Going from New Delhi to Lisbon, I booked myself a Turkish Airlines flight, as it was the least expensive option available on that day.
Boarding at almost 5AM, I was exhausted as I hadn’t slept that night yet. But I thought that being a person that usually manages to sleep almost standing up if need be, I would do so straight to Istanbul, where I was transiting.
I checked-in almost 2 hours in advance and still they gave me a seat in the very last row of the plane, where the lines for the WC tend to keep people on those seats pretty entertained. I only noticed the awful seat they gave me after passing Passport Control (my bad!) but one would assume that the unwritten laws of good customer service would grant the early passengers the best spots and the late ones whatever is left. Well, I was wrong.
- Ticket to a nightmare
I could have lived with traveling in this seat, no biggie really. When I finally sat at the place, I already had 3 middle-aged men lying across 4 seats in the middle row of the aircraft. They were snoring loud and deep even before we took off! I also snore sometimes and I was planning to do so pretty soon as well. Just not so animalistic-ally! There was so much turbulence on this flight that I couldn’t help but thinking it was being caused by their snoring, especially the man in the very last row.
When the first air hostess passed by I asked if I could change seats as this was unbearable. She smiled and said “Let me just check, I will get back to you“. But she didn’t. After exchanging looks of despair with a lady across the aisle I decided to go into the “kitchen” area and ask another member of the staff for help. If the snoring felt like it was the end of the world, then the attitude and lack of interest of the crew was irritating me way more! This new flight attendant, after giving me a look that could translate into “I couldn’t care less but yeah… I will help you, ’cause I get paid for it“, said: “If you find an empty seat, go for it. If not, there is nothing I can do. But whatever you do, don’t wake them up. We can’t disturb passengers.” I swallowed and took a breath, but on the inside I was shouting:
I am also a passenger… and YOU are disturbing me!
He finally agreed to look around for an empty seat for me, but as he wouldn’t actually move, after 5 minutes I went ahead on my own. In the middle of the plane I found 2 empty seats. The 4 seat middle row had only a man on the left and a woman on the right, leaving 2 empty seats in between. Relieved, I asked “excuse me…” so that I could come through and sit, but he promptly said:
Man: “NO!“
Me: “Why not?“
Man: “These are MY seats!“
Me: “You are telling me you booked more than 1 seat?!“
Man: “That´s right!“
Me: “Yeah… riiiiight!!“
I realized that there was no point in arguing with this guy who had made those two seats his little empire. So there I go again to the back in search of the same flight attendant that was supposed to look for my seat to begin with. “He is not letting you sit? That’s not possible!”. So we went together on a mission to convince this greedy man to give up what’s not even rightfully his. After 5 minutes of discussion in Turkish amongst the two my blood was boiling up as they were both ignoring me. I said “Nevermind! I wouldn’t want to sit next to this person anyway!”. They didn’t even look at me, can you believe that? As far as I know they could as well be discussing the latest news or what’s on the menu!
Fat man: SELFISH
Steward: DISRESPECTFUL. BAD, BAD SERVICE!
I resigned myself and went back to my seat. In the neighbourhood the monster in the middle row had woken up and was now reading the paper. But the one in the last row had installed 5.1 Sensurround on his system and the other in the front row had his stinky, bare, hairy feet hanging into he aisle.
Why did these guys deserve 4 seats, 4 blankets, 4 pillows and the “don’t wake them up respect” and I was still there, unable to rest and undeserving of the staff understanding and assisting?
The crew member that was earlier arguing in Turkish with Mr. Selfish was now passing by me, and didn’t even look me in the eye. A little after, while I was fantasizing about the possibility of throwing my pillow straight into Mr. Snoring-like-freakin-animal’s face, the air hostess with headphones came by. And so I did my trip watching The Big Bang Theory on maximum volume, with the pillow smashed on one ear and the blanket on the other. And still I would hear the roar!!! Sheldon: I Love You!
At meal time, my beloved flight attendant came by. “Chicken or vegetarian?” Although my honest answer would have been “fuck you!” I took the veg stuff. I couldn’t eat though, because my belly was already full… full of frustration. I asked “Out of curiosity, what was this guy saying to excuse himself?” Answer: “It’s OK, it’s OK. It’s no problem.” Yes, there is a problem… and the problem is YOU and your lack of professionalism, dude!
7 hours later and many, many repeated The Big Bang Theory episodes with background audio effects, we land in Istanbul and the monster-guy wakes up. As he exited the plane in front of me with some of his belly taking a sneak peak out of his shirt, above the belt line, I swore to myself:
I will never travel with Turkish Airlines again!
Goshhhhhhhhh!!!!!… Should have punched the freakin snorting ass, asshole steward and selfish f**kface…
On the bright side, you now know what it’s like to sleep with two men.
Wow… sorry for the unpleasant experience. I’m definitely keeping this in mind if Turkish Airlines happens to be an option I have to choose from :(
I also had the mispleasure of travelling with Turkish Hell Airlines from Brazil to Seoul with a layover in Istambul. The planes smell discusting, the seats are black with dirt, there was turbulence the entire way even though it was clear outside and most of all, the entire staff are the rudest bunch of people I have ever met in my life. As far as the staff, one can see that clearly when booking a flight with their call center and at the airport. From the Brazilian ticket Agents at their office to the Flight Chief (mr Han) in Korea, the entire experience is one for a horror movie script. Furthermore, all their flights delay and the 200 dollars we save on the ticket is NOT WORTH THE HEADACHES. I highly recomend flying with anyone but them.
You are not alone – many other customers complaining about the rudeness of Turkish Airlines staff. Some were shouted at, others taken on buses without being told where they were going. Your experience was one of the better Turkish Airlines experiences.
Such a nightmare flight!! I had a horrible flight from the US to Argentina on an Aerolineas Argentinas A340. The crew tried to make everyone sleep (that’s less work for them) and wouldn’t let anyone “open” their window so that light wouldn’t come in! Also there was no entertainment on-board and food was incredibly cold! Plus, one of the steward-callers (don’t really know is that’s the name of it) was broken and ringing all flight! More than 9 hours with that thing ringing over my head!
Guys, my sister just had an awful experience with them. She was flying from Bucharest to Dubai and she had a connexion there. The flight had a delay and she lost her connexion. She and the others passengers that were in the same situation, had to spend the night there because they did not offer them any connexion with others companies. They were rude and they did not offer them anything, not even water. In the morning, my sister and other three passenger manage to take a flight back to Bucharest but they lost their luggages thou my sister insist to check carefully that they send it with them. We hope that they will find their luggages. She told me that in Istanbul Airport she met a girl from Brazilia that she was there for 4 days waiting to fly back home. They gave her a stand-by ticket but the flight were full and she was still in waiting. Some folks from Coreea were in the same situation and they were there for 2 days. For your sake, please avoid Turkish Airline as much as you can.
These happened to me too.
they just dont give a damn about passengers. they need to be sued!
you cant expect more from Turks of course!
I’m not racist, but they are. and you’ll notice their huge ego as you speak to them … I can only say … shame on them
They are THE worst airlines ever.
1- personnel are very rude! very disrespectful!
2- There’s no one who cares about your concern or complaints.
3- They dont even follow their own protocols.
I had a long layover (about 20hrs) in Istanbul and they refused to give me a place to rest.
4- As you as see, they dont even care about customers experience.
I called the customer service, rep was very rude as usual, as I expected, it was very loud and crowded environment. I asked for a supervisor, she said I’m a supervisor! I asked for her name and employee number , she said I’m Flori, no last name, and no employee number!!!
How Fed up can they be?
I’ll travel with other airlines.
Yes, as if it’s the fault of the Airline. Book a business ticket and get some headphones…. People these days.
Flew with them once, they screwed up the reservation and at the airport I was handed off 4 different times to different goons and finally just bought a new ticket on the company card.
Then they lost my bag.
Turkish Airlines is no different than Turkish Prisons and operated by the same ministry,
If you fly Turking Airtorture, you’ve only yourself to blame. It’s a torture chamber. It’s not an airline.
Bunch of racists, they completely ignore people of colour. I saw this happen in front of me and the same happened with me. You ask them a question and there is NO FUCKING ANSWER! I couldn’t believe what these fuckers are thinking to themselves. All that uproar about “where East meets West”. These motherfuckers think they are Europeans already, well only if y’ll were to pull your heads out of your own asses would you find that Europe has no intention to consider you even the most distant menber of Schengen. Stay happy w/ being a part of MOFOS of THE MID EAST. Losers.
Great flight, wonderful service although the plane was a little old, however my next flight was a brand spanking new Airbus. I arrived fresh and on time. Definitely worth travelling with Turkish airlines again.