Turkish Airlines

I am a Emerald One World member. I fly weekly. I flew to Kiev on TK as it was the most direct carrier. On my way back from Kiev I had a 2 day stop over in Istanbul. To be honest I didn't want to visit Turkey as the experience with every staff member from check in, gate, cabin crew was terrible. The same experience on the return. Ignore call button, any request from anyone on the flight was an inconvenience. Didn't provide water regularly on an 11 hour flight. Fortunately this airline doesn't represent the people of Turkey. To the Govt. of Turkey, your legacy carrier is letting you down. To any One World members, you will be glad you are not a Star Alliance member..

Checked in early for my flight at Vnukovo Airport. Good advice from the Turkish Airlines Office about changing my second flight. First flight took off and landed on time. A good meal was served shortly after takeoff. The second flight was going to be late (notified when checking in) and was even later. I was asleep before the flight took off and when I woke up later I was served dinner - it was sub standard for a business class meal. Luggage came off relatively early but my suitcase was wet and some of the contents were also wet (I managed to get things dry that day in Kathmandu). Ticket was purchased through a travel company at a heavily discounted rate. There was a small charge to change the date of my second flight but the advice received in Moscow was good and fair.

I have always been a frequent traveler with Qatar Airways whenever possible. But this summer me and my wife decided to travel to Istanbul for a week long holiday and decided to try out Turkish Airlines. What a bad choice it was. Right from the start of the journey, all the flights were late. From CPH to IST, it was delayed by 3 hours and no explanations were provided. However it brought us to Istanbul in one piece and along with the luggage, so that was a bit or relief. The seat was good but the food was barely ok, as I don't think they were particularly fresh. But it was on our return trip they broke all the expectations. To begin with, the flight was delayed again by 3 hours. The ground staff were very rude and barely spoke English. We had some fragile items, which were properly packed, tagged and labeled. In addition to that, we had put on the Turkish Airlines fragile stickers as required by the ground staff. But it never arrived with us to CPH. After investigating, it was told to us that it was not loaded and will arrive next day. But when it arrived, it was not in one piece. One third of the things were broken and there were clear sing of mishandling and wear and tears as the package was scraped. We took pictures of the broken materials and the ripped package instantly in front of the delivery person and sent it to Turkish Airlines. But alas, it was of no use. They ignored our complaint. Not even replying to our email initially. We tried to call to the HQ in Istanbul and then they said they will look into it and later replied that they dont have any responsibility towards it, as it is fragile item so the owner bears the risk of any damage and not the Airlines. I have flown with many other Airlines in my quest of travelling over 50 countries but never have faced such poor customer service. I will never fly with them again.

Istanbul to Malta with Turkish Airlines. Professional on board, but not so much on the ground, staff are slow and rude at times.I arrived early as I was told the lines are incredible! Plane more or less new, with a lot of legroom. Onboard service is great, food is great, flight left on time, no video on demand, I would recommend them for connections only and if the price is right cause they are pricey!

My wife and I flew in Turkish Airlines premium economy from Toronto to Istanbul. Boarding was orderly and the flight left on time out of YYZ. Service on the outbound flight was good and the larger premium economy seats which recline allowed us to sleep on this night time flight. Food was above average. However, the return flight was not nearly so happy. The flight out of Istanbul was delayed (which happens) and there was chaos in the waiting hall. Then it turned out that the aircraft wasn't able to come to the bridge which meant we had to be bussed to the plane which was in the cargo area a long distance from the terminal. The ground crew never explained to us why the airplane couldn't come to the bridge. So all of the passengers had to walk to the end of the bridge and down fairly steep metal stairs to the tarmac. There were a number of elderly women who had a very difficult time negotiating the stairs and, so far as I could tell, they never got any assistance from airline staff. I ending up helping one older lady down the stairs. The return flight is during the day and after serving us a quite acceptable meal the flight attendants disappeared for about 6 hours. Based on my experience, I am not quite sure how Turkish earns the title of best airline in europe.

Baku to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines. Yet again another late arrival at Istanbul Ataturk and no apology as usual. Always a bus to the terminal. Plane was hot and though pleased to have a TV, the headphones were crackling as system hanging out. Istanbul Ataturk Airport just gets worse and worse, and I cannot remember when i last landed on time.

Lahore to New York via Istanbul. I made sure before travelling Business class on Turkish Airlines that I will get a wide body plane in which the seat made into a flat bed, but they switched the Lahore to Istanbul plane to a 737 with narrow seats that did not make into bed. At Istanbul missed my connecting flight because the gate did not show on the Business Class monitors till late, and when I reached the gate they told me the passengers were just put on the last bus to the airplane and they could not get me on the plane. The staff was rude and unfriendly and told me that for me to get the next flight I had to get a visa and then go outside to the the ticketing office located in the airport and then re-enter. The Business Class help desk could not get me the boarding card for the next flight though I was paying them for the 350 euros for the new ticket. I had to change the date on my return flight and Turkish Airlines agent told me to they could not do it on the phone, and I had to come to their office which was a two hours drive, and it took them one hour to re-issue the new ticket at a cost of $105 surcharge. This airline has bad customer service and when I sent them a writtem complaint, they took two months to answer and said they are not at fault for any of my suffering.

Gatwick to Istanbul with Turkish Airlines was over 90 minutes late on outbound meaning I thought I'd miss connecting flight to Tbilisi, but somehow made it as the onward flight itself was about an hour late because of congestion at Istanbul Sabiha which seems not uncommon. Return flights were on time, in fact early into Gatwick. Planes comfortable and clean but food and beverage service just about adequate, nothing at all special. Tbilisi to Istanbul Sabiha was 0710 departure and breakfast was salad, roll and chocolate mousse, not at all appetising at that time of day. Crews friendly enough but only seemed to be 2 of them working in economy so meal service took forever. There was no separate drinks service and then meal on the longer flights to and from London, all served in one go. Got me there and back comfortably enough at reasonable fare but not quite up to what they trumpet themselves as being.

Flew Turkish Airlines business class on this seven hour journey. The plane was old and the Business class seat was a little worn out. It was not a lie flat seat, and the controls were manual not powered. There was a push up foot rest, and the seat back could be pushed back at least to a 45 degree angle for snoozing. The seat width was okay, but overall not very relaxing experience. Lucky for us we flew during the daytime because I would have trouble sleeping well if it was a night flight. The food was adequate, not my taste. The cabin crew was very attentive though. One of the staff was dressed up in a chef's white tunic with white cap. He looked a bit out of place inside the cabin.

Turkish Airlines are the worst airline, and it's always a mess with luggage and always late. I came to Libreville from Istanbul, but the luggage was not loaded on the plane. Next day I had another flight to Gamba, but the luggage arrived only two days later. Staff in the Turkish Airlines office in Libreville were not responding on telephone calls and e-mails and didn't take any action to transport the luggage to Gamba as it's late because of Turkish Airlines.