Airlines to Istanbul

Turkish Airlines has good reviews and refunded the cost all of our flights to Istanbul and around Turkey when my husband needed surgery and we had to cancel our trip there. Easy to deal with them.

Two thumbs up for Turkish Air - I've flown them multiple times to Turkey and to Europe. For me, it's a no brainer though - because the flights are non-stop red-eyes to Istanbul from the DC area via Dulles Airport.

3 out of 5 trips I make to Europe (so maybe twice a year) are on Turkish Air. I sort of like them and they have good deals on multi stop and open jaw tickets.

My flight from IAH to IST (layover) to Kyiv, then from Odesa to IST (for a few days), then on to ZAG and finally from IST back to IAH was a tiny bit cheaper than my daughter's IAH to IST, then IST to ZAG, then IST to IAH. But both under $900. Using a couple of airlines to fill the gaps.

The bold stop in IST is where we join up for the following 3 weeks.

Just note that Turkish is a state owned airline, so flying Turkish means supporting the Turkish government.

I flew on Turkish Airlines from Atlanta to Istanbul in May this year and I've used them a few times in the past.
The service was good (even with covid restrictions) and I found the seats/leg room to be comfortable.

If you prefer Delta, search on their website. I tried this (from MInneapolis) and flights came up with a transfer in AMS to a KLM flight. KLM is their partner.

That being said, Turkish Air is a very good airline and may be cheaper.

Turkish Airlines. Even in coach we had a great flight, clean plane and good food. No contest.

Is the leg room comparable to US carriers in economy or better? I am a big guy. Thanks so much for all the input!

My experience is that they are reliable and attentive to questions/problems. However, I was miserable on an almost 12 hour flight from IST to CHI. I did not find that the seat was comfortably padded and my knees were up against the seat in front of me. I am 5' 6'' tall. I usually fly comfort plus on Delta. This class is not available on TA.

Is the leg room comparable to US carriers in economy or better?

Check seatguru.com for seat specs

Most of Turkish Air coach seats have a 29-32 inch pitch and 17-18 inch width. How does that compare to what you usually fly?

You would need to do a mock booking to see what aircraft are used and then see how it is laid out on seatguru

I book Turkish Airlines during Covid year and I finally after months did receive a refund, but it took a lot of calls. It seems their customer service (calls are routed to Turkey and reception not good) has pre-determined responses. While they speak English, they did not always understand English.
The travel agent I am working with said they are hard to pin down with answers regarding their policy if another lock-down occurs. She refuses to work with them for her clients.

I recently paid $119 for an exit row seat IST-ORD (Chicago), a reasonable price for an 11+ hour flight. Do be aware that the exit row seats have solid partitions between them so they are somewhat narrower than standard economy seats.

Turkish has good entertainment, good food, good service.

Just took a TA flight to Istanbul/Kyiv 2 days ago. Everything about it was as good as a flight can be, including the price. I had to change tickets a few months ago, svc was excellent. There is no premium economy, but you can buy seats with the equivalent legroom. Mine was $65 for the 11 hour flight. But only +3".