Turkish Airlines

✅ Verified Review | Oslo to Dhaka via Istanbul return. I have travelled with Turkish Airlines some times the past year, and it seems there is always is some sort of mishap - delays, technical problems with the entertainment system, booking of seats that doesn't exist etc. However, my past trip with made me wonder if they have heard of the term "customer service". I had booked their website. The trip passed through Istanbul with one hour waiting time. At 2am the day before my trip (ie. 34 hours before departure) I received an email (and email only) that my flight to Istanbul was 5 hours delayed, but there were no information about my flight from Istanbul, so I called customer service. It turned out that my flight had been cancelled, and that I had been shifted on a later flight, but Turkish hadn't thought about what effects that had on my flight from Istanbul. The initial thought of the customer service was that I had to stay overnight at Istanbul, and then take the flight the next day. There is only 1 flight from Istanbul to my destination every day, so that meant that I were facing a 24 hours delay and that I would have to wait until 6pm before my flight departed. When I told the customer service that this was not doable, he said that there were seats available on the flight to Istanbul on an earlier flight ( departure 7.30a, instead of noon), but that there were only business class seats left and that I had to upgrade my ticket. That is of course not acceptable. After 32 minutes on the phone with customer service, I got booked on to that earlier flight (giving me an 5 hours additional wait in Istanbul, but at least not a 24 hour delay to my arrival time). When I boarded that flight, I was seated in one of the economy seats that were supposed to be unavailable, and it also turned out that there were plenty of free seats on economy class. What kind of customer service is this? Unfortunately I had another horrible experience with Turkish on my flight back, where I were denied to check-in because I met up at the airport 52 minutes before departure instead of the required 60 minutes. There were no problems in assisting the business class passenger who arrived at the same time as me, but I was rejected because of these 8 minutes. I have never been late on check-in before, but I have seen many exemples of airline companies bending over backwards to help their passengers (especially if it was the last flight for the day, or in this case the only). Turkish would rather exploit it's customers. The irony is that this very trip was the one that earned me the last points for a membership upgrade. I will go to great lengths to avoid this airline in the future.

✅ Verified Review | I currently work in Adjara, Georgia and the nearest airport is at Batumi. As I am a UK citizen, I frequently fly between Manchester, UK and Batumi, Georgia via Istanbul Ataturk. I have made bookings for three trips between Batumi and Istanbul over the last three months and I have to say the performance of the airline on this route is shockingly poor. On 29 December 2015, my flight from Istanbul to Batumi was cancelled. Weather conditions at Batumi were blamed. I was offered an alternative flight to Trabzon, Turkey instead being told there would be a bus transfer to Batumi. On arrival at Trabzon, there was no information about a bus transfer and no-one seemed to have clue about what to do. Eventually, I managed to find someone who put me on a bus (it was obvious this had not been arranged to cater for the disruption) which then left meet at the Georgian border at Sarpi. I was then forced to make my own travel arrangements from there. On 24 February 2016 my flight from Batumi to Istanbul was cancelled. Once again weather conditions were blamed. Today (24 March) my flight from Batumi to Istanbul has again been cancelled with weather conditions at Istanbul Ataturk airport being blamed. However, on checking the Turkish Airlines website, it was noted that other international flights are recorded as having landed at this airport at around the same time my own was due to land. My work colleagues have also experienced similar disruptions and cancellations to their flights over the last three months (some of their experiences were even worse!). The flight between Istanbul and Batumi is supposed to be a scheduled daily flight. However, the level of disruption leads many of us working here in Georgia to believe the airline does not value its customers and can just cancel flights when it wishes if it believes it does not have enough passengers - with weather conditions being blamed as a way to avoid having to pay compensation. As far as I am concerned, this airline does not deserve the award of best airline in Europe.

✅ Verified Review | Malta to Kilimanjaro via Dar es Salaam. We are frequent flyers with Turkish Airlines and our experience in this case was bad enough that we will probably never fly with them again. 7 hour flights at 2am and 4am in aircraft so small and old that the seat inclined (when it worked) just 30 degrees. Crew mostly indifferent. Food also indifferent - normally the food and service plus sky chefs on Turkish warrant a 5 star review on their own. We asked at Istanbul lounge if we could speak to a member of customer service about our experience and they said 'No. Post via the website'. So we did. Nobody even acknowledged. We love the Istanbul lounge and the food there and (normally) the food on board. But in general indifferent has got into the habit of seeing customers as pesky unwanted extras that get in the way of their job. So maybe they're just telling us to go to another airline. Message received.

Flight from Dubai was delayed by an hour. Reached Istanbul expecting to have missed my flight as I arrived 30 mins before the flight. As soon as I arrived and finished Transfer Security Check, on checking the screen for the flights, Catania was missing from the Screen. Customer care they told me I have to change the Ticket at the transfer desk. On reaching the Transfer Desk I found there were quite a few travellers to Catania facing this issue. After the long queue, the guy at the counter had no idea what was going on and did not even care when I asked him what happened. One person at the counter said the flight had been cancelled so they are making a new flight early morning next day. Another Staff said the flight took off. Staff treated us as if we were cattle and without any hesitation decided which flight we ought to take. Finally after deciding I would go at the 6:45 am flight the next day, they arranged for the hotel stay and ask me to contact the hotel desk outside passport control. On asking about Visa, they say that I need to pay an extra 43USD. I found it pathetic that inspite of robbing us the time and our money for a service we paid to reach a destination at a certain time, they had the audacity to ask the passengers to pay extra. The Staff was actually like "We are giving Hotel and Free Shuttle so you can at least pay this". Really disappointed with the attitude of the Staff.

Our family of 4, flew with Turkish airlines from London to Kuala Lumpur via Istanbul return. London to Istanbul the aircraft was excellent, equipped with the latest entertainment - essential for keeping the kids occupied! The staff on board were so friendly and welcoming. From Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur, I couldn't help feeling as if we had been 'downgraded' as the front row in which we were sitting, only 1 out of 4 screens worked! One was stuck and 3 didn't work, so as there was ample space behind, my husband and son moved backwards, which was ok but meant we were sitting separately for most of the flight. The staff were less friendly than the first. These two factors made me feel a little disheartened. On our return journey, from Kuala Lumpur to London via Istanbul, we had an excellent journey. The entertainment was excellent, food was delicious, toilets were maintained and kept clean to a high standard and the staff were superb. However on the last leg of the journey, from Istanbul to London, we were very disappointed with the aircraft itself. It felt as if we were on a low cost carrier, as there was literally no entertainment onboard as there seemed to be a technical glitch on all the screens. That was a huge disappointment, as we expected to have a good quality plane, having paid a premium price for the journey. But the staff were exceptional and did their best to cater for us, ensuring the children were comfortable. Overall, we enjoyed flying on Turkish Airlines. They seem to take pride in the cleanliness of their aircraft, which says a lot about an airline. The food was to a high standard and the kids were gifted various toys as souvenirs of their journey. I would definitely consider flying with Turkish airlines in the future.

Munich to Bangkok via Istanbul. Turkish Airlines is a cheap airline with good scheduled flight times. The airplanes are in good condition, the food is average. The staff sometimes are very friendly, but I also experienced them as unfriendly. The problem is that on my 4 flights I had 3 times a late check in, and 2 times a late arrival. One time I arrived 3 hours late with no apology fom the pilot at all.

New York JFK airport to Mauritius via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines, and overall good service. Entertainment can be improved in terms of choice. Mechanism to provide free hotel during long transit should be improved as no guidance is given to passengers. Though promised a hotel we did not get it. The staff in charge of hotel desk was rude. Level of English of airline staff at Istanbul airport needs improvement. Airport infrastructure, layout, lack of signage to direct passengers and service are deficient and impact negatively on the airline. Main piece of luggage was delayed for 2 days.

Birmingham to Bangkok via Istanbul. Onboard the best food I've had in the air and the service onboard is fantastic. Turkish Airlines ground staff however are terrible on all counts. In Istanbul they offer priority boarding for business class, priority boarding for a bus that is. A bus that you then stand on for half an hour before getting crammed with all other passengers before taking you on the long journey to the plane and a scrum on the stairs. The lounge in Istanbul is great but seems to be operating at absolute maximum capacity. It really is a tale of an airline that gets some things so right, and others so very wrong.

Houston to Karachi via Istanbul with Turkish Airlines - after I had booked I started having second thoughts. The reviews I read about the airline and cabin crew was making me think whether my decision to fly with Turkish Airlines was a wise. I was flying in business class. The cabin crew I found to be cheerful and courteous and I would definitely fly again.

Prague to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. Checked-in online for my flight with the app - boarded the aircraft - first impressions, very outdated decor - like from 1980's but clean and comfortable. Sat down, noticed they had an onboard chef - was wearing a chef's uniform and hat - thought that was nice. Crew were very friendly, made nice conversation and in-flight service was nice, meal was surprisingly good. Would recommend this airline for short-haul flights.