Turkish Airlines

I flew Turkish Airlines for the first time recently and was very impressed. I just flew shorter flights between Athens and Istanbul and Izmir and Istanbul but found the cabin crew to be professional and gracious and even on a one hour regional flight still received a meal of a whole grain roll with cheese green lettuce and tomato with some yoghurt as well. After flying United with its deathly pale iceberg lettuce and overcooked food on a long flight it was really refreshing! Maybe I was on the newer planes but they were so clean and with individual screens even on shorter flights. Great experience.

Travelled from ISB to IST and return in January 2013. I would never fly TK again to Turkey. I would rather take the middle eastern carriers. The flight lasted 6 hours and there was no IFE. The cabin crew were not too friendly either and they just kept to themselves. Food however was good. Overall a really bad experience. Will not travel with them again unless they improve their service on this route.

Our family of five adults recently traveled from Los Angeles (LAX) to IST to DAR and back. The new lounge in IST is gorgeous! The LAX-IST legs were excellent: comfortable seats attentive staff good food. The IST-DAR legs were only fair: seat controls didn't work staff was less than attentive food was mediocre. But the biggest problem we had was with the online reservation system. Even though I had printouts of the electronic tickets the system kept saying we had not booked and did not allow me to check in. Worse than that the ground personnel had a lot of trouble checking us in. By using the electronic ticket numbers (and not the confirmation code which said our reservations didn't exist) the agent could see our reservation but not check us in or print out boarding passes. Very frustrating! Finally they figured out a work-around and we were able to board.

TLV to IAH - totally different experience than the outbound trip two weeks earlier. TLV to IST took off 45 minutes late. A group of us (16 people) with a 1 hour IST connection to the IST-IAH flight were assured we will make our flight (as we were earlier told by the agent after buying the ticket). Upon landing in IST we were gathered and made to run across the terminal to our IST-IAH fanlight only to find out someone probably forgot to ask for this flight to be held for us (despite what we were told). The flight was already in the air. Lots of confusion and lack of initiative led to a 3 hours fiasco before we were rescheduled for the next day's flight. We were taken to a hotel (Radisson). Kosher food was not available and food that was provided was poor at best. Next day flight IST to IAH took off 3 hours late while we were sitting in the cabin with no food or drinks (see previous posts - same experience). Food on the return leg was not as good as on the outbound leg. Bottom line - not sure all the above was worth the troubles. I will have to think long and hard before flying with THY again.

IAH to TLV - great flights on time. Layover in IST too long in this small airport but bearable. They served the signature Turkish Rahat Lokum (Turkish Delight) at IAH to all passengers in the lobby and gate areas. Free alcohol in economy during the flights and very nice crew - talking to customers with respect.

Dalaman to LHR no problems with the 5 am flight until IST passport control. 1 and 2 had at least 500 people queuing but because I was economy class got barred from business class fast track check so had to push in or miss the 7.55 to LHR. Got to plane with 5 mins to spare got seated and had 3 seats to myself. Just before take off captain announces a big delay and everyone had to get off. He said LHR was fog bound so a 2 hrs delay so back to departure lounge where 3 members of staff proceeded to shout out passenger names to the 200+ passengers so we could retrieve our boarding passes. This was chaos and very unprofessional. 2.5 hr wait then back on the plane where another 150 passengers appeared from nowhere to fill all seats then another 1 hour wait on the tarmac with no explanations before take off - total 3.5 hours delay with no food or drinks. It looks to me that I and the original passengers were held up for 3.5 hours waiting for the plane to fill up.

LOS-IST-TLV. One word: Terrible. B737-900 LOS-IST. No air conditioning at LOS airport and drinks are not allowed into gate. By the time you board most passengers are very thirsty. Requests for water were shrugged off with the response "later". How can you refuse water to thirsty passengers. After take off painfully slow dinner service and a small plastic cup with water served. Of course it's not enough. Again FA would not supply more water. I even went to the galley pointed at a full bottle of water and asked for some. Again I was told to return to my seat water will come later. I approached the inflight manager to complain and situation improved. Poor English by pilots and FA's couldn't understand any announcements. No soap in toilets with nothing to dry wet hands on. Smiles from the crew were out of the question. Food was ordinary can't understand where all the fuss about their food in Economy class comes from. Maybe from flights outside Africa. Flight to TLV slightly better crew all in all cant judge all flights they operate but for me it was the last time on TK.

We flew Paris to Kayseri on 30th September. Totally full flight from Paris to Istanbul. However good service and an uneventful flight. Had to move quickly to get to the domestic terminal for the flight to Kayseri. Luggage fortunately had been checked through. This flight not full and was uneventful. Quick service of a light meal as flight time just over an hour. All in all good flights.

YYZ-IST-YYZ. Turkish is inconsistent. Business class should be perfect from start to finish. Flight to IST was almost that. Return flight had rough edges. Turkish communication between lounge and gate had us waiting in the sweatbox gate long before we needed to be there. No separate boarding for Bus Class in fact we went through security after we had already cleared it-Twice! On board staff demand that blinds must be closed on a day flight. Food good wines not so great. Entertainment mediocre. Poor selection of music.

Sep 25 to fly from Houston to Istanbul. We had about a 20 minute delay but we arrived on time to Istanbul. We flew using Economy and our legs were pretty cramped in there because the guy in front of us who had an exit row leaned his seat back. The food was good and also the movies they had for us to watch were fine. On the flight from Istanbul to Berlin there is a 3 hour flight and once again we are provided with food and movies. This flight is fine. On the return flight on Oct 2 going from Berlin to Istanbul was fine they served breakfast on this flight but no TV was in our seat but that was fine because we were exhausted anyway and just slept. Once we arrived at Istanbul our flight to Houston was on time as far as us getting on the plane however we then had complications. There was a 3 hour delay while on the plane before we took off. We sat in exit row this time with comfortable leg room. Our flight landed about 3 hours late but I was ok with it because it was my final destination.

LAX to Istanbul. No problem except leg room which is rather uncomfortable if you are somewhat tall (5' 8" and my husband is 6'0") and it was very warm on the plane. Coming back what really bothered me was that going to the restroom early on in the flight the trash was full and the pump soap was empty. Someone had thrown bars of soap onto the counter. A 13 hour flight with guessing 300 people. Not very sanitary. Staff were polite and courteous. Good entertainment choices. Food average but I'm not the best judge for that. I'm not sure I would like to fly this airline again given a choice.

Toronto-Istanbul-Sarajevo. September 16th 2013. This was the first time taking Turkish Airlines and it definitely wont be the last. I was impressed with the aircraft cleanliness service food and especially free wifi on board.

Geneva-Istanbul (A319) - Istanbul-Kuala Lumpur (A340-300) on August 6th-7th 2013. Flight from Geneva to Istanbul was smooth nothing special. Flight from Istanbul to KL service-wise was flawless and seamless. Very attentive service needs were taken care of before you asked and very good food although I have had even better food on other THY flights. My real issue is with the business class seat sleeping comfort on the A340-300.I am not sure at what angle the seat reclines but it is pretty nasty I was annoyed because the ticket price was pretty high. I wonder why Turkish a forward looking airline as using the A340-300 on the IST-KL run with this seating arrangement in business class. I just hope that Turkish will either change the planes on the IST-KL run or do something about the seating in their A340-300.

I flew business class from CGK-IST-AMS overall it was a great experience but unfortunately it was not very memorable. The seat itself was great and comfortable the cabin layout was modern and clean however I found out that the cabin crew seemed to be inconsistent. They did not really interact with the passengers less smiles and seemed to lack manners. On the other side indeed there were the dedicated cabin crew who were willing to care and serve the passengers. My verdict is THY is still great airline to fly but it is not really that consistent compared to other airlines.

Four flights with Turkish in the past two weeks - all in economy. Cape Town to Istanbul Istanbul to Paris London Gatwick to Istanbul and Istanbul back to Cape Town. All flights were on time or early. The planes were reasonably new clean and comfortable. The flight back to Cape Town was completely full but even that wasn't uncomfortable. The staff were always helpful and polite. The seats are reasonably comfortable with good pitch - my gripe is the foot rest which isn't convenient if you are tall and gets in the way when folded up. The entertainment system is varied and the screens large (no individual screens on the plane from Gatwick). Food was plentiful and tasty. And there are a few extras - a substantial amenity kit - sometimes in a tin. Slippers and a Turkish delight as a welcome sweet. And in addition their prices are excellent so it doesn't surprise me that they keep winning awards.

Business Class from Berlin to JRO with B737-900. Seats are horrible no lie fla. Catering bad crew throw the meals out in business and then disappear. Return was even worse at the airport we got told there was a 2 hr delay and then we missed the connection to Berlin and had a 4 hr delay.

Highly disappointing. We flew from Singapore to Germany with an infant and it was horrible. We ordered a bassinet and baby food and neither was given to us. The airline staff did not bring a bassinet for the child and no children were given food on the flight. Furthermore we had to wait for an hour for a bottle of water and the air- conditioning did not work which made it hot and stuffy on the plane. It was the biggest waste of money for the tickets and I would never fly with them again.

I travelled along with my Wife from Istanbul to New Delhi on 17th Sep TK 716. While booking the tickets I was assured by the travel agent that the plane would have the full bed facility in business class and that the plane would be A330-300. When I boarded the plane: The Entertainment System was not working. The reading lights could not be switched off with the result that the cabin crew used masking tapes to cover the light. The electronic switches to adjust the seats were not working it was worse than economy class where one can at least recline the seats. The Flight Purser remarked that the airlines have two similar such planes and they always have problems on these planes and this was a last minute change. I will strongly keep away from TKY.

IST to JNB and return. On both legs the business class was disappointing. The best part was the seat: the flight attendants lacked warmth and appeared overwhelmed despite there being so many of them. The food on the inbound leg was especially poor. IFE malfunctioned and had to be rebooted several times. One of the flight attendants spilled wine on me and then told me it was my fault. Never again.

Entebbe-Istanbul-New York JFK. All fights were good the check-in was professional and fast bag was overweight by 5kg and nothing said. Food was good good Turkish wine in glass bottles legroom on the 737 to Istanbul excellent not so great to JFK on the 777 good entertainment selection free wifi onboard the 777 plane on boarding was filthy when in Istanbul to JFK it really let the experience down to see this rubbish on the floor and not vacuumed. Attendants were pleasant but not smiling Turkish people are very kind its a shame it does not come across on most of the staff. I found the ground staff in Istanbul all excellent and efficient. I fly with Turkish a few times a year and will continue to do so.

We flew economy from Bangkok to HCMC (Saigon). The cabin was the dirtiest I've encountered. When I opened the tray table there was vegetable matter there gravy had dripped down the seat as well as what looked like cola. The floor hadn't been cleaned as there were food scraps along the floor mounts. No IFE at all. Food was a dismal chicken and cheese sandwich and a slice of cake. One of the exit lamps was playing up so the attendant whacked it with her hand - to no avail. Cabin crew were inattentive and appeared bored. This flight originated in Istanbul and flew to HCMC via Bangkok. Perhaps the crew didn't change in BKK? The plane was an older 777-300 and the seats looked like they needed a good scrub. By comparison the business class seats looked good. It beats me how this airline has won 'Best European Airlines' 3 years running.

Flight from Jakarta to Istanbul and on to Luxembourg in Economy. Good seats and service; very full flights but good service from stewards on the long-haul section. Child meals were suitable and served quickly with no problems and inflight entertainment kept them happy. Good selection of toys also helped. I enjoyed Efes beer and a good beef main course with rice. Overall a quality experience and made the long flight relatively painless. Will fly again within Europe.

Flew TK071 HKG-IST on 29/08/2013. There was a delay of 30 mins or so no explanation from crews. Inflight entertainment and the food was superb. However the cabin crew were so unfriendly and they disappeared after the first service. No water or beverages offering during the flight until next service (breakfast) 2.5 hours before landing. I won't be travelling with Turkish Airlines until they improve their customer service.

My first TK A330-300 trip my first Y experience on TK for a long time. The plane was full. I have never seen speciality meals delivered through the same door the pax were boarding very unprofessional. FA asking the gate agents to check some luggage (gate check) they had no idea how to deal with it. I have never seen giant garbage bags piled up at the doors during the flight as if there was no place to store it. Never seen one of the chefs coming off from his rest in a t-shirt carrying his uniform in his hand. It was chaotic for the whole flight constant shuttling of food trays bags drinks back and forth. Slow inattentive service. Good luck to the cleaning crew to turn it around on time. On the plus side most of the front lavatories were larger than I'm used to Thanks to the inflight entertainment iphone and my noise cancelling headphones I was happy. The Y seats were not comfortable for me for the 10.40 hrs flight. I hope I never have to do that again.

My wife and I had a Business Class trip from Istanbul to Hamburg on 9th September. My seat was 01D. The backrest kept moving in rest position and could only be brought back manually after 5 min. The safety belt with the lock was twisted by 180 degrees and could not be refitted on the plane. The stewardess just told me to take another seat. The luggage marked with the priority label arrived on the conveyor belt approx after 50% of all suitcases. These small faults shows me that this Airline is not consistent in the quality of their technical standards. After this trip I asked myself how this Airline deals with bigger technical problems. I cannot recommend it.

The return flight was overbooked hence they put us on a flight 7 hours later. They promised food vouchers but we never got them so ended up buying our own thing. When we were given boarding passes 2 out of 3 of them were hand written which was refused by the immigration officer after 1 hour of queuing. Had to go back to the airline desk and staff behaved as if it was our fault. when they issued printed boarding passes now they changed our seats to the back of the plane! When we eventually boarded the crew again shifted us to other seats. Offered a meal but they only had beef! I asked for a child pack and they did not have that either. Then I asked for a pillow / blanket for my baby which I was refused and stated that there were none.

London to Istanbul 16/08/13 flight TK1980. 2 out of my last 3 flights were delayed. One for 6 hrs on a 3.5 hrs flight and another 1.15 hrs on 50 min flight. There is lack of information and communication from ground staff and poor customer relations. I find food to be average. Never had any problems with cabin crew as they are very professional. I think Turkish Airlines expanded its fleet and destinations too much too soon and now cannot manage it properly.

19/08 ATH-IST Boeing 737-800. A small flight no entertainment but excellent services. IST-BOM Boeing 777-300 with full inflight entertainment good enough very nice food service. Friendly and co-operative staff. Traveled back on 02/09 BOM-IST and IST-ATH same experience no complaints food entertainment and friendly staff. Good leg room. Very important to me as I am 180'. Good food. Good Entertainment system. Friendly Cabin Crew. Definitely recommended.

Istanbul - Odessa. Flight was full but left and landed on time. Cabin crew were good and managed to serve a reasonable meal on this short flight. I have no hesitation in flying Turkish Airlines as the planes are fairly new and seats are comfortable. There was no inflight entertainment and the English spoken by the crew easy to understand.

Singapore to Dublin via Istanbul and return Dublin to Singapore also via Istanbul. Appreciate the night kit that they provide on the overnight flight from Istanbul to Singapore. It was in a metal box which is sort of nice and could be a collector's item. First time that I had received such a nice night kit for an overnight flight. Food was good. IFE was reasonably good though films are not the latest. Cabin crew was kept busy as their flights are full on all the four sectors. Turkish Airlines must be doing something right to be attracting some many customers. A consequence of the full flight was the toilets were not cleaned and one was choked throughout the flight back to Singapore without anyone clearing it. Overall a nice experience with THY.

I flew 2 weeks ago Amman-Istanbul-Dnepropetrovsk return. Starting from service and finishing by inflight entertainment everything was excellent on my way back I had delayed baggage but it was delivered after a few hours to my home.

I had an excellent team of cabin crew on TK1053 to Zagreb on the 21st of August. They were really friendly and warm during the flight. The cold sandwich plus cheese and crackers on 2 hours flight was practical and the portion was good too. The drinks selection was impressive. In general cabin and toilets were in a good condition when knowing it was an older version of an Airbus A320. Keep it up TK.