Turkish Airlines

IST-KUL and SIN-IST. Both flights were a nightmare. 2 hour delay for technical problems for both flights. Bad management at the gate with no one providing useful information. The crew were absent during both flights. On a 10 hour flight you should expect to have some basic services on board. Nothing at all apart from dinner after takeoff and breakfast before landing. Food quality was pretty poor. I expected more. Great business lounge in Ataturk airport.

Traveling from Boston on August 22 the flight was scheduled for 11.45 we waited several hours without knowing what was going on until. At 3 am they told us the flight was cancelled and we had to recollect our baggage. They sent passengers to different hotels some as far as state of New Hampshire. Crammed us to the bus while some passengers did not have a seat and there was not enough luggage space. On August 23 they told us the flight will leave at 6 pm. After we got back to the terminal at 3 o’clock the flight was delayed again with no clear reason given. We were waiting not knowing if we are actually going to fly. While complaining to them they would respond that there was going to be somebody at Istanbul airport waiting for us to take care of all complaints but when we arrived in Istanbul we could not find anybody. When calling the airline regarding the issue the representatives would say“our system shows that there was no flight cancellation on August 22”and we had to convince them that the flight was actually cancelled and there were hundreds of people on that flight and some missed the collecting flights and hotel reservations. On my way back to Boston although I purchased my ticket 5 months earlier they changed my status to Standby without notifying me and I had to wait until all the passengers get on board and hope for open seat. This was the worst travel experience I have had I would not travel with them again.

IST-BHX. I have flown on Turkish Airlines about 60 times over the last 18 months. I have noticed a general decline in the quality of service. This was very marked on my last flight from Istanbul to Birmingham. The seat I has was almost worn out and very uncomfortable. The cabin service was poor. They offer a choice of meals but do carry enough of the options to provide choice to all. On this occasion they had given all the meals out of my preferred option after only 4 or 5 rows of passengers. They did not offer any option. During the 4.5 hour flight I was offered one drink and my calls for another were ignored.

HKG-IST-OSL-IST-PEK. Economy Comfort on the long-haul legs are superb and did actually not cost much more than a standard economy ticket when you book 5-6 months in advance. TK are superb and in many ways in a different league when it comes to their food. Every meal I ate everything something which happens rarely for me. The entertainment system is excellent and the FAs are good. The only negative thing is information flow; their IT systems and definitely not up-to-date and it was very frustrating flying OSL-IST not knowing if we would make the PEK flight. Luckily we did and I was even upgraded to 1A on a beautiful B77W. Still I would enjoy not having concerns the 9 hours previously.

TK 2421 Antalya to Istanbul August 11. TK 66 Istanbul to Jakarta August 12. We have always enjoyed TK and have flown it many places around the world each time in Business Class. There does seem to be a difference in both the service and attitude on the 330 vs 777 airplanes. The 777 FA's are more caring and do not disappear after service. After numerous long haul flights is seems that the FA's on the 330 are less trained and really do not care. Yesterday on the Istanbul to Singapore flight a FA attendant was smashing the pillows and blankets into the overhead compartments even if they were full of luggage. It was a disaster trying to get the hand carry out of the overhead because of all the bedding. Another thing is the food. When a flight leaves Istanbul at 1 am on a 10 hour flight the most important meal is breakfast not dinner. We have yet to have an edible breakfast even in Business Class. The eggs are a messy runny non-recognizable mess or there was some mystery Turkish pastry breakfast that was like rubber. You would think that with nobody eating the entrée that they would stop serving it. The funny thing is that the meals served in the European Business Class are quite good. The Business Class lounge in Istanbul remains the best in the world. We love spending time there. Unfortunately they boast if having thousands of flights daily but the airport in Istanbul cannot handle nearly as many as they want to fly. The taxi ways and concourses are a disaster. You would think there would be separate lines for Business and Economy like the rest of the airlines in the world but no. We will continue to fly Turkish Airlines because we feel safe and the price is right. Occasionally we get a good flight crew. But it is all hit and miss. The one consistent thing about Turkish Airline is that you cannot apply one word or phrase to describe them because they always are different.

BUD-IST-KIX (Istanbul-Osaka) and return. Short range A320 and B737-800 were a bit tighter seated but the A332 on IST-KIX and back was very spacious. We took row 32 or so (do your online check-in 24 hrs in advance) where config is only 2x3x2 - legroom was great. Seat comfort for my 90 kgs also acceptable but a bit high armrests. Food was plentiful and excellent in quality with metal cutlery (long gone since the '90-s from most fights unfortunately) even trilingual menu cards were provided on all legs with 2 choices on the long range ones. Both long ranges being (mostly) night fights cabin attendants got all window blinds closed after service so all pax could sleep rather well - even on the backwards leg where plane was 90% loaded. Cabin crew were very attentive and thorough - what I rate the most is that they checked all seat belts and seat tray window blind etc. before landing and got everything arranged right. Toilets were kept clean in the aft cabin all the way through free beverages and snack stocks were kept available constantly. Inflight entertainment runs (obviously) on some Android old op.sys tablets integrated into seat backs and mine was stuck somehow though but did not ask for assistance. Flights were punctual (no delays) and crew were smiling.

Flew Nairobi-IST-Boston return. While aircraft and cabin were fine food definitely above average and a bird strike was professionally and safely handled by the pilot (take off aborted switch to new aircraft) I was not happy with the following: 1) Very difficult to get hold of Turkish Airlines office by phone. I wanted to inquire about changes to my ticket. In Nairobi I had to end up making the journey to their downtown office in person because no one answered the phone. In the US it was equally difficult to get hold of anyone who could help with ticket changes. You can also only pay any change fees in person at the airport (this alone took an hour prior to the actual check in and ended up being USD 80 higher than originally advised). In Boston there is also no on- line check in available. Turkish is just not equipped with the kind of services that makes this much easier with airlines like KLM BA Delta etc. 2) Horrible experience at Istanbul airport. Again wanted to go to a ticket office to inquire about changes during my layover. In the entire international transit area there is none! It was also incredibly difficult just to find someone who spoke adequate English! After going in circles I was finally told I need to get a visa exit the airport go to the ticket office outside then re-enter! It was also by far the dirtiest airport I have been to hardly saw cleaning crews and if I did they were standing around talking rather than working. Neither ground staff nor cabin crew particularly friendly on a four leg trip one flight attendant stood out for trying to be particularly helpful. I had chosen Turkish because at the time it was the cheapest option the few hundred dollars saved were not worth it because of the other hassles gained. The early morning departure and arrival times in Nairobi also make an already long trip even more painful.

Flew Istanbul - Munich on 23 Aug 2014 in economy. Plane over hour late leaving with no mention as to why. As I had a connecting flight in Munich to Krakow I wanted to know which terminal in Munich the plane would land so I knew how much connection time I had. Stewardesses totally unhelpful even when I suggested they could ask the captain. Needless to say missed the connection meaning I lost the cost of the next ticket as it was non refundable as well as the cost of the prepaid hotel again non refundable. Turkish airlines staff were not the least bit interested. Service was gratuitous and sloppy. Never saw a smile.

TK1850 ATH-IST June 19. ATH airport check in procedures swift my luggage checked to my final destination boarding passes provided for my subsequent flights with another Star Alliance carrier. Aircraft A321 Business class seats 2-2 with more than adequate space (reclining seats dedicated cabin not the silly "leave middle seat unoccupied" solution). Cabin crew friendly linguistic skills more than adequate. Rather impressive food and wine service for a short flight smartly presented full hot meal left me with the curiosity of flying them long haul. A rather pleasant experience.

Travelled on TK 0069 with my wife on June 13 2014. We mentioned to the air hostess that our table trays could not be closed and were staying in the locked position as it was broken. The flight attendant could not assist us and were not willing to help. Plane was very old and in bad shape. Food was served late after 2-3 hours when everybody was sleeping. No smiles on the faces of the flight attendants and very poor service.