Turkish Airlines

They are trying to impress people with putting a cooking chef inside the plane but they have the Worst customer service and it’s not cheap. You never get respond to your emails and complaints they are not helpful. Also your baggages are always lost. Unfortunately there is no any other company flying straight to Turkey.

I had a great experience with Turkish Airline for $ 550 dollars return to Zurich From San Francisco.
Pros:
1. Great Price
2. Great food for economy class. I usually don’t eat Airline food.
3. Great in flight services
4. On Time departure and arrival
5. Luggage arrived promptly even with a short connection.
Cons:
1. Flight from Istanbul to Zurich did not have jet way and had to be transported by buses

Just more than 80% of luggage lost is by the Turkish Air line around the world. I received my two luggage back in US after completing my two-​week vacation. I spent more than 3 days of vacation time, checking for my lost suitcases!!!
Extremely rude employees! especially in Istanbul.

Lack of knowledge of the customer service is infuriating. They are a courteous but definitely can’t help.

Out of all of the airlines that I have flown throughout my life, this one has got to be the worst. The flight attendants get annoyed with every little action that anyone does, and act as though you are talking below their own level… even if you are completely innocent, and haven’t done anything wrong. The food is also laughably bad, as they only have limited options, and even then, those options are more likely than not gone by that point. The food that they do serve is mixed. Some of the food is good, most of it I wouldn’t find in a garbage dump. The onboard service is a train wreck, as these rude stewardesses tend to forget what people want and merely want to be left alone to their own private lives. They even complain when people are getting through aisles, even though aisles are often narrow. The worst part, 13 hours with these people.
Overall, do not fly with these guys.

Horrible — I used to fly with them and had 25,000 miles and they took them away with no explanation. Every time I got on the phone nobody knew anything and would wait for hours. Never fly with them

Having heard a lot about how Turkish Airlines is «Europe’s best airline», our recent experience with them was a disappointment. The boarding experience at Istanbul was complete chaos with multiple unspecified checkpoints followed by a mad unmanaged rush to the bus to get onto to plane. The service on the extremely long Istanbul — SFO flight left a lot to be desired: mealtimes are chaotic with the flight attendants in a big hurry — ask for a drink refill or a bread roll at your peril (half of us in our party did not get a roll, and the flight. attendant looked quite put upon when this was pointed out). In the 8 plus hours between the two meals on the flight, there is no water or other beverage service — something even United provides. The second meal prior to landing was rice and beans. I kid you not. Rice and green beans, no less. The toilets progressively become filthy since none of the flight attendants bother to clean them, and things were so bad towards the end of the flight we decided simply to «hold it» and wait to land in SFO. I’m sure things are better in business class — but for the Coach flying masses, Lufthansa remains a better choice for Europe and the Middle East from SFO.

I recently joined Pilgrimage to Holy Land and flew Turkish Aitrlines. This airline is NOT a Senior Citizen friendly as far as seating is concern. There are 75 of us (Pilipinos) and out of 75 there are 5, yes 5 senior citizen who is either in cane or wheelchair bound. None of them is in the Bulk area. Their family requested just for them for the bulk seat and airline REFUSED, both ways. Guess who is seated in the 9 SEAT bulk area, young 25, 30 year old Turkish national. one of them just had hip replacement and 6foot 4 inches, he was all cramped in his seat and you can tell, he was not comfortable for 13 hours,
so SENIORS, BEWARE, Choose your airlines carefully the next time you travel in the middle east. I know i will NEVER fly with this airlines again even i get a better cheap deal.
ps,
next year our church is sponsoring another Pilgrimage, if the airline is Turkish, i will say NO WAY…

Very expensive and definitely not worth the price. Flight attendants kept rolling their eyes at people wanting to get through which is absolutely absurd, they know how tiny the aisles are, they probably expect people to lag behind them the whole time. And yes, there were empty seats so they can move and let people through.
Plus the on-​board service is the slowest I’ve ever seen, they kept forgetting to give people bread so they would just hand it out randomly around the plane without saying anything, all of a sudden you see a floating piece of bread over your head, trying to catch it before they decide you don’t want it. It was almost like feeding monkeys behind the bars.
Asking for coffee was another ordeal, I asked for black, no cream, no sugar coffee, three hours later I got a paper cup of milk with maybe two drops of coffee and two packs of sugar on the side.
There is also this guy dressed as a chef who ends up serving drinks and you keep wondering why is he dressed like he’s about to prepare wild-​caught sashimi or flambé quails with cognac. If nothing else, it is pretty amusing.
The food is pretty good actually but it doesn’t justify the poor customer service or the price of their flights.
The only bright side was having a layover in Istanbul Ataturk Airport which is, by far, one of the best organized and nicest airports I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen more than plenty.

Do me a favor plz do not book tickets with this airlines
1. Worst customer service
2. Ego customer relation associate
3. Does not want to listen you as customer
4. Please spend more money on other airlines for best service instead dealing with this crappy turkish based airlines
My middle name missing because in website form when you book ticket doesnot ask middle name so I didn’t put name in it and called them to fix my name on my ticket name and my son ticket name
Remember I didn’t say to change name I said fix it to right name
But no no no no
Everywhere and you call any body same answer no
Let me tell you my friend you guys dealing with sf not 3^rd world country
Now you guys are more smarter than me
Boycott turkish airlines from sfo
Thanks
Stupid airlines, worst customer service,
I will go DOT and complaint about this and take all legal action I can against them
And
Turkish airlines please change your attitude with customers it’s better for your future otherwise you guys will be giving tickets free

We were stranded in Istabul due to no fault of our own and Turkish airline put us up for one night in the hotel, but in order to leave the airport we must get a visa to exit the terminal. We were promised we would be reimbursed for the cost $ 30 each and we were directed to different counters to ask for the refund. Long story short, they did not give us the refund and said we had to call the main office. We tried but they didn’t answer, when we returned to US we log on to their website, entered all the pertinent information and attached copy of our visas from our passports, they kept on saying we did not attach the proof. We sent it 4 times and we quit. They claimed that was the last time they would allow us to send the attachment and never refunded our money.
This kind of Bad Business Practice must be made known to the unassuming public. Before you consider Turkish Air, beware of their tactics.

AVOID TURKISH AIRLINES at all costs — and, it will cost you!
My husband and I flew with Turkish Airlines on ⁸⁄₂₄ for our honeymoon. Sixteen days in Europe. Turkish Airlines lost our bag the entire time and never even delivered it to its final destination!
Imagine trying to buy underwear and bras in Kusadasi or find some comfortable walking shoes, makeup, formal dress, bathing suit, etc. at random ports all the while missing out on your pre-​paid excursions and dinners because you don’t have proper dress attire! We saved for years for this trip of a lifetime and Turkish Airlines ruined it then and are not doing anything to rectify the situation now.
My poor mother, my mother-​in-​law, our travel agent, and our cruise line all tried to get through to Turkish Airline to find out where the bag was and try to get it to our final destination while we we are on the ship (limited cell service and email for us). Each time Turkish agents told us a different answer, which contradicted the next answer we received. At one point Turkish said they were trying to get it to us at the next port but, it never even left the United States! Then we were told that the file was closed because the bag was delivered, but it was not yet. Finally we had to call a carrier service to go to LAX airport to look through the lost bags and they found our bag.
Now they are claiming we didn’t file within the 21 day policy of missing bag. But we did and have a copy of the Direct Courier Service receipt on the date my mother-​in-​law had to pick up the bag (we were still in Europe at this time), plus we have dated automated emails from Turkish on the date I submitted the claim, to prove it. They are just using excuses to discourage us from standing up to our rights as a passenger.
Turkish is now ignoring our email. We plan to now work with an attorney to escalate the issue if we aren’t contacted by Turkish Airlines shortly.
From my experience, Turkish Airlines does not care about their customers. Don’t fly with Turkish Airlines, fly with another airlines such as Emirates, Etihad Airways or Qatar Airways.
Your wallet, sanity, and marriage will thank you ;)

I bought 3 tickets via
from turkish airlines, and I already regret this purchase. My 81 year old mother’s name was transposed and turkish airlines has refused to make the correction and has advised me to purchase another ticket to reflect the correct last name. They want me to forfeit close to $ 1,000.00, because they have a policy of not correcting last name to properly reflect the name on the passport. I have called turkish airlines directly and have spoken with a customer service agent who refused to transfer my call to a manager because he said that it will not make a difference even if I speak with a manager – their policy about any alteration to the ticket remains unchanged.
More than likely, I will have to rebook my mother with another airline if cheapoair cannot get a waiver from turkish airlines. I now dread the upcoming trip with my father via turkish airlines.

Best flight experience I have ever had. Flew from Athens with a stop in Turkey and onward to Dulles in Washington, D.C. They feed you the entire time, never had so much food on a plane before, and it was good. Started out with the stewardesses bringing out trays of Turkish Delights which I had never tasted prior to this trip, and they were pretty good. They also give you a little gift pack bag full of goodies, like socks, earplugs, and a bunch of other stuff. Stewardesses had great attitudes. Plenty of good movie selections. Flight was on time, departing and arriving. Boarding process was easy. I would definitely fly with Turkish Airlines again.

When it comes to Turkish Airlines, it is a hit or miss. In other words, if you run into a problem with them, you will be taken back to the Ming Dynasty. If you don’t, you’ll definitely be satisfied. Nevertheless, your experience will still probably be better than that of the pitiful U.S. airlines. Luckily for me, I was treated to a great experience with Turkish.
I was able to snag a great Business class fare from London to SFO via Istanbul, so my experience will definitely tell a different tale than that you may get in the main cabin. Turkish is widely known for its great food and the critics are not lying. The food was wonderful in Business and especially great on the Istanbul to SFO leg. During the first meal service, you are treated to a trolley full of appetizers like salmon tartare, meatballs, and salad. The appetizers though are only teasing you since you can get full just by eating the appetizers. You would be silly to reject the main course since that was even more delicious. Don’t forget about dessert too since there’s another trolley full of desserts coming after the main course. Honestly though, the meal service in business already makes the fare premium worth it. Even if you may not get to dine up in the front, the food in economy is still miles ahead of the competition based on my experience last year. The seat in business was comfortable, though not as advanced as the more premium Asian carriers. The seats are still lie flat though and the crew provides you with a duvet, pillow, and mattress for extra comfort while sleeping. If you don’t plan on sleeping, the IFE system is more than adequate for those long flights. There were many new and old movies available (both in Business and Economy), though it cannot compare to Emirates’ IFE system. The crew was generally friendly as they were very approachable; they didn’t just hide in the galley all flight long. Just be aware that service from the crew is not always consistent though.
If you have a gold card with Turkish or its affiliates or are taking Business, the lounge in Istanbul is not to be missed. There’s just so much food that you wouldn’t mind be stranded in Istanbul for a day or two. If your flight is not delayed though and you’re taking business, just don’t overeat though. There is a sleeping room available though there are lots of restrictions. Showers are also available but I think there was a queue when I was there. There’s also a cinema, pool table, game consoles, and virtual golf available as well. I think you get the idea as to why I don’t mind living there for a couple days despite being in the airport.
Be sure to arrive Istanbul airport very early for flights to the U.S. There’s a security check to get in the airport, a passport check at the check in line (which slows it down a lot if you’re not in the priority line), security check to get to the gate area, and another passport check at the gate with the possibility of additional screening if they pick you out. It’s a major headache, but gives you a sense of security since it is very thorough. As secure as it may be, I just hope TSA doesn’t learn from them since they’ll do it all wrong and add extra time.
The only issue I had with Turkish this time around was reservations. I used the «pay and fly» option which basically puts your reservation on hold. When I decided to pay, the fare they asked me to pay was like 3 times greater than the fare I held it for. This was when I experienced Turkish Airlines during the Ming Dynasty since it took forever to solve this. Luckily, I did it with plenty of time before the fare expired. If I were you though, I would book and pay immediately if you find a good fare. It’s tough to predict what might happen when you call Turkish since phone support and customer service outside of the plane is like playing roulette. Turkish Airlines generally has lower fares compared to the competition, so don’t go in with sky high expectations. It will never be as great as the Asian carriers, but you can still get a comparable experience. I will admit though that you can get a horrific experience (like the previous reviewers). Like I said earlier, customer service outside of the plane is just a different story and can be very frustrating to deal with. If you run into a problem, be tough and don’t be complacent; they can be liars sometimes so be careful. So TL;DR, just hope you don’t run into a problem with them, otherwise you’ll be in great hands.

Same experience as Brian. Disturbingly poor customer service, lack of empathy and complete resistance to taking accountability. After going through Istanbul’s security and early screenings, we were directed by airline representative to use some machines for check in. My husband and I used the machine to do so but found there were not enough seats for us. In disbelief, we asked the representative what was going on. She then told us we were in the wrong line and instead needed to wait in another line to a different desk. We moved, waited, went through more screenings, and got to the desk 50 minutes prior to our flight. It was then in dismay we were told we missed our flight. The desk person then motioned with his hand for us to go and then motioned for the next client in line. After loosing our cool we were told to go to a different desk to have to pay $ 117 each for a flight to a different city from which we’d have to transfer. Ummm no, your employees gave us the wrong info, we showed up more than two hours early and we were misguided. We shouldn’t have to pay anything. We were directed to 3 different desks, laughed at, told we’d be ignored since we were frustrated and irate;and lastly, refused service.
Finally, a group of Turks nearby started to scream, they were in the same position. At last an actual airline rep made an appearance leading to hours of negotiating. After even more time we were put on a hotel with 20 others. After talking with the others, it turned out that Turkish airlines had overbooked our flight and then didn’t see reason with telling us, instead they swept it under the rug and tried to blame us. They are a bad company with employees who are negligent, rude, abrasive, and don’t want to help.
Please do not fly with them, save yourself time and stress.

DO NOT FLY WITH TURKISH AIRLINES. I booked a flight with Turkish Airlines for the return leg of my recent vacation. The flight included a layover in Istanbul as I’m sure many of their international flights to SFO do. Approximately two weeks before my flight, while enjoying my vacation, I received an email from Turkish Airlines asking me to call their customer service center.
I called the phone number and was informed that my first flight would be delayed about three hours, causing me to miss my connecting flight back to SFO. Even though I called the evening that I received the email regarding the delay, return flights were sold out for their next two days. Turkish’s solution was to have my wife and I wait in Istanbul for three days for a flight to SFO. At no point were we offered accommodations or any assistance with finding an alternate route home. The only offer that Turkish Airlines provided as a travel visa so that we could leave the airport. Leaving the airport would not have done us much good since we did not have accommodations.
Customer service was a hassle as I was transferred from one person to another, none of whom were helpful or could assist me with arrangements to get home. One customer service representative in particular was especially rude, simply repeating that my flight had been changed and Turkish Airlines could do nothing to help me. He went as far as yelling at me when I asked what the airline was going to do to get me home in a reasonable amount of time.
Rather than camping out in the airport for several days waiting for a flight, I was forced to spend significantly more money to book a different flight home with another carrier. Turkish Airlines has denied my request to make up the difference in cost, stating that I was informed of the delay. Being informed of the delay and offering a reasonable solution are two completely different things.
I understand that flight delays are common but the way it was handled was unacceptable and unpleasant, causing us several days of stress on our vacation as we tried to deal with the awful customer service and figure out an alternate way home.