Turkish Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | I have flow with Turkish Airlines transatlantic several times – flights were on time, flight attendants were courteous, entertainment was fine and food served was of high quality. Yet, as some of you know one negative personal experience could turn your favorable impression of a company upside-down. What happened is that I booked a flight from Boston to Istanbul October 2022. The fight was supposed to leave the night of December 25. I learnt that flight had been cancelled only upon arriving to the airport (no prior email!) – TA counter was deserted and there was no one to talk to. I called TA customer service the next morning but their response to my plight was callous and they made no effort to find me an alternative flight. I asked TA for a refund, but my request was starkly denied! Furthermore, responding to a dispute, I submitted to my credit card company, TA argued that I am the one who was at fault, because I had not shown-up for the flight! Only in mid-March, thanks to the help of Dept. of Transportation, TA agreed to refund me after I fill out a form. Yet, this was not the end of it. I was expecting the refund to arrive by end April- nothing! It took many more emails and numerous phone calls until I was finally reimbursed by the end of June 2023. My dealing with Turkish Airlines customer service was awful: Their main goal is not to serve customers (things happen), but to wear you down until average Joe gives up. Learn from my experience.

✅ Trip Verified | I have travelled all over the world but my trip last week with Turkish Airlines was truly awful. This was a special family trip and we spent a lot of money on business flights. We arrived at Singapore airport in September 2023 to note a flight delay. I explained that  we would not get on the flight unless we were reassured that we would not have problems with our connection from Istanbul to London.  We were told by Turkish airlines ground staff not to worry. If we missed our connection there were seats on the next flight  just 2 hours later and we and our luggage would be reassigned. On the basis of this reassurance we got on the flight. We arrived from Singapore in Istanbul at 6.15pm, late. There was no explanation or apology at any point. We missed our connecting flight as a result. Ground staff have no ability to find a new flight it seems.  The flight that we were meant to be reassigned to does not have any seats and never seemingly did. We ourselves find flights from another airport using Google.  It takes over 2 hours and much frustration to sort out new flights. We are asked to sign waiver forms in order to be provided with our new tickets. We refuse and have to demand that the tickets be printed and handed over. Our new flight is the next day from the other side of Istanbul. Now for luggage, which we need to collect.  Scenes of chaos greet us when getting luggage.  We arrive to find very many people waiting. About 30 at least.  We had been told that our luggage would be waiting for us (they claim to have called). It takes over another hour to get our luggage which has in part been lost for a period.  Again we are asked to sign forms.  We refuse.    Then we need to get a hotel sorted. Again we are told that this would be easy. It’s not. There is a queue of about 40 people. Another wait and very slow.   We then spent an hour in a shuttle bus to our hotel.   We arrived at the hotel at midnight.  This has taken 6 hours since landing. Having been told that the hotel would be in Central Istanbul. It is clearly not but instead it’s near the other airport. There’s a stray dog in the hotel lobby. Our flight the next day to London is also delayed by almost 2 hours. We arrive eventually in London after 6.00 pm London time. Total trip time from Singapore to London 41 hours.  

✅ Trip Verified | They allow 60 minutes for a connecting flight in the Istanbul Airport, which the means the baggage can be lost or delayed as in my case, the baggage tracing is miserable, no one answers the phone. There was a flight the same day, a few hours later, but I have still not received my luggage 24 hours after arrival. The airline is a disgrace.

✅ Trip Verified | I used to like Turkish Airlines a few years ago. Their service and catering quality has gone down and down. The cabin crew are pretty rude and don’t care about passengers’ requests.

✅ Trip Verified | We missed our connection to Istanbul because the plane arrived at the gate too late and the journey between gate A and gate F where we were to take our second flight is the furthest in the airport with the addition of passage to again, to safety. We came running to the gate and they closed the plane door in front of us. The plane remained after 20 minutes on the tarmac without moving! We went straight to the office so we could catch another flight. Not only, supposedly, no more flights possible on the same day but only two days later! The only possible flight on the same day that we could take was in business class which we had to pay for without any possible compensation even though I am a platinum member with Star Alliance! A shame! And what's more, our screens didn't work during the flight! Avoid this airline at all costs!

✅ Trip Verified | Very poor experience with Turkish Airlines. Not even possible to choose your own seat for free. You need to pay extra €20/person per leg to choose your seat. Both flights were delayed. The first one (to Bali) 2 hours, the second one (to Malaga) 5 hours. We were told no compensation would be provided. We received a very poor sandwich and warm soft drinks at the gate "as only compensation" for 5 hours of delay. Insane that not even airport vouchers are provided on a €1500 flight. Overall very poor experience from what I thought to be one of the better airlines.

Not Verified | Horrible experience and will never repeat it!! My biggest issue is not with the unhelpful staff, but mostly with the planes the airline uses! Even Air France is roomier which says a lot. Passengers are classless also, no manners all around, people fighting because they put their seats back and sit in your lap basically for 14 hours! I flew this airline 10 years ago and regret doing it again now! Never ever again even if they give me free flights!

✅ Trip Verified | As someone who has been a loyal Turkish Airlines customer for a considerable time i recently accumulated around 50,000 Miles and Smiles points. i was excited to use these points to book a flight and maybe even upgrade my seats. However, my experience with the Miles and Smiles program has been incredibly frustrating. According to the Turkish Airlines app and website, members should be able to use their points to purchase tickets or reduce the cost. I attempted to do this multiple times online, but each time we reached the final step, an error message appeared, directing me to contact customer service. I followed the instructions and visited a Turkish Airlines sales office in Dubai, where i was told that i needed 65,000 points to use them for ticket purchases. This contradicted the information available online. Additionally, when i asked to at least use my points to book seats, I was told it wasn't possible at the office. I called the provided number for assistance, but after waiting for over 30 minutes, i received no help and were advised to contact the website help department. This inconsistency in information and lack of support has left me disappointed and questioning the transparency of the Miles and Smiles program. I feel frustrated and let down by Turkish Airlines' customer service. I hope Turkish Airlines can address these issues promptly and ensure that the program's terms and conditions are clear and consistent both online and in their offices. I love flying with Turkish Airlines and want to continue doing so, but these recent experiences have left me with doubts.

✅ Trip Verified | Raised a complaint (which they make it almost impossible to raise) followed up by email, WhatsApp and still no responds, apart from a text message weeks down the line advising it is now closed without any feedback, apology, nothing. So the process begins again, logging another complaint and it goes on and on.

✅ Trip Verified | I booked flights with THY months ago. I arranged car rental and accommodation accordingly. A few weeks prior to the flight I received an email regarding the schedule change. Then I went to airport and checked in and when I was about to enter the flight but the staff couldn’t find my name. It took a while to enter the flight. I asked them a couple of times to make it sure my baggage is in the plane. They confirmed it was in it. However, my baggage was lost. It caused such a stress and change of plans. I called THY almost every day to follow up and change my return flight and receive a refund. However, no positive response yet. I received my baggage thanks to positive and friendly attitude of airport team but THY failed. They also get delayed flights frequently. I’d avoid using them at any cost.