[SergeantMajor]

Many are lured in by Turkish.

Nice product, but not worth the risk, IMHO.

[Charles-P]

Today’s update:
My email of complaint to Turkish Airlines resulted in a quick reply, good news I thought until I read it. I received an apology for the fact I had not enjoyed the food on my flight ! Clearly a standard bolierplate response to a regular complaint, they had not even bothered to read my email and simply sent a general reply.

[travelworld2]

Must confess the only contact I have ever had with Turkish Airlines was to join their frequent flyer scheme to get status match with my Oneworld Emerald card- so I’m now Star Alliance Gold until 2016.. Good for that, if nothing else..

[nmh1204]

There was a thread a few months back, that highlighted how awful Turkish Airlines is. For some reason, it was deleted.

I don’t think I’ve read a single good review about them to be honest

[tworoose]

like the little girl with the curl…
just finished a trip where we flew ORD/IST in J and had such a good experience that we asked one of smiling attentive flight attendants for a form to compliment them on a great job
BUT – none of our 4 bags were delivered at IST and it was only after a week that we got them back – we believe that 1 guy in IST was on the ball and sent them after us in accordance with the itinerary we’d given him, but nobody bothered to update their tracking system or notify us, so all phone calls got a ‘nothing found’ reply – it was only by luck that a driver from our tour company checked at Marrakech airport (where we indeed did go to the day after our TK itinerary completed) that he found all 4 bags patiently waiting – if not for him they all would most likely still be sitting there
so – all the bad reviews i’d read about appalling service if anything goes wrong were unfortunately correct – i am an eternal optimist so i assumed none of that would apply to us – but i was wrong
sadly it is true that as long as all goes well, there is no beating TK for wonderful service, delicious food and the best J lounge in the world – but god help you if anything goes wrong!

[SergentMajor]

Tempted by the Turks? Remember that British Airways never loses bags and if it does, a personal baggage concierge will ensure you are kept fully informed whilst you sit sipping ‘poo in your drawing room. Then a dedicated courier service will bring the bag to you within the hour.

You will also experience BA’s innovative cabins, the Club World cabins being world beating best of breed and unbeatable for having proper flat beds and direct aisle access (when in bathchair mode), as well as allowing you to savour the fragrant essence of sock form your neighbours size 10s, a few inches away from your face.

To top this world beating experience off, BA’s catering is far superior to Turkish Airlines, they could never serve Moccasin and chips with the same excellent texture that BA manages in the state of the art ovens across the fleet.

And to add to the experience, Monopole Blue Top will give you a completely new perspective on the world of ‘poo.

[JohnHarper]

Mrs JH and I have flown with Turkish a number of times and always been very pleased with their service. We are due to travel to Cyprus with them next month and looking forward to it. We have found it the best way to Cyprus with proper C seating guaranteed at least as far as IST and also often on the IST-ECN sector. Catering is Do&Co and excellent.

We have not had lost bags or rude staff although the staff are not particularly outgoing they are always pleasant and helpful.

[Charles-P]

New Update:

I spoke at the weekend to a business contact and mentioned my recent problems with Turkish Airlines, his reply was enlightening.

“In my firm, despite having to fly regularly to Turkey we now have a policy of avoiding Turkish Airlines because of repeated problems. The most common is lost luggage in Istanbul and flight delays however all of our staff have reported repeated difficulties with the ground staff at Istanbul who seem to regard any questions as an invitation to start an argument. “

From my side still no feedback after the initial ‘canned’ email from them.

[TerryBuchanan]

Perhaps an email to the Freqent Flyer Club ( miles and miles) Director may help ? <a href="mailto:[email protected]“>[email protected]

[seasonedtraveller]

I was so disgusted with the treatment I recently received from TK (posted in another part of this forum) when they changed schedules seriously affecting 2 sectors of flights to IST and domestic Turkey & then treated me like a leper.

I have vowed to never use them again – and I won’t.

Pretty sure it’s no big loss to them, a major airline & just my family boycott, but hey, I wish them luck.

If they continue to piss people off so badly that customers boycott them, they may even have do do ‘an O’Leary’ when they wake up (like Ryanair eventually did) & realise people started voting with their feet.

[WillieWelsh]

I fly TK regularly from EDI to IST and many points beyond. I have yet to have a problem.

[seasonedtraveller]

Willie W.

All well and good & I hope it continues to go well as indeed it did with me for several years flying between MAN/IST/DLM.

It’s only when it goes wrong that you may finally understand….

[TominScotland]

It is, perhaps, unsurprising that some posters have encountered customer service issues with Turkish when their priorities, clearly lie elsewhere……

http://centreforaviation.com/analysis/turkish-airlines-suffers-bigger-1q-losses-but-continues-to-focus-on-profit-profit-profit-168387

Mind you, I was brought up with that old fashioned view (clearly not held by all) which sees good customer service as one of the key planks upon which profitability is built – see James Heskett’s convincing arguments at http://hbr.org/2008/07/putting-the-service-profit-chain-to-work/ar/1

[canucklad]

Tomin Scotland +1

The article you cited was dated 2008, I wonder if the doom and gloom merchants post the “where the hell has all the money (Was it real?) gone fiasco that followed soon after has had an influence on companies philosophy when it comes to customer interaction.
Have companies decided to lower customer expectations because we’re all led to believe that the global economy is teetering on the brink of Financial Armageddon and we should all just get used to eating bread and water, and be thankful for that.

[AnthonyDunn]

Tom, thanks for the CAPA posting which highlighted the fact that THY Turkish made a 1Q2014 loss – which was larger than in previous years – and in keeping with almost every other European network carrier.

Something that I have experienced with TK is their infuriating habit of publishing schedules against which you plan and book an itinerary only for TK later to announce a schedule revision. My experiences (plural) indicate that this is not an isolated occurrence.

And one other thing. Unless anyone is intending staying in Istanbul (always worth doing if time permits), don’t ever attempt a connection between Ataturk and Sabiha Gokcen. Istanbul’s traffic and far from adequate public transport infrastructure makes this an extremely tortuous and fraught exercise. In comparison, getting between LHR/LGW is a doddle.

EDITED to add: One other MUST DO whether at IST or SAW is sampling a damn fine Türk kahveci.

[Author]

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