Outrageous: Turkish Airlines Downgraded To Skytrax 3-Star Airline

Skytrax recent comment of Passenger flying in various place of via Turkish Airline reveals some gaps that the Airline needs to take action. If customers are saying something they have experienced, that needs to be taken care of, otherwise no sooner, customers are unhappy, they will not use the airline. One of the major issue is Customer service at Istanbul, related to lost luggage and also for proper direction in English. This needs to be corrected by the airline. There is a very good reason some of the Middle eastern airlines are considered as the best because of customer service outside the duration of flight. I do not like to see the image of Turkish Airline to be similar to 'Spirit Airline'!

MT chill out buddy, if you are having problems with English, read it carefully it starts with FROM... what makes you assume that my flight is From these countries? Second... if you can spend a second again and read, I cant get the baggage fee (you pay for these remember if you upgrade) and the seat selection, and you pay for cancellation fee. Is this simple thing so difficult to comprehend? Dont you have better thing to do in this life rather trying to convince people you have no clue? You act like a 15 year old boy. For god's sake read first then act. Anyway hope you get your money... ohh and thanks for the link by the way

Sorry MT, useless discussion. You should get refund, I should get refund as well. I cant get refund as baggage increase and seat selection is not refunded by etihad. Also as I got cheapeat fare, cancellation is subject to penalty. You are frustrated, I am more. Now as I said sorry that you lost your 1400 euro, at least you can get back, while I can not. Because of that I wont be jumping around and say Etihad is one star. Evaluation is not done by the refund policy. And instead of bashing me, pick up the phone and talk to customer service and not waste our time. I wont spend anymore second on this.

You are talking the way that they gave me a favor by offering a full refund 60 days after the restrictions are lifted. First of all it is not clear what do they mean by restrictions. They might mean social distancing and thinks like this or they might mean that after their flights comes back to its original capacity which might take several years. Second of all if you are honest and you are not working for Turkish airlines please show me the letter from etihad about 50 percent refund and your ticket as I did not find anything in the internet about 50 percent refund which is a legend and story.

With due all respect I am wondering how did they every get three stars. They should be a one star airline. They sold me ticket from Dublin for May 27th at May 13th. They flight was cancelled another tickets for June 1st and June 10th. The other tickets were cancelled. Irish Travel New Network on June 9th announced the Turkish would resume flights to Ireland on June 24th.. Wait a minute?! They sold tickets for flights that were not supposed to take off. What a shame!!!
Also, according to EC261 which applies to all the flights departing EU cities for EU and non-EU carriers the refund must be processed 7 days after the cancelled flight date. Do they do that? No, they say that they would refund tickets 60 days after the restrictions are lifted. .................................They offered me an open ticket. At the moment I was told that I do not have to pay extra fees like fare difference or tax difference. After I accepted the offer, I received an email from them informing me that I might have to pay those fees.
THE WORST AIRLINE AND SUCH A DISGRACE ABSOLUTELY ZERO STAR AIRLINE

I am absolutely appalled by how Turkish airlines is handling my case considering the circumstances of this virus. My flight was March 18 and literally days before the U.S. started banning travel to countries to Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. I also had a bad cough, extreme sore through, and running nose. With all this being said, if I would have gone to Turkey, firstly I could have been taken under quarantine for weeks as soon as I arrived because of my sickness and second if I were to have left the U.S. and then there was a travel ban to Turkey (like there was to multiple upon multiple countries literally days before) I wouldn’t have been able to make the flight home for any of my elderly at risk family members. God forbid if they passed away due to this terrible virus and I couldn’t even attend their funeral because of a travel ban. I am being offered a voucher good till next February but the fact of the matter is I’m out of work, I have been for months, I can barely feed myself and pay my bills. I will not be able to travel outside of the country regardless if I have a voucher or not. I’m disgusted with how @turkishairlines has this image of being extremely caring for its customers and random people around the world, yet those who cannot afford to accept this voucher and who CANNOT travel outside of the country are just stuck to waste a thousand dollars that would quite literally SAVE ME. This is absurd and I have spoken to every single person I can in the call center, feedback centers, etc and I am lost for words the disrespectful my situation and I’m sure so many others. You want to know how you can give back @turkishairlines? Give those who cannot accept the voucher a full refund. It’s only the HUMAN THING TO DO.

Let me first start by saying I am sure others have probably had very good experiences with Turkish airline particularly the business class. However, my experience is nothing to write home about.

I used this airline in traveling from Accra, through Istanbul, to JFK and then back. I almost missed my connecting flight from Istanbul to JFK on the first journey because of their delays but thankfully I made it. On my return journey our flight from JFK to Istanbul was delayed for about 3hrs, meanwhile the layover in Istanbul was 2hrs 45mins. Meaning we were most likely going to miss the connecting flight. The flight attendants told me they could provide free hotel in JFK for the night so that I could join the next flight scheduled for the next day to Istanbul. They then went ahead to tell me that if I decide to still board the delayed flight JFK to Istanbul that night and end up missing my connecting flight , they will take care of me in Istanbul until my next available flight to Accra, without paying a dime. So I decided to board the delayed flight.

We got there and rushed to the terminal but we missed the flight at about 3pm. We were given new tickets for the next day and were directed to another desk for our hotels and feeding. The attendants kept redirecting us from one desk to another form 3pm till about 10pm. It was frustrating and exhausting. There was absolutely no communication between them, terrible customer service and non-existent emotional intelligence. Some of the attendants walked out on me at some point, others said Turkish airlines policies vary from country to country. One even said their colleagues elsewhere just say things to get customers off their backs.

Well eventually we realized that we were supposed to pay for visas to access the hotels outside the airport because Turkish airline was not ready/willing to pay for the hotels in the airport. After series of arguments I decided to pay for the visa but was told I couldn't pay in cash (I didn't have a card on me by then). What was more disheartening was a Canadian woman with a toddler who was made to pay for the visa only to be turned down by the immigration, claiming she needed a schingen visa. Why then do you make her pay?! Why not consider the child?! Why such poor communication?! Such brazen ignorance and unprofessionalism.

Upon seeing the woman and her baby's ordeal I figured we were on our own by no fault of ours and had to find a place to sleep in the airport. By the time this debacle was over it was midnight.

I will never use or recommend this airline to anyone. They are terrible especially to non-US and non-European citizens. Their attendants offer little to no help. They were never aware of what was going on. Schedules were changed at will without prior information. I received an empty response when I complained to their customer service.

That said, there were a few that were amazing but I will still never recommend this airline to anyone.

I do believe that Lufthansa is not a five-star Airline. Based on customer reviews in skytrax, there are other 4-star Airlines that score higher than lufthansa, including Korean Airlines, Emirates, and even Thai Airways. Under the various skytrax categories of service, food, seat Comfort, in-flight entertainment system, and value-for-money, Korean Airlines is performing at the caliber of other five star Asian airlines whereas Lufthansa is only marginally better than its European competition. And Emirates, which already has an impressive Fleet of well over 100 Airbus a380s cannot get a five star rating, but Lufthansa can be handed a five star rating based on speculative reasons. That is just so ridiculous.

With regards to Turkish Airlines, I believe they perform at a very similar level to Lufthansa and other European carriers such as British, KLM, Air France, and Finnair. I would not put Turkish in the same league as China Eastern, Air China, American, or United.

I have flown TK several times and I’ve always been happy about their service. On May 5th this year, though, I had a horrible experience. The departing flight was late and I lost my connecting flight in Istanbul. I had to face incredibly rude and careless TK employees at their “care” desk. I got stuck at the airport for 11 hours and was also threatened with these exact words: “I will call the police and you will see what happens to you”. At the “care” desk, I was in very good company: hundreds of passengers stranded, people shouting, people crying. All around the new airport, streams of youngsters with an “ask me” t-shirt on, supposedly there to provide information but unable to speak English. My impression is that since the move to the new airport, for some reason, TH quality crashed to third-world Country standards.

I just flew Turkish Airlines yesterday. IAD-IST on an a330-300 in economy. It was the most uncomfortable flight I’ve had in a very long time. The pitch was ridiculously tight and I was in pain the entire nearly 10 hours. Food was pretty good, however. Flight attendants left
Much to be desired. The entire flight they were barking orders at passengers like marine sergeants. Possibly the coldest treatment I’ve ever witnessed from attendants. I guess they change their tune in business class.

Turkish airlines customer service is just a joke. Lufthansa will pay if they fuck up, Turkish will just point you to some online form that will get you nowhere. Asked and was granted a bassinet for my baby on our return intercontinental flight on booking, but on the way back was stuffed somewhere in the middle because they apparently found they could charge a couple of $ more for the service. Of course without contact, apologies or anything for 11 hours of horror. Assholes.

@Lucky
I thought it was common knowledge (at least from those I have talk to inside the airline industry) that Skytrax rating comes partially from the amount of spend an airline had with Skytrax. When airline pull back on spending or pull out all together, their rating will drop. This is nothing new, everyone knows that within the industry. So that’s why people mostly ignore Skytrax rating, but airline still participate because the media coverage are essentially forcing their hands.

Mr Erme from the United states I don't agree what you are talking about Lufthansa I fly them most of the time on business from montreal quebec to athens Greece and service wise turkish does not come close to them turkish is only a show the chef with the big hat serving the people on business .And staff on plane have a hard time to speak English most of the time.I Flew Turkish from montreal to athens 8 times on business class with my wife and I did not see any changes with the service. I thought they going to change over the years I flew with them but still the same they deserve a 3 star.I flew Lufthansa air canada and swiss air and klm airlines and service is better then Turkish on business .

Lufthansa European business class is an absolute joke, especially considering the price they charge for it. The food is below average and cabin crew not always friendly, not well-groomed and mostly oldish. Turkish Airlines offers one of the best short-haul business class seat & product globally - referring to the narrow body fleet only here. Food is great (not processed & fresh ingredients), cabin crew well-groomed (wait for the new uniforms - they look great) and friendly. I had cases of very young FAs who looked kinda inexperienced but not unfriendly. TK current business class seat on 777s & 330s may not be state-of-the-art but the amount of space for legs is unbeatable. And still, way more privacy than Lufthansa business seats on long-haul. Wait for the new TK business class seats on 789s & 350s - that will raise the airline's bar dramatically. Last but not least, TK has great fares in business class, which Lufthansa can only dream about.

Have not tried Turkish new lounge at the new Istanbul airport yet but did try the average Senator Lufthansa lounges both at Munich, Frankfurt & Dubai - nothing special other than clean & quiet. Food below average and mostly processed. They do serve Valdobbiadene prosecco though, which is highly appreciated.

Lufthansa as 5* is a bad joke. Turkish as 3* is also bad joke, just opposite around. This is not the real rating, folks. It is just a matter of money, otherwise there is no other logical background possible.
I fly both TK and LH frequently, the comparison is just unequivocally for TK. And even in no direct comparison I can hardly believe that independent, the REALLY independent auditor, can ever rate 5* to LH. Considering LH food offer in lounges, considering absence of short haul C and the miserable long-haul both hard and soft product in C, it is just ridiculous to rate LH with 5*. Skytrax lost in my eyes the last piece of credibility by doing so.

I would like to make a comment about turkish airline I flew with them 4 times with my wife on business class on long trip of nine hours each way and have this to say there service on business class was not excellent I would rate them also a 3 star most of the time they give you blankets what they give in economy and food was average staff some are nice and some times they are rude the way they serve you.I flew with Lufthansa airways and air canada on business and I find there service 10times better then turkish.

It's a shame for Turkish as they are probably the only Star member in Europe that actually invests in their business class product and provide you with a good business experience. they even have a decent business cabin on their 737s and A320s.
The airline that needs a wake up call is Lufthansa, they are removing their First class which was one of the best in Europe from a big part of their long-haul fleet and their Business class across the fleet is well below mediocre. How can their management agree to take delivery of brand new A350s with such an outdated cabin?

Skytrax ratings have always been a ridiculous garbage nonesense - are Hainan Airways still 5 Star? Haven't flown with them since a horrendous flight from Paris CDG - some issue with the water so that there was only 1 functioning bathroom for the entire economy cabin, only Chinese food options available and no alcohol apart from Harbin beer despite the menu offering beef lasagne, Grey Goose, Johnnie Walker Black Label and many other tempting, but unavailable, delights.

@cx882 I would say it varies, since they have so many aircraft configurations, even inside one aircraft type.
What I would say for sure is some of their A321's are one of the worst out there in terms of comfort, even though they look nice and have good IFE. The same goes for B737's, but I've seen some variations there.
I travel between Moscow and Istanbul quite a lot, and took Aeroflot, Turkish, Atlasglobal and Pegasus flights, and very surprisingly, Turkish planes were consistently the least comfortable in coach (Atlasglobal were the best, but no IFE).
P.s. And yeah, Swiss 777's are atrocious in economy.