Turkish Airlines

Not Verified | Istanbul to Manila. Flying business class for me firstly means I will have a seat which lays flat and more personal space on my long haul travels, along with good food, drink and that certain feeling of being made important, so flying Turkish Airlines for the first time i wondered how they would rate against other carriers? Upon boarding my seat was pointed out to me, I had been settled for 15 minutes before any cabin crew made contact, when I was offered a pre flight drink, orange, lemon mint or water. I requested champagne, and waited another 5 minutes for this to arrive, albeit a very small measure. Flight under way and I was given a handful of menus, for dinner, drinks, wine list and a pre breakfast menu, again I choose champagne as my choice of drink, again I was presented with a small measure. Meal served and what a total disappointment - it looked good if it was colour and presentation you were looking for, and to be honest it was no more than an economy meal served on china. I had to ask for bread as this wasn't offered. Taste wise it was bland, and small in portion and I am unsure as to what purpose a tacky so called candle added to the experience. The toilets had me wondering, there were two in business class yet both were completely different designs, again both resembled what i would expect in economy. Seat was good, pretty run of the mill, IFE, dreadful choice of films & TV, no blockbuster films one would expect. I wanted Turkish Arlines to be good, sorry to say they are not, they are way behind other carriers on the Manila route, way behind other carriers on long haul routes, its certainly a case of running before they can walk.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris to Seoul via Istanbul. I lost my baggage and it took three days to get my baggage back. I know it could be happened for anyone to lost baggage, but I am very disappointed from this experience. The thing is, you can't imagine how their customer services are terrible. It's the worst. I called to their customer service center several times in a day to get the updates. They gave me all different information every time and that made me so confused. I tried to contact to the Korean office first, they don't know anything and have no rights to do something about this case and I spoke with four different people from English c/s division since I lost. No one tried to take responsibility, they told me; too busy, Istanbul airport is so big, it's not their fault, it's a fault of the airport, they have no idea / they are not sure when I can get my bag back, etc. They never called me back until the day after I found my bag, so I called them (that was 10+th try) and then they apologized. If someone from the office tried to find it more aggressively, I could get it back earlier. Lost baggage is irregular thing. We pay for the flight under the promise that the Airlines will ship it with my flight. But they works under the regular manual only and try not to take responsibility. It could be happened to anyone who uses Turkish Airlines.

✅ Trip Verified | Algiers to Manchester via Istanbul. I have the same experience word by word as below my review. I missed my connection flight. My first Turkish Airlines plane was late, and the second plane has gone 10 minutes before dest. time. The screen has shown "go to gate". But the plane was nowhere. Everybody was so rude at the airport, helpless and their attitude was awful. Finally I had to buy a ticket for the next flight for 342 pounds, because they told me, the plane us full, I can travel only on business class, where actually was a very poor service. Customer service a joke, it was the worst ever.

✅ Trip Verified | Zagreb to Singapore via Istanbul. All it takes is just one confident ground crew staff member who empathizes with the emotions of a passenger in distress over mistaking the flight-time 20:05 as the check-in time for 22:05. After a two-week holiday, my husband and I arrived at the airport to check into Flight TK1056. To my horror, I discovered that the gate was closed! And the flight was schedule to take off in 15 minutes! However, we were blessed by the presence of a ground-staff member. I regret not having asked for her name but thankfully, I had taken a snapshot of her while waiting to board the plane and I have attached her picture to this note of thanks. I only realised my mistake when I wanted to check in my luggage at 20:00. I asked the Zagreb airport information staff for help. She calmly and gently directed me to Turkish Airline staff who made a few calls for quick checks, and sprung into action. She got a ground-staff to re-open a counter and made a very quick check-in. She then opened up a channel all through the security checks, immigration process and all the way up to the boarding gate. In ten minutes or less, we were at the boarding gates. What I really appreciate most about her was her knowledge and understanding of the processes involved. She explained to us along the way, that flights from Istanbul to Zagreb had been delayed because Istanbul had experienced very bad weather that afternoon and almost all flights from Istanbul were delayed. So even though I had divine help in that my flight was delayed, I may not have been able to get on board the flight if not for this particular lady who went out on a limb and call in favours through all the channels of security and luggage processing to get our luggage into the cargo-belly of the plane and to rush us to the gate in time for our flight. Thank you, Turkish Airline and Zagreb Airport. On a separate issue, I also would like to add that Turkish airline is also very mindful of the needs of its passengers. I appreciate the night pack that was given during my red eye flight from Singapore to Istanbul and from Istanbul to Singapore. The night pack contains the most useful things for a more comfortable flight.

✅ Trip Verified | Zurich to Delhi via Istanbul. I landed Istanbul at 18:40 and after security checks and all took 25 minutes. My next flight was at 20:20. I was confused to go to which gate to take my next flight. I asked few people to find a way. I got to know i have to go to gate no 504. So moved to gate number 504. I reached there at 19:57. The guy who was at boarding counter told me that gates are closed. I told him how is it possible as I have the boarding pass and still there are 23 minutes left. Then he asked me to go to the transfer desk and assure me they will help me in this matter. I rush without debating to that guy and when I reached there the guy laughed at me and asked me to wait for 10 minutes. So that the 20:20 time can be passed. Then he came and ask me to buy new tickets. Instead of helping you mislead a customer and ask him to ran here and there. And the cost for the ticket is too high. When I paid the entire money and have nothing left out I asked them I have no money left for anything to eat. They told me they will provide food every 5 hour - once i got the new ticket and after 14 hour I reached them and asked for food and they denied even for tea. Next day when I boarded the flight, flight delayed for 1:30 hour and we waited without our fault.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Tirana via Istanbul. I traveled to Albania on April 28th to visit my sister. Once I got there they did not have my suitcase and when I request information they said “they cannot locate it”. I arrive with no suitcase and no personal stuff. I went to Airport twice still Turkish had no idea where is my suitcase, so I bought some clothes and hygiene stuff. I kept my receipt. Monday I went back to airport because by phone I could not get respond. Monday by noon we waited there no suitcase. I went back to hotel and at 10pm my hotel customer service called and said my luggage is here. Suitcase was damaged but it was ok with me and I was happy to be able to give all the gift I bought to my sister. After I came back I send a receipt of my purchased items, Turkish send me $41 check as reimbursement. I did file complaint with BBB and they just told me with several request respond from Turkish they never responded to me or BBB. Horrible customer service. If you have connection from Istanbul you are doomed with unorganized service and no one takes responsibility.

✅ Trip Verified | Istanbul to Duesseldorf. I was rebooked due to a late arrival of first flight. The ground service is the worst as they barely understand any sort of English. The aircraft was in a poor shape even that it was one of the more recent planes, the service was not just terrible but the food was tasteless. I am much surprised how bad this airline became.

✅ Trip Verified | New York to Istanbul. Our flight to Istanbul (TK2) was at 7:05PM. The crew served dinner only at 10:30PM, NY time. My last meal was around 2.30PM. I was without food for 8 hours and because of my stomach problems, I started cold sweats, and had to take my medications to calm my stomach. I did have food with me, but because I stowed my bag in the overhead bin, I needed a flight attendant to help me take it because I am really short, and could not reach for it. I pressed the flight attendant button, but no one came. In the meantime, my friend who is in business class was saying that they were being fed non stop since they boarded until around past 10PM. Is it possible that all the flight attendant were there in the business class and our dinner was being deferred? I have flown countless times over the past 2 decades, and this is the first time I have been in a plane which did not serve food after the fasten seat belt sign turns off, considering that we only have 10 hours of flight, and another meal will be served before we land. The attention of the flight attendants to the economy class passengers is really poor. During the round trip flight, I was looking for someone to compliment for looking after me, even for just one bit of help, but no one i asked for help ever met my low expectations. This airline has a lot to learn from South east Asian airlines. Another problem. I asked my travel agency to get me a bulkhead seat. My travel agency said that the Turkish airline confirmed that I had a bulkhead seat both ways. Unfortunately, on both travels, my seat on both legs were behind the bulkhead seats. There seems to be a problem with the seat plan they are looking at, which is likely inconsistent with the real seats of the plane. I probably will not take this airline again.

✅ Trip Verified | Oporto to Bangkok via Istanbul. Flying to Bangkok to see my father before his operation was going smoothly until I arrived in Istanbul. The flight was originally delayed by 1 hour 50 minutes and kept increasing until we took off almost 5 hours behind schedule. The ground staff had no answer to my questions as to why the flight was late other than it happens often with the flights. Food was served but by the time I reached the front of the line it was finished and I was told 'sorry'. When the flight eventually took off, I was in a seat that was broken and wouldn't recline and the air conditioning was not working properly. I barely slept the entire trip due to stressing about not reaching the hospital on time, and we landed over 3 hours 10 minutes late, with a further 35 minutes before the doors even opened. I am so disappointed as the entire trip from Istanbul onwards was stressful, uncomfortable and there was a total lack of care. The return leg was much better, but I had to make it with a heavy heart. The cabin crew are friendly enough and the food is great, but will I ever fly with them again? I doubt it very much.

✅ Trip Verified | Singapore to Belgrade via Istanbul. I've used this airline several times, and each time it's been a pretty bad experience, mostly due to the service which ranges from average to terrible. On my most recent flight, my baggage (and that of many other passengers) arrived completely wet. Everything inside was wet and dirty which caused a great inconvenience for my whole trip. I was transferring through Istanbul and I guess it was raining there, but it was clear that the baggage had been treated inappropriately and carelessly. This is one airline I'll be avoiding at all costs in the future!