Hi, I'm traveling to Instanbul most likely next year and the best price is if you fly with Saudia or Turkish airlines. Also planning on hitting up Barcelona. Good flight deal via Air Transat. I usually fly porter in N. America and Air Canada globally. Are these more indie or foreign carriers safe, and what's been your experience from customer service to the flight, etc.
Appreciate the feedback.
This is my new official fav travel advice forum.
Turkish Airlines is a good airline with a good safety record.
Someone asked about turkish airl8nes on the Greece forum last week
I j6st returned Sunday from 13 days in greece/turkey w a lot of in country hops that were also on Turkish airlines. Wr had no issues, except for having to sprint from one end of instanbul airport to the other to make our connection back to Athens (,think Atlanta airport on steroids)
Turkish Airlines has received many favorable reviews on this site from long time posters. Saudia is the flag carrier for Saudi Arabia, and has won recent "best of" awards. However they enforce Saudi restrictions for dress, deportment, and no alcohol on all of their flights. If you are female, this may or may not be of significance to you.
If you are Canadian you no doubt are aware that Air Transat has been in existence for many years as a "leisure" airline. Possible drawback is a lack of back up flights if your booked flight is cancelled or delayed. They are not a member of any airline alliances, but do have a codeshare agreement with WestJet.. We have occasionally flown with them for winter package vacations and have had no complaints.
I meant the aircraft are also modern boeing 777/787/737 or DC 10's and not run down or falling apart right?
The pilots are also highly trained?
Turkish Air is one of the best airlines out there.
I meant the aircraft are also modern boeing 777/787/737 or DC 10's and
not run down or falling apart right? The pilots are also highly
trained?
You can see what type of aircraft they use when doing a flight search. I'm not aware of any airline that purposefully uses "run down" airplanes or that uses "untrained" pilots. Turkish Air is an enormous airline, in 2023 they flew 80 million passengers to 345 destinations (at least according to Wikipedia, YMMV). If you choose to use Turkish Air, book directly with the airline and do not use a third party.
Okay so far I hear good stuff about Turkish air only
what about Riyadha and Transat Air?
Air Transat is Canadian airline that has been in existence for a long time, decades and there are no issues with safety. I have flown with many times over the the years, to the US, Caribbean and Europe and no complaints. They generally have good prices and I would not hesitate to book with them. I’ve only flown Turkish air once from London to Istanbul and it was fine too.
thanks for the feedback
We flew Turkish Air a few years back and felt it was one of the better airlines, especially for economy class...comfort, good service, even the food was pretty good! As far as I remember, we couldn't have alcoholic drinks while in Turkish airspace. No big deal. I would readily fly with them again.
the last commercial passenger flight for the DC-10 took place in February 2014. CNN reports
Although I don't have any recent experience with them, I've flown with Air Transat in the past and found the service and prices to be good. At the present time their fleet is all Airbus A321 & A330 aircraft, and they offer both "Club Class" and "Economy Class" on some flights. A few years ago, they were about to be acquired by Air Canada, but the deal fell through for a number of reasons.
I also tend to use Air Canada for international flights. and WestJet, AC or others for domestic flights.
I lived in Saudi Arabia in the 80s and flew on Saudia. It was a good airline, except you can't buy any alcohol on it.
I know several travelers that have flown on Turkish and liked it.
3 of my group of 7 was subjected to a "open yr bags" inspection at the gate after going thru two exray machines. So yes, they endeavor to be "safe"
This is my new official fav travel advice forum.
Well, welcome to the forum family! Lol.
Just a note
Any airline that wants to fly to the USA, EU etc must comply with all regulations of that country/region. So you can just assume that if the air carrier is authorized to land in those places they have met the expected safety requirements
