles) introduced on 19th February 2024, the offer from THY diminished in value. However, the biggest disincentive for business class passengers flying with Turkish Airlines on this route is the introduction of the Boeing 787-9 which – in my opinion – is a disaster. THY’s seating configuration in business class presumably aims at maximising the number of seats in a given space, but it does not work. It is natural to face directly forward when on a plane, but THY has introduced a configuration that means passengers are physically contorted when trying to sleep. I could not sleep comfortably. This was exacerbated by the feet area of the lie-flat bed, which is far too small; just turning in my sleep was virtually impossible. I felt as if I was mummified. The space was completely claustrophobic. Even when awake, I needed to twist my body to look forward. I thought to myself ‘Is this just me?’, but when I looked at other passengers’ postures they were equally ‘skew-whiff’. The windows in business class are completely redundant – they are blocked by headrest extensions that protrude to obscure virtually all of the window. I looked at all of the seats and realised that the design was fundamentally flawed, and these headrest extensions were aimed at providing privacy from adjoining passengers. However, THY appears to have done it on the cheap and applied the same seats to the window seats (which obscures the windows). It was noticeable that the ‘chef-in-the-sky’ seems to be losing favour; on previous journeys they seemed to be in abundance, but thankfully this was not the case on this flight. In my opinion, the chef-in-the-sky is a pure gimmick – they just arrange food; passengers cannot ask the ‘chef-in-the-sky’ for personalised food preferences (maybe having their meal a little later). The fact is that in one aisle, you have a ‘chef-in-the-sky’ and in the other aisle you have traditional cabin crew performing exactly the same function. Utilising the >9 hours stopover hotel, I made my way to the hotels desk and despite being assured of personalised transport - it did not materialise; when approaching my ‘personalised transport’ (a mini-bus), I challenged the member of staff who did not previously notice the codes on my boarding card indicating ‘Elite Status’ and then went on to demand to see my digital card – trying to imply that it was my fault for not presenting the digital card previously. I boarded the mini-bus because quite simply the alternative would have taken much longer to get to my hotel. All of this considered, I think I’d go with Iberia or KLM in future – it is simply not worth it with THY.