Turkish Airlines

✅ Verified Review | Do not opt for Turkish Airlines especially when you have a layover. Our layover was 1.5 hours in Istanbul while going from Berlin to Mumbai and back. In both cases, the first flight was late, giving us barely 30 mins to catch the next flight whose gate was really far away. The connecting flight was also Turkish Airlines, but still there was no support at the airport even though their first flight was late. While coming back from Mumbai, at Istanbul, there was an additional security check and the queue was long and our flight was in 15 mins! Nobody gave us any support there either and by some luck, one of the fellow passengers in the same situation was told by people waiting with us that we can go to priority security check if the flight is leaving soon. There was no sign for this or any indication from either Turkish Airlines or airport staff. We barely made it to the next flight 2 mins before gate closed even though the aircraft didn't take off for next 30 mins or more. I regret choosing Turkish Airlines and their lack of punctuality and support.

✅ Verified Review | Tel Aviv to Milan via Istanbul SAW return with Turkish Airlines. An early start Tel Aviv to Istanbul, 0620, Boeing 738, the usual service, nicely groomed flight attendants, polite, helpful. A cold snack and arrival in stormy Istanbul just to disembark the aircraft by uncovered stairs, nice wet welcome to Turkey. Transit area very crowded, mostly with Pegasus passengers. Istanbul to Milan, again by bus and this time covered stairs. A320, again, nice crew, hot lunch, full bar service. Arrival at MXP with a full security screening as if we were about to depart. Never been screened before anywhere entering a country. May have to do with our origin. Return, a quick friendly check in at Milan but terrible long lines at security and passport control. No gate posted for the departure until 55 min before, so uneasy walking around not knowing which wing to proceed to. Long tarmac delay with no explanation from TK. In general their English annoucements are difficult to understand. A320 with a friendly crew, nice hot lunch and a nice bar service. This time a jetway in Istanbul, good shopping, but staff does not speak English. Is this an International airport? Then get personnel who can assist in English. Istanbul to Tel Aviv on an A320, every seat taken, very bumpy, cabin too warm (seems to be the norm with TK) but crew managed to serve a nice cold snack and a full bar service.

✅ Verified Review | I enjoyed both of my 12 hour flights to Istanbul and back to Singapore with Turkish Airlines. The food was excellent, more than enough in-flight entertainment. Good service, the cabin crew were there to assist when needed. Overall a very positive experience.

✅ Verified Review | Istanbul to Washington. I am overall happy with Turkish Airlines seat comfort, food quality, cabin service, etc. The lounge at Washington Dulles Airport is excellent and probably the best at that airport. I want to address the way they handle the laptop ban imposed by USA and UK. The devices that are not checked in the luggage, are accepted by the airline representatives at the boarding gate, after all the passport and security checks. The devices are wrapped in bubble packs and a special receipt is given to the passenger. The wrapped devices are placed in sturdy containers before your very eyes. At the other end, Turkish Airlines have a stand right after you clear the passport control but before clearing the customs. They check your receipt and give you back your laptop. No muss no fuss. Under the circumstances the operation is pretty smooth. I thought travelers should know.

✅ Verified Review | Singapore-Istanbul-Lisbon (return) on TK in mid-March. Turkish Airlines pretty much exceeded my expectations on the outward leg of my journey, and the service was even better on the return. Check-in and boarding in Singapore went swiftly, on board the A333 to Istanbul the food, drinks service and entertainment was excellent (you'll receive a menu for the service). Also received the best amenities kit of any airline I've flown - not even Qatar gives out slippers and lip balm in theirs! No amenities kit on the Istanbul-Lisbon sector but it was more of the same: good entertainment, good food and drinks on board a clean B738. Cabin crew were very friendly on both sectors. Return sector was even better - the flight left the gate at Lisbon Airport on time. Good service once again with the regular drinks service, delicious meal of roasted meat and a very friendly bunch of flight attendants The entertainment system on board the A320 winglets was better than my outgoing flights, with a better touchscreen interface. Departure from Istanbul-Singapore also on-time, with a new A333 that had the newest entertainment system on board (it has live news from BBC and CNN). Good meal service once again with a relish pasta rigatoni, although I wish they didn't run out of meal choices on board. A slightly different brand of amenities kit was given out on this flight, but the contents were the same. On-time arrival in Singapore. The only thing that I didn't like was the seat and legroom on the Singapore-Istanbul sector, but overall Turkish Airlines put a smile on my face. I look forward to flying with them again.

✅ Verified Review | Istanbul to Montreal on Turkish Airlines. Used the business class check in which was hassle free. The lounge in Istanbul offered a great array of drink and meal options but the shower facilities were falling apart and appeared in need of an upgrade. Boarding was on time and orderly and we left on time. On board the seating was comfortable and FA's were attentive. Turkish Airlines catering is on a serious decline with portions smaller and quality not what it used to be. My main course was two pieces of overcooked thin slices of beef. The meal before landing was also disappointing. The wine selection was OK and Tattinger was appreciated. Toilets were not kept clean and I had to point out to FA's on two occoasions the need for a touch up. The wifi was reliable. Thee IFE was decent but could have used more recent movie releases. Announcements from the cockpit were scarce with flight details provided only in the beginning. Flight arrived ahead of schedule.

✅ Verified Review | Amsterdam to Manila, via Istanbul with about 1hr layover in Istanbul and 5hr on the return flight. The price was very good for this route. This was my first time flying with Turkish Airlines and it was just fairly good. IFE had a good selection of movies also to keep me entertained, and they give you amenity kit which is nice. The planes were fairly nice too, minus on the way back home, Istanbul to Amsterdam, the aircraft was old and had no IFE, was a bit disappointing. The meals are very good overall, I loved the Cafe De Paris Chicken. Staff were so so, when I stepped in the plane, the two male FA's who are supposed to welcome people suddenly started chatting, and not welcoming me, not sure what this was about. On another flight they forgot to give me bread with my meal, they serve the bread after the meal I saw them giving other people but they never gave me. I would fly with them again if they have the cheapest ticket to my destination, otherwise not.

✅ Verified Review | Our first time flying with Turkish Airlines from London Heathrow to Istanbul and we were very impressed. A spotlessly clean aircraft, courteous and friendly cabin crew and excellent catering for both the outbound and return journeys - far better than anything BA could offer for the money (we paid approximately £105 return each which is ridiculously cheap!). We would most definitely recommend and fly with Turkish again.

✅ Verified Review | Frankfurt to Konya via Istanbul. This was my first time flying with Turkish Airlines and I loved it. It's great that there was no delay or any other problems that may occur. The cabin crew was friendly and food was excellent. The seat was comfortable and I had enough space to put my legs in there. Overall I had a good experience for a good price.

✅ Verified Review | I had to get from Amsterdam to Antalya, and in winter time Turkish Airlines seemed to be the only decent option with a daily service. The flight was via SAW, the other airport in Istanbul. AMS-SAW was uneventful and not memorable, except the aircraft was an old A320 with a worn and not very clean cabin. No entertainment system, food offer was decent, but rather below average for an almost 4hr flight, flight attendants busy about themselves. Everything has indicated that the flights from and to SAW is a very low priority for Turkish Airlines. The scheduled transfer time in SAW was 1 hour, however the crowd at the passport control was far too huge to manage this within the time indicated in the reservation. I approached employees of Turkish Airlines and informed them about possible problems with my connection to AYT, and they could not help but tell me that yes, indeed there is no way to pass through the passport control except waiting in the line, then another employee put me on a fast track line, and then another one kicked me out of there explaining that I was not entitled to it. Most of the Turkish Airlines transfer staff also could not speak any English, and those who could had a lot of problems with this. At the end, it took me over 1 hr 30 min to pass through passport control, and I was rebooked to the next flight departing from SAW at 00.10 am instead of initially planned 8.05 pm. On the transfer desk they also gave me a voucher for a meal in McDonalds, the voucher could be redeemed only for the cheapest burger menu worth c.a. EUR 4.5. Needless to say, that is below anything that can be expected from a major air carrier, and I went to another place to get my meal on my own. No free internet in SAW, and the procedure for getting the paid one is crazily complicated. The flight from SAW to AYT was uneventful too, a brand-new B737-800 with a great entertainment system and a good sandwich; all that looked a bit unnecessary on this 50 min flight. On my way backed I changed in IST, the main airport in Istanbul. Both flights were quite the same as on my way from AMS, except that the aircraft of the IST-AMS was a B737-800 with a good entertainment system, in contrast to the entertainment system, the cabin looked quite worn, with the cracks on plastic details. The food offer is the same “a bit below average” menu as on the AMS-SAW flight. Summing up, the Turkish can be OK for point-to-point connections, but I would avoid transfer flights with them. SAW cannot handle transfers in a decent manner, due to apparent infrastructural, organisational and human capacity constraints. IST is slightly better, but it is very crowded, not very clean, poorly organised and has very confusing navigation, I had no contacts with transfer staff there, but got a few hints that the expectation should be high. There is no free internet in both airports, and the paid access is quite challenging to configure and get through. The voucher for the cheapest McDonalds meal in SAW was the final touch in the ungraceful picture of transfers in IST and SAW.