Turkish Airlines

I traveled from Istanbul to Karachi, flight TK-708 (Seats 28D, 28E, 28F and 28G) on 3rd August 2015. It was a horrible experience due to: Seat Back of seat no. 28D was stuck so one cannot relax. Inflight entertainment system of seat no 28F remained non-operational for a good hour. Inflight entertainment system of seat 28D became non-operational after approximately one hour of operation. Dinner Menu was given to all passengers, however, the same was not completely available at time of serving the dinner (only pasta was available as main course).

Our return leg back to Abuja from Heathrow was terrible. Me and my wife were issued just the boarding pass to Istanbul from Heathrow, while my son (2.5 years old) got boarding pass to Istanbul from Heathrow and Istanbul to Abuja. When I complained they said don't worry, jut pick it up when you get to Istanbul. We arrived Istanbul and someone from Turkish Airlines was announcing to us that passengers transiting to Abuja should go to the boarding gate immediately - we complained that we were not given boarding pass in Heathrow and the guy said go upstairs. We got upstairs at the Turkish Airlines desk told them we need boarding pass. After waiting for about 2 mins, I noticed the lady had a strange look on her face, unfortunately they don't speak good English, so off she went came back after about 2 minutes with someone who flatly told us, sorry you cannot board that plane. I asked him why, he said the plane has departed. He said the option we have is to either spend 48 hours in a Hotel in Istanbul, they'll take care of our hotel bills and food or we go via Egyptair that has a 6 hours wait in Istanbul, 8 hours wait in Cairo and a total of about 8 hours flight. We spent 6 hours wait time on a cold metal chair in Istanbul and 8 hours in Cairo. After a combined 8 hours flight from Istanbul to Abuja via Cairo, we finally arrived Abuja. We got to Abuja but all my checked in luggage could not be found. 5 days after arriving Abuja Turkish airline is telling me its the responsibility of Egyptair to find my luggage not theirs. Meanwhile my boarding pass and tag given to me in Istanbul is reading Turkish Airlines not Egypt Air.

I flew with Turkish Airlines many times inside Europe and received great service, flights, cabin crew, food. I decided to fly with them on long flight to Kuala Lumpur. Flight and service Budapest-Istanbul was like it should be. Istanbul to Kuala Lumpur and back the A330-300 has small space for legs (Boeing is better), they served food 2hrs after departure at 3AM, no smile on crew faces, slow service. If you want more to drink, you didn't get it, so you must stand up and get it.

Two flights to get me from JFK to KUL, Malaysia. The first leg to Istanbul was delayed by two hours but I was scheduled an 8 hours layover in Istanbul so that was fine for me. However, the second leg of the flight scheduled to depart 6 hours after I arrived, was delayed for 5.30 hours. They provided a meal for all affected passengers but we were limited to only two choices, and the amount was little. The floors in every toilet were damp, dirty, and toilet paper ran-out. The food inflight for the economy class was average. The service was average.

Turkish Airlines night flight from Heathrow through Ataturk on my way to Bulgaria. Arriving in Ataturk around 4 AM, I waited for the gate indication for the 7:30 flight to Bulgaria. Around 5:30am, it opened, so I went to the gate and showed the pair of Turkish Airlines employees my boarding pass and sat down right in the front row of the departure lounge. Exhaustion took over and I slumped in my chair, jerking awake to see the bus leaving for the plane and the big red letters CLOSED. I jumped to the desk and asked the man why he did not call me or wake me up, when he knew I was on that flight. He simply smirked and said “Not my responsibility”. I asked him what I should do, but he was determined to brush me off, simply saying “try going upstairs to the transfer desk.” Well, that set off a chain of absurdity the likes of which I’ve never seen in my life. It seemed that every employee, either of Ataturk Airport or of Turkish Airlines, ranged from nonchalant to downright belligerent. I was sent on a wild goose chase from desk to desk to desk, with practically everyone having the “not my responsibility” attitude. There was no solution at the “transfer desk”, and they kept sending me to other desks in what began to feel like some kind of absurd hazing ritual. Finally, after running the gauntlet several times, I was informed that I would have to clear immigration to get to the Turkish Airlines sales desk in the airport. Supposedly that was the only path to a solution for my problem. I stood in line for over an hour to get stamped, but was told “You need a Turkish visa.” Incredulous, on my way to the visa desk, I asked the same information clerk why he didn’t tell me that I needed a visa, and he (I am not making this up) told me “You didn’t ask. It’s not my responsibility to think for you.” At this point, I was choking back tears. I just couldn’t believe it. I got back into line after paying 20 pounds for a visa and about an hour later finally got to the Turkish Airlines sales desk. The clerk informed me that it was “not Turkish Airlines’ problem” that I was not notified of the boarding and that I would have to pay an additional 265 euros in order to be able to board the next available flight, which was twelve hours later. I thought that was extremely unfair, given that I was at the gate on time and had identified myself to the ground staff. I thought I had the right to be informed of the flight leaving and woken up. Nothing I said to them was received with any amount of comprehension, compassion, or understanding. They said that if I didn’t like their solution, I could go to their “supervisor’s desk” at counter B15. At counter B15, I waited and waited until I finally got to talk to the extremely annoyed agent, who curtly informed me that she was “not authorized” to handle my request, and that I was welcome to call customer service at the help phone. The lady on the help phone was the most helpful out of anyone I had spoken to in a now 5-hour drama, but even she was only able to “make a report”. Long story short, I was forced to pay 178 euros to board the next flight, and when I got to Sofia that night, I saw that Turkish Airlines lost my luggage on top of everything. Three days later, I was informed that Turkish Airlines will not deliver my lost luggage, so I am forced to pay another 100 euros in taxis to get to the airport in Sofia to retrieve my things.

Both flights were okay and went smoothly, although I never thought my flight experience could be so greatly affected just by customer support! When we arrived in Istanbul (at almost midnight) we were informed that the airline would not be providing overnight accommodation (our next flight left about 13:40 the next day) because there was another flight coming from Rome in the morning - meaning it would have been possible for us to take that flight and not have as long of a layover. Not only did Turkish Airlines not tell us this until we arrived in Istanbul, they basically yelled this at us and then the agent walked away from the desk - worst customer service experience ever. Had we known this, I would have had no problem making hotel plans for that night prior to arriving of course but after experiencing this bad service we were then left to find a hotel for the night in a city we had never been to. It's a shame because the flight crew worked very hard at their jobs but our experience was ruined by poor service from the hotel desk.

Two flights to get us from Ankara to Athens. The first leg was to Istanbul. Online check-in worked and very fast service at Ankara airport. Boarding started 50 minutes before flight due to go which seemed early. Flight was supposed to be 45 minutes, revised to 52, and eventually took 80 as we went past Istanbul and then turned back. This left us with tight connection at Atatürk. However we left half an hour late for no apparent reason. So overall too much time on the planes for such a short journey. Onboard service excellent though. In flight entertainment not turned on for first flight, but was for second.

We first went to Istanbul in a 4hr flight from Malaga. We had lunch, which was good. Then a Boeing 777 to Tokyo, they took care of the ambience so we didn't have so much jet lag, food came twice, and drinks were served several times. I recommend the home-made lemonade. When going to Tokyo we also enjoyed a typical Turkish cake in the two flights, but when coming back to Malaga we didn't. When coming back to Instanbul, we were next to the catering area, where dishes were prepared. The cabin crew made some noise, so sleeping was a harder thing. I guess the best thing about the food in general is the variety of small things you have when you eat, and the worst thing is the fact that Turkish really don't make a difference between breakfast and lunch/dinner. For example, when going from Narita to Istanbul we had food twice, but before landing at 4 am, I guess it's better to have some small breakfast rather than dinner, remembering we had dinner-like food before on that flight. I really missed the Turkish pistachios when returning. The last thing to mention was the last cabin crew group, when going from Istanbul to Malaga, looked old, like the parents of those who took us to Istanbul in the 777. I would have liked to be able to buy some Turkish Airlines merchandising on-board. Overall, we have to remember the good prices. Turkish will continue being a good airline whenever they continue with that more or less good relation between quality and money.

Good entertainment on flights. Food was not good especially breakfast. Menu was given but staff didn't ask what you wanted - just gave whatever they had! Staff weren't very friendly and polite when asking for water. Had to wait on airplane for a long time before taking off.

Hamburg to Istanbul and back. On both flights everything went smoothly, and we met kind and friendly staff. The service and food onboard was good. We highly recommend flying with Turkish Airlines