Turkish Airlines

I was traveling from JFK-IST-BOM. The first leg of my journey (JFK-IST) was fantastic! The food was really good. The flight attendants were sober and nice. The later part of my journey (IST-BOM) was okay. The food was satisfactory but not fantastic. I have traveled in several airlines. I prefer Lufthansa but due to high ticket price I booked Turkish and I am glad that I made the decision. I will highly recommend my friends and family to experience Turkish Airlines.

I have flown with Turkish Airlines three times in the past year. Once from Bangkok to Ho Chi Minh Return (suppose it qualifies as a flight) once from Bangkok to Tel Aviv via Istanbul Return and once from Bangkok to Tashkent via Istanbul Return. All flights were way above average - and I know what I am talking about because in the past 12 months I have flown on TG QF VN SQ NZ and PX on more than 50 return flights. I actually hate flying but have to fly to my place of assignment but flying Turkish Airlines is very good. Most cabin staff - male or female - are very good to excellent (several among the best I have ever dealt with) the food is very good IFE way above average and aircraft in very good condition (staff make sure toilets are always kept clean and are up there TG QF CX and NZ). My only real grip is rush rush at transit - Istanbul Airport not the best in the world although Turkish Airlines Lounge must be one of the best - and one of the A321 I flew on from Istanbul to Tashkent had several rows of non-reclining seats (mine 9C) so I must read Seat Guru more carefully in future.

IST-FRA in economy on February 27 2015. This was a lovely flight on time with an excellent lunch. The A321 cabin looks a little worn and the large seat-back screens weren't as bright as some (and came with low quality disposable earbuds). THY has a chef on board but it wasn't clear what "cheffing" he was able to do besides helping the flight attendants. The mostly male cabin crew was extremely attentive and - although I do not drink - I noticed that there was alcohol available.

BKK-IST-ARN on A330 and then A321. Flight from BKK late 1h arrived in IST in the midst of the snow chaos. Landed 2h late then stuck on tarmac for 1h. No gate so exit in severe snowfall and winds people in flip flops and t- shirts as this was from Thailand. Shipped on buses finally to terminal in utter chaos as all flights were cancelled. Thousands of people and only 3 TK representatives to help. Took into hotel at own cost rebooked tickets next morning via phone. Then headed for airport again flights cancelled again and no help anywhere and of course thousands of angry passengers stranded. TK head office is a place of shame that gave absolutely no help actually the sour lady just said no and then called for next in line. Result 2 days in IST from own pocket. Flying business and being star alliance gold gives little in this company when it matters. Even refused to be rebooked on other flights. Needless to say last flight IST-ARN was 1h late boarding commenced without communication between gate and crew so business passengers and others too stood 20 min outside of plane door watching crew clean the cabin and stock the food. Quite embarrassing. Was planning another flight with TK in business to BKK but my money goes from now to other carriers.

The check-in and departure time are always chaotic with Turkish Airlines. I flew already 8 times with Turkish and they are usually late. Connections at Istanbul are tight which is not matching with the systematic delays of Turkish Airways. If you miss your plane the hotel is provided by Turkish Airlines but the transfer to the hotel is terrible without mentioning the terrible and unprofessional attitude from the visas service + immigration + info desks at Istanbul Airport. Globally I would not recommend Turkish Airways. Even if I omit the delay issues and even if the service on board is OK there is still this something missing that does not make me want to fly again with Turkish Airways - maybe courtesy from their staff. The only point I am impressed about is that even if Istanbul Airport seems to be an organizational chaos the luggage is usually arriving at the final destination even when the time between connection flights are tight (of course if the planes are on time).

Flew TK 1332 BRE-IST then TK 716 IST-DEL round-trip. I booked the flight quite spontaneously and TK was surprisingly cheap. Having read that TK is quite good I was a little bit disappointed. Though the food was really great (the Turkish delight is delicious and I like the idea of the fresh orange juice) and I was even given a second menu the staff disappointed me. Perhaps it was only me but I didn't feel very welcome their English wasn't always understandable. Furthermore my flight from Bremen to Istanbul was delayed by over an hour and thus getting my connection was definitely exhausting. When the plane arrived at the gate my last call had already begun. Unfortunately there was no help offered by the FAs. All in all I chose not to recommend Turkish because the onboard product is just average and I prefer airlines being held by more democratic states than Turkey. Nevertheless the flight was quite cheap but in future I will try to avoid them.

Antalya-Istanbul. I had booked a flight with Miles in Business Class for a date which turned out to be the one when the big snow storm hit Istanbul. Received a text message in the middle of the night some twelve hours before the flight announcing that it was cancelled and to contact the airline. I dreaded this but in fact it was not too long a wait and a helpful agent competently booked me on an alternate flight. On arrival at the airport I checked in at the Biz Class area. In the lounge the agents were working very efficiently to get passengers switched to earlier flights as there were about 25 flights to Istanbul over just a couple of hours and they were helpfully getting passengers away as soon as possible. The flight itself uneventful but on the ground in Istanbul we could feel the pilot applying power to get the aircraft over buildups of snow on the ground. In summary it was a totally chaotic situation which Turkish Airlines handled very competently and professionally.

First flying business class. London to Bangkok via Istanbul. Seat on first leg was not a full recliner but comfortable enough. Second leg the seat was amazingly comfortable. Kept champagne flowing and so much food I missed the second meal on Bangkok leg. Staff were very polite answer attentive. Wish I could afford to fly business class all the time.

Flew DUS-IST-BKK. First leg in A321 with 2-2 business seat. Wide seats good bad decline. IFE only half operational. Lounge in IST has been better reduced selection of food furniture very used. On the BKK leg new A330-300. IFE not working on 25% of seats service extremely slow took ages to serve. Main course very weak appetizers ok. Seats full flat ok. All flights on time staff always very robotic no empathy at all.

Flew from DXB-IST-JFK in December 2014 and the return JFK-IST-DXB in January 2015. At check-in in DXB I requested an emergency exit seat for the IST-JFK leg. The rookie check-in agent first said nothing was available but his supervisor stopped by and found one for me. This made the long flight bearable. The flight was packed but the crew were cheerful and efficient and did everything right. Food was so-so - getting a bit weary of the standard kebabs and mystery veggies. The IFE was excellent - far better than Emirates' much touted IFE and better than QR. On the way back was checked in by a surly female agent at JFK. She couldn't find me an exit row on the A-330 to IST but said she found me a bulkhead one on the IST-DXB leg. The A330 was surprisingly comfortable much more so that the 777 even for my 6'3" frame and the young lady next to me just curled up and slept the whole way through and was no bother to me. On the home leg I found that the seat the JFK agent had got me a seat in the row behind the bulkhead! On the 777 with the seats compressed for the 'short-haul' 4 hour flight to DXB I found sitting was unbearable. I silently cursed this agent and couldn't wait to deplane and get home. Service was once again good and the scrambled eggs were fluffy and tasty. But any satisfaction I got from this was neutralized by the uncomfortable seat and the incompetence of the check-in agent at JFK. This is the second time this has happened to me. A year ago flying from AGP-IST-DOH the agent at AGP assured me she had got me an exit row and I found myself directly behind exit row in a non-reclining seat. TK has to train its check-in staff to read the seat map better. Am contemplating a trip very soon to AGP and then later to BOS and wondering whether to fly TK after these twin disasters.