Turkish Airlines

I read so many bad reviews of Turkish I was a bit sceptical when I boarded. The flights we took were round trip from Houston to Istanbul. I was pleasantly surprised by the entire experience. The plane was comfortable with adequate legroom in economy. Very good inflight entertainment system. Food was excellent. We especially liked that snacks/drinks during the mid-flight time (after first meal and before second) were all self service. Very convenient. My only complaint would be the lavatory got messy fast and never really felt clean. Flight out of Houston was one hour late out of Istanbul was right on time.

Washington Dulles to Istanbul Business Class. I was re-routed from a cancelled flight onto this one and what a nice surprise it turned out to be. The flight arrived on time and the cabin crew were very polite. The service was excellent with on demand entertainment comfortable reclining seats to sleep in and a complimentary meal service. This was not at all like flying with the USA's airlines where the staff are usually brusque and rude and the service generally terrible. I very much recommend Turkish Airlines for long haul business class.

IST-YYZ. Pretty much a good experience except that the overhead luggage storage was completely stuffed full as we boarded the aircraft. This created tension and stress as we did not want to store our belongings way down the aisle. We discovered that it was in fact the cabin crew that had plugged the overheads with their personal luggage and not even the crew from our cabin. I have flown with Turkish many times and I wish they would understand that little things like this do matter very much to the traveller.

19th April Nairobi to Istanbul. The cabin crew responded well and were kind I was also comforted by the Boeing sky interior in the Boeing 737-800. We took of on time and landed 15 minutes early. Return flight on 29th April was a bit hectic after we missed our return flight to Nairobi Turkish Airlines offered to help us and after clearing with them the main problem was our bags. They told us that our bags would be transferred from the lost and found desk directly to the aircraft. Would recommend.

Travelled from Birmingham UK to Dhaka Bangladesh via Istanbul the on-going flight was ok. The return flight was not as pleasant the inflight entertainment system was not working. I asked the cabin crew if they could help but they were far too busy. Eventually after a long wait I was relocated to another seat similarly on the new seat the inflight entertainment system was not working. I had to make the entire journey (6 hours plus) with nothing to do. As a result I would not recommend Turkish Airlines.

Houston to Delhi on 26th and it was quite impressive. Staff were attentive food was excellent and service excellent. I travel at least twice every year to India and this has been the best I have encountered. The only downside was the leg space in economy however was impressed with the Premium Economy (although it was all booked and available only on the first leg). I am looking forward to my next trip on 11/05 with a stop in Istanbul and heading to Chicago on 22nd.

Flew MAN-MBA return in April. Both legs to and from MAN-IST were full. The service was great with a full meal and a good selection of drinks for economy. We had Exit row seats and had ample leg room. Full use of the entertainment system on these legs (good for 3.40 hour flight) and a decent selection of films however the games were not much to have. All fights on time and no luggage issues. Check-in staff in Manchester were very good and helpful and Mombassa staff polite friendly and obliging too. Long-haul flight on single aisle 737-900 service good though not quite the same high standard of the MAN-IST leg. On 7 hour flight to MBA only one full meal service thought they could of managed at least another drinks service many passengers went to the galley to get a drink. The return flight (4.00am) an average breakfast was served and sandwich snack before landing same entertainment system. This flight also included flight socks and shades which was a plus. FAs were friendly on the whole (male FAs more so then the female) though not always obliging and scarce once the meal service was over. Overall a really good experience and superior too many other European airlines would not hesitate one bit to flight them again in fact would prefer too - price wise very competitive and even cheaper too. Look forward to flying with them again. One tip - give yourself time to transfer at a busy Istanbul airport.

JFK-IST-TLV and return. Flew with my family to Israel for Spring Break. This was my first time flying with Turkish Airlines and will not be my last. Flight attendants were very nice to me for all flights. Food was very good! Eggplant stuffed with minced beef was fantastic! JFK-IST and IST-JFK flights had good IFE with many music and movie selections to choose from. TLV-IST and IST-TLV flights had no inflight entertainment but this was only a two hour flight so I just slept. Seats were nice for economy. If only airlines in the US learned from airlines like Turkish. A very good experience.

Flew from Istanbul to Tehran very recently old and dirty airplane very unhelpful cabin crew. Return from Tehran to Istanbul was a nightmare as I had to wait 1.45 hrs to check in due to a lack of staff at the airport. I will not recommend the airline at any price.

Travelled ESB-IST-LHR and return 2/4/14 and 7/4/14. Both sets of flights and aircraft were satisfactory. Flight between Ankara and Istanbul is short so the crew have just enough time to give out the picnic baskets of food before descent commences. Sandwiches are served on the domestic flights which are ok but not a substitute for a proper meal. London flights were ok food was served within the first hour of the flight but then the cabin crew were almost non-existent for the remainder of the flight. Selection of food was not available to me on both international flights probably because I was sat in an exit row half way down the aircraft. It was beef or nothing. Connection between the two flights was stressful as navigating Ataturk airport customs is a long process. The most disappointing thing about the flights is the attitude of the cabin crew towards the safety rules. Many passengers on Turkish Airlines do not observe the seatbelt sign and will get out of their seats while the aircraft is taxiing to open overhead lockers. This occurred on all flights and the cabin crew were indifferent and didn't say a thing on all occasions. This is a very different attitude compared with other airlines. The command of English of the cabin crew and at times the pilots is quite poor also which is surprising for a growing international airline.