Turkish Airlines: Good budget airline?

Propane Nightmare

Im planning on using them for a flight, as im getting the cheapest rates with them to my destination. But I have never used them before, and would prefer to get some info and feedback before dropping the cash on the flight.

The flight is an overnight flight, so does anyone have any experience with this airline? If so, would you recommend them? Any issues with them?

Zebra3

Travelled with them once before. From Asia back to Dublin via Istanbul.

They're grand, and you should be able to choose a preferred meal in advance if you want as well.

Airport in Istanbul is fine as well if you're travelling through there.

tatli_lokma

Turkish airlines are fine - check in staff at Dublin airport are a bit snotty, and the onboard staff can be a bit that way too and they can be quite strict on baggage allowances, but other than that they are quite good.

Are you using them to fly to Turkey? if so, and you are taking up an onward flight just something to bear in mind:
A few times I have transferred in Istabul and the flight was delayed by about 30 mins. For other internal Turkish flights you have to go through passport control and immigration (and buy your visa if you don't alredy have one), hoof it over to the domestic terminal and then back through security. Bear in mind that Turkish airline staff wouldn't be too inclined to break a sweat, and really don't care if you have a flight to catch! The 30 min delay meant I was literally running like a madwoman to get my connecting flight! So if you do have an onward flight, leave yourself plenty of time to pick up your other flight - at least 90 mins.

Also if you are flying to Turkey, check out Lufthansa. You can sometimes get very cheap flights with them - it will involve 2 stopovers - one in Munich and one in Frankfurt, but in the past I have gotten flights to Izmir and Bodrum for as little as €120 return, so it was worth the inconvenience!

zagmund

Flew with them to Istanbul last week. They are more of a full service airline than a budget one in terms of service - free drinks with meals, free meals for that matter, etc . . . The plane from Dublin to Istanbul was very good - with seat back entertainment. We flew back with Lufthansa and they didn't have seat back entertainment. They didn't have any entertainment for that matter.

There seemed to be a lot of transit passengers heading to points in the middle east on our flight, so it seems to be a well established transit point.

z

Propane Nightmare

Little Ted wrote: »

Turkish airlines are fine - check in staff at Dublin airport are a bit snotty, and the onboard staff can be a bit that way too and they can be quite strict on baggage allowances, but other than that they are quite good.

Are you using them to fly to Turkey? if so, and you are taking up an onward flight just something to bear in mind:
A few times I have transferred in Istabul and the flight was delayed by about 30 mins. For other internal Turkish flights you have to go through passport control and immigration (and buy your visa if you don't alredy have one), hoof it over to the domestic terminal and then back through security. Bear in mind that Turkish airline staff wouldn't be too inclined to break a sweat, and really don't care if you have a flight to catch! The 30 min delay meant I was literally running like a madwoman to get my connecting flight! So if you do have an onward flight, leave yourself plenty of time to pick up your other flight - at least 90 mins.

Also if you are flying to Turkey, check out Lufthansa. You can sometimes get very cheap flights with them - it will involve 2 stopovers - one in Munich and one in Frankfurt, but in the past I have gotten flights to Izmir and Bodrum for as little as €120 return, so it was worth the inconvenience!

Im flying back from Australia to ireland, and turkish airlines seem to be the cheapest I can find. The flight im looking at has a 6 hour wait between one flight, and a 3:20 hour wait between the other, so not too bad, and shouldn't be in any rush to transfer over Id think.

On the topic of baggage, can any of ye guys let me know how strict are they? Like 20kg is a bit low IMO, as coming over I was allowed 24KG with Qantas I think, and the let me on with 27KG. So did they give you guys any leeway of like a kg or 2 if you were over the 20kg limit, or do they literally just allow you 20KG max?

I cant seem to find they're extra baggage rates on their website though which is a pain.

Swampy

Best airline food i ever had was with Turkish airways.

tatli_lokma

Propane Nightmare wrote: »

On the topic of baggage, can any of ye guys let me know how strict are they? Like 20kg is a bit low IMO, as coming over I was allowed 24KG with Qantas I think, and the let me on with 27KG. So did they give you guys any leeway of like a kg or 2 if you were over the 20kg limit, or do they literally just allow you 20KG max?

I cant seem to find they're extra baggage rates on their website though which is a pain.

this:

Little Ted wrote:

they can be quite strict on baggage allowances

Flying out from Dublin once they were really strict with us - my hubby's bag was I think about 4 or 5 kilos over and they wanted over €100 IIRC. We put some stuff in the handbaggage but they would not budge on the last 2 kilos, so we ended up checking in and then going back to the car and putting the extra stuff in there. At the same time on another desk a family heading to the middle east literally had everything but the kitchen sink - as in for a family of 4 adults and 2 kids they had like 8 huge suitcases they could barely lift and two huge laundry bags and a large box. They paid €60 in excess luggage! When we pointed this out to the manager he just shrugged in that time old Turkish way and said - that is them, this is you. They have been granted a special rate, but you must pay the standard. When we asked how one gets the special rate, he said its up to me and I only give it to one party a day!

After that we have never taken a risk with the weight, but I have been behind people at check in in Istabul who were charged excess.

So its up to you if you want to take the risk. Maybe check if there is any service agreement with Quantas and Turkish Airlines? if so you can get your bags sent straight through and they won't quibble about the weight as long as your initial airline has accepted it. Also saves you having to queue up, go though passport control, collect your bags, and then check your bags back in again.

Propane Nightmare wrote: »

The flight im looking at has a 6 hour wait between one flight, and a 3:20 hour wait between the other, so not too bad, and shouldn't be in any rush to transfer over Id think.

3hrs 20 mins should be loads of time

tatli_lokma

here's the baggage rates:
http://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/travel-information/baggage/domestic-international-flights-excess-baggage-fees-and-conditions

seems to be the maximum price per kilo is €15 (makes me wonder how the guy in the airport was trying to charge us €100 for 4/5 kilos? hmmmmm? back pocket job perhaps! :rolleyes: )

zagmund

I passed by the Turkish desk in Dublin airport a few weeks before flying and asked them what the allowance was (as my ticket was a little complicated, not issued by Turkish and didn't indicate any allowance) and the girl said straight out - "we allow 30kg per person"

When we went to check in there was a family similar to the one in the story above - one GIANT suitcase with several kitchen sinks in it. They accepted it, but it looked to me like the husband had been despatched off to the desk to pay some excess. This of course held up the check-in queue, but luckily there were a couple of desks open.

z

tatli_lokma

zagmund wrote: »

I passed by the Turkish desk in Dublin airport a few weeks before flying and asked them what the allowance was (as my ticket was a little complicated, not issued by Turkish and didn't indicate any allowance) and the girl said straight out - "we allow 30kg per person"


z

30kg for business class 20kg for all other classes according to the website

emmalouise2015

hi i know this is an old post but i would like to clear up some of the mis truths told up above:
first of all the baggage allowance it all depends on the ticket type and destination some economy class have 20kg some have 30kg. traveling to tel aviv you have a 20kg allowance , traveling to africa you have a 2 piece allowance at 23kg MAX per bag for economy class and business class is 2pc at 32 KG max. the MAX legal weight in a bag is 32 KG its the law !!!

the agent will look up the person in the system and it will show on the screen what their allowance is or you can phone up dublin TK ticket desk to double check.

second the excess charge is based solely on the destination to istanbul and turkey its 10e per KG , to other destination it can be up to 25e per KG and yes they can be very strict its because of weight and balance and they do have a 2kg extra that THEY decided to give or not they will not give it to someone who is rude and shouting abuse at them. the carry on is very very strict max 8KG for both business and economy class unless the rep tell the agents otherwise e.g xmas might and i mean might allow 9kg. the passenger has to go up stairs to the ticket desk to pay . As for the story about 100e for 4/5 KG it probably was because they were going long haul and the further the destination the higher the price.

i hope this helps any one else thinking of traveling with TK its a very lovely airline, the food is amazing and just give it a chance

any questions just leave me a message
xxx

kerry4sam

Thread closed.

@emmalouise2015: Welcome to boards.ie! Please don't resurrect auld threads. If you would like to speak on boards.ie representing TurkishAirlines, please contact hello @ boards.ie regarding a verified rep account.

Many Thanks,
kerry4sam