Turkish Airlines

Copenhagen-Istanbul-Kathmandu on 18th February and back on 24th and that was not a good experience. On the flight from Istanbul to Kathmandu the plane was old and shabby with very little space the lights at the seats did not work so the light was on in the cabin all night there were no screens in front of the seats and no entertainment not even information on the flight on the small communal screens. Nobody served water or anything during the night dinner was OK but meagre and as a vegetarian I got only half the food of those who had ordered meat. I asked for more but the staff member never came back with it. The flight could not land in Kathmandu due to fog. We were 5 hours late with an extra landing in New Delhi with no food or drink and arrived 5 hours late with no offer of compensation. On the way back again more than 5 hours delay without information as to why as we arrived in Istanbul it took ages to get tickets for a meal in the airport and when we got them we could only use them in the fast food restaurants in the food court and had to pay ourselves if we wanted to sit in a decent place. All together not to be recommended - and on top of it all the staff was not very friendly and informative.

27 Feb TK 211 Antalya-Moscow economy. Aircraft was old 320 at the airport before departure no proper explanation given for almost one hour delay - apparently caused by malfunctioning of emergency door. The food was excellent staff friendly although it was a midnight flight. Return was 3 March Moscow-Istanbul daytime flight TK 414 economy. Brand new 321 with comfortable leg space. The food was excellent. IFE was very good with latest movies and a lot of variety. The cabin crew were friendly. Smooth take off and to Istanbul smooth landing. IST- Antalya TK 2418 new 737-800 cabin crew friendly short flight. Overall a good experience.

19 January TK 720 Boeing 777-300. I flew from Istanbul to Mumbai aircrew disagreeable and not present. Horrible food on board monitor not active non-existent movies in Italian. Poor choice of drinks no snacks on board. I was disappointed.

Business from IST-JFK JFK-IST with 3 family members staff horrible both flights didn't do proper pre-flight service service was poor. Staff not attentive to passengers especially for a business level flight. Baggage was last out even being tagged priority on first leg the return flight baggage was lost. Only fly because its a direct flight between IST and JFK. All other airlines have one stop. Over priced as well usually double the fare for a 1 stop business flight compared to other airlines like British KLM or Lufthansa.

HEL-IST-BOM return on A320 B777 and A321. Last trip on TK was few years back and since many fellow travellers on this forum have suggested TK to be inconsistent nowadays we didn't expect anything really. TK turned out to be very good on all four sectors: all flights on time or ahead of schedule all aircraft quite new with great legroom and good IFE that had many interesting options. Moreover the hot meals by DO&CO were of high quality compared to any big European competitor - I still prefer proper food on flights over 3 hrs instead of a sandwich if a meal is served. Human interaction is always a matter of personal taste: for us the cabin crews on these full flights were perfectly fine with good command of English - plus many smiles all the way. All in all TK was very comfortable and great value really.

We chose the airline for the good price they have in Business Class and also for the fantastic lounge in Istanbul. The hard product on long distance planes are great but the 737 and 320 that we flew ARN-IST with is just normal economy seats with blocked middle seat. The food is good but the service level is low. Priority boarding is a big no. Everyone is let onboard straight away. The Cabin Crew hardly says hello as you enter the aircraft and dinner service is slow. A smile is very unusual on Turkish. So pay for a good seat (on long distance flights) ok food onboard and a good lounge in Istanbul. Service level is very low. Also if you book early you can get a really good price even in Business class.

Flight from CPT-IST-CPH. Turkish airlines has a top of the range product (if one were to exclude their customer service). Their planes are very up to date modern interior fantastic food great lie flat seats and generous sized IFE with a wide selection of films. The CIP lounge in IST was also very very good! Customer service has ample room for improvement. Perhaps its a cultural thing but I didn't find the cabin crew nor the staff in the lounge particularly forthcoming. In fact they were all quite arrogant individuals which appeared to hate their jobs. Nevertheless I will fly with them again - just don't be expected to be treated like royalty.

TK 1637 IST-MUC. Going back home from Iran I had to change planes in IST. This was a very bad experience you had to go through security control and I had only a limited time for connection. It was overcrowded and disorganized. We started with delays because of disorganization. They checked whether everybody had a visa or permission to go to a Schengen country. Why did they not check it when getting the boarding pass. Entering the plane very unfriendly crew. They served everything without smiles not speaking English? Like always theoretically the choice of two meals but on reaching row # 18 there was no longer a choice. Only one kind of meal left. Happily it was the meal of my choice.

Flew JFK-BOM and return with stopover in IST on my way back. First served a little Turkish Delight (Lokum) which was quite nice. This was followed by drinks and meal. JFK-IST served 2 meals and IST-BOM had one. Leg room for economy was pretty much what I expected. IFE was quite good. New movies shows and free WIFI which was of course slow but worked. They also have USB media so you could just snap your flash drive and it will play the songs / media on it. I have travelled on Cathay Qatar and Emirates and while they do have the USB slot it wouldn't play media but this one did. Staff were courteous and polite. The IST-JFK sector had many vacant seats in Comfort class but they wanted 260 Euros which I didn't got for. Paid less than $900 for the round trip with the stopover so it was a good value.

Istanbul - Munich - Istanbul 10 January 2014. A very comfortable and enjoyable flight both in Business Class. The staff were friendly and helpful. The planes were both Airbus A321. The seats were comfortable with enough space for long legs catering with a lot of different beverages and 3 different meals were delicious. The Entertainment with films and music channels were interesting. Before take off and before landing given hot towels to all business class guests. Value for money is very excellent.