Turkish Airlines and carry on luggage

Caveats and disclaimers...

1. I am a fan of Turkish Airlines, I generally like them a lot. If you can fly their business class, it's a real treat. But even in coach they seem to be better than many airlines for comfort and service level.
2. The one thing that I think is consistent with TK service is that it's inconsistent. When things are going smoothly, Turkish is great. Sometimes, when things don't go smoothly, responses can be wildly different - from wonderful to horrible. I have experienced both extremes.
3. It's a long way to Istanbul from where I live (Seattle). My favorite way to get to Europe, or get home from there, is now via Istanbul - if I can manage to do that in business class on Turkish.
4. I have only limited experience flying in Coach on Turkish; most of my flights on Turkish have been in business class (which is very nice); so others here have flown extensively on TK in coach and will have better first-hand experience with that.

OK, all that aside, to your questions...

• US airlines typically have fairly generous limits for checked bags' dimensions and weights; US airlines typically have size restrictions on carry-on (and on "personal items") bags but usually do not have specified (or enforced) weight limits.
• Foreign airlines typically have specified dimension AND weight limits for checked bags, and for carry-on bags, and for personal items, and those limits are usually more strict (often a LOT more strict) than any limits specified by US carriers. And, critically, these limits are often strictly enforced. When they are, those who are only used to flying domestically in the US are often shocked (and outraged) at the limits and the fees that result when you are over the limits. Get used to this, it is our future (that's just my speculation, I think European airlines are just "ahead" of what US airlines will eventually do).
• You can easily find the Turkish Airlines baggage limits for your flight on their website. You should expect those limits to be enforced. They won't always, but in my experience, sometimes they will, so unless you are OK with the consequences of exceeding the limits (doing a baggage reshuffle at the check-in counter or paying a shockingly high fee to "buy up" for extra baggage), expect the limits to be enforced.
• I have sailed through check-in with bags that were way, way over their published limits, and all I got were smiles and a warm welcome. I have also been stopped when my carry on was about 7 lbs and was told I had to shuffle things or pay extra (even in business class).
• I have never experienced (or even heard about) lost luggage issues. I would expect Turkish to be about as good (or as bad) as any other airline in those cases. In AirTags We Trust.

I hope that's helpful.

I find that Turkish almost always enforces weight limits on carry on. Once I was slightly over the limit (maybe 8.1 kg instead of 8?), and they let it slide. (I think they let it slide because my carry-on was full of camera gear, and my checked bag was way under the limit.)

I have never had any issues with checked bags on Turkish (knock on wood). Sometimes I have missed my connection, but never my checked bag. The most harrowing baggage issue was during the great Covid shutdown of March 2020. We were originally planning to spend a few days in Istanbul on the way back from Egypt, but Covid made a hash of that. Our bags were check to Istanbul, and they closed the Turkish border a few hours before our plane arrived. Our luggage was allowed to cross the border, but we weren't. I just knew that we would never see our luggage again. Turkish got us on a flight back to the US the next day, and our luggage was there when we arrived. Whew!

Like David, I am a huge fan of Turkish.

Turkish is my favorite airline and the service has been consistently good. But I only fly economy.

Yes, they only have "economy" but you can improve the quality of that at the time you book by buying seats with more leg room. 8kg does indeed = 8kg, so thats the limit and it is the limit on 90% of all carriers outside of the US.

What makes Turkish a bit more restrictive is that the 8kg includes your "personal item".

I have flown maybe 30 Turkish flights and havent yet been checked, but it wouldnt matter cause I follow the rules.

But to be fair, its been about 3 years since the last, but the next is in April to Malaysia and I am looking forward to being back with them again.

I’ve flown Turkish Airlines several times and it was my experience that they definitely will weigh your carry on luggage. Every passengers carryon that I saw was weighed at the check-in counters.
The staff at the check-in counters seemed to be laser-focused on nailing passengers with carry ons weighing above 17.6 pounds. But the “Personal Item” they completely ignored So, I stuffed my black shoulder bag with any excess weight from the roller carry-on which would have put it over the limit of 17.6 pounds (8kg). The shoulder bag on some of my flights weighed about 18 pounds but it was never weighed or measured. That may have changed since the crash of the Turkish Lira last year.
In the check-in lines it was quite common for women to carry oversized bags that looked like large beach bags which were stuffed with the overflow from their carry on bags.
The dimensions of the personal item can be 15.7” x 11.8”x 5.8”. That 5.8” in depth is quite thick and it means you can get a lot of items in that bag. Turkish Airllnes currently says personal items can weigh up to 8.8 pounds. (4 kg ). It clearly states Economy passengers can bring a personal item weighing up to 4kg, AND a carryon weighing up to 8 kg.. That means your carry-on AND personal
Item can weigh up to 26.45 pounds (12 kg).
I pack a very light EtekCity digital scale that clips onto the handle of a carryon bag so it can be weighed before leaving for the airport.
Never mind the weight of the books I stuff into my jacket pockets!

Thank you Kenko, years ago the personal item had no weight limit. Then they revised it to be part of thr carryon weight of 8kg. Bummer. And that was the rule a month ago. I just checked again because of your post and now it says 4kg. Yea!

Always good to check and recheck.

I guess I never got checked because I never go to the checking desk. No checked luggage so I go to the gate.

I don't think I can add a whole lot more to the comments you've already gotten, but I can share my experience, which is very similar to Seattle David's. My favorite airline, but far from perfect when there's a problem.

I've flown Turkish Airlines a number of times, always in Business Class, and I have two more trips this year with TA. If you can swing it, their Business Class is absolutely worth it. Phenomenal service and great food. And when I've done price comparisons, their Business Class is significantly cheaper than on other airlines.

I've always flown only with carry-ons, and always had my bags weighed. Just one time, flying back to Mexico City from Amman, I was told they needed to check my bag because it was slightly overweight. I told them I had a very short connection to make in MEX (which was true; I was connecting to Guadalajara on a different ticket), and they let me take my carry-on with me. Of course, the rules are much less restrictive in Business Class.

Assuming you are going with economy seating and the limits will apply:

• Can you pack light enough to satisfy Turkish Airlines' restrictions?
• If not, which is more important to you: the easier flight itinerary or flying carry-on only?

By the way, when I search Google flights on random dates, I see itineraries from Orlando to Istanbul with one stop in Frankfurt. I'm not sure if that would work for you, but it might be worth investigating.

Thank you Kenko and Mr E for the weight information for carry on AND the personal item!! I hadn't thought about the personal item having a weight limit also but that certainly helps with the total weight to be similar to the 22lbs for US to Europe only on many carriers. I will research the Turkish Air website directly also versus just within the flight information to stay up to date on any changes to those. Thank you to commenter about transiting thru Frankfurt. I didn't see any flights with less than two stops searching directly on Turkish Air. I will try to search again to see if I can find that. However, none of the flights I am finding have business class as an option, economy only which is fine but seems odd (not showing sold out- just dotted lines for business class).
All of you are the best!!
Any other thoughts continue to be welcome!