Flying to Istanbul from Chicago -- which airline?
 

I posted this question on the "Air Travel" forum, but got mixed replies. So I thought I'd ask the Fodorites who have actually made the trip.

We will be traveling from Chicago to Istanbul and back in October. Turkish Air operates the only nonstop flights between Chicago and Istanbul, and the departure times are well suited for our travel.

This would be our first travel on Turkish Air, so I've been looking at reviews of the airline -- and they're pretty awful. I infer that the flight experience itself is fine, but that customer service is abysmal, especially in emergencies or non-standard situations. They do, however, get a 75% approval rating on TripAdvisor, but there are no reviews there, just the ratings. I realize that no airline gets very good reviews (people usually post reviews mostly when they're mad about something), but I'm a little spooked.

From those with experience on Turkish Air -- should we be concerned? Especially concerned enough to consider less convenient flights (those with one or two stops, less attractive departure times, etc.)?

Thanks very much.

I'll be going to Istanbul the first week in November and snagged a fabulous airfare from Chicago to Istanbul thru Delta Airlines. There is one stop in Amsterdam, but I'm okay with that. No experience, I'm afraid with Turkish Air. I was considering using them to fly to Ephesus from Istanbul, but I think I'm going to use Pegasus Air instead. I'll be interested to see what others say about Turkish Air.

In the meantime, hope you have a great trip!

Last night of Philosophyin Assos. Just one response before heavy Aristotelian dreams.

We have been flying THY IST-ORD-IST for the last nine years.

The planes are the Airbus 340As I think, still. We have been mostly using FFmiles because of credit cards which give us good miles in addition to flight miles.

We never had any reason to complain as we did on Delta, Air France and BA on other routes, even on Business.

THY has an intermediary "comfort class" for other US destinations but not to Chicago and toronto yet. so we fly business when we can. ubfortunately the 340 business seat does not recline fully as the business seats on the Los Angeles, NYC, DC flights.

The economy seats have slightly more leg room than Delta and the food on board is definitely better than almost all transatlantic economy cabins. All drinks are free and you get as much as you like. You will be served a dinner, some cake and/or sandwiches and a full breakfast (unless the new 11PM departure has changed the order) And, if you go on-line and enter preferences, you can get vegetarian, diabetic, etc. menus. Otherwise, you usually get a preference between two choices, meat and chicken, pasta and fish, etc.

Try the sour cherry juice if they have it as your first introduction to a Turkish favorite, "VISHNAE SOUYOU" or a decent Turkish wine. We will be flying from ORD end of October.

I am going to be interested in response as well. We are flying during that same period and there is a great fare out of LAX on Turkish Airlines direct to Istanbul that I am considering. The reviews I have found all say the food and legroom are above average but the staff not very helpful. I figure I will sleep a good deal of the trip so the legroom might matter more?

We've flown Turkish Air internationally and also within Turkey. I would go out of my way to fly them. Delta, not so much. Too many late departures with Delta. On our first trip to Istanbul, our returning flight to JFK was canceled by Delta, and Turkish Air went out of their way to book us on one of their planes. Not only did we depart Istanbul earlier than planned, that allowed us to connect to our final destination earlier once we reached JFK. Otherchelebi hits the nail squarely on the head with that review! Oh, and the sour cherry juice is a definite *must*!

A new option would be to fly from Chicago via Newark as United has new nonstop service from Newark to Istanbul. Departing EWR at 7:25 PM and arrving IST at 12:20 PM next day.

Return flight departs 1:55 PM arriving EWR at 6:02 PM.

I have a good friend who flew the same route on Turkish Air last fall, and she tells me that it was one of the happiest flights they ever had. In fact, they're going to Portgual in September and they had seriously considered a very roundabout trip via Istanbul to Lisbon just to repeat the experience. (They have since reconsidered.)

Weekender, your itinerary would be a good alternative; it costs about $250 more that the direct Turkish Air flights. We wouldn't mind spending the extra $$ and time if there were compelling reasons to do so.

OC, thanks for taking time during your conference ... we will probably just miss you. We're leaving Chicago on October 18 and returning on November 1. And Debs, that's for your comments. They're encouraging.

It seems that most of the complaints center on lost/damaged luggage and "rude and uncaring" counter people. Since we don't plan to check luggage (we're advocates of traveling light, and have rented apartments with washers), and since October isn't a particularly stormy time of year, I'm thinking we'll go with Turkish Air. But, always open to suggestion!