Turkish Airlines

First time on Turkish this summer. Flew From JFK to Tirana via Istanbul and return from Podgorica via Istanbul. Although I had some reservations flying with Turkish at the end I was more than happy that I chose them. The meal service was excellent. Best meal I ever had on a transatlantic flight. The A330-300 was comfortable and the flight entertainment had great variety of movies and games to choose from. I reserved our seats 3 months in advance by calling the call center. Our seats were all promised as we originally chose them on all flight segments. Again I will fly Turkish again on my next transatlantic flight with no reservation.

Bad: I flew many times between London and Istanbul always on business class. I have had enough of it. Their planes are old seats are most uncomfortable little leg room same seat as economy but with spare seat in the middle. They also always make you take shuttle bus to terminal both inbound and outbound most inconvenient. I had to help carrying the luggage up the steps for an elderly lady. Hate it they think it is a popular routes so why bother improving it! Wrote to customer service twice no response! Good: Better food and lounge than BA.

I made 2 trips to Dhaka last year and both ways missed the connecting flight in Istanbul. The reason is very short lay over time which is only one hour. Though hotel accommodation was given staff are not friendly. My visa fees were not reimbursed. This route is the best for LAX-DAC-LAX because it takes shortest time to reach Dhaka-LAX vice versa.

Recently I travelled with them on four sectors each averaging 2.5 hours. The gimmick of a crew member wearing a chef's outfit is just that - a gimmick. Service onboard is hit and miss. On some flights it's good on others it's mediocre. There are better airlines operating in Europe.

Non-stop from Istanbul arriving in Boston 30 minutes late. My husband and I chose TA for non-stop reasons because we are in our 80's and wanted to avoid mid-journey transfer. Both trips exceeded our expectations. Chose business class had row 2 each way with just two seats long enough for us to really stretch out and sleep. Cabin was quiet and darkened for relaxing. Food and wine choices were fine and nicely presented. Even "candlelight" via a tiny paper lantern with battery light inside. Staff very helpful. Only complaints are the long wait for baggage in Boston and confusing / absent signage for boarding at Istanbul Airport.

BEY-LHR via Istanbul. Flight was delayed by 45 mins to depart from Beirut. Flight was packed from Beirut to Istanbul operated by an old A321 with no personal TV. To be honest one of the things that was brought to my attention the carelessness of the cabin crew in checking seat belts and providing the appropriate safety demonstrations no announcement was made from the captain at all during the whole flight. Nevertheless once we got to Istanbul I nearly made my connecting flight to LHR. Again flight was operated by an A321 with no ptv which I found very surprising. Again service was not great however they served good food. Overall would not fly again with them due to their very tired aircraft's being used on the route and due to the service of both the cabin crew and the hassle for connecting passengers in Istanbul.

IST-VCE-IST - Boarded pretty much on time but departed Istanbul 1 hour late with the aircraft sitting on the tarmac with Ataturk airport almost always congested that's nothing new. Cabin very hot and stuffy until the end of the flight. Of course no beverage service until 40 minutes into the flight. 737-900ER which looked brand new cabin very clean nice looking seats but with typical THY pitch so not much space to move. Reclining button missing/broken so impossible to move the backrest. Nice choice of movies on the IFE and big screen when the thing worked the whole system rebooted on all seats after a while and my lucky colleague next to me has his rebooted a dozen times or more until the flight attendant attempted to fix it by rebooting it a few more times and then gave up. Service as usual with THY OK if you don't expect too much the only friendly and smiling stewardess was the one who did not speak any English. Return flight on A321-200 departed on time from VCE and full almost to the last seat. Good for them. Slow food service with only 2 stewards each with one trolley and that took ages mine ran out of beef kebab after the 10th row. The 2 of us had beef served cold and mine was some köfte dish which was not even on the menu. I guess it was some leftover from a previous flight and re-heated twice the lid was already open and it was stone cold. My colleague had the time to finish watching his movie from the previous flight and arrival was on time in IST. Every time I am stuck with flying Turkish I wonder how they manage to get Europe's best airline award and now for the 3rd year. I guess the people who evaluate do not fly the same routes as me and never in economy.

Another fantastic journey with Turkish Airlines. Sao Paulo-Istanbul: flew Comfort class which in my opinion is excellent value for money. Seats were only 50% taken in this class and I could thus enjoy three seats free for me. The space and comfort of this class is comparable to Business class of many other airlines. The seat is wide the space for legs is exceptional the IFE was also nice with noise cancelling earphones distributed. Service: top notch. Food was of very good quality in abundance and served with almost Business class layout (real plates and real towels) both for breakfast and the dinner served two hours before landing in Istanbul. Cabin crew was discreet but always present when needed: I asked twice for some juice and had the glass delivered at my seat within a couple of minutes. Did land in IST after 12 hours and 45 minutes with a delay of 2 minutes. I just keep recommending this airline.

Flight 760 from Istanbul to Dubai great aircraft there were a lot of seats free. The crew was excellent very kind and the food was great. The service onboard was excellent.

Turkish Airlines code shares with Etihad - Abu Dhabi from and to Istanbul. Inflight entertainment very poor seats more cramped than other airlines food low quality service onboard poor and ineffective. Finally reached Istanbul only to find my luggage not there. 3 hours trying to get some assistance from airport staff. Finally got my luggage 3 days later.