Turkish Airlines Review

“Globally Yours” – Turkish Airlines

After much research and deliberation, we decided to book our flight to Bangkok, Thailand with Turkish Airlines. It was, after all, named as the “Best Airline in Europe 2012” by Skytrax.

Our flights details were as follows:

Sunday 03 February 2013 – MILAN IT to ISTANBUL TR
Departure: 03 FEB 15:00 – MALPENSA, TERMINAL: 1
Arrival: 03 FEB 18:45 – ATATURK, TERMINAL: I
Flight: TK 1896 – TURKISH AIRLINES

Sunday 03 FEBRERO 2013 – ISTANBUL TR to BANGKOK TH
Departure: 03 FEB 19:50 – ATATURK, TERMINAL: I
Arrival: 04 FEB 09:45 – SUVARNABHUMI INTL
Flight: TK 064 – TURKISH AIRLINES

Start as you mean to go on…..

After boarding the plane in Milan, the plane encountered a twenty minute delay, before being granted a departure slot. The first leg of our journey was a relatively short two and a half hour flight. Time passed quickly enough, with staff serving food and drinks efficiently and with a smile. As the plane approached Istanbul, the Pilot announced that there would be a twenty minute delay before the plane could make its landing approach. We flew, along with at least 8 other visible aeroplanes in a huge circle around Istanbul. Over one hour and fifteen minutes later, the pilot announced that we would be landing in fifteen minutes time.

We disembarked the plane at 8pm and were informed by airport security staff that, even though our plane to Bangkok was still on the ground and in fact two gates down, we could not board as the gate was closed. Instead, we were directed to the Turkish Airlines transfer desk. With long delays landing at Istanbul and many travellers affected, there was a twenty minute queue. As we approached the desk, staff were clearly under pressure and we were received without a smile or friendly gesture of any kind. Once we had shown our flight ticket from Milan and onward travel information, we were told that there would be another flight to Bangkok in four hours. We were specifically told that another flight would be leaving at midnight. Delighted that we didn’t have an overnight stay in Istanbul, merely a few hours in the airport, we thanked the young man for his help and wished him as good an evening as possible, given the circumstances. Having worked in customer services for over ten years, I understand that tired and irate customers can and generally do take out their frustrations on the front-line workers. It seemed only decent to thank the man for his help fitting us onto the next available flight – little did we know what was to come…..

Following the instructions, we passed through security and into the departure section of the airport. With a large coffee in hand (we been in transit for over 12 hours since leaving Sion, Switzerland early that morning), we were surprised to find our departure time an hour later than we had been informed at the desk, just minutes earlier. We double checked this information, to find our new flight to Bangkok was due to leave at 0.50am (TK68). At this point, I should point out that food and drink prices at Atatürk Airport are extortionate – you really do not want to be stuck here for any length of time! There also seemed to be no consistency in display pricing, with some prices displayed in Lira and others in Euros.

0.45am and the seating area around our departure gate was full of passengers, obviously there was another delay. By 1.30am the Turkish Airlines staff began slowly opening the gate for embarkation. Whilst queuing, my partner and I checked our seats numbers, to find astonishingly that we had not been seated together, for a 9.5 hour flight! We were checked onto the flight 5 hours earlier, well before most passengers for that flight would have arrived and checked in. I made my way to the front of the gate to ask the staff if there was anything they could do, given the obvious error. I was told, “No, the flight is full, rejoin the queue”. No please, thank you or I will see what I can do for you. No understanding or endearment of any kind.

We boarded the plane to find that we had been seated on opposite sides of the cabin, 5 seats and one row apart. I asked another member of staff if there was any way to change or swap seats, given I had not been seated beside my partner. Again, the response was a cold “no”. Upon asking a third member of staff, a young lady sat on the other side of the aisle was asked to swap seats with my partner, which obligingly she did. We now had just an aisle between us.

Over 45 minutes into the boarding process, it seemed as though the seat next to my partner was not going to be filled. Having watched other passengers swap seats, I chose to follow suit. Of course, of the last three passengers to embark, one young man had been assigned the seat I was now occupying. He had no problem in taking my previous and designated seat and so at 2.45am taxiing down the runway, I sat next to my partner. Thanks only to the kind gesture of another passenger rather than the helpfulness of the Turkish Airlines flight staff.

Our 9.5 hour flight progressed in much the same way with rude, unhelpful and unfriendly staff. The food was acceptable, but nothing to write home about. The in-flight movies switched every 40 minutes into Turkish, rendering the enjoyment of any film impossible. The only positive comment I can make is that the hot tea provided was very nice.

Overall our flight with Turkish Airlines was devalued by rude, unhelpful and unfriendly staff. We were completely mislead, so the airline could avoid hotel and food costs for an overnight stay and then forced to pay overpriced airport fees for food and drinks whilst waiting for an onward flight. Just once during our seating issue, to be told “I will see what I can do for you, Miss” rather than a rude “No, its not possible” would have sufficed.

This was the worst first impression any large airline has ever made on either of us – no wonder they need to use huge sporting figures and spend such a great deal on their advertising campaigns.
There also seemed to be a marked difference in quality between the Milan-Istanbul leg of our trip, where both the Turkish Airlines ground staff and flight attendants were very helpful, and the Istanbul-Bangkok leg.
Needless to say, we will never use Turkish Airlines again.

Just take a look online at similar situations other passengers have encountered flying with Turkish Airlines.
• “Kobe and Messi together can’t save Turkish airlines” – along with other reviews on
  www.mouthshut.com/product-reviews/Turkish-Airlines-reviews-925013190The airline received 18 damning reviews from just this one site.

For your information:

• Skytrax awarded Turkish Airlines the following in the 2012 World Airline Awards (http://www.skytraxresearch.com).
• Turkish Airlines wins Best Premium Economy Class Airline Seat at the 2012 World Airline Awards.
• Turkish Airlines wins “Best Airline in Europe 2012” by Skytrax.
• Skytrax voted Turkish Airlines number 7 for The World’s Best Airline 2012.
• Skytrax voted Turkish Airlines number 7 for The World’s Best Economy Class Airline 2012.
• Skytrax also operates the consumer air travel guide (www.airlinequality.com)

As with any reviews, rewards or awards system, ensure that you read the small print, such as at About.com. This following extract is taken from the review, “Turkish Airlines, TA, Review by Kerry Kubilius : What’s in store for you when you fly Turkish Airlines?”:
“As is common in the travel industry, the writer was provided with a complimentary flight for the purpose of reviewing those services. While it has not influenced this review, About.com believes in full disclosure of all potential conflicts of interest. For more information, see our ethics policy.”

Turkish Airlines had NO knowledge of our website, nor that we would be reviewing our flight en-route to Bangkok, Thailand. We received no preferential treatment, discounts or upgrades, nor would expect any. We had no conflicts of interest.