Turkish Airlines Reviews 

Lack of Transparency and Compassion in a Genuine Medical Emergency

I am writing this review to share the experience my niece and her family have had with Turkish Airlines.

Three round-trip tickets from Brussels to Bangkok were purchased for a total of EUR 1,728.75, with travel scheduled from May 8 to May 28, 2026.

On May 7, 2026, the day before departure, their 5-month-old daughter was admitted to the emergency department and hospitalized at CHU Roger Salengro Hospital in Lille, France. The official medical report clearly stated that travel to Thailand on May 8, 2026, was medically contraindicated and strongly discouraged.

This was not a voluntary cancellation or a change of plans. It was a genuine medical emergency involving an infant.

All required medical documentation—including the hospitalization certificate, medical reports, and a signed Power of Attorney authorizing Trip.com to act on behalf of the passengers—was submitted through Trip.com, the travel agency from which the tickets had been purchased.

According to Trip.com, Turkish Airlines rejected the medical refund request, yet no explanation or written justification was ever provided.

Several requests were made asking for:

A copy of Turkish Airlines' decision;
The reasons for refusing the medical refund;
A written explanation supporting that decision.

None of these requests has ever been answered.

As a result, it is impossible to determine whether Turkish Airlines genuinely reviewed the medical documentation or on what basis the refund request was denied.

This lack of transparency is deeply disappointing, particularly in a case involving the emergency hospitalization of a 5-month-old baby.

We fully understand that every airline has its own fare rules and refund policies. However, when passengers submit official medical evidence demonstrating that travel was medically impossible, they deserve a clear, reasoned, and documented response.

A simple refusal without any explanation is not an acceptable way to handle such a sensitive situation.

I sincerely hope that Turkish Airlines will reconsider this case and demonstrate greater transparency, professionalism, and compassion when dealing with customers facing genuine medical emergencies.

First time flying with turkish airlines from Birmingham today. At check in there was a separate counter for business class and 1 person queuing. We were next in economy class with a lot people behind. The man in business class jumped in front of us to check in on the economy counter. We were told that the airline always prioritises business class passengers. The check in lady was very brusque, no greeting, no smile, irritated that we put our case the wrong way around on the belt. Not a pleasant experience.

At the boarding gate I greeted the lady checking passports with "good morning ", she made no reply and didn't look at me. I said "thank you " and again no response. Perhaps I am a ghost?

Very disappointed with Turkish Airlines customer service.

We purchased round-trip tickets through eDreams for Turkish Airlines from Atlanta to Bucharest via Istanbul. During our trip, we chose to continue from Istanbul to Romania by bus instead of taking the connecting flight. We later learned that our return itinerary had been canceled.

My main concern is not only the cancellation, but the complete lack of notification. We received no email, message, or other communication informing us that our return flights were canceled. If we had been notified in a timely manner, this issue could have been resolved before our return date.

We discovered the cancellation only at Bucharest Airport when we were preparing to fly home. We immediately went to the Turkish Airlines counter and contacted eDreams. The two representatives spoke with each other, and there was still time before departure to find a solution. Unfortunately, no assistance was provided, and we had to purchase new tickets at significant additional cost.

I hope Turkish Airlines improves communication with passengers. A simple notification and reasonable assistance at the airport could have prevented a very stressful and expensive situation.

I was pleasantly surprised. big seats, great entertainment system. easy check in process. food was ok. much better going there then coming back as they ran out of options. gave you slippers and socks. staff are pretty helpful. the 2 stop overs to europe where short and enough time to stretch your legs. I will be using them now on for my euro trip !
side note. not many meal options for those with intolerance.

Oversized luggage fees are extortionate and poorly published prior to booking and travel. The boarding process was the worst I've ever seen. I will go out of my way to never fly Turkish Airlines again.

Very bad as I have travelled with them me and my family. I have lost items from my bags they have communicated with me the first a few days and after that. They tried to give me the run around when I communicated again they have ignore my communication and they have never responded. They have messed up everything the religion and the culture and the beliefs for every one else. They have thought they are the best airlines. But you are the best by the way you treat other and the way you respect others. So do not claim you are the best if you are ugly and you do not know how to treat people even if they are incorrect. So this to my family and my friends out there. Do not try to fly with them. Even if they give you a travel deals as they would turn around and stab you in the back when you fall. So communicate with me and would show you other different ways to save money

Flying with this airline was extremely stressful. The communication was terrible, the customer service was poor, and there were significant baggage delays and lost luggage.

Booked wheelchair assistance due to the size of Istanbul airport and walking difficulties. Flight from Edinburgh was an hour late getting in, but not a soul in sight upon arrival. We had to try and find someone to help which, when you’ve difficulty walking distances, was a painful experience. They don’t tell you that you have to find your own way to the assistance point - what’s the point then in requesting a wheelchair when you’re forced to find the assistance point?
Istanbul was an absolute disgrace, disinterested, rude staff, very dismissive and not interested in anything you say.
We tried complaining via a very unuser friendly system which they just turn into a waste of your time with deliberate misdirection, misunderstanding and no desire to resolve the issue.
Night and day upon arrival at Bangkok - the staff were super helpful, line of staff with wheelchairs and name boards met the plane and whisked us through the airport with zero fuss and couldn’t have been more helpful.
The Thais make the Turks look like Neanderthals in terms of customer care.

Turkish Airlines delayed my initial flight. Because of this operational delay, it was impossible for me to make it to the gate in time, and I missed my vital connecting flight.

When I approached the Turkish Airlines customer service department at Istanbul Airport for help, they completely failed to resolve the situation. Instead of rebooking me onto another flight to get me to my destination, they outright refused to help.

They refused to offer any refund for the disruption they caused. Instead, they told me that my only option was to purchase a brand-new ticket out of pocket. To make matters worse, this new ticket cost more than three times (3x) the price of my original total flight fare.

They are easily the worst airline I have ever traveled with. Moving forward, I would gladly pay extra money to fly with alternative carriers just to avoid them. Save your money and your sanity, do not fly with Turkish Airlines.

So I came to the airport with a ticket that I bought 3 months in advance and they said the flight was “overbooked” and I had no seat on it 😀. Absolute disgrace.

Absolutely unacceptable service. My checked baggage was left behind in Islamabad, and I arrived without my luggage. My bag contained perishable items that are likely to be spoiled because of your negligence. This delay has caused me stress, inconvenience, and financial loss. I expected much better from an international airline, but this has been one of the worst travel experiences I've had. I will not choose this airline again unless they significantly improve their baggage handling and customer support.

I was booked the flight form Nepal to Canada via Istanbul due to to the delay flight in Nepal I missed my flight Istanbul to Canada and they refused to refund my money and they didn’t provide in other boarding pass from Istanbul to Canada they told me just buy another ticket same day ticket price was so horrible I spent 3 day in airport after that I booked a ticket which was 2200$ .customer service told me to go trough Turkish Airlines feedback page and report there .i do report but just 1time I got back saying”we are working on it will contact you soon” I was send email multiple times but I never got back again

If i could give a zero I would. The customer service is trash absolutely a joke. The TK assistant, there is no way you can get in touch with a representative, you'll be waiting for 3-4 h on that without any response, nor does it give you expected time. It made me feel like there was only one person answering queries. TRASH

Turkish Airlines Customer Service nightmare: Solution needed!!

I have been flying with Turkish Airlines with my family for our last several trips. During my last trip, I noticed an extra charge of $339.50, which I disputed. Now, there is an even bigger unauthorized charge of $3,565.46 outside of my actual ticket purchase amount—along with two separate issues.

I've been trapped in a customer service "game. Their support loop feels explicitly designed to stall rather than solve:

The Call Center Trap: Agents are trained to say, "Give me your info, and I will have my manager call you." I have heard this at least 8 times now. I have never received a single callback.

The Feedback Form Trap: Support directs you to an online "feedback form," promising an efficient solution. Instead, they use an automated AI loop to “punish” the customer—asking for the same information over and over and running in circles. Even the AI is coded to stall rather than to resolve the problem.

How many more phone calls and feedback submissions will it take for a real human being to pick up the phone, look at the facts, and resolve this in a single call?

What is the business value of the customer frustration Turkish Airlines is creating? Why promise an "escalation" and "solution" if there is no internal accountability to follow up? Is the strategy simply to exhaust customers until they give up? (They created a very long "backup" for the credit card company very efficiently, though) Right now, I don't know how to navigate this puzzle.

🙏 Looking for a Resolution

My three ticket numbers are TK-14796518, TK-14796514, and TK-14802044. They are waiting for a real resolution. If anyone in my network works at Turkish Airlines, or if a member of the corporate escalation team under Ahmet Olmuştur Prof. Dr. Murat Şeker is reading this, I want to turn this into a success story.

If anyone has successfully bypassed these automated forms to get a real human resolution, please let me know in the comments.

#CustomerExperience #TurkishAirlines #BusinessStrategy #CustomerService #Airlines #Travel #BrandLoyalty

Staff at the gate blocked us upon our arrival at the gate, even though we arrived two minutes before the last boarding. They delayed us getting to the actual gate to scan our tickets, so by the time we got there, the staff denied us entry to the plane. Despite the aircraft still sitting there, they claimed the system had shut us out.

We demanded to see video footage, but they refused and told us we needed to get a lawyer. We were very clear about the timing, as we were checking our phones while going up the hallway.

The staff was horribly unhelpful. We went up the chain of command, but we were denied by supervisors who remained anonymous, leaving us with no way to file a complaint.

This situation forced our family of four to be trapped in Turkey with no way out except to pay another $3,000 to purchase new tickets. We were also forced to rebook our ground travel on the other side. There was no sympathy shown whatsoever.

If I could give zero star I would do it. Turkish airlines doesn't deserve one star. Rude behavior,delays non compensated, lack of information , non professional behavior added to Istanbul airport where the staff when found are very rude and talk only turkish. Very bad experience.to avoid at any cost.

Our flight was canceled by Turkish Airlines, so we called customer support to reschedule. The first agent we spoke with, from the call center in India, told us that we either had to pay the fare difference or accept a full refund. I explained that since the airline had canceled the flight, we should not be charged anything extra to be rebooked. However, she insisted that we had to pay $174 per person because it was some kind of fee or tax that could not be waived.

This seemed completely wrong, so I said I would check other options before deciding. The agent then warned me that tickets were becoming more expensive and that we would have to pay even more if we did not accept the fee immediately.

We later found cheaper flights with Turkish Airlines one day apart and booked those instead. When we called back to cancel the original tickets, another agent told us there would be a cancellation fee. I objected and said this was not acceptable since the flight had been canceled by the airline. When I asked to speak with a supervisor, the agent hung up on us. In the end, we were able to cancel the tickets through the app with no fee and received a full refund, which proves the information given by the agents was incorrect.

During the rebooking process through Booking.com, I accidentally entered one wrong digit in a birth date. We called Turkish Airlines again to correct it. Another agent told us the ticket had not yet been issued because there was a fare difference, and in order to confirm the ticket and make the correction, we would need to pay another small amount, around $45. Since Booking.com offered a 24-hour cancellation option, we canceled and rebooked the ticket instead.

My overall impression is that Turkish Airlines customer support agents are deliberately trying to extract extra fees by giving misleading information. Turkish Airlines used to feel like a much better company — I still remember when they served freshly squeezed orange juice in economy class.

3rd class service never again travelling in Turkish airways or through turkey itself just low class

Today I came with my family a total of 4 on Turkish airlines economy, and the trip was from Riyadh to Beirut, with a layoff of one hour at Istanbul airport, I left Riyadh at 1:45 am, arrived to Istanbul at around 4:45 am and an employee was waiting for us outuside the plane to guide us through security check to the next plane, they made me at security check remove the laptop, the iPads, the phones, and 2 playstations, which delayed me, and put me and my kids under intense pressure, this done despite being checked on the first Turkish airline plane, in Riyadh, then I had to run with my kids and wife like an idiot to find the next plane, after the guide left with the other passengers, and left me waiting for security check, all of this was tolerated and passed.

However upon arrivak to Beirut at around 9 am, I received a WhatsApp message on my number noting that all my luggage a total of 10 bags, 8 large and 2 carry on (they told me at check in that they will ship for free in plane cargo because plane is full) with very important items, were not transfered for technical reason to the next plane, and I have to go to lost luggage department to file a complaint, I went to lost luggage department at Beirut Airport, and they acted rudely,they were allowing certain people who are known to them to pass and ignoring others, I told them I have a family and live very long distance and already booked a drive and paid him 200 dollars because of the bags, one of the individuals there told me if u have an issue go back to Turkey and get your bags. They noted that this is considered the normal and the reason is that I came on a short waiting connection of one hours, they even said that I should know this and I am responsible.
Although I was told initially when I asked the Turkish airline upon booking that baggage will arrive with me.
Now I had to go a 2 hours drive away and sit without my items and everything, waiting for a message from them the next day as they promised to get my items.

And then pay another driver 400 dollars to go to airport and get the bags back.

If they arrive.

I tried to call Turkish airlines multiple times but now reply.

It was the worst travel experience in my life for me and my family.

They seem to be only paying influencers to have the impression that their service is good. Indeed it is the airline with the most destinations but the service is declining each year. Food is getting mediocre, flights are delayed without an explanation. Movies are censored. Such a shame.