Turkish Airlines

Customer Reviews

4 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 2512 reviews
4/10
4 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"mistreatment by Turkish Airlines"

(Brunei)

Not Verified | I'm writing this review in my room in Yotel Air (hotel) inside Istanbul airport after having been denied my right to board a flight to Berlin with Turkish Airlines by a member of their staff earlier today (12:30 PM, December 19, 2019). I had to book a room in this hotel for an overnight stay and buy a new ticket for the earliest flight to Berlin tomorrow (December 20, 2019) without any compensation from Turkish Airlines. All this was due to the fact that said staff had no knowledge of Schengen visa regulations involving non-EU nationals/passports. I am devastated by this mistreatment by Turkish Airlines. I was supposed to fly with Turkish Airlines from Istanbul to Berlin at 12:30 PM earlier today (December 19, 2019), but I was denied boarding by a ground staff member who was in charge of checking passengers' passports and boarding passes at the gate because he assumed that I did not have a VISA/permit to enter Germany. I explained very clearly in simple English that I did not require a VISA to enter Germany and the Schengen Area for tourism purposes for up to 90 days, as my country is included in one of the non-EU countries to which the VISA requirement does not apply (for tourism purposes). He dismissed my claim (which I understand, given the priority for security) and went on to make calls and texts to verify my claim. In the meantime, he made me wait on the side while he attended to all the other passengers who were entering the gate. Because there was no conclusive answer from the other side of the phone, he and his team decided to let the plane leave without me. Not long after the plane had left, he finally got a confirmation from "Germany border controls" that my claim that I did not need a VISA for visiting Germany was correct. Then, he took me to a Turkish Airlines booth (airside) to get me rebooked on another flight. After exchanging a few sentences with the Turkish Airlines ticketing team, he left there unattended. He did not say sorry to me. After waiting for four hours for a confirmation from the ticketing team about my next flight, they said to me that I would need to buy a new ticket because my original ticket was a "promotional" ticket. I defended myself saying that I did not miss my flight. Rather, I was denied boarding because one of their ground staff members assumed that I needed a VISA permit and did not have one. I rang Turkish Airlines's Customer Service to get help and explained the whole situation via phone and then email. After two hours, they responded to my email say they could not compensate me and even defended said staff for denying me my right to board the plane in the interest of protecting all Turkish Airlines's customers and passengers (was I not a customer?). What broke my heart was the Turkish Airlines team being adamant that it was somehow my mistake - they mentioned "incomplete documents", "invalid visa" etc. But I never needed a VISA in the first place. Finally, I had no choice but to buy another ticket for a flight the next morning and book a room at the hotel inside the airport. All this without so much as "sorry", let alone compensation. I'm now very apprehensive about going to Europe via Istanbul. I've been traveling to Europe since I was 18. I have never been denied boarding until now. I have gone to Berlin from my country in Asia twice within the last 12 months - once via Dubai and the other Amsterdam. Zero problem.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIstanbul to Berlin
Date FlownJanuary 2019
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"such level poor handling"

(Ethiopia)

Not Verified | Madrid to Istanbul and Istanbul to Addis Ababa. The flight Madrid to Istanbul did not manage to make flight as per its schedule of 12:15. That made our arrival time one hour late from its expected arrivals, and we missed connecting flight from Istanbul to Addis. Upon arrival, we reported to the customer service desk. Then it arranged a flight for the next day flight which was departing after 24hrs. That left us to stay for more 24 hours in Istanbul. The most horrible the was we were informed that we have had visa to go and stay in the hotel reserved for our stay. When we went to go out through passport control, we have been told that you could not go out without e-Visa. We came back to e visa centre and asked to issue the visa, but the visa centre refused to accept cash as we do not have visa card to make electronic payment. We asked for support, no one willing to help us. We went customer centre again, and all employees on transfer desk were highly arrogant, and not willing to help us. Finally they told us to go stay at nap zone where we will be given food and drinks every five hours intervals. We went there, no food there at all. The service providers laughed on us. We went to the first desk again and asked why they were playing fool on us. Then gave a piece of paper to go one of three restaurants in the airport. We went to one the restaurant but they informed you need vouchers to serve food. In that point we understood that the airline was mistreating us. I have never experienced such level poor handling.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMadrid to Addis Ababa via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"worst business class experience"

(Singapore)

Trip Verified | Singapore to Malta via Istanbul. This is by far the worst business class experience I have had. Insincere smiles from the stewards/ stewardesses, with zero personal engagement. Zero reaction to air steward call button - and damaged headphone socket so only 1 ear can hear. Removal of headphones 1 hour before landing! Shoddy service - poor reaction, attitude when requesting items - zero smiles. Hot towels - scorching hot, and overly wet. Food This is frankly the worst part. Non fresh juice! Welcome drinks - is what you get at a children's birthday party. Timing of food i.e. breakfast, the starter served, then bread basket comes some 15 minutes later. Coffee and tea limited in choice. Breakfast omelette over done and hard. Lots of staff, and even chefs dressed as 'chefs' - but with the food quality simply terrible. Flat bed fine. Movie choices ok - but again on both flights problems with the headphone sockets. Toilets clean. Toiletries bag very average and looks cheap. No communication from the pilot for delayed take off (or even apology). Istanbul airport was amazing I must comment that there was improved service between Istanbul and Malta - both flights but the food quality remained quite poor. I will be avoiding this airline at all cost. Ground service chaotic - with no clear focus on who is business and who is economy. Poor communication around boarding times (in Malta and Istanbul)
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteSingapore to Malta via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"deserved zero rating"

(United Kingdom)

Trip Verified | Birmingham to Delhi via Istanbul. Worst service in Turkish Airlines. No proper response for any service. Always says that's not my department contact online services even though you are in Istanbul. Don't get fool by free hotel during long transit hours. Turkish airlines blame Indigo for providing free hotel. But indigo says we don't provide such services. Turkish deserved zero rating for customers take care.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBirmingham to Delhi via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"put on the waiting list"

(Malaysia)

Trip Verified | Kuala Lumpur to Skopje via Istanbul. The check in counter opened just slightly over 2 hours before the flight time. The service was also rather slow. When i got to my turn, just 1.5 hours before the flight time, they said that I was put on the waiting list, because the flight was full! This is despite my seat was confirmed a week ago, what rubbish is this!? In the very last minute, they managed to get me a seat on that flight, and i had only 40 minutes to get through security, custom, immigration and to the international terminal which requires a train ride! If there was a 5 minutes delay with any one of them, i would've missed my flight. Terrible ticketing system!
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteKuala Lumpur to Skopje via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"experience soured our holiday"

(Malaysia)

Trip Verified | Zagreb to Kuala Lumpur via Istanbul. We were checking in into our flights. After everybody had checked-in bags, we converged on a spot at the airport to gather everyone in the group. As we were heading towards security, I realized that we weren't issued the "cabin bag tags", as I recalled we had those when we were on a TK flight from Kuala Lumpur the week before. Then I asked the ticketing counter for a tag for my cabin bag, and the Turkish Airlines staff gladly gave it to me. Then 2 minutes later, another staff chased us halfway across the airport and told me, rather rudely, "you can't take those!". Their own staff gave it to me, why is she telling me like I just took it from behind the counter myself? Then she went on about everybody needs to have their cabin bags checked immediately. Then I asked her "why weren't they checked before when we were checking in and issued the tags?", She said in an accusing tone "because you were hiding your bags". There were 25 of us in the group, how could their ground staff, there were three of them, not notice any of our cabin bags when we were checking in? This single experience soured our holiday. We were corraled back to the check-in counter to have our bags weighed, we were treated like petty thieves. None of our bags exceeded 5kgs, in the end. The funny thing is, the group after us, none of their cabin bags were issued the cabin bag tags or even required to have their cabin bags weighed! I waited and looked at them while they were checking in, so I can confirm this myself. So why is there a different treatment for them? This doesn't look like a standard operating procedure to me.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteZagreb to Kuala Lumpur via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"never had worse experience"

(Netherlands)

Trip Verified | Amsterdam to Tashkent via Istanbul. This was the worst experience ever. I had 2 hours overstop. Flight was one hour delayed and in the end arrived 1.5 hours later. Instead of a good service their service desk treat you like a jerk. Not only they Do not say sorry or show compassion by the fact that i will not make very important meeting, they lie you about the business class seats availability and give you free ticket to eat at burger king, what is the worst food. I never had worse experience with an airline. Please do not fly with this airline as you will save your nerves and health.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteAmsterdam to Tashkent via Istanbul
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

"service and staff quality is decreasing"

(Turkey)

Trip Verified | Istanbul to Milan. I was carrying only a cabin luggage, had already checked in before arrival at airport. It took just 15min from arriving at airport until after Passport security. Boarding starts 1 hour prior to flight, unnecessary long, because when I was on time at the gate I still had to wait like 20min until boarding started. Flight was pleasant, they offered me wider seat to make me more comfortable. The crew was nice and kind except for one guy, he has forgotten was smiling means. Food was excellent. Entertainment was excellent. But be careful the service and staff quality is decreasing while the prices are increasing.
AircraftA321
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIstanbul to Milan
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
3/10

"staff even mock you"

(Malaysia)

Trip Verified | Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur. Bad attitude, and the Ground service staff even mock you when you don’t understand their funny accent of English. I checked in via online so I went to ‘web check in’ counter to drop my luggage and was rudely told by the staff to go that was only for families check in. Why you put ‘Web check in’ Signboard in front of the queue but not serving web check in customer? Cabin seat was so uncomfortable and I can’t recline it because button was not working. Cabin crew service was better but they only repeat same dialog, like a printing machine. You can’t have further communication with them.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIstanbul to Kuala Lumpur
Date FlownDecember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"it has been a nightmare"

(Italy)

Trip Verified | In July I booked though the Turkish Airlines App a ticket from Rome to Delhi via Istanbul at a very affordable price for the beginning of November. As the months passed I received several email with changing in timing of the flights, the last one at the mid of October I realized that I had only 1 hour and 20 minutes stop over at Istanbul, so I was a little worried. I called the call center and the lady told me that according to them the time was enough and she asked me if I wanted to cancel the tickets or I wanted to confirm it, I confirmed it. I arrived at the Airport and the lady at the desk said that I had a reservation for Istanbul but not for Delhi, that she could send the backpack but that when I arrived to Istanbul I should go to the Turkish desk to print the second boarding pass. I arrived on time I literally ran to the desk and the man told me that he couldn’t find the reservation because my flight was with a partner of Turkish named Indigo - it was written on the ticket but I didn’t know that was a low cost airline. I showed him that Turkish booked it, not me. The airplane was small, no entertainment, uncomfortable seats, paying to eat (i had no money with me and my card was not working on their machine). I wrote an email through the customer service they never answered. I will never fly with Turkish Airlines again, it has been a nightmare.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteRome to Delhi via Istanbul
Date FlownNovember 2019
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no