Customer Reviews - SKYTRAX (2024)

✅ Trip Verified | London to Singapore via Istanbul, flight was business class except for my London-Istanbul leg. Turkish Airlines issue us boarding passes all the way. Flight to Istanbul is delayed over 2 hours, so we miss the connecting flight. We go to the Turkish Airlines counter assuming they would take care of us. Couldn’t have been more mistaken. My wife was offered a business class ticket for the next day and a hotel room for the night (it was around 2.30am). I was told that my business class ticket was now worthless, that I was not entitled to anything, and that the cost of a new ticket would be USD6,000. Or I could choose to fly with a different airline if I wanted. I thought I'd misheard/misunderstood. (Side note: later communication revealed that my wife’s ticket was booked in one shot, while I booked my own in two bookings so I could connect a business trip with personal travel. I kind of get the small print after the fact, but this was not well explained at the time, and we were traveling together and already had boarding passes sitting together for the Istanbul-Singapore flight. We explain that we need to fly back together. They pretty much stand firm on: it’s USD6,000, or you could look for another airline. Under pressure to make a decision, I stump up more for a second (economy) ticket. My wife has her complimentary hotel room for the night, so, we say, we’ll head there together and try to get some sleep before my long-haul flight in economy. No, says Turkish Airlines customer service you cannot do that. The room is for her (your wife): you can’t share it. The complimentary transport from the airport to the hotel is for her only, not you. Really, given the exceptional circ*mstances you couldn’t just maybe make a tiny exception and tell the minibus driver to take an extra passenger? No, she says. Fine, we say, we’ll take a taxi to the hotel, just give us the address. You will NOT be allowed into the hotel room. (Difficult to overstate how adamant she was that I could not, under any circ*mstances, share my wife’s hotel room.) So if you’ve ever spent a night in an airport, it’s not quite hellish, but it's certainly not great. The next day, after pretty much no sleep, we fly back. I send three complaints to Turkish Airlines and they send back three non-apology apologies (“we’re sorry your journey didn’t match with your expectations”), reiterating small print and T&Cs. They’ve completely ignored my real question, which is to explain how an international airline could think treating its customers like this is acceptable. There were multiple moments they could have done so much to mitigate the inconvenience, cost, or disruption (preferential pricing? upgrades? access to the business class lounge per original ticket), but they chose not to. So that’s where we are. It’s clear they’re not going to do anything – even a sincere apology acknowledging the circ*mstances and inconvenience would count for something, but after three attempts I can see it’s not going to come. The only takeaway I have from all of this is to never fly Turkish Airlines again.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight delayed for over 3 hours in Athens, over 2 of which were spent in the stifling airplane as they attempted to fix the technical issue (the ac). Although we had booked and paid for a business flight, the seats on the plane were premium economy, namely economy with the middle seat missing. We were offered a glass of water - I wasn’t but my husband was. Nothing else was offered. After over 3 hours, the plane took off, we were served a meal and had the tray snatched before we were done because it was a short flight. We barely made it to the connecting flight, the gate had closed but they let us in. But our bags did not make it. Now we have to wait for them to arrive on another flight. Disaster of an airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Poor Service on Istanbul to New York Despite booking a business class ticket, the behavior of the flight attendants made my experience feel worse than economy class. When I requested tea during the flight, no one attended to my request. I requested a specific dessert, and although the flight attendant assured me he would bring it, he never did. I asked for tea multiple times, but it was never brought to me. The unprofessional behavior of the flight attendants, was far below the standard I expected from a business class service. I chose Turkish Airlines based on a friend's recommendation, but after this experience, I cannot recommend it to others.

✅ Trip Verified | Airport Check-in at HAN staff was friendly, but their English language skills need improvement. Our reservation code was for two passengers, and we had requested to sit together. However, upon boarding, we discovered we had been assigned two aisle seats. We asked the cabin staff to change our seats, and they moved us to the first row, which turned out to be the worst seating choice in my flight experience. Onboard experience - Despite the new aircraft with a comfortable seat the flight was disappointing due to several issues with the staff. The service was uncoordinated, not attentive, staff was very noisy. The amenity kit were distributed randomly. Mine was forgotten and I asked for. The service started whit the menu choices (only for dinner not for breakfast) While seated a flight attendant came asking to prepare the seat for the night. I said “later please” but she never came The dishes were served very fast pushing the passenger to say “wait one moment please”. During a dinner/lunch normally is asked the customer if they want more wine, juices etc etc. It looks like the service is on request (I need bread and I ask for; I need water and I ask for etc ) the overall impression is to do the service as fast as possible and go behind the curtains. No trolley with beverages was used despite the Turkish advertisem*nt everywhere shows something completely different. Asked for a coffee it was served later on. The night flight was not comfortable. Having opted for the first row as alternative to the original seat assignment the staff was talking all night long. No bottles of water were served before going to bed. A couple of hours before landing I was awaked by the chit-chat of the crew members behind the curtains. I refused the breakfast because I was really upset. The outboard greetings were done by the supposed “ chief of staff”. Other crew members were not present. Turkish Airlines claims to have more destinations worldwide than other airlines. True but must claims also to have an adequate staff to support the network. Unfortunately, not the case for this flight TK165.

✅ Trip Verified | I recently had an extremely disappointing experience with Turkish Airlines. I had purchased two business class tickets for a one-way flight from Istanbul to Toronto at a significant cost of around $7000. Despite arriving at the airport on time and reaching the gate with a minute to spare before it closed, I was denied boarding. I immediately voiced my concerns to the airline staff, who argued with me for approximately 10 minutes, even though the plane was still present and the gate remained open. Instead of addressing the situation promptly, they directed me to customer service, which was located a kilometer and a half away from the gate. Upon reaching the customer service counter, I was met with utter indifference. They informed me that there was nothing they could do to assist me and advised me to visit the purchasing department. I reluctantly complied and endured an additional hour of waiting before finally speaking to someone in purchasing. However, to my disbelief, they also refused to help and informed me that I would need to purchase a new ticket for an exorbitant $10,000. It is simply unfathomable that a one-way flight would cost me a staggering total of $17,000, considering I had already purchased a ticket. Refusing to accept this unreasonable demand, I was redirected to yet another customer service area, only to be sent back to purchasing once again. By this point, I had traversed a distance of approximately 3 1/2 kilometers, feeling physically drained. The supervisor I spoke to offered no resolution, and what was most disheartening was that I was not alone in my predicament. There were six other passengers from the same flight experiencing the same issues. I tried reaching out to their customer service over the phone, only to be repeatedly disconnected. The entire experience felt incredibly frustrating and almost seemed like a scam. Ultimately, I was left with no choice but to purchase a new ticket, this time in economy class, for an exorbitant price of $5000, just to make my way back home. This additional expense was completely unjustified and only further added to my dissatisfaction. Furthermore, the airport experience was marred by long and inconvenient lineups for non-business class passengers. This lack of efficiency only compounded the already unpleasant situation. In light of these distressing encounters, I can confidently say that I will never fly with Turkish Airlines again.

✅ Trip Verified | 2 flights with this airline in 1 week, 2 scams. Our first flight was cancelled and despite several requests it was impossible to get a refund for the seats we had paid for! For the second flight we had again paid for seats, but Turkish Airlines decided to change our booking number, which cancelled our seat reservation. So we had to pay again, except that it's now impossible to get a refund for the first seats. Catastrophic customer service, a company that respects nothing and nobody. Communication is by form only, so with each exchange we have to start from 0 and each passenger has to make their own request, even if only one person has paid. Hw can you dissuade customers from not claiming their due! Instead of automatic refunds, we have to send them dozens of messages without ever getting an answer that makes sense.

Not Verified | Decent airline, flew late, arrived in Amsterdam for one hour. Also at Istanbul airport I was targeted to check in my one piece carry on even though plenty of space inside the cabin. I requested but the guy does not listen. Food was OK and AVOD is OK, not comparable to Emirates or Qatar Airways standards

Not Verified | Received a text message that the seat I paid for 3 months in advance had been changed. Service desk/gate attendant was extremely rude when I asked if there was possibly another option. Although economy passenger in front of me was given seat that was requested last minute & treated pleasantly. Very disappointed in Turkish Air customer service. Will look for another airline next time I fly.

✅ Trip Verified | We took a the flight was Karachi which arrived 50 minutes late at the Istanbul. The original layover was 1hr 50 min. The flight landed at the other end of the aiport from where we were supposed to take the connection to Frankfurt. We ran to the gate, passed the busy security arrived at the gate B10 , flight was gone. No info, by anyone, delay from Karachi was airline problem. Asking random airport staff we were told to contact Turkish airline care point. The staff looked at us and said calmly here is your new flight which is 4 hours late than the original connection. I went to speak with the manager of the care point who says he does not understand what is my problem because we have been issued boarding passes for the new flight. No apology for any discomfort.

✅ Trip Verified | In November 2023 I travelled from Istanbul Airport to Birmingham UK using Turkish Airlines. I am disabled and travelled with my mobility scooter. I had entered Turkey from East Midlands Airport into Dalaman using Jet2 and then travelled on to Istanbul using Pegasus. I had no problem with the first 2 airlines. When checking in for my return flight at Istanbul my mobility scooter was thoroughly scrutinised by the airline staff and approved for transport by the airline captain. This took over an hour. Upon arrival in Birmingham my mobility scooter was not returned to me and the Special Assistance staff had to go looking for it. It was found outside where it had been unloaded and brought to me. However, it was not working and had clearly been lifted by the plastic chassis rather than the handles and as a result wires had been disconnected. It could not be repaired at the airport and needed an engineer. The special assistance staff managed to get me, my luggage and my scooter out to where my taxi was waiting. I immediately arranged for the repair of my mobility scooter and informed Turkish Airlines of what had happened using their online portal. The cost to repair was £75.00. Turkish Airlines then responded stating that my claim had been rejected as I had been carrying an item prohibited by the civil aviation authorities. Please see copy of their respond attached as a photograph. I knew that I had no prohibited items and queried their decision. It then took several weeks for them to finally look at my claim properly and they eventually paid me £74 rather than £75 as they only calculate in US dollars. Turkish Airlines treatment of me was absolutely disgusting and I have never received a proper apology. Do not use this airline if you are disabled. They have no respect or consideration for disabled people. I have travelled all over the world and have never been treated with such contempt.