Turkish Airlines Passenger Reviews and Turkish Airlines Customer Trip Reports

Izmir-Istanbul-Nevsehir. Our group's check-in was a little chaotic, as the baggage belt was sporadically stopping. Otherwise the first flight on a B737-900 was flawless: the Boeing Sky cabin was clean and airy, the seat was spacious, there was in-seat entertainment, a generous and tasty light meal was served, and the service was efficient. There was a well-organised bus ride to the terminal at Ataturk airport. The second leg was carried out on an older A319. There was no IFE. However, the plane was comfortable and the service and in-flight meal were also very good. This flight operated 10 minutes early. Other airlines have a lot to learn from Turkish on domestic flights!

ADB-IST return in economy. Excellent value for the money. A small meal served on the short, (50 minute) flights, including a turkey and cheese sandwich. Excellent service by flight attendants, pilot gave update on ETA, etc during flight both ways. Planes both B737 800 series, good shape and clean. Flights left on time and both landed early. Only complaint I have, and it is constant, is that returning to ADB at night, THY doesn't like to pay for a gate, and simply park on the ramp and you are bussed to the terminal, even though most gates empty. Not a classy move by the national carrier, but other then that, all great.

IAD-IST round-trip economy. Very friendly staff and best airline food, they brewed me a linden tea when I said I had a headache. Two free baggage allowance and the ability to choose seats in advance without paying is a plus. You can get amazing deals in advance. Seats are okay - what you pay for in Economy. I had a chance to fly Premium Economy class (being scrapped by Turkish Airlines) on the Boeing 777 which was not too wallet-breaking. Those B777-300ER are newer and have better inflight climate and pressure conditions. Check-in staff is friendlier than a US airline, but I did encounter delays occasionally.

Big difference from flight to flight. From Cairo to Istanbul, very good staff but poor choice for meal and old uncomfortable business class seats with very limited audio system. Return even worse as there was no audio system and very bad service. In Turkey from and to Bodrum from Istanbul very good comfortable seats and very good service.

London Heathrow to Istanbul. Quick check-in and good controlled boarding. I ended up in the front of the Economy cabin, but being in an aisle seat was constantly banged by the huge amounts of hand baggage Turkish let passengers bring on board. Thick in-flight magazine announced that Movies could be found on page 174. However there was no page 174 – nor individual screens. Central screens with fuzzy picture and very dated flight map. Choice of chicken or beef for the meal which was very tasty. I do wish Turkey had been able to produce even one new variety of cheese to serve with Economy class meals in the last 5 years. For the last hour of the flight it was impossible to doze due to the noise from the flight attendants chatting and drinking tea in the galley. One announcement throughout the cabin was totally inaudible because of crew chatter. Arrived about ten minutes late but at least straight off the Plane into the terminal and luggage very prompt as always seems to be the case at Istanbul.

Flew from Washington DC to Istanbul and return in Business Class. Flight to Istanbul had spacious seats. The seat turns into a flat bed and has a lot of space. Pillow was ok and comfortable, although the blanket was laughably small. I'm a short guy (5'5" or 165cm) and found it short. Flight left close to midnight so I slept the whole way. On the return, I must first comment on the attitude of the cabin staff. It's an attitude of indifference with a touch of snobbery. My entertainment system failed 2 hours after taking off on the return flight. Attendants attempted to fix it by restarting the system, which they did 3 times but without success. They couldn't move us because business class was full. After the 3rd restarting attempt they started behaving like nothing was wrong. In summary, I will not fly Turkish Airlines again no matter how convenient their scheduled flight is.

We flew London Gatwick to Ataturk to Gatwick, one flight in the afternoon/evening and the other in the morning. Both times staff were not that helpful and were not friendly. The check-in counter was doing 2 flights at the same time, so the queue was terribly long and it took us a while to realise that the queue advertising Heathrow was also doing Gatwick passengers. There are 3 economy toilets, located at the rear of the plane - so good luck if you need to go when the food cart is out. I had to wait one hour to go to the toilet. Meals were ok, but not a lot of plain options. On our return flight the breakfast was horrible. Overall, I was extremely disappointed with the service - on one of our flights there was no safety demonstration and we weren't told where the emergency exits were, FA's didn't make anyone put their seats up, either for takeoff/landing or during meals - this made it incredibly difficult to eat. One of our flights had 'technical issues' and we were 45 mins late departing. The staff seemed disorganised and unprepared and then had to walk through the cabin 3 times within the first half hour to distribute things they'd forgotten. For the price and 3-star service I wouldn't bother flying Turkish Airlines again.

Planes are modern but cabin crew are unfriendly, unhelpful and rude. I asked for a glass of coke and it arrived 5 hours later. My wife had to wait two hours for a glass of juice. When we reminded the flight attendant about the drinks she became very angry and aggressive. Fish was the only alternative for dinner. We have flown several times Turkish Airlines but this one was hopefully the last.

Edinburgh-Istanbul return, easy and quick check-in at Edinburgh. Excellent entertainment system and outstanding food. Very good service and adequate leg room. Arrived slightly early both trips. Atatürk Airport check-in complicated by need to check in at dedicated counters for UK and US flights (not clearly indicated when you get through the first of two security checks - yes, I did look for signs), and airport prices for food are much higher than at other European airports. Nevertheless, Turkish Airlines is better than most others in Europe and I would fly them again. Excellent airfares, too.

DMM to ORD through IST. DMM to IST was less than average. They packed us in an A319 for a more than five hour flight! The seats were not comfortable at all and they offered one option of meal which I did not eat. In IST when the boarding gate for the ORD flight opened I had the worst airline experience ever. I was almost denied from boarding the airplane without any obvious reason. They grouped us in a corner and started talking turkish and pointing at us, then after ten minutes of confusion and anxiety they pointed at me and several other people and let us in. The others were not allowed to get on the plane! Finally when we boarded the plane, it was an average flight, not so clean bathrooms. The seat was OK and the food was good I must say. I am not going back to this airline and risk my travel plans to what seems to me as a random and unprofessional way of double checking traveler documents.

They are getting better all the time, I flew TLV-IST-TLV and am always impressed by the new planes and quality of meals even for a 2 hour trip. The planes are generally new and clean, staff pleasant but not outstanding. Ataturk airport is their only downfall because of the way they are growing so quickly, it is chaotic and a real scrum but apparently a much bigger new airport should be ready by the end of 2015.

GYD-IST-BKK return a minimum of six times a year in Business Class. The long and short haul segments are very different. GYD-IST no pre-boarding for frequent flyers or Business Class, Economy passengers fill Business cabin overhead lockers, Economy passengers using the Business cabin toilet and crew unprepared to address any of the above issues. IST-BKK again no pre-boarding for frequent flyers or Business Class, 1 hour into the flight and no sign of refreshments, staff forget or ignore passenger requests, staff attitude is often unfriendly. Turkish Airlines needs a rethink in staff attitude.

Their staff were friendly and professional. Departed JFK on time to Naples via Istanbul. The meals on board were the best 'airline food' we have had. We dealt with 4 different crews and each were friendly, professional and polite. I am sold on Turkish and will fly them again.

IST-WAW, Y Class on A320. Cabin crew were hot and cold. Some attentive, others were rude. For an international airline that prides itself on flying to more destinations than any other airline in the world, there is a distinct lack of English spoken on board Turkish Airlines. The English spoken is barely possible to understand. This is not a problem for someone who understands and speaks basic Turkish but may discourage others who don't have a grasp on the language. The catering is what really sets TK aside from other airlines. It's a shame the inflight service and ground service/check in staff aren't up to scratch.

If you experience any problems submitting comments on the above link, please use our general   Feedback Page