Is Turkish Airlines economy class really THIS BAD now?
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- čas přidán 29. 07. 2024
- Turkish Airlines in economy class used to be a good product. In this video, you will learn what it’s like now. From the seat to the food and service, join me on this trip from Abu Dhabi to Switzerland. One area of the Turkish Airlines economy product is perhaps beyond saving.
📝 This video is NOT sponsored. I paid for this trip myself. The airline did not know ahead of time that I was going to make a video, and the views presented are my own. Some product links are affiliate links. If you use them I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you.
✈️ Trip details:
Route: Abu Dhabi AUH to Istanbul IST to EuroAirport Basel BSL
Date: Jan. 21-22, 2023
Airline: Turkish Airlines (TK)
Aircraft type: A321neo, A321
Class of service: Economy class
Frequent flyer status: Star Alliance Gold (TK Elite)
Paid with: TK miles
🎬 Related videos mentioned:
Turkish Airlines business class: • Turkish Airlines busin...
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⌚ Sections in this video (Is Turkish Airlines economy class really this BAD now?):
00:00 | Turkish Airlines economy class
00:41 | Abu Dhabi airport
02:09 | Lounge at Abu Dhabi airport
02:55 | Economy class seat features
03:55 | In-flight entertainment and wifi
05:12 | Lavatory tour
05:37 | Meal service: dinner and breakfast
06:37 | Service issues at Turkish Airlines
07:43 | Bag questions at IST transfer desk
09:30 | Passengers with special needs
10:17 | Arrival at Basel EuroAirport
10:46 | My recommendation on TK
11:11 | Turkish Airlines business class
🏢 Companies mentioned:
@TurkishAirlines
Many thanks for your time making this video. As any new passenger, we use to compare customer service in different airlines, so your video is very informative about it 👍
Thanks for watching!
Great video. I can appreciate at the detailed information.
Thanks for watching and for your kind words!
I don't get it why people say Turkish Airlines economy class is really bad because it is the best economy airplane experience I have ever had. The food is good and the airplane ticket is cheaper than Delta, United, etc. So do not complain about Turkish Airlines. Also, there was really good costumer service.
I've had really mixed experiences in TK economy, having flown them for many years. The current state of things is not good. Though I'd rather compare them to the other Middle East carriers than US-based ones.
I flew Turkish in economy to Phuket, Maldives, Seoul, Jakarta, and Boston. All of the flights were great. Really. Im sure there are good days and bad days, but so far, I have been very happy with Turkish Airlines in every respect.
Well let me see I was charged for $150 for checking back from Turkey to Tel Aviv in Tel Aviv back to Turkey. They lost my luggage for the entire time that I was in turkey and gave it back one hour before I flew back to the US never apologized or offered compensation for purchasing a new bag and Clothing Weiland turkey. Our seats were changed and we couldn’t say anything about it this among many other things that happened to us with Turkish Airlines so if you didn’t have bad experience than you are one of the lucky ones.😊
@@sammieb9009you are one of the lucky ones? Sorry? Your statement is funny because you mean TA is the worst for everybody everytime and if you get a good experience you are just luck. Total BS! Turkish Airlines got so many prizes for being no1 airline company in the world. First half of the 2023 Turkish Airlines became the no1 most preferred airline in the world and they broke a record. Thank you
Sorry bro idk what ur talking about thier customer service is really bad. If you hate your money I would recommend turkish airline
how long was the layover at İstanbul airport? and was it difficult to claim your bags and recheck-in again?
Because of the delay, the layover was much shorter than planned. But don't worry, there was no need to recheck the bags. It was just a bad alert on the phone, and bad customer service.
@@MarkusTravels omg… glad you eventually was able to find someone who spoke English and explained to you that there was no need to claim your bag for rechecking at the stopover!?! The question is how long did it take!??😝
@@britney7034 Well nobody was actually able to explain. Ultimately, we just assumed it was checked through.
no I swear u deserve more subs and likes and thanks too much for the video hopefully I get a good experience
I hope so too!
helpful: uber 1-1/2 from Dubai Marina. I always stay on The Palm, and I always use DXB. I am curious about Abu Dhabi potential.
We did actually stay on The Palm on this trip. That adds like 10 min to the trip.
I think the general offering that Turkish has for their short haul economy class is better than British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa; the food is actually quite decent compared to the bland buy onboard sandwiches that most other European legacy carriers offer. I can definitely sense that a lot of the crew are not happy; it does sometimes come off on the passengers. But I suppose they’re in a difficult place themselves with the socioeconomic situation back home; it is getting difficult for the average Turk to make a living because of how much inflation has ravaged the lira and destroyed the economy
Yes, the fact that you get an in-flight entertainment screen and a decent meal do set apart the TK product within Europe. I actually missed it when I flew SAS two weeks ago!
I enjoyed watching this video!
Thanks for watching!
I have only had good experiences with Turkish airlines so far
I'm happy your experience has been better than mine!
Service and food is good . I enjoyed their service and food when I went to Munich in March 2023.
I'm happy you had a great experience!
Markus! It was fun meeting you on the flight from Frankfurt to Edinburgh. Will you be doing a review of that flight as well?
A pleasure indeed. Yes the plan is to make a video, to be published in the next few weeks.
Every TK video review I watch seems similar, and I'm thinking that my casual backpacking days are behind me, and that, despite my *A Gold Status, I'll put off trying TK for the first time. Maybe next year.
Backpacking is how I learned to travel in my youth. And it's what I still do.
Good summary. My previous experiences were similar. They could improve the services with a little attention. I'm going to Vietnam with them in December. I hope I will experience some improvement...
I hope you will have a good trip! TK can be good, sometimes.
The food is actually amazing for me, (cause I flew Turkish airlines economy and it was very good.)
Indeed, TK does have pretty good food.
Hi guys, has someone ever booked a ticket with Turkish airlines for one of their relatives with your own credit card? I need to book one for my mom with my credit card (she will be flying out from a different city by herself) and to my great surprise I just found out that I would need to show up at the Turkish Airlines Sales office at the Terminal prior hers and mine flights to present my passport and the credit card I booked it with… otherwise she might be turned away from boarding the airplain…. Can this be true or does it sound like BS?? I would not be surprised after hearing Markus’ story about false notifying to claim the luggage during the transit… but want to make sure don’t put my mom under unnecessary stress…
I haven't tried that specifically. I'd recommend calling their contact number to confirm. My interactions with that number have been ultimately fruitful, if just very slow.
I have traveled numerous times on Turkish Airlines to Europe and the Middle East on both Economy and Business Class and through the years, I never had a bad flight or bad incident. I don't have high expectations with the Turkish Airline crew, but as in any place or situation, you are going to confront different treatments and faces. My advice is, expect the least and you'll be completely satisfied with any situation.... and keep flying.
Excellent advice!
Are they strict about carry on size?
I never ran into any carry-on size issues on TK. Even though my backpack is technically bigger than allowed.
Well, I hope my 787-9 dreamliner experience in business class this fall is better. It will be my first time flying business class and first time flying Turkish. I'm sure compared to what I am used to, United, American and BA economy it's going to seem great! 😅
That service, though, is inexcusable. Smiling and not being curt is bare minimum. I dont expect small talk and extra attentiveness, but a smile and "enjoy" should be simple enough and would go a long way.
I hope you will have a great experience! Overall European service is a lot colder than in the US.
As someone who has a connecting flight in Istanbul, how easy is it to navigate around their airport?
I have an option with a 1hr 30 mins stopover, but I am not sure if I will have enough time to get from landing area to departure gate in time. It is a long time since I have flown and I am only really familiar with US airports which are massive and take a long time to get from one gate to another.
Thanks for the great video Markus.
Definitely choose a longer connection time at IST! On landing, you will first have to go through security, even if you're just transferring. There are no moving walkways at IST, and the walk to the gate can be long.
I could not believe how wonderful TA is flying from west Canada to IST! Everything about the flight was at least 4X better than Air Canada or Westjet. That's how bad out airlines are!! Now the domestic flight IST to DLM near Fethiye was an old plane and pretty uncomfortable. I guess the 12+ hours flights get all the great planes!
I'm happy you had a great experience. I, on the other hand, love Air Canada! Flew them recently both transatlantic and domestic, and the AC service was great!
I flew economy from Boston to Istanbul a couple weeks ago during a red eye flight and boy oh boy was it a nightmare. Uncomfortable seats that didn’t recline, 0 leg room, and the floor was filthy. The positives were the bathrooms, food, and packages they give. I’d rather just fly Lufthansa or Swiss next time
I think Swiss is always a good choice!
@@MarkusTravels All the time
I had same luggage problem while transit from Amman to Dallas in Istanbul.
Amman Airport Agent told me you have to pick the luggage and check them back, and I think I got notification to on which belt they will come out on. in Istanbul I asked transfer desk before luggage area, he told me no , you will get luggage in Dallas. I didn't trust, so I went to luggage collecting area, they didn't show up. so I went to the luggage office, who didn't know where they are. at the end, after 2 hours, someone got them from lost and found area. I read the tags on them saying they are going to Dallas. so I don't know if Amman Airport agent told me wrong info or the transfer agent update the destination or what they were doing in lost and found area!!!
I agree the crew do their jobs, but they are not friendly as some other international airlines, you get afraid to ask for service.
Yes, their setup is very confusing re the baggage notifications.
Never flown Turkish before. I live in NYC and will be in Naples, Italy in Oct. I need a return flight and I usually fly American but Turkish is cheaper. Do you recommend Turkish Airlines over TAG Portugal? I might go with it but would like some feedback. TAG is the cheapest but reviews are so so. Thank you!
That one I can't compare, I've never flown TAP Portugal long-haul. But Turkish is pretty fun, in an inconsistent kind of way.
So I just did the SIN-IST-NAP flight, onboard it was amazing! But make sure u have at least 2hrs transit! Istanbul airport is huge n confusing, hardly any staff to help, if they do, in a very nasty manner. I missed my connection due to the flight being delayed ex Sin n boyyyy it was frustrating. All in all, 4hrs till we got put in a hotel, fed n given water. If not for the missed connection, it would have been an amazing experience.
Innovative ❤
Thanks for watching!
Turkish Airlines economy is amazing!
As someone that is based in Kuwait I could've of easily taken Emirates, Etihad, Saudia, Gulf or even Qatar Airways.... but I pick Turkish Airlines because they are top notch.
I'm happy you've had great experiences with Turkish!
@@MarkusTravels When was the last time you took TK? It should be much better now.
@@hamadalmutairi97 Last time was in February 2024, so just a couple of months ago.
@@MarkusTravels How was it?
@@hamadalmutairi97 It was uneventful! Worked well.
economy is same with all airlines.... differences are with luggage limits and smooth or not transfers
Here it was not very smooth.
Yes, Turkish airlines has a more generous luggage allowance at least for flights originating or terminating in the USA . Two pieces allowed 23 kilos each.
Turkish airlines is the best
They do certain things quite well. But many things very badly.
I have taken the flight from Helsinki to Bogota with Turkish airlines a couple of times and it was the most affordable option and overall pretty good. But this year I noticed the prices have more than double. Must be the economic situation I guess with inflation in the country :/
I've had decent experiences with TK in the past too!
Not really about the inflation in the country. It is a massive international airline that flies to the most number of destinations in the world, has been posting record-level profits, and ranked the best in Europe for many years now, and the 6th in the world.
They are only marginally less expensive than the legacy carriers and sometimes no difference at all.
well you were pretty wrong when you said "a lot of turkish people can speak german or french" . english is the second well known language in turkey. but still can't understand why would they hire someone doesn't know english to that position.
Millions of Turkish people live in Germany and speak German, I believe it's the same in France. So I believe my statement in the video is accurate.
I would be surprised if 1% of the actual staff at the airport would be fluent in English. Ita bonkers to see how an airline positioning itself as a global carrier has such dismal, irresponsible, and unprofessional service. The talk about the transfer desk is 100% accurate, and none of them care whether they can help you or not and are not at all worried that they dont speak the language the majority of the people understand!
My experience flying Turkish Airlines last year for the first time was great! I respect that everyone has different flying experiences.
We flew from the states to Nice (French Riviera) via Istanbul. The flights were timely, generous luggage policy for Economy, and good food. When I travel on Economy, I generally don’t have high expectations of meals on any airline. If I want fine dining, I’ll shell out for a pricey restaurant in Manhattan 😊 . Sometimes I’ll just buy food at airport and eat it on flight. But for all these flights, food was decent and no complaints.
I can see why you say the cabin crew is at times apathetic. But again, to me a safe, timely, clean flight prevails. In my flights, our jets were modern fleets.
During our trip and nearing the end of pandemic restrictions, we still had to test for Covid upon return to states. We tested positive after numerous out of pocket tests and had to stay back. Not one symptom too!
We had to say an extra 10 days at our expense following their guidelines. Granted I was in the French Riviera and it was beyond stunning. It was a trip of a lifetime and will return soon ❤
During this set back, the Turkish Airline crew member at Nice airport deserved a notable recognition for assisting us numerous times as we stood back. I was super impressed with her commitment to help rebook her tickets. She even called us at our hotel.
Would I fly this airline again? Hands down - yes!
Great to hear you had a good experience with Turkish! I've had them too, in the past.
i think they provide a better product in long haul. i flew them in long haul snd it was miles ahead than this.
I've only flown TK to the Middle East. Would love to try long-haul one day!
Turkish airlines ⭐️💯
Thanks for watching!
Beautiful video ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Thanks for watching!
I have travelled with Turkish Airlines before the service was good the food was excellent that was 2019. Only this time we got a plain cheese and tomatoe sandwich, with a drink of choice, not the usual experience, so surprised, not sure why this is, maybe my route from London to Istanbul. I will still travel though by them.
I would expect more on a premium-heavy route like London!
@@MarkusTravels previous occasions I got bumped up to Business class as overbooked seats, which had been lucky for me. Budiness class, they have a chef with his white hat who greets you and asks what you want obviously prepared, but the image reflects a premium service. Will update if I ever fly with them again!
@@MarkusTravels The flight might have been because it was run by AnadoluJet from Stansted airport to SAW airport probably thats the reason as usually I travel to the new Istanbul sirport!
I heard from someone who, just travelled on this airline, saying that the body odor on there was horrendous. Pewwww
That sounds nasty!
I'm scared now to fly business from ist airport to AMS 😭😭😭
You'll be fine. Just don't expect a high level of service.
I’m lactose intolerant and there’s no option for lactose free meal when I booked the flight. Am so afraid seeing the cheese and yogurt shown in your meals!
They should definitely cater for that too!
Seats are very tight and food was like United, nothing special.
I haven't flown United long-haul for a long time. They must have improved their food then!
Worse experience I had on Turkish airline very congested no leg room even thou I had middle exit row seat and I m 5 8’ food was terrible from IST to dc 11 hours couldn’t sleep worse felling I had on an airplane this would be my first and last time flying Turkish airline .
Turkish is indeed a bit of a mixed bag these days!
Layers of pasta?
Sure!
Isn’t the TK frequent flyer program called Miles & Smiles? How ironic as I concur with your assessment of the crews based on my dozens of flights on this airline in both cabins.
Yes, Miles&Smiles is a very funny name for them!
europe best airlines
Years ago, I would have agreed!
"I am in good spirits". But your calling the avu Dhabi airport " weird". Sorry sweetheart but I can hear that you are NOT in great spirits at all xoxo
The AUH airport perhaps has that effect on people.
The seat was Broken Because you seat in into it
Thanks for watching!
The language issues seem strange you where using your phone videoing why not use Google translate, simple.
Thanks for watching!
Good review. BUT why are you talking so slow at times .. 🤔 maybe your doing it to make sure people understand you . But it's annoying 🙄 Sorry
You can always change the playback speed with the gear icon. I, for example, always listen to CZcams videos on 2x speed.
Toast was dry ? Lol toast is suppose to be dry & toasted 😂
Excellent point!
What’s stupid and unnecessary comment about the smile
Thanks for watching!
Stupid is thinking that a smile cannot be commented. A smile does EVERYTHING!!! Even more in the worst situations, a smile can stop a fight, change a bad impression, and make your day. What a silly woman you are. Please get a life and find the real meaning of a smile instead of being a hard-bitter person.
Froud Airlines guys avoid to travel this flight...
What was your experience?
Smiling is violance of company 🤣
Yes, can't expect that at TK!
@@MarkusTravels What drink do u want? Thats very friendly question 🤣
you should not be flying with turkish airlines in the first place
Why not? What's been your experience?
@@MarkusTravels my experience is that Erdogan's radical Islamic ambitions and occupations are a disgrace to the civilized world and you as a dobm as s christian should open your eyes and not be supporting and authoritarian that want's expansionism in European territory's and you should not be strengthening the radical Islamic movement, one that will turn against Europe or should a say you, that's my experience my friend, you should wake up and not be supporting this country you should open your eyes because some of us in the south of are have massive problems in the south with your funding's.
@@MarkusTravelshis ancestors experience 😂 greeko moment
@@MarkusTravels criminal underground background, from authoritarian leadership
I need an Arabic translation 😢
I think CZcams does automatic subtitles to any language. Try selecting it in the video player gear menu.
My first and hopefully last experience with Turkish Air. Too many issues to list them all here but absolutely worst international airline I have ever flown. The only saving grace is that their meals are excellent. However, with all the issues we faced from not being able to check-in on line, to disappearing flight attendants on a 13+ hour flight and the airline not honoring the seats we had booked and paid for, I hope I never need to fly Turkish Air again.
I've flown TK a lot, and you never know in which way they will disappoint!
What he says about the flying attendance is completely baloney! First , they do speak to you and ask you politely what you would like to have with a warm smile ( in the entrance as well) , this dude is a Karen and ignorant. And second, only an idiot would expect to hear a question in the plane like " how is your dinner?" You aren't on a flying restaurant. For the records , I was once moved from economy class to business just because NY headset wasn't working and the kid behind me constantly crying.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment!
Some people like to moan.
Thanks for watching!
I flew Turkish Air earlier this year from Istanbul to Dallas Texas. Their coach class is just as bad of American Airlines plus the food was horrible.
Sad to hear you had a bad experience. TK used to be great!