Turkish Airlines

VIE-IST on A330. Flight was overbooked in Economy. Although seats in Business Class available it was not possible to upgrade against miles or cash. Cabin chef extremely rude to ground staff and me. I am Elite (star alliance gold) member with the TK programme Miles and Smiles and we were seated in two cramped middle seats - this is how TK treats loyal customers. Worst experience for a long time. Inflight entertainment not updated since January.

Flew TK18 Business Class from Toronto to Istanbul on May 6th code share flight with Air Canada where the ticket was slightly less than through Turkish. Departed on-time. The flight crew were superb attentive and bi- lingual. Great selection of Turkish newspapers including English-language editions. During the over-night flight my wife awoke: A flight crew member immediately came to her to see if there was anything she needed. Food was good as were the entertainment selections. The food and drinks were well presented including “candlelight dinner high above the clouds.” The bathroom was kept clean through-out the flight the fresh flowers inside and immediately outside were an unexpected touch. Only complaint was the lack of expedited customs upon arrival. Will fly with Turkish again they certainly provided a high quality international flight.

Recently flew Istanbul to New York City in Business Class using United Air Miles. Very comfortable seats which allowed a potential good sleep. Food excellent though it took a long time to serve and we all were anxious to sleep it was evening. There were two problems: the restroom was filthy from the beginning of the flight. Floor was sticky trash overflowed the bins and was on the floor. When I told Flight Attendant I don't believe she really understood. She told me to use the restroom in Business Class but this was in Business Class. Second problem was it seemed families with young children (infants and toddlers) were invited to use Business Class as a free upgrade. This was nice for them but having two screaming youngsters for several hours was hard on the rest of the passengers. Turkish Air has a great reputation so this was a disappointing flight. Check the bathroom!

VIE-IST-TLV-IST-HAM: Outbound flight from VIE to IST with A 330-200. Much legroom excellent food freshly squeezed juices and very tasty hot meal. Flight attendants were smiling and friendly and did a great job to complete a full service within 2hrs 45 min. Flight left on time arrived on time in IST. Smooth check-in and boarding in Vienna. Transfer at IST airport very easy. Plenty of shops and restaurants the only downside is that there was no airbridge available for the next flight to TLV. No seats available at the departure gate and very cramped. Flight from IST to TLV was excellent. Brand new A321 with personal TV on each seat. Again FA's very friendly and they served a hot meal in the middle of the night (flight was 1 hour 40 min). Return flight from TLV to IST again a very new plane flight left punctual at Ben Gurion airport FA's smiling and friendly all the time. Again a smooth transfer at IST connection to HAM. Older aircraft from IST to HAM but enough legroom even in Y- class. I have no doubt to recommend this airline. Especially the catering and the onboard meals are fresh and tasty from Turkish Do&CO. Turkish is much better than most of the European airlines. Will choose them again.

We recently flew from Chicago to Istanbul to Tel Aviv. The experience was very positive but where Turkish Airlines really stood out was in providing gluten free meals. They were of excellent quality and out of four major meals there were no repeats. Really beat the standard white rice and dry white chicken most airlines serve every time. It helped make a long trip easier.

BRU-IST-BRU 1 class both legs Boeing 737-800 great C configuration. Good efficient check in and SN lounge not as good as BA which was the usual lounge in BRU. Boarding a mess but once on board rather good service comfort and tranquility Two remarks on board though menus are getting very boring if you fly TK often as I do on European routes and bathrooms are used by everybody and FA do nothing to stop it! Third remark is BRU boarding which is always a mess! Arriving in ST when C pax a bliss due to the fast track on arrivals. Will recommend and use them again already book the next 3 trips!

We flew from Rome to Istanbul business class staff food and aircraft were excellent no complaints on this 3.5 hour flight. We then had a two hour wait for our flight to Hong Kong in premium economy on Turkish Airlines. Again everything was excellent. Only thing I could say they should get their boarding process more efficient. Everyone was seated near the boarding counter (flight full or nearly full) we had been sitting there for an hour a person came in and told everyone to move we thought the gate had changed. No. We were moved outside the door past another counter and then had to line up show our boarding pass which part was torn off and then had to sit back where we were originally. Sat there for an hour. After all passengers were seated back where they were the staff member then proceeded to zap all the boarding passes it seemed like 6 times. Why I don't know that is usually done in one process. We then lined up in lines marked A B C D and then flew to HKG. Great flight service and nice clean planes.

Delhi to Istanbul was terrible. Old flight with bad quality of seats. The entertainment system was not working for the whole flight. Asked for water as it was peak summer and did not come until the beverages started. The crew were curt. Flight from Istanbul to Sweden was better quality but again food was pathetic. Sweden to Istanbul food was bearable. Istanbul to Delhi - again entertainment was not working. Never again will I take this flight. Thankfully there was 1-2 crew members who were a bit courteous else would have given a single star on each parameter.

Critical flaw - staff do absolutely nothing to enable best possible chance to make connecting flights. TK feeder flight late leaving Antalya late arriving IST bus 10 minutes around tarmac as no airbridge! No staff waiting to expedite transfers. I am a regular traveller and always every attempt is made to enable connections. It's basic. TK international flight also delayed so not leaving for one hour - staff just tore up my boarding pass rather than even attempting to get me on board! The implication was significant.

I've flown with Turkish 4 times since Jan 2014. This weekend (29 May to 1st June) I flew with them again from Riyadh to Geneva and return. First flight Wednesday night was crowded but boarding went well and was relatively quick. Onboard the plane was not clean the supposedly red seats were much more black the carpet was dirty and entertainment system outdated. Flight attendants were rude. The food as usual was quite good. Landing at IST was ok. Airport is not the nicest but not bad. Nevertheless I still do not understand why you have again to go for a full security check while in transit. Then we boarded for GVA starting with a bus ride crossing the taxiway and queuing. The plane was again outdated and not clean at all. Again flight attendants were not smiling and the entertainment system did not exist. Yesterday I did the same trip back same conditions same services same outdated planes.