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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2/10

"it was total chaos "

(United States)

Cairo to Washington DC via Istanbul. We were catching a connecting flight in Istanbul and due to weather conditions, our flight was delayed nearly 4 hours. Once we arrived, we ran to our gate just missing the flight. Bad weather, delays and cancellations can happen to any airline. What was disappointing was how this situation was handled by Turkish Airlines staff. It was total chaos with lack of communication, poor management, and staff unwilling to provide assistance. It was difficult to find someone who could speak English and when you did, they were rude and condescending. We waited for over 7 hours at the transfer desk to get another flight. We were told the airline would provide us with hotel accommodations, but we were shocked at the length of the line requiring another 5 to 6 hour wait. Eventually we paid for our own accommodation. I was horrified by the way customers' escalating anger and in some cases, medical emergencies were handled or in this case, mishandled. While waiting in line, we witnessed at least 3 physical fights, two people who fainted, and customer service representatives who were in desperate need of proper training. I have flown with this airline on two other occasions without problems, but Turkish Airlines certainly cracked under pressure.
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteCAI to IAD via IST
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"very disappointing airline"

(United Kingdom)

The holiday started quite well with our first flight from Manchester to Istanbul with reasonable seats for our 4 hour flight, even though the seat television wasn't working, an ipad solved this problem. We were expecting the same or better for our next flights on the longest leg (9 hours) from Istanbul to Bangkok, but were very disappointed to have less leg room and with the seat in front reclined couldn't even eat the meal properly. On the return flight from Bangkok to Istanbul we were told we would be delayed for 2 hours 30 mins, then held on the runway in Istanbul for a further 30 minutes due to congestion and only just made our connecting flight to Manchester. Unfortunately no luggage made it with the passengers. Both return flights had very little leg room and were the smallest legroom seats we have had on long haul flights - less than 1 hour internal flights within Thailand. The staff were very unhelpful when asked for most basic requests and very rarely smiled. We looked at the reviews for Turkish Airlines and expected a good flight, but were very disappointed. It is now the 3rd of January, some 12 hours after our return and still no news of all of our 6 items of luggage. All in all very disappointing airline.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMAN to BKK via IST
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"poor customer service"

(Bahrain)

Oslo to Bahrain via Istanbul. Have flown with Turkish Airlines many times and from many different countries but now is enough. Poor customer service. Bad language skills of staff makes it impossible to communicate or understand messages. Our latest travel took us through Istanbul in the snow storm that crippled the airport and the "help" we got was non existent. They dismissed us after giving us a new flight 20 hours later. We were given no food, water or a place to sleep. We were told "it is not our problem".
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteOSL to BAH via IST
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"missed connecting flight"

(Malaysia)

Turkish Airlines from Algiers to Kuala Lumpur via Istanbul. Flight got delayed 2 hours for snow and 2 hours in Algiers for technical issues, hence I missed my connecting flight to KL. Worst ever ground service. Turkish airport staff suggested me to pay in kiosk to take e-visa which I did, but immigration didn't allow me to enter because I don't have US or Schengen visa! After 2 hour of waiting and standing, paying $60 for visa and it's not acceptable? They ask me to pay if I want go to airport hotel or stay in waiting list for rest area from 3am to 12pm. My next flight is after 24 hours and this is the service they provide?
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteALG to KUL via IST
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"my bag was lost "

(Turkey)

London to Istanbul. My bag was lost by Turkish Airlines on the 28th of December. Airport staff said my bag would be returned to me the next day. It did not arrive. I was told that it had been given to a company called ABS Kargo. Two days later, the courier called me and I had to get a Turkish friend to talk to him as he spoke no English (not his fault but you'd think Turkish Airlines would use a company that was able to comunicate effectively) and was told he could not find my address. My friend gave the courier my work address and I was assured the bag would arrive the following day. It did not. Days passed and the courier turned his phone off and was not contactable. During this time I was calling Turkish Airlines every day and was told they could not speak to the courier firm on my behalf. I was told every day that my bag would arrive the next day. It did not. Eventually, following complaints on Twitter and by email I was called by Turkish Airlines to say my bag would arrive the following day - the 3rd of January - it did was damaged.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLHR to IST
Date FlownDecember 2015
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

"very badly managed"

(Singapore)

Munich to Singapore via Istanbul. Due to snow in IST all flights were delayed and I missed my connection. Snowfall happens and I understand this is not in the power of the airline. However the way to deal with difficult situations shows the real quality of the airline. Turkish Airlines fails at all levels. Flight is delayed by 4 hours, in reality you have to beg for a voucher, passengers are stuck and TK staff hide from the gates. To get information or vouchers one needs to go back through customs. Delayed arrival at IST airport, missed connection - no information is given, transfer desks have 3hr waiting queues. In reality it took 4 hours between delayed arrival and hotel checkin (at 6am) - surely this process can be improved. Make sure that passenger receive an apology, very simple, cheap and effective but this does not seem within the standards of TK. Overall this situation was very badly managed. Inflight I find Turkish Airlines a good airline but it is the whole customer experience that counts. I have seen other airline who are much more professional and prepared to crisis situations.
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteMUC to SIN via IST
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"airport was really poor"

(United Kingdom)

The Turkish Airlines support at Istanbul Airport was really poor. We had our flights delayed 14 hours due to the snow and weren't given a lounge or room to rest in. Staff at the gates were horrible (shouting at other customers) and were not helpful at all. However, onboard flights the seats are really comfortable, cabin crew were wonderful, food wasn't too great and in flight entertainment was great.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteKWI to LHR via IST
Date FlownDecember 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"the worst experience"

(United Kingdom)

I've just had the worst experience of my traveling life, and it is not over. We (a couple and 5 year old) were due to fly out from Istanbul to London Gatwick on Wednesday with Turkish Airlines. Due to what would be a manageable snow storm elsewhere, we were first kept in the airport with a four hour delay. The area we were kept in was very crowded and not equipped to handle thousands of passengers they were bussing to the planes. Then we were kept in the plane for seven hours. Finally we were let off the plane. Once we got back to the airport we had to pass through customs and saw that they had made no allowances for the mess they themselves had created. Nobody seemed to know where we should go or what we should do. Then it was more waiting in various lines to get rebooked. Next day our flight was cancelled again. More lines and hours of waiting to rebook. Turkish Airlines has this "amazing" system where one cannot get rebooked at a check-in counter and instead has to go to a special desk called "ticket sales" to get rebooked. There are at most 10 of these desks throughout the airport, which were trying to process thousands of passengers yesterday. So after Turkish Airlines cancels your flight, they make you wait in line for hours for the privilege of getting rebooked. The fact that I am an Elite passenger (Star Alliance Gold) made no difference whatsoever. We are still stranded here - no seats available until Wednesday they say. And they make no compensation for hotels or food. Turkish Airlines should be ashamed of itself. After more queuing we managed to file a claim to get our luggage back but thus far no news of that either.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIST to LGW
Date FlownJanuary 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"delay without apology"

(United Kingdom)

Birmingham to Kuala Lumpur via Istanbul. The second leg from Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur was delayed for 5.5 hours. Queued at the Turkish Airlines care desk for 30 minutes, just to be brought directly to Burger King for a free meal. A free meal is probably OK, but the staff could have been more polite and friendly. He could barely speak English. There is no apology for the flight delay at all, no explanation as to why it was delayed. Really incompetent staff. On the flight, the food and drinks were good. The orange juice was fresh. Choices of movies were plenty. The air stewardess were not the friendliest, but at least they were quite fast in serving, unlike certain other airlines. I would not recommend this airline purely because of the 5.5 hours delay without any apology.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBHX to KUL via IST
Date FlownDecember 2015
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

"good service throughout"

(United Kingdom)

London to Baku via Istanbul. Turkish Airlines has increased its profile for destinations offered; but arguably the main criticism is that it takes famous Turkish hospitality a touch too far. All flights were on time and early and seats were perfectly comfortable, and I was able to get exit seats throughout. The food service was ample, although I strongly recommend against drinking anything not in a container, I was given a vodka and tonic that must have been a quadruple measure simply because many of the cabin staff do not know the measurements. The only gripe is the over-servicing of passengers, staff sought to wake me up when I had been happily sleeping for 2 hours with no cause to do so, when there was a seat and tray table available next to me. I may not have been able to place a drinks order but I would have been fine. From the looks of the other passengers I do not think I was alone. Otherwise a good service throughout.
AircraftA321
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLHR to GYD via IST
Date FlownFebruary 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes