[Kopite]

I’ve always thought of Turkish Airlines as a premium carrier with a modern fleet, great food and crew. Throw in very cheap business class tickets from many cities in Asia to Europe via IST new airport and whats’ not to like.

I have been considering buying 2x SIN-LHR or SIN-BHX return in J class for 2021.Prices in J are very very low.

However, today I happened upon a massive number of negative reviews on this airline on the Trip Advisor website.
Take a look please before you respond – I just couldn’t believe the sheer volume of negative reports. I’ve never seen anything like this on Trip Advisor for any hotel, restaurant or airline. It’s quite shocking to see the avalanche of criticism and now of course I’m having 2nd thoughts about booking with them.

Once you’ve read the TA reports does anyone have a recent experience with TK in J class. I follow quite a lot of “points” travel blogs and up to now all the feedback on TK in business class has been quite positive.

Could the deluge of criticism on TA be a planned campaign ? I’m shocked quite honestly about how far TK has fallen in the pandemic if everything written on TA is true.

Should I book or not? It’s made me quite nervous. I don’t know who or what to believe now, I was looking forward to a few days in Istanbul enroute for a holiday.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Bullfrog, Switzerlanding

[Switzerlanding]

I’ve no recent experience on any airline but with Turkish I’d tend to avoid if I could as if things go wrong they really go wrong. Maybe take a look to see if there are any recent YouTube uploads onboard Turkish from Josh Cahill, WingIn it Paul or Noel Philips they’re generally quite honest and the crew isn’t pr-prepared for them as they are with Sam Chui.

4 users thanked author for this post.

scott1nthesky, Woodpecker, Swissdiver, Bullfrog

[toptraveller]

I would look at QR, excellent product and good fares from both LHR & BHX…safer bet in my opinion..safe travels!

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Swissdiver

[AMcWhirter]

Andrew – if you were to search for Turkish Airlines in our Forum section under “Airlines” you would see many threads complaining about this carrier.

[Inquisitive]

I am surprised that many people do not understand that very cheap and very good is not possible together for anything.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Bullfrog

[Bullfrog]

[postquote quote=1017356][/postquote]

We all know there is ‘no such thing as a free lunch’. The expression ‘you only get what you pay for’ is worth bearing in mind.

Having said that, the travel has many different facets, and whilst we all prefer matters to go smoothly, there are so many different issues in play, that much is taken for granted.

1 user thanked author for this post.

scott1nthesky

[Switzerlanding]

Andrew – I’m interesting in this thread as I’m not a fan of Turkish and wondering also on others opinions, so… I was also looking through some older threads this morning on Turkish and see you asked a sort of similar question earlier in the year, did you manage to take those previous flights you spoke about booking with Turkish?

[EU_Flyer]

I’ve flown them in Business many times and it’s been consistently good to excellent. That was pre-pandemic.

I understand that the food offering has gone from luxurious to poor overnight and that seems to be the major complaint. Also no sure if their normally amazing lounge in Istanbul is open or fully functioning. Service has always ranged from warm and generous to strict and cold.

If your plan is to fly early 2021 then it’s unclear what type of food / transit experience you’ll get. If it’s later when things hopefully return to normal, then I’d give them a try – if they’re at the right price point.

As for the bloggers, try Dennis Bunnick or Wingin It Paul. Cahill tends to expect them to roll out the red carpet for him and when they don’t he becomes entitled and unfair. Sam Chui is like a paid staged infomercial.

Safe travels.

[GBAIR72]

Andrew
If everything goes ok it’s fine. The minute there is a problem they don’t want to know and will not care a hoot I gave up With star alliance cos of then!

[Kopite]

Thanks for your reply Switzerlanding. My question earlier this year was slightly different. I was planning a trip in J SIN-IST-BHX and VV and was concerned that while the first sector SIN-IST was on a 777, the 2nd IST-BHX, over 4 hours, was on a single aisle plane 737 and I wanted to know how the business class was on that aircraft.

In the end I didn’t take that trip.

I am still planning to do this trip once travel becomes clearer (when I’ve been vaccinated maybe?)
I’m driven by 2 things the first is price – business class from Singapore is S$2,572 return.

Most other carriers like I’m looking at like Ethad and Qatar are well over $4,500.
BA & SIA well forget it over S$6,500 !!

Secondly I quite fancy a few days in Istanbul on either outbound or return sector.
2 of us are travelling and I’m now retired so its a big saving on TK

1 user thanked author for this post.

Switzerlanding

[Robert Stevenson]

Turkish Airlines has a proper business class on single aisle aircraft. I have been on 737-800 and A321, the seating has been 2 x 2, four rows on the flights I have taken. I have flown them on a number of occasions and found them very good. I believe that since Covid, catering has almost been stopped, I’m not sure of the current position, that has drawn a lot of criticism, quite rightly. I think they have started doing hot meals on long-haul very recently, not sure about medium haul. But I have always had a really good experience with them.

1 user thanked author for this post.

EU_Flyer

[Kopite]

[postquote quote=1017374][/postquote]

Thank you EU Flyer for your balanced and thoughtful response and suggestions. I do think you are right in that the biggest gripes against TK are 2 fold:

1) a complete downgrade in on board F&B, from what was once one of the best kitchens in the sky to a cardboard box of snacks even in J class
2) inability to reach anyone at TK by phone or get an email response when things go wrong

However the massive difference in price versus competitors on the route from Asia to Europe and VV in J may make me take this risk. There are 2 of us, we are recently retired, paying our own way, and the savings are almost S$2,000 per person vs the next lowest carrier. I can put uo wth quite a bit of inconvenience for that kind of saving. I just hope the much lauded TK lounge in IST is open though?

Thank you for your suggestions on bloggers.

1 user thanked author for this post.

EU_Flyer

[Kopite]

[postquote quote=1017583][/postquote]

Thank you Robert for your encouraging feedback.

[cwoodward]

Hi Kopite, I don’t believe that there has ever been a serious suggestion on this forum that the aircraft, in-cabin service and food is not of a good standard most of the time.
However before committing to fly with them other areas are important to consider.

TA has one of the worst safety records of any major ‘full service’ airline with many serious crashes and frequent and continuing safety ‘incidents’. On this operational area alone many in the industry would never consider flying with Turkish or recommend them.

The other major area where Turkish fail dismally is in customer service, basically there is none and should all not go to plan or you have any claim then best forget obtaining any satisfaction as they become instantly ‘invisible’and you are on your own Airline customer forums are littered with complaints regarding Turkish.

Perhaps it is just me however I find this thread to be rather odd as it appears from your posts that you are committed to travel with Turkish and are perhaps trolling here for complementary comments on behalf of the airline.
If I am wrong and you are just a potential passenger I would be very surprised however if so I offer my fulsome apologies if I have misjudged your intentions.

1 user thanked author for this post.

Frederic

[cwoodward]

The large Turkish LCC Pegasus is also an airline to avoid as it also has a very poor safety record.
3 bad crashes already in 2020 and a total hull loss in 2018 where it was a miracle that all passengers were not killed.

From The Independent:

The hard landings of two planes by the same airline at the same Istanbul airport in the space of a single month have raised questions about aviation safety in Europe’s largest city, a major transit hub for much of Eurasia.

On Wednesday, a Pegasus airlines flight arriving at Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen airport slipped off the wet runway on landing, smashed into a wall, split into three pieces and burst into flames, killing three passengers on board and injuring almost every other one of the 179 of the crew members and other people aboard the Boeing 737-800.

The accident follows a 5 January incident in which another Pegasus airlines jet landing at the same airport during a rainy day also slipped off the runaway. No passengers or crew were harmed.
The crash has prompted criticism about Turkey’s aviation policies, one year after the country closed down the storied Ataturk International Airport. In its place it opened what it billed as the world’s largest airport, along the Black Sea on the city’s northernmost edge – and despite the objections of some urban planning and aviation experts.
“The country is like an out of control train,” former pilot Bahadir Altan told pro-government CNN Turk, after the crash. “There should be more sense than just carrying out one project after the other.”

It is my view that all Turkish airlines are intrinsically unsafe the cause of which is largely the Turkish Governments lack of a decent regulatory system and its poor implementation and pilot training by the operators of both major airlines.

[Author]

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