Turkish Airlines

It's a great airline. No problems, I've flown them more than 4 times. That's almost a 2k savings - I would take the chance even if I knew nothing about Turkish Air. There's always "a first time" and no reason to believe something will be awful just because it's foreign and less expensive.

I had very good experiences with Turkish Air.

No! We had a great experience with them. On a flight from FRA to IST, they managed to serve a really tasty lunch. On time. Bags arrived with us. Comfortable seats. What’s not to like?

Glad to heard the Turkish Air comments. I'm confirmed April 2022 back-to-back on Greece 14 day tour and Istanbul 7 day tour. I have Delta eCredit from 2021 trip canceled due to covid but can't get flight with Delta from Athens to Istanbul. I'll try Turkish Air.

My experience with Turkish Airlines was a domestic round trip from Istanbul to Izmir (for Ephesus), about a 1 hour flight. The plane was a 4 engine Airbus A-340, not normally a plane used for short domestic flights. We taxied out for takeoff, the cabin crew made their announcements, and a mustachioed Turkish gentleman in the seat behind me raised a ruckus, apparently he thought he was going to Ankara instead. We returned to gate, he deplaned, but for security reasons a thorough search of the cabin ensued to make sure he hadn't left anything behind. We finally took off for Izmir. Some very bouncy turbulence crossing the mountains on approach, but a safe landing. And the return flight was incident-free on a brand new 737. Seriously, it's as good an airline as any other, especially on the international routes.

Excellent airlines..have flown them 12 times..each time safe professional service!

Turkish is my favorite airline. Even though I live in Atlanta, Delta's home town, I fly Turkish whenever I have the chance.

The service is friendly, the food is above average, the amenities are nice (even in coach), and they enforce rules for seating and baggage (unlike Delta). I recall reading somewhere that the recently retired president of Turkish Airlines was airline guy to his core, with a PhD in aerospace engineering. He wasn't a bean counter, and he really wanted to make the passenger experience as close as possible to the more luxurious experience of the 1960's. You could see the difference with little details: printed menus before dinner, foot rests, adjustable headrests, amenity packets for adults, activity kits for kids, and more.

Also, Turkish has always been good about handling unusual situations. When I arrived in Istanbul with a friend who had physical challenges, they actually came onto the plane to help my friend disembark and escorted him all the way through passport control and baggage claim. When Covid hit last March, they were really good about rebooking us so that we could get home.

I will say, though, that on our most recent flights (March 2020), Turkish had reduced the seat pitch on our planes. Also, as of January 2021, they started charging for seat selection. I hope that's not a sign that the bean counters have taken over.

We took Turkish Air in 2014. We stayed in Istanbul before leaving for Bucharest. So that was all good.

The flight was find. I believe we got slippers gratis.

Of all the airlines I've been on, Air Austria (free wine on domestic flights) and Air France (a massive amount of champagne because I flattered the crew staff with my meager French) remain my favs. But I'll take Turkish Air again.

We flew from East Coast to IST on Turkish and had a good experience even in coach. Clean planes, amenities kit including slippers and good food and wine plus Turkish Delight. You will be fine.

We have never flown with Turkish Airlines even though we could have saved $300.
What we didn't like was flying all the way to Istanbul, then having to fly back west to our ultimate destination at Rome, Barcelona or Paris.

Lots of discussion of Turkish can be found with a forum search.

Just to add my comments - I've used Turkish Airlines a few times, never had a problem with them. I've not used them since the new Istanbul airport opened. One of the advantages of the old Ataturk airport, its that if you had a reasonable delay, you could head into Istanbu poroper on public transport. My understanding ios that the new airport is too far out for that.

We flew them to Bishkek via Istanbul. When we had a delay out of Bishkek, it resulted in our missing our flight home and having to spend 6 hours in the new Istanbul airport. We were automatically upgraded on our final flight as a result. Everything about the airline was good. We even had to do a go-around at arrival in Bishkek (I think animals on the runway), and it felt smooth and safe.

For that much money it would be worthwhile even if you were unsure, but for a good airline like Turkish it sounds like a great deal!

Flying Turkish for the first time next month - thanks everyone for the helpful insights. I'm bummed they're not currently serving wine in economy :(

Boarding a Turkish Air flight in 2 hours. At least the 15th in the last few years. Customer service on the phone, better than most, checkin at the airport quick and flawless. And I predict based on past experience, a decent flight ahead.