Turkish Airlines

✅ 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.

✅ Trip Verified | I recently experienced significant challenges while traveling from Isfahan to Dallas, including a missed connecting flight in Istanbul. Despite a minor delay of one to four minutes, seven others and I were denied boarding. The conduct of the staff during this interaction lacked both courtesy and constructive problem-solving. Upon reaching the customer care counter, we encountered a disarray of conflicting information from various personnel. Despite requesting to speak with a supervisor, we were met with contradictory statements regarding their availability. Eventually, a woman claiming to be the supervisor approached us, exhibiting unprofessional behavior and ultimately dismissing our concerns without offering any viable solutions. During our three-hour ordeal, it became apparent that the airline's response was inconsistent. Of the eight passengers who missed the Dallas flight, only two received accommodation for the following day, inclusive of hotel stays and meal arrangements. Three passengers received tickets and meals but were left without lodging for the night. I was provided with a solitary meal voucher. In contrast, a family of five who encountered a similar situation, missing their flight to Chicago, were offered five complimentary tickets without any provision for meals or lodging. This disparity underscores a significant inconsistency in the airline's policies and customer treatment. Despite these challenges, I was compelled to purchase a new ticket from Istanbul to Dallas at a considerably higher cost ($1327) than my original four-leg itinerary ($1052). Upon returning to the United States, I submitted a complaint through the airline's designated Feedback Form. However, the promised response within seven days was not fulfilled; it took a total of 16 days to receive a reply. Regrettably, the response appeared disconnected from the detailed grievances outlined in my initial complaint, indicating a lack of thorough consideration. Subsequent attempts to address my concerns via customer service calls proved equally futile. Despite numerous inquiries regarding escalation to a supervisor or a competent representative, I have yet to receive a satisfactory resolution. This persistent inability to engage with competent authorities reflects a concerning disregard for customer care. In conclusion, I am deeply disappointed by the inadequacies demonstrated by Turkish Airlines' customer service.

✅ Trip Verified | This flight had a one & half hour stopover at Cancun. Flight left slightly behind schedule nevertheless arrived in Istanbul on time. Service onboard was so so with crews disappearing after serving meals and people had to call for water. Food quantity wasn't enough for this twelve and half hour flight. Upon landing at IST it took us almost an hour taxiing to our gate.

✅ Trip Verified | Got greeted with a new policy for hand luggage. 40€ fee to have to check in my hand baggage for overweight. New policy max 8 kg for both personal item and hand luggage. So they expect people to pack air?

✅ Trip Verified |   My experience with Turkish Airlines on my flight from Zurich to Istanbul and on to Zanzibar was extremely disappointing and frustrating. Firstly, I had to wait on the plane for three hours during the flight from Zurich to Istanbul due to two technical issues as well as passengers disembarking. These delays were annoying and caused considerable inconvenience. When I arrived in Istanbul, I was informed that my onward flight to Zanzibar was overbooked and I could only fly the next day. Turkish Airlines offered me a "5-star hotel" to stay overnight, but this was almost 50 minutes away from the airport, which caused additional inconvenience. Despite the assurance of a refund of 600 euros, which Turkish Airlines had promised after numerous feedback messages, I have still not received this amount after 12 feedback messages. When I asked again three months later and tried to collect the money in person, I was referred from Istanbul to Zurich and then back to Istanbul. In Zurich, I was finally told that a cash payment was not possible. Despite further attempts to resolve the issue via the feedback form, I received a reply yesterday claiming that the money had already been paid out, which is not the case. When I then contacted customer service in Switzerland, I was transferred to customer service for feedback, where I spoke to an extremely unfriendly, incomprehensible and aggressive person. This experience was incredibly unpleasant, I have never had such an unfriendly person on the phone before. Overall, the customer service and service provided by Turkish Airlines is unacceptable. The unresolved issues, lack of communication and unfriendly staff make this airline a disappointing choice for travelers.

✅ Trip Verified | Paid for premium economy but they made an error and switch my seats to the back and were rude about it. Do not fly on this embarrassment of an airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Three weeks before my scheduled flight, I contacted Turkish Airlines' customer service to confirm my ticket reservation. Despite providing my reservation code, the two different representatives informed me twice, that my ticket did not exist and had been cancelled and I had to buy a new one. This forced me to purchase a new ticket, which cost double the price of my original booking. I later discovered through Turkish Airlines' own online system that my initial ticket was still valid, leading to a situation where I had two active tickets for the same flight. Realizing this, I cancelled the newly bought ticket within two hours of purchase. Unbelievably, I was charged a 200 CHF cancellation fee for a ticket I had bought solely due to misinformation provided by their team. My attempts to get refunded for this charge have been fruitless. Despite multiple communications and a formal complaint, all I've received are responses that range from irrelevant to denying any record of my calls—contrary to their claim that all calls are recorded. This experience has left me deeply disappointed and questioning the integrity of Turkish Airlines' customer service. The lack of accountability and transparency in handling what was clearly an error on their part is unacceptable.

Not Verified | I paid for a round trip and set my return flight as an open ticket, I am calling Turkish Airlines every day to setup my flight and they are telling me daily that they can not setup my ticket because the airport code changed and they need to fix the issue. I have done everything they asked me to do (wrote feedback, emails) etc. and nothing works, I've been waiting, calling them for 3 weeks and for 10 days waiting to fix the airport code which is 3 letters and they keep saying it is in progress and will call me back in 2-3 hours and they never call me back. They refuse to provide any details about what is being done to solve the issue, what has been done until now, a phone number of a supervisor, nothing. I am getting the feeling that they don't want to fly by back home with the ticket that I already paid them for and they want me to buy a new ticket. On top of that they are asking me to pay almost the full amount of a new ticket to setup the date for departure for my open ticket that I paid already (I paid for the round trip). The Feedback department just hang up on me, refused to provide any details and said, that I need to wait because the feedback is in progress (has been in progress for 10 days and no updates). Refused to provide supervisor information, phone number, name or to connect me with him to solve the issue.

✅ Trip Verified | Worst flight I've ever had. The departure was delayed making our connection from Istanbul to Belgrade extremely tight. We had to run from terminal C to F, which is a long way. We tried getting a ride on one of the golf cart-like shuttles, but were told no. The outdated entertainment system included a networking port (RJ45) and headphone connections on the arm rest, which I haven't seen in 30 years. The stewardess was mildly rude and nowhere to be found outside of meal service. The food was minimum quality.

✅ Trip Verified | Overall decent airline, entertainment was fine. Food was not good, and the check in process is a joke because they charge for seat selection (even at online check in time). Our 4 year was seated separately to us, eventually it was resolved. The free WIFI didn't work.