TurkishAirlinesReviews 50

Would choose negative stars if I could. Used to love Turkish Airlines but not anymore. These days, they have adopted highly unethical business practices and a subpar product. Completely arbitrary change fees, which we disputed and amex found in our favor for half the fees. As a result, they suspended / cancelled our tickets without telling us, forcing us to purchase last minute segments, for 3x the price, at the gate so as to not ruin our honeymoon further. There are numerous other cases on other sites of having tickets arbitrarily suspended without notice. Their Newark manager Nuri Basaran was highly unprofessional, refused to help one bit, and tried to convince us it was our own fault.

Fly this airline *at your own risk* You will not be able to make changes, receive refunds or do any customer service action of any value through the phone with them and you're forced to communicate through an antiquated online feedback form, designed to frustrate customers and force them to quit (there is no record of previous discussions, new agents each message, 5 day replies) Think you can get an issue resolves in person? Think again -- in any airport, including in Istanbul, there is not one person that has authority to issue flight changes, credits or refunds. You have to keep fighting through the feedback form and hoping that your message gets routed to the right corporate department.

Flying this airline is absolutely not worth it anymore. The planes are old, the food is a LOT worse than it used to be, the prices are high - and if you have any service issue whatsoever, you will waste many hours, if not weeks or months of aggravation. For those that are having issues - know your rights, carefully review the below documents and present them to Turkish and your local authorities where possible.

https://web.shgm.gov.tr/doc4/shy-passenger.pdf
And
https://cdn.turkishairlines.com/m/4365a15e0f5af528/original/FR_67_0329_EN-PDF.pdf

Horrible customer service, not interested in solving problems. Our first outbound flights was canceled, they kept saying cancellation not in their system, refused to change reservation and don't refund the money. Stay away from them, not worth it. They just keep lying and their representatives can never do anything, just tell you they will send an email...

My flight was cancelled abruptly after sitting on the tarmac for 3 hours. The airline refused to rebook everyone and mant customers including me were left without flights. They were supposed to call us with rebooking info unlike most airlines which rebook you on site when a flight is canceled and many people got no calls. We were forced to buy new tickets ourselves from other airlines or be stranded. As you can imagine purchasing new tickets at the last minute was extremely costly. The airplane itself was old, musty and dirty. Never again.

Hands down the worst airline I have ever dealt with. We couldn't check in online on the way there and when we phoned the staff were rude and hung up on us.

Thankfully it was sorted out at Edinburgh Airport by the staff there. On the way back same thing happened but at Istanbul Airport they put us on standby. They promised we would get seats at the gate. We did not.

We then got shouted at when we were trying to find out what was happening and it took hours to find a staff member who could help us. We were then given a slice of pizza for lunch and got shouted at by another staff member when we asked for our bags back (apparently it is a lot of work for them).

After hours we got taken to a dive of a hotel. We were given inedible food in a very unclean hotel. The next day we got on a new flight and were told we would get 400 euros at Edinburgh Airport.

When we arrived at Edinburgh there were no Turkish Airline staff or a desk so no money for us. Guess we need to phone back up to get shouted at some more.

Honestly horrendous experience. Made me cry multiple times. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy!

The worst company ever. Never will go again on the road with them. They lost my baggage an nobody care for that. I'm calling them on the phone. The
Operators when im calling in USA they hang up on the phone and this is not first time! When i'm calling in Skopje Macedonia nobody answer to me! So Turkish airlines i have a question to you? Is someone working in your company or just playing with the people? Who gonna pay for my baggage? I had baby items in the baggage and food for my baby! Who gonna pay for that? Instead enjoying i need to go and buy something for me and baby! So just spending money for the same thing!
How is possible to disappear baggage and no one to take over responsibility!
How to travel back with you and buy a ticket from you again? WORST, WORST, WORST. NEVER TRAVELING WITH YOU ANYMORE!

Terrible.

I went to the ticket office at Manila airport and tried to change my flight home. I was told that "they did not talk to customers" in that office and that I would need to email them. She gave me a tiny slip of paper with contact details on. She also told me that all flights from Manila were fully booked that week without even looking at the computer to check.

I complained to the CEO of Turkish airlines and heard nothing. Not even an "autoresponse". It was booked through lastminute who have an even worse reputation

Lord, if I can help it, I will NEVER fly this airline again, I don't care how reasonable the fare. I had to change ticket (well aware that I am not a frequent flyer), and use a credit, so I booked a different destination 8 MONTHS IN ADVANCE, and I was over 8 hours early to my return flight, was denied check in in Dublin. Couldn't check in, not even online. Returned at the exact time they requested for the afternoon flight. Still sat in a non moving line for close to 2 hours. Wasn't given an option for a seat, have been placed in a middle aisle seat for both a 5 hour flight and a 14 hour flight. The process has been painful throughout my experience. Never simple, never easy. Doing the right thing, trying to show up early, none of it works, none of it helps. Awful. Avoid like the plague if you are a good passenger thinking playing by their rules will make the process easier or better. I don't need much, but a little consideration, situational awareness, and customer service go along way in case you haven't heard Turkish Airlines.

Disgusting airlines with no respect to human being.
My friend bought a ticket and he was changing his airplane at istambul, then the nightmare started, they simply dropped him off from the airplane in front of the gate at boarding. Reason? "your return ticket was NOT purchased through stupid turkish airlines" REALLY?! Seriously it is your business to check which airlines I am using to go back? Shame on you stinky airlines! You have no respect to anyone, all you guys want is money, greed will kill you. I wish you hell and rot in inflation with bankruptcy. If you respect yourself please, stay away from this terrible airlines

A VERY bad company. Take home message: AVOID traveling with Turkish Airlines (TK). You'll find yourself in the most stressful situation while traveling with them. At the airport you'll find that your flight that you booked through the company website does not exist! Last month I booked my overseas flight directly through the TK company website. On my way back at the airport, I was told that my connection flight from Istanbul to USA is canceled and I have to wait at Istanbul Airport till the next day to catch the next flight to USA. This resulted in a very inconvenient situation where I had to wait for 14 hours overnight sitting on a chair at the airport, which was completely shut down (no restaurants or stores are open), and I missed important business on the day I was supposed to be back home. This is exactly what I tried to avoid when booking my flight although there were other respected airlines offering cheaper prices. What confirms that this is a nightmare company is that: 1) they did not even bother to send me an email or contact me before departure to let me know that the connection flight is canceled, although I entered my contact information when booking the ticket; 2) I wrote to TK customer service complaining about this situation; no one cared to reply. Not mentioning that most of the personal monitors on the trans-Atlantic airplanes are not working (so you don't even have a means of entertainment during the long flight) and that the flight crew are unprofessional. So, in summary do yourself a favor and avoid flying with Turkish Airlines or you may experience this yourself.

Terrible customer service. I had a trip in May 2021 that I had to cancel because of rising covid cases and Turkey being on lockdown. I wanted to reschedule my trip to May 2022 but the company wouldn't let me because I booked the ticket in March 2021. I pleaded the agent (Umut) to please be flexible and let me to talk to the manager to see if they can make a exception to the rule because of the covid crisis. He responded that he is the higher person at the call center and there is nothing he could do. The company only cares about money not about the experience with the customer. Umut also mentioned that what "news" I am getting my information from because Turkish airlines site did not mention cancelling of international flights. Umut admitted that there is a domestic flight cancellation and lockdown in the city but did not have the common sense to understand that an international traveler would not come to turkey only to spend his time in lockdown. Other than Umet the other agents are so terrible and do not care about the human side of providing a service. They are so arrogant in their tone, I would rather pay more money for another airline that travel with Turkish Airlines. Absolute, complete trash of a company who does not know how to train their customer service reps.

Trying to obtain a refund for a connecting flight they cancelled that left me stranded at an airport. TA is refusing to refund me. They claim that I authorised the cancellation.
Had to spend the night sitting in the cold airport in Paris as no one from TA was present.
Then I had to pay for a ticket to get myself to my final destination.
The airline is claiming that I authorised this cancellation, which is ridiculous. The distance between Paris and Toulouse (my final return destination) is nearly 700 km – not a distance anyone would choose to walk, dragging their luggage behind them.
Moreover, had I done so, they would have HAD to offer a voucher or air miles. They didn't.
I have written at least ten emails to their customer service. Their replies have been negative and unhelpful.
I have since joined a class action group in order to try to recover the cost of my national ticket.
I will never fly with this airline again

I also have fallen victim to Turkish Airlines ruses, scams and outright lies.

In October 2019, I bought In good faith a round trip business class ticket from BKK to YUL scheduled to depart April 13 2020 and return June 1 2020. On March 20 2020 I was notified that there was a problem with my flights and told to contact their call centre. For 8 days I tried (and wasted hundreds of dollars in phone charges) unsuccessfully to reach anyone at the call centre, only getting recordings in Turkish.

I also tried the feedback forms requesting a refund. Thus far I have completed about 15 feedback forms each time getting different cryptic, misleading and sometimes incomprehensible responses.

To make matters more confusing, on April 6, I was informed that bonus miles had been credited to the miles and smiles account that I had been asked to open. This transaction was offered to me not as a refund but rather as a "good will" measure in recognition of the frustration created by the lack of communication about my cancelled flights and the monies I expended trying unsuccessfully to contact the Call centre as well as travelling to the Bangkok office as instructed (however the office closed in March without notification).

On April 14 a Turkish Airlines employee named Betul A. Informed me that an EMD coupon had been issued and that I would need to go to a local sales office with my passport and the EMD number to initiate the refund for my cancelled flights. However the Bangkok office remains closed now for 6 months and Turkish Airlines no longer flies to Thailand.

On September 11, I completed yet another feedback form seeking a means to process my refund. On September 18, I was informed that Turkish Airlines had "refunded" me in bonus miles as per my request and that they will not be refunding my ticket. I never requested bonus miles as a refund option.

All this to say, Turkish Airlines is knowingly misleading clients and ripping us off. When the world returns to some semblance of normalcy, I can only hope that Turkish Airlines will not be rewarded for its unethical business practices during this pandemic.

I cannot believe that in this century, 3 months prior to a booked ticket, I contacted you to help me with my problems which are normal these days: you buy tickets for your honey moon couple of months in advance, and for medical reasons you cannot travel anymore, Turkish Airlines is refusing to help a young couple by reimbursing the money or offering other options! I will post this problem together with your official answers everywhere online! It is a misery! And of course I will start official complains to the European Authorities! Next time I will fly with different companies!

Well I used Turkish Airlines to board from Uganda to Turkey recently. The first thing I noticed was the flight attendants. They we're all nice and Jolly. They make you feel kinda important and they listen to all your requests however disturbing. What I didn't like though was their coffee and Burger... The coffee was too strong and the burger. Well the bread was too dry. Maybe I got even more frustrated when I didn't get my miles. But oh well the rest was on point.

They change the flight schedule and I supused to wait for about 15 hr for my new flight. They didn't want to provide me hotel. I insisted on the phone for one week and I got the hotel. To go to the hotel I need to get a visa, which cost me 50. Thurkishairlines told me that they will reimburse this money to me - they didn't. I walk around 2 km to find the visa office and the representative for the hotel. I notice that a lot of people were in the same situation like me, not just for my flight, but for different flights. Regarding the transportation to the hotel, it was very well organized, this makes me think that this is a part of their business. I am convinced that this company are selling tickets without having the flights. They inform the customer about the schedule change around 10 days before the flight, and they don't offer you too many options. In this situation you need to accommodate yourselves with their schedule and if you want a hotel ( by the way, not a good one), you need to fight for this. They lost my luggage; they returned it to me after more than a week and the luggage was completely damaged. I sent them lots of messages and I talk on the phone and all their agents explain me, very convincing that for sure I will receive my money back and someone with fix everything for you. They treat you as a naive person. I had the feeling that I am a slave, someone is managing my schedule, my time, money, belongings. VERY VERY DISAPPOINTING!

During a recent flight I had a layover of over 10 hours in Istanbul. I was told that I would get a hotel free of charge which sounded great! Once I got to Istanbul, none of the people at the Turkish Airlines desk could give me proper instructions where to go for the hotel stay. Finally, I figured out that one had to pay first for a temporary Turkish stay visa ($30 for US citizens and $60 for Canadian citizens) at the Visa counter (no visible signs anywhere inside the airport regarding the visa counter). Then, you have to exit the airport through customs & immigrations and go to the Hotel desk which is actually in the outside lobby of the airport. There are no signs indicating where to go and the one information desk is useless. Once you finally locate the Hotel desk, you are at their mercy. It took another hour for us just to board the bus to the hotel. They send different passengers to different locations even if you arrived on the same flight. It took us two & half hours thru jam packed Istanbul streets to get to the hotel from the airport (almost 5 hours after we landed). We passed a lot of hotels on the way; so, not sure why they took us to a hotel so far away. We just got 3 hours of sleep before it was already time to go back to the airport for our connecting flight. The Turkish airlines people are totally useless and unhelpful when it comes to helping people with lengthy layovers and hotel arrangements. Turkish Airlines is very economy class and definitely NOT number one in Europe or anywhere!