My experience with Turkish Airlines was good. I didn’t get the meal I ordered. So I didn’t have anything to eat which was disappointing.
Overall it was good. Food was bad. I ordered gluten free vegetarian meal. But I got gluten free chicken for my long flight from Seattle to Istanbul. I don’t eat any kind of meat. Second meal I got eggplant with meat which I couldn’t eat. I don’t understand why we can’t get gluten free vegetarian meal for a 12 hour flight. I eat the bread and that was it.
What I did not like was that the airline changed my seat in Bodrum to one that was not in business class. Up until that moment I was in seat 1A. Then suddenly they told me I was in seat 1K and my "tablet was not working". - meaning my tv screen. I said that was not ok and they said go tell them in Istanbul. Each Turkish Air rep that I consulted told me there were no available seats in Business class. Finally I talked to the 4 airline representatives outside the lounge. When I talked to a woman and explained I wanted to change my seat back to what I had, A lady consulted something, asked me if I signed anything, then turned to a man nearby and spoke in Turkish. The man consulted someone and spoke in Turkish to the woman. Then she said my seat was now A1. Why was my seat changed out of business class in the first place? What would have happened if I had not talked to someone at the lounge? I am totally confused.
Bough tickets with luggage, but made me pay at Airport as well
With a 4 hour delay its was a very basic flight which was just bearable. We were offered food vouchers for the delay and then they didnt work, so that was annoying. Also poor communication about the delay which got pushed out 3 times.
This is really the rating of two flights. JFK to IST then IST to NQZ. New York to Istanbul was good. Good crew and all positives. The flight to Astana was so bad that brought it all down. Crew was nonexistent above the minimum, seats were cramped, and it was hot on the plane. Turkish Airlines seems to be slipping down to US based carriers level.
The business class seats are designed for someone taller than I am, so my feet were dangling (the footrest was just a smidge too low). Which caused problems with my sciatic nerve and made for a long uncomfortable flight.
Very good overall.... apart from the cost of extra check ed in luggage where they charge £17 per kg, and no option to just buy an extra bag allowance (at least on the route I took)
The security at the airport was excellent. The one criticism is the boarding process just before entering the plane. There were only 2 boarding lines and there were no barriers thus leading to a mass rush to enter the plane. I suggest that they board by rows, eight or ten rows at a time to prevent the mass rush to enter the plane. Otherwise, I would highly recommend Turkish Airlines
The 2 agents on the check in counter were super nice , helpful and very polite. Boarding was like a 1 2 3, I would recommend Turkish airlines for your next trip.
