Turkish Airlines

Flew JFK to IST to KTM on Oct 9th and returned on Oct 26 2013. The flight from JFK was late night scheduled 11.55pm but told from ticket counter check in that flight will be delayed 45 minutes. Actual delay was more than an hour. The staff service was poor. We arranged a special meal for my son but the food never came. We asked for it but they were talking each other and never communicated to us. We instead asked for regular meal for my son. Staff service from KTM to IST to JFK was horrible. We asked for water and it never came. We had to ask staff give us something to drink. The food was very bad and we were hungry for most of the time.

Worst Customer Service. The trip to Istanbul went without a hitch. The trip from Istanbul to Barcelona was delayed. Their customer service is quite horrible. Handling of the baggage is poor and the response from the airport staff and their centralized customer service is terrible. If I had to fly again I would pay a premium and fly United or an alternate airline. I do have to admit that the food was great on the flight. The conditions on the bathrooms was quite appalling as well.

IKA to IST and IST to Milan and return AMS to IST and IST to IKA in the last month. Seats was very small and uncomfortable. Food served onboard was very bad and I didn't eat anything. Not satisfied with this airline.

Edinburgh - Istanbul - Tel Aviv 18 October. EDI-IST flight on a very modern Boeing 737 lots of legroom (I'm 1.92m/6'3" tall). Choice of hot meal IFE individual screens service okay. IST-TLV not so good - older Airbus A321 very cramped. The passenger in front of me simply had no room to recline his seat (and he tried). Food disappointing - cold chicken salad no choice. IFE individual screens.

Flew LHR to IST and return in last few days. Both legs on A321. Outward aircraft modern with excellent in flight entertainment surprisingly good really for a European flight. Return flight on older aircraft with no seat back tv but service was polite and food of decent quality. Both flights on time (in fact slightly early) and I can see why they have a good reputation. Impressed and will use again.

London to Dhaka via Istanbul twice in the last month. Usually I have a good experience with Turkish. However this time it was not so great. The London to Istanbul segments were mostly OK with the exception of the last return flight which was one of the most unpleasant flights I have had in a long time. It started with the children from hell in the row behind. The aircraft was an older A321 which had very poor leg room no IFE to speak of and it was too hot. One lady was quite ill because of the heat. The cabin crew refused to do anything despite complaints. I think everyone just wanted to get off so we were not pleased at having to fly around London on hold for half an hour. The Istanbul/Dhaka part is not operated by Turkish but by Meridiana an Italian charter operation. The A330 aircraft are old and do not come close to the normal Turkish standard. The IFE was very limited - no video on demand seats were old and business seats were basic and not worthy of the price. All airlines seem to put their worst and oldest aircraft on the routes into this part of Asia. I have flown with Emirates and Qatar Airways and both do the same. It is unfair as you do not pay any less for the ticket. On the positive side the overcrowding of the business lounge in Istanbul has improved. I did not have to sit on the floor on any of the 3 times I used it.

Brutal service experience. IST to LHR. Family of 4 with young children. Seats not assigned together (over rode the Travel Agent request). Staff told me it was my problem. Said I had to negotiate seat moves onboard. Departure gate staff appear to be contracted out so don't really care. Not sure why they are part of Star Alliance as they don't seem to care about Star Alliance patrons either. The experience was only made worse by some flight attendants who didn't seem to care much for courtesy and politeness with passengers. Strongly recommend using an alternative to travel to/from Turkey.

I flew Turkish a couple of times in the past months and the most conspicuous feature was the seats lacking the adjustable headrest often the lack of the footrest and the lack of personal in-flight entertainment. The food was just sufficient. But the worst was on an international overseas flight of 2 hours where the in-flight entertainment on overhead screens was a football documentary. The staff were as kind and helpful as possible and the overall flight was satisfactory.

We travelled TK 1035 IST-BUD on 20 September. I had the window seat my partner the middle and an obese person who needed the extension seat belt was in the aisle. We paid AUD 553 each for the two hour flight (expensive by world standards due to no competition). My partner had the most uncomfortable journey as the obese person was spilling over into his space. Unsafe and uncomfortable. All airlines need to address this disgraceful practice inflicted on passengers who are within a healthy weight range.

IST-KUL A330. Flight delayed 1hr 20 mins and arrived 1hr late. Poor room allowance for Economy and poor food. Did not partake of on-board entertainment so cannot judge. Whilst I would recommend Turkish airlines for the GTW-IST leg of my two (separate) legged flight this flight was nowhere near as nice.