Turkish Airlines review by M Cohen
11 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
JFK-IST Business Class. The cabin crew were very polite and friendly. The seats were outdated when
compared to other airlines but still comfy. Much better than the Swiss A332 Business Class seats. We
were offered unlimited champagne and orange juice. There were 5 others in J class with me so the
flight was pretty private. There were 3 entree choices, 4 hot meal choices and 3 dessert choices. The
wine List was great and simple. We were offered snacks before having breakfast. Sandwiches, salads,
pastries, drinks etc. I arrived Istanbul very relaxed and ready for business.
Turkish Airlines review by B Harrison
6 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
Athens-Istanbul Business Class. Excellent service on board. Wide proper business class seats on Boeing
737. Hot towels, champagne before take-off. Mezze type meal on china with metal cutlery, fine wines.
This airline provides a real business class product in Europe.
Turkish Airlines review by Brett Watson
2 September 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
IST-BDR and DAL-IST both in economy. Two short domestic flights of close to an hour, with both on
737-800's. Seat pitch very tight so glad flight was not much longer as quite cramped and potential to
become uncomfortable. Snack and drink served quickly even though flight duration was short. FA's
efficient rather than friendly; English sometimes patchy, but they did well to complete the cabin
service in time. Overall, fine for short flights.
Turkish Airlines review by K Balazs
21 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
BUD-IST-KWI. The staff is okay, but not always that helpful and some of them, having
problems with English. Food was alright, but the not the best I had on planes. Legroom was just
enough, while someone sitting next to me in the middle seat, forced me to bend over the aisle all
the time from IST to KWI. Worst was the layover of 8 hours at Istanbul Airport and the music they
played before taking off.
Turkish Airlines review by Kerem Arig
10 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating : 
ORD-IST-ADB-IST-ORD. O'Hare to Istanbul is non-stop, however, is a long time (10.5 hrs and 11.5 on
the way back), which is alleviated by the service. There are two sets of full meals served and snack &
beverage service in between. Inflight entertainment offers 2-3 movies, daily news in the beginning of
the flight and film about the destination. Crew members are diligent and helpful, speaking English at
least enough to communicate. Planes to Istanbul and back are Airbus 340. Clean, bright and
comfortable. Flight feels better especially when seat next to you is empty.
Turkish Airlines review by Boris Drenkov
9 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
SOF-IST-HKG-IST-SOF: a mediocre experience. The first leg was on a shabby 734. The food and drink
service was kept to the minimum but for a flight time of less than 40 min, one should not complain.
The second leg was worse. The plane was an Airbus 340 with very uncomfortable seats. Food was usual,
but cold, so uneatable. There was no alcohol except for beer, which I find weird. The return
experience was more on the positive side. The food was better - cold cuts and sushi which neutralized
the problem with the cold meal. This time there was wine - only red. 8 hours at IST waiting for the
connecting flight.
Turkish Airlines review by Mike Keenan
7 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
LHR-IST. Not a big fan of LHR end especially T3 at this time in the morning - once thru security, it
was bedlum! T3 has got worse over the years and now there is no quiet place to sit and only shops,
shops and more shops! The flight was surprisingly good. I've not flown Turkish for about 5 years and
this flight was on their new A330. Whilst not the biggest fan of the interior color scheme, the seats
were comfortable (Y Class), lots of leg room, great entertainment system, food tasty and adequate for
the 3hr 20 flight. The crew were helpful and attentive.
Turkish Airlines review by S Alessandri
2 August 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
FCO-IST return. Smiling and professional crew and food surprisingly
good, with generous portions. Check in Rome very quick. Check in at n
Istanbul can be chaotic, so used their "online check in" (but you still
have to get your boarding pass from a special counter) and avoided the
long queue.
Turkish Airlines review by Johannes Heintze
29 July 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
FRA to IST and back Economy. TK uses Lufthansa Lounges at Frankfurt. The
lunch is good - cabin crew with a smile for the passengers. They
improved their service in the last 4 years, clean planes and fast check-
in.
Turkish Airlines review by Bruno Serrien
12 July 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
IST-TLV business class. Arrived from Singapore. Got my boarding pass
through a very chaotic transit desk (no business class counter, just
push yourself through). TK Lounge Istanbul is good, showers available,
watch out for the "paper" towels). Total chaos when boarding the plane,
departing lounge =shared with the passengers going to Hamburg. Old 737
plan,3+3 config, middle seat in Business blocked. Crew, smiles and
efficient, food surprisingly delicious which is a huge improvement for
Turkish. They now seem to use DO&CO, an Austrian caterer servicing
excellent food. Will not hesitate flying Turkish again.
Turkish Airlines review by Stephane Bercher
19 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
Madrid-Istanbul-Madrid, economy. Flight left from new Terminal 4 in
Madrid, which is spacious and very modern. MAD-IST flight left 20
minutes behind schedule due to late arrival of the inbound aircraft from
IST, but we made up some time in the air and arrived almost ont-ime.
Plane was a Boeing 737-800 with leather seats. Seat pitch average.
Onboard service basic, only passed once to offer drinks a meal together.
Had pasta and was very bland. Return trip better. The cabin crew was
attentive, offering pre-meal drinks, a nice meal, more drinks, and
finally offered 2 rounds of tea and coffee. On both flights a movie, in
English, was shown. Overall Turkish Airlines offers a very good product,
way better than Iberia out of Madrid.
Turkish Airlines review by Victor Mete
17 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
ORD-IST-ORD. A340 and cabin crew very attentive and spoke many
languages. IFE excellent with first-run movies and music. Food was a cut
above the industry standard, and seating roomy.
Turkish Airlines review by D O'Connor
13 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
SIN-IST-SIN economy on new B-737. The flights were punctual, crew were
pleasant, food acceptable and price was excellent. I had misgivings
about travelling on Turkish Airlines but I would happily do so again. I
usually travel Qantas (from Melbourne) but didn't want to backtrack all
the way from London to Istanbul. This route saved me 8 hours and $400.
The service, food and IFR were almost as good.
Turkish Airlines review by Hans Kroes
10 May 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
Best service, friendly personnel and convenience on board. I do not
understand comments as Turkish Airlines is in my opinion, improving day
by day.
Turkish Airlines review by C Hazelton
28 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
BKK-IST-LHR. Business Class. I had to fly Turkish Ailines because all
other flights from Bangkok were full due to the 'Songkram' festival.
The journey to Istanbul wasn't too bad - except that the reclining seat
wasn't doing that. After some mechanical work by the crew it was
eventually sorted. The food wasn't too bad and the inflight
entertainment good. IST-LHR was awful. The seats for many passengers
didn't work properly and inflight entertainment was non-existent for
about the first hour. I'm sure that there must be better airlines at
cheap prices. Finally as a partially disabled passenger I was never
offered any special consideration. But this will be a familiar story for
many disabled fliers on a lot of airlines.
Turkish Airlines review by Pornthep Tantipanichkul
27 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
CPH-IST-BKK in Economy Class. Old 737-800 on CPH-IST. Very full flight.
Delayed for 20 mins due to slow check-in. Only reading materials in
Turkish were provided. Crews spoke some English and when demanded
something, they generally gave you right away. Nice but no smile. IFE
poor. They showed only Turkish films. I would suggest catching TK short
haul flights if you are into reading in a quiet atmosphere. But IST-BKK
was exceptional. 80% full. Crews smiled and spoke good English. Toilet,
very clean. This A332 even had a cutting-edge PTV showing Thai movies!
(though no announcements in Thai, which was pretty impolite since a
quarter of passengers were Thai.) Very nice colors in the plane - blue
and pink - matched with the outfits of the crews. Onboard, they
distributed some package of toiletries. Seats were spacious with good
legroom. Food, not so good. Only one kind, no choices. No menu. But
overall, IST-BKK very pleasant. The service was fine. The pilots made
and announcement in English for some time and arrived before the
scheduled time. TK would be even better if they concerned more about
passenger' needs and used newer planes. TK usually has a pretty strict
rule on baggage allowance.
Turkish Airlines review by Mohammad Dada
15 April 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
LHR-IST-KHI-IST-STD in Economy. Best price I could find for this route.
The aircraft were 737-800 (except IST-STD where A321 was used). Seats
were simple but clean and comfortable. Minimal inflight entertainment
but comfortable seats made up for it. The crew were professional but
could work on their English and friendliness. The meal options were
limited and in one flight not available. All this backed up by a great
airport in Istanbul to kill the 5 hours in transit. Definately value for
money for the price they offer unless a smiling crew and high tech
inflight entertainment is considered worth paying an extra £50.
Turkish Airlines review by Bruno Serrien
29 March 2007 Customer Trip Rating :
SIN-IST-TLV business class. Lounge in Singapore is good. Airbus 330-200
is surprisingly good giving ample space. Staff onboard pleasant and
efficient. Seats relatively comfortable, inclined lie-flat, it takes
almost 10 seconds pushing before the seat reacts, so be patient.
Excellent entertaining system, the only minus is that there is no way to
shut it off. Another minus point is the food, which is really bad, even
the coffee was substandard. I would even consider it bad on "economy".
Turkish Airlines lounge in Istanbul is great, showers, huge amount of
space, food, drinks and good coffee, a great area for little kids,
specially for them only, so they won't disturb others. Smooth transit
to next plane. Everything on time. Generally you get for what you pay,
price/quality is OK.
Turkish Airlines review by Aftab Aziz
26 March 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
Dublin-Istanbul-Karachi return. The plane was Boeing 737-800. The flight
service was reasonable. The cabin crew were polite and professional.
Legroom wasnt enough for 4.50hr flight. We got hotel in istanbul city on
request from hotel desk and it was near blue mosque. The stop over was
22 hours therefore we planned it. Pick and drop facility was
satisfactory. Flight to Karachi and return journey were more or less
same. The inflight entertainment were terrible and I tried to sleep as
much as possible. On my return journey I took extra bottles of water and
didnt bother for refills. On return flight plane was half full so we
took entire row and slept. Airport facilities were good and I was
impressed. But the best bit is I booked online. The price was the best
after searching for hours. Plus it remained same till 2 days prior to
departure. Seat allocation was easy as was meal selection. I didnt had
to reconfirm either.
Turkish Airlines review by Al Kouvch
19 February 2007 Customer Trip Rating : n/a
IST-FRU in Business. New A-330 with hard shell angled seats - easily the
most uncomfortable business class seat I've ever flown in. Very hard,
narrow. Food service very bad - a tasteless starter and they ran out of
the only palatable main course by the time my turn came in row 3 - and
the section was at most 50% full. On the bright side, a 17 inch screen,
VOD with an amusing selection of Chinese and international movies, and
about 60" of legroom. IST-VIE in Economy. Brand new 737-700, the best
economy seat I've flown. About 35" pitch. One thing that I found
consistent about THY Economy is good quality of food - can't remember
one bad meal in several years of regular flying.
Turkish Airlines review by David Morgan
13 February 2007
AMS-IST-AMS. Booked a flight on the website for e210 and chose to
reserve rather with price guarantee rather than pay immediately. When I
tried to pay before the reservation expired the price suddenly became
e1800! I made the booking again and paid and it cost me e290. So a loss
of e80 thanks to THY. I tried to call about it and ended up sending an
email. I got a read receipt but no answer. No reply to a written letter
either. In general I found their service to be surly and bordering on
rude.
Turkish Airlines review by Michael Hillard
8 February 2007
IST- SIN return in economy. I have done this return trip twice recently
and need to reinforce the point made about the space taken up by the
entertainment system box under the seat in front. The new Airbus 330s
have very comfortable, firm seats and cabin service is efficient and
friendly enough. In addition, the seatback video facility is a clear
bonus. However, even though the amount of legroom seems quite
satisfactory, it is extremely uncomfortable not to be able to stretch
your legs out properly under the seat in front, on a flight which in
winter takes at least 10 hours outbound and anything up to 12 hours
inbound. I am not exactly tall either. Fortunately the second return
flight was pretty empty and I had two seats to myself, which made
things more comfortable during the 12hr 5 mins flying time.
Turkish Airlines review by Sow Amadou
7 February 2007
Geneva to Addis Ababa via Istanbul. This was my first flight with this
airline and I was pleasantly surprised, especially on the GVA-IST leg :
new and clean aircraft (A320 series), good food and decent service. The
IST-ADD leg is more on the basic side. The fare was very competitive.
Turkish Airlines review by Ingo Schnaitmann
5 February 2007
STR-IST-BKK return. Flying this route with Turkish in Business now for
serveral years. You are able to fly from STR to BKK with short
interchanging times in IST avoiding the big European hubs. During the
years we have seen Turkish Airlines standard going down. Now this year
for the first time their quality shows signs of improvement. New
aircrafts (outbound A330, inbound the old A340 but ok) and crew becoming
more friendly. Still there are things missing. Priority security check
and boarding for BC passengers in IST or priority baggage handling. Food
service on board remains bad. So when travelling be advised to dine
before boarding the flight.
Turkish Airlines review by Peter Appelbaum
26 January 2007
I was scheduled fly Vienna/Istanbul/Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan); we got on the
Vienna/Istanbul plane, orange juice handed out in business class and we
waited because of a "problem" and wait in a coffee shop. There are only
three flights per week Istanbul/Bishkek. Over three hours later we were
informed that the THY flight had been cancelled and were left to fend
for ourselves. Luckily I managed to get on an Austrian Airlines flight
and got to IST with about 20 minutes to spare for my Bishkek connection.
Istanbul/Bishkek business class flight was moderate to bad. The food was
mediocre, service surly, audio visual lousy and the toilets smelled. On
the way back, the THY flight from Bishkek to Istanbul leaves at 4.05 am:
and the flight is 5 hours long - I had a business class ticket but the
airplane was set up for (cramped) economy class only. Avoid this airline
at all costs unless you are flying domestic in Turkey and have no
option.
Turkish Airlines review by Kerem Gok
26 January 2007
IST-JFK-IST A good flying experience for me. Clean planes, friendly
smiling staff. I liked THY, and fly again definitely.
Turkish Airlines review by Wolter Gerungan
20 January 2007
AMS-IST-SIN in Business. TK don't have their own lounge in AMS, but use
the same lounge as CX. The lounge is small, limited food options, but
bar service. The view on the tarmac makes up a bit. There was no
priority boarding, but boarding was swift, the 737-800 not completely
full. Dutch and turkish newspapers offered before entering the plane.
Plane with turqoise/blue leather seats. In the Business section the
middle seats were blocked and turned into a table. Blankets, pillows and
headsets on the seats. FA offered orange juice, water, champagne. All
announcements were pre-recorded (also safety demo), but captain spoke a
few words. After take off the drop down screens were activated: flight
info, news, advertisements and film. Drink orders taken, menu and hot
towels distributed. About 45 minutes after take off, dinner was served.
The whole service was done without trolleys. Had a long walk to the TK
business lounge, but it is worth the effort. Airbus 330-200 to SIN. Hard
shell angled lie-flat seats. Only 10 of the 22 seats were occupied. Pre
take off routine by a motivated cabin team (welcome drink, headset,
amenity kit). Our second dinner was served in the same style as on the
AMS-IST flight. The seat is angled, I didn't have any trouble to have a
sleep of about 6 hours. Just before breakfast hot towels distributed. I
skipped the eggs and took muesli and fruit.
Turkish Airlines review by Noureddine Taleb
9 January 2007
BAH-IST-ALG and back. Istanbul airport is neat and clean. Airplanes are
new and clean - A310s are really old and need to be retired. BAH-IST
they use B737-800. As for the transit check-in it is really a great
mess, they are no such things called queues. The cabin crew must work
more on being friendly and co-operative with passengers. IFE just sucks,
their are some seats where headset plugs do not work, or the language is
not clear.
Turkish Airlines review by Bill Hamilton
9 January 2007
Man-Ist-Baku Y class, 737-800. Lots of leg room in economy, food ok but
despite frequent requests for water it proved difficult for the staff to
respond. In addition, it appears impossible for the staff to turn down
the cabin temperature making the flights hot and stuffy. Lurid turquoise
leather seats proved comfortable.
Turkish Airlines review by Al Kouvch
31 December 2006
VIE-IST-FRU return in economy. On the first leg, an old A310 with a good
seat pitch; tasty hot meal. Second leg new A330 with comfortable seats
including adjustable headrest ; cabin lights in two color zones; large
PTV screen but strangely, no video on demand. Some of the space under
the seat in front is taken by the entertainment system box. Crew very
young but competent, with a fair command of English. On the way back,
same plane and standard of service. On the last leg an A321, small pop-
down screens, one film in Turkish - and fairly loud film soundtrack
through the loudspeakers rather then through headphones! Good breakfast
and great tea. The price for the economy was fair, around EUR 860.
Turkish Airlines review by Shaleel Kesavan
27 October 2006
MAN-IST-MAN. The aircraft was a 737-800. The seats were pale blue,
leather and comfortable - a great selection of music. I think Turkish
Airlines could have a re-think about food and service. While the air
hostesses are efficient, they rarely smiled and looked a bit glum. The
food was average - not particularly tasty but acceptable nonetheless
(options are usually boring pasta or chicken, although the puddings are
better). Overall, Turkish Airlines offer good value for money and a
reasonable quality of service.
Turkish Airlines review by Greg Carpenter
17 October 2006
Berlin (TXL) to Singapore via Istanbul. The first part of the journey
was fine : comfortable seating, snacks and newspapers, friendly staff.
The second part was a bit of a disappointment. The seats in economy
class are definitely not made for a long-haul flight of Istanbul -
Singapore dimensions. There is virtually no way of adjusting the seat,
no movable headrest etc, which meant that I hardly caught any sleep
during the long second leg of the trip. Food and service was acceptable
but unimpressive.
Turkish Airlines review by Hilary Dinham
10 October 2006
I travel regularly London-Istanbul and on to Dalaman or Ankara. The new
planes are comfortable with individual PTV screens. The meals are
generally good. I agree with another comment re security. Before the
seat belt signs are off, people are up opening the bins to get their
hand luggage, putting on phones etc. Once the plane braked and they all
went down like dominoes. The hostesses are not firm enough (although I
find them very pleasant) and I have witnessed several near accidents
with people being hit by luggage. I have a frequent flyer card which is
great for perks such as using the lounges. As others have said, these
are now a good walk at Istanbul. The domestic lounge takes some finding
as it is hidden away outside, a good walk across roads.
Incomprehensible that it is so far away and no internal access. The
staff are super and it is comfortable although the TVs are loud. The
new lounge in the International terminal is extraordinary. Ottoman
style, very spacious, good food choice and lots of computers, hot spots
etc. But rather impersonal: I preferred the old one. Despite the
blips, I continue to use this airline: prices are competitive especially
if one books well ahead and pays early.
Turkish Airlines review by Pelin Kose
27 September 2006
JFK to IST return. Good food and service but the crew must strict to the
passenger that didn't use seat belt while needed. They let children run
all over the airplane just like in the playground. Both trips were the
same way. Passengers stand up and turn on the cellphone right away as
the air plane just landed for a couple of seconds. Security is not
really tight because I still have a body lotion in my backpack and
nobody threw it away. Most of them was chatting when package on x-ray
and it seems they let a lot of things that prohibits on board! Try this
airline and you will see.
Turkish Airlines review by Sandy Carter
18 June 2006
Turkish Airlines
The new VIP lounge at Istanbul is now at the farthest most point from
the gates and has to be the most strangest lounge ever designed. Plastic
flowers and indifferent service. The seating is a dreadful mishmash of
styles and totally user unfriendly - very uncomfortable to the point of
injuring muscles trying to lean back. Now that the internal travel
system has necessitated walking to the domestic lounge there should be a
fast track facility for gold/business/first class passengers to clear
immigration. This is standard in most airports.
Turkish Airlines review by Ian Morley
15 May 2006
IST-LED and SVO-IST. First flight was fine although the flight was
mainly Russians. As soon as the plane landed most of them turned on
their mobile phones and started making calls - the crew did very little
except make an announcement (in Turkish and English but not Russian)
that they shouldn't be used. The crew clearly need to be more strict
with this and announcements need to be made in Russian also. The flight
back from SVO to IST was great although why can't you do online check-in
from SVO? Finally, why oh why do Turkish airlines insist on serving
moulded together pasta on every flight - surely it's time for a change!
Turkish Airlines review by Robert Clark
6 May 2006
Adana-Istanbul-Vienna and back. The ADA-IST was much less comfy than I
remember before. Everything was squeezed in. Flight was delayed; no
explanation given in English. The crew was nice, and they were
bilingual. Same sandwiches as before, however, it was lacking a few
ingredients - meat being one of them. Istanbul during ramadan (called
"ramazan" in Turkish) made getting to our next flight to Vienna
horrible. Lots of pushing and shoving to get to the security gates.
Thanks to the good graces of some Norwegian tourists who let us cut
through the passport lines, we finally made the IST-VIE connector. The
flight less than amicable. No cool air from the vent; only hot dry air.
VIE-IST was horrible. The flight delayed 2 hour with no reason given.
Once we boarded, we sat on the tarmac for another hour. Once we got to
Istanbul, we headed for the domestic terminal, which for the most part
looks like a poor section of town. Nice yet overpriced bar in the
middle. The flight to ADA was scary, with lots of turbulence. I don't
recall the seat belt light coming on when that was the case, but don't
quote me. A person with downs syndrome was making a lot of noise on the
IST-ADA, and neither the flight crew not the guardian do anything to
calm her down, or the other passengers who were getting nervous with the
crescendo of voice. The food was despicable. They gave us a "mix it
yourself" soup, with only cold water to pour into it. What happened
Turkish Airlines!?
Turkish Airlines review by Ian Morley
30 March 2006
After flying Manchester-Istanbul on various occasions during the last
couple of months I find the service to be somewhat erratic. The flight
attendants are usually friendly and courteous and the food acceptable
(why is it always Pasta). The somewhat rickety 737's seem to have mixed
leg space also, depending on the plane and where you are sat - seats at
the rear tend to have less leg space than those at the front in economy.
Staff at Manchester airport are friendly but seem to share frustrations
of passengers that the flight is usually delayed - this causes
additional delays at passport control when arriving in Istanbul as
arrival then tends to align with that of the Dubai flight. I feel sorry
for transit passengers who inevitably miss their onward flights. The
systems are somewhat temperamental also - I've struggled buying tickets
online, collecting tickets at the airport and checking in due to the IT
systems failing - it's not great to have to stand for over an hour at
check in because the system doesn't work (where's my free cup of tea I
ask?). Istanbul airport seems quite chaotic and disorganised. I almost
missed one flight because I had to change my ticket on departure - the
lack of people and pace of work at the ticket desk, combined with a
complete lack of customer service, meant it took me almost an hour to
have a new ticket issued. Add this to the 1/2 hour to get through the
security checks simply to get into the airport, and the lengthy check in
queues made it an unpleasant experience. The staff simply did not seem
to care about the need for customer service.
Turkish Airlines review by Louise Doherty
5 March 2006
TXL-IST - a bit delayed going out, but the flight was fantastic. The
food was delicious and legroom great! Duty free was a good selection.
However the cabin crew need to smile a bit more! I am cabin crew myself
so know what customer service is all about.
Turkish Airlines review by Seyed Mansouri
8 February 2006
THR-IST-ORD, a pleasant flight for me on my route from Tehran to
Istanbul. The food was good and seats were neat but a lack of inflight
entertainment on old Boeing 737. Continuing my flight from Istanbul to
Chicago, the airport staff were rude and hard to understand. Airbus
340-300 to Chicago was old and dirty. The crew could not speak English
clearly, and they were mostly speaking Turkish.
Turkish Airlines review by Chris Bruce
18 January 2006
IST-JFK. A340-300, economy class. Flight delayed a little more than a
hour because of luggage problems, which caused us to miss our connection
JFK to DCA. However, after some aggressive lobbying, Turkish Air staff
got us another flight within 2 hours from LaGuardia, as well as a bus to
LaGuardia (we were a group of 30). Overall service was good; two movies,
meals were fine, FAs generally attentive and courteous. Only nagging
downside was a consistent lack of info from the cockpit on where we
were, estimated landing time, etc. I would fly this airline again. They
offer roughly the same overseas service as other airlines but at a lower price.
Turkish Airlines review by Victor Neagu
13 January 2006
KIV-IST-KIV, on older Boeing 737-400. Snacks were served onboard the
aircraft for this short hop, which were pretty good - cold chicken
sandwich (kebab) on the way out and salmon sandwich on the way back.
Turkish Airlines serves very tasty desserts but otherwise service is
pretty blunt. Seat pitch minimal and aircraft looked like they've seen better days.
Turkish Airlines review by Rod Hocking
30 December 2005
LHR-IST-LHR with LH due to one passenger not boarding flight at LHR
flight significantly delayed (not the fault of LH). Missed connection
at Munich to IST and transferred to Turkish. Surprised by attentiveness
of ground and FA personnel, food good/hot. Not much interested in IFE
at anytime, but toilets clean and aircraft comfortable. Would have
preferred seats with greater legroom. A 6 hour wait at any airport is
not fun, but the cost of food at Munich is a bit off - vendor charge
USD3 for a (very) small coffee.
Turkish Airlines review by Andre Kraft
10 December 2005
ESB-FRA in Y on a saturday morning, the only direct connection to
Frankfurt. Check-in chaotic as desks were besieged by Turkish families
with huge pieces of baggage. Took about an hour to reach the desk, agent
unfriendly and obviously over-worked. Plane itself looked new but
interior worn. FA's friendly but very superficial, actually never spoke
with me as they referred to sign language. All announcements pre-
recorded in Turkish and English, but none in German. IFE with two
episodes of "Frasier" and air show, headsets provided free of charge.
Food very nice. Arrived on time and fares were low.
Turkish Airlines review by Wolfram Wieting
15 November 2005
TXL-IST: Delayed take-off 2 hours, because almost every Turkish
passenger tried to check-in with huge and over weighted hand-baggage
with results in endless discussions with counter staff. On board Turkish
passengers were treated as second-class people. F/A tried obviously to
avoid any contact with undefined cold (contaminated?) meals by wearing
white plastic hand gloves when serving meals. Busy, hectic and noisy
flight. Aircraft (A320) new, but very narrow seats. IST-BKK: Rather new
A340, narrow seats, same white plastic gloves, meals again undefined &
uneatable. Rude and noisy passengers. A group of western prostitutes on
their way to HKG are shrill discussing the bad working conditions in
Hong Kong bars. My wife decided not to fly THY the return flight BKK-
IST-TXL. I did. My reward: When arriving back in TXL my luggage was
damaged beyond repair. Having flown more than 25 Airlines Europe-Asia
r/t, my conclusion and deep intention: Never Again!
Turkish Airlines review by Ken Mcculloch
2 November 2005
Brussels-Istanbul in Economy. Helpful smiling crew, good meal service
(even a choice) and fairly comfortable leather seating on A320. Is it me
or is the seat pitch slightly less than on TK 737-800's. Only downside
was lack of TV screens which I had expected.
Turkish Airlines review by John Murray
23 October 2005
MAN - IST and return 4 days later. The outgoing 737-800 was in decent
order and the aircraft was full. I was impressed with the work-rate and
attitude of the cabin staff. The meal was standard inflight fare, but
hot & decent enough. Seat reasonable and acceptable legroom for a 4-hour
flight. Return flight barely 1/3 full, and although obviously an 'easier
ride' for the cabin crew, they were again pleasant & attentive
throughout. Both fights within 10 mins of scheduled arrival time. Very
good value for money and far preferable to a longer, indirect journey
via Heathrow, Amsterdam or Frankfurt.
Turkish Airlines review by Johannes Boecker
7 October 2005
Flew THY several times from Germany to China in C. Their prices are
competitive (about half Lufthansa price and still 700 Euros less than
Emirates). On the long haul flights the food service is a disgrace. They
announce on their website that they were serving several options, soup
etc. None of this is true. For the first meal there are no options at
all. The second meal (which is breakfast) offers three hot options which
always stay the same (frittata, omelette or crepes). Their inflight
entertainment is average, offering in-seat TVs with a choice of six
movies but only one cycle. The movies are always up to date and in
Turkish and English. Cabin service is pretty much a hit-and-miss game
ranging from outstanding to very poor. The best thing about Turkish C
class is their seat. Seat pitch is very generous (much more than
Lufthansa (old C), Emirates or Air China) about 55 inches. Seat recline
is also okay. On every flight I got a very good sleep and arrived
refreshed. All in all, that is for me what really counts.
Turkish Airlines review by Nedim Demirtas
7 October 2005
VIE-IST-ADB is a monthly route for me and I am always impressed from the
service and the food on board. For VIE-IST in Y class are served 2
choices of hot meal, in C class 3 choices. In both cabins all kind of
drinks incl wine, beer and spirits are served free of charge. On route
IST-ADB you have choice between a snack box and a healthy salad on this
45 min. flight. This service is available half priced compared to any
other Star Alliance or One World carrier, plus a bag full of miles for
the THY loyalty program.
Turkish Airlines review by Enrique Simeone
16 September 2005
IST ORLY C Class. Check-in quite peaceful, despite various security
points. Good lounge at airport. Boarding was very messy, and onboard
food a disgrace. Seating was a little old and tatty and in flight
service very "regular" for C class. Not competitive. Ground staff rude
but on board quite helpful
Turkish Airlines review by Robert Clark
16 August 2005
I flew the Adana to Istanbul domestic run, and the Istanbul to JFK connector. The
flight from Adana to Istanbul was suprisingly delightful. The seats were leather for
everyone, and a delicious sandwich with a beverage of your choice for the 1 1/2 hour
flight. The airport in Adana actually had 3 duty free shops for those who were
continuing out of country from Istanbul. Smoking is permitted in the airport but not
on the aircraft. Istanbul, Turkish Airlines ground crew could have been a little more
helpful in helping to find my gate. I had to locate it in the huge airport myself.
I enjoyed an oriental massage while waiting. Turkish hospitality still was very
strong in the airport, as a man noticed my passport was not Turkish and offered to
buy me a cup of coffee. The security to get onto the TAL flight to JFK was bizarre.
You would check your bags in, and then have to check them back out once your name was
called, so that the customs could fish through your underwear. Flight 1 into JFK was
good service. They actually hand you a small bag with a shoe horn, totes
socks, and eye covers to allow you to sleep on the long flight. Very impressive.
The food has no pork. The airline had some Jewish men on it, and so I know Kosher is
available, because the rabbi in back of me kept coughing, and I could smell his
breath. Pretty rancid. We landed an hour late. However, the flight made it there in
one piece, and I am normally not a picky person. The flight back was another story
We departed on TL Flight 2 to IST, about 3 hours late. No sorry was given. 2 hours
we waited in the cabin of the aircraft. The same small bag was given to us with the
totes socks, but I had already been wooed by that. I landed so late that I had to
literally RUN to my connecting flight to Adana. They took me on a bus to get to the
aircraft, sitting on the tarmac. The flight actually WAITED for the 3 people that
were on the JFK run, me being one. Thats pretty nice of them. 2 months later, my
wife took the JFK-IST-ADA flight, and they lost her luggage, but brought it on
the following flight from IST to ADA. They were prompt in calling me once the items
arrived. Overall, I find Turkish Airlines to be a decent airline worthy of a repeat
travel.
Turkish Airlines review by Lawrie Hall
25 July 2005
LHR-IST, then Kars-Ankara-IST-LHR - all Y class. Good basic value for money. The
flights seemed to have more than the average number of screaming infants, but that's
the luck of the draw. The impressive thing was how they handled perturbation. The
1500 Ankara-Istanbul was cancelled due to plane failure (and it seems logical in this
situation to cancel a flight on a route with frequent services). Everyone
accommodated on the next flight because they wheeled out a bigger plane. That is
initiative and customer service. And we got a bun and a drink for the inconvenience!
Additionally, they put additional FAs on the replacement plane and served everyone
with a light meal and a soft drink on the 45 minute flight. IST-LON a delight, as due
to having a lot of freight they put an A340 on the flight - 250-odd seats for 80
people. Food and drink average Y class given that some European airlines now give you
nothing. As I say, pretty good value for money.
Turkish Airlines review by L Thio
21 July 2005
Zagreb-IST-SIN: leg room is quite roomy but the flight was delayed for 4 hours
with no explanations. They also changed the departure gates without telling passengers
which made for an unpleasant rush. No food coupons despite delay, no apologies, rude
airport staff at Istanbul. Food on airline most indifferent; good network routes and
deals but really, ungracious when it comes to customer relations.
