Saturday, 10 September 2016

My Experience With Turkish Airlines

Hey there!



I am back home! Finally after so long I am back and I am both happy and sad to be back. Happy to be where I am most comfortable but sad to have left all the amazing people and the amazing place itself. However, this blog post is not about how I am feeling about leaving Bangladesh. In fact, it is about my experience with Turkish Airlines and how mad I am with their service. Before I go any further I sincerely apologise for not posting anything last Saturday. I was on my way back, maybe in the air... Also I am going to be back with twice-a-week blogs every Wednesdays and Saturdays. 

My experience with Turkish Airlines:

It was 3rd September, we arrived to the airport by 3:30 am. We checked in, gave our bags, passed security, customs and all that nonsense involved with flights. The flight was supposed to be at 6:15 am Bangladesh time and land at 11:50 am Turkey time. We were pretty early. BUT, they delayed the flight a lot and ended up departing at 7 am. Bear in mind that changing gates in Istanbul airport takes minimum half an hour to catch the next flight and the stopover time in Istanbul is only 1hr because the flight to London LHR was at 12:50 pm. I am terrified that we won't be able to catch the next flight but some random people, not staff because they are clueless, kept reassuring that it is their fault so it is their responsibility to get us the next flight and that they would fly faster in the air to catch up with the delay. So I am getting worried and then calm the next minute. Half way my brother got seriously ill. We are trying to take care of him but it was getting worse. That plane ended up landing at 12:20 pm Turkey time and we have 30 minutes on the dot.

We get off the plane and get inside the airport. We find this Turkish Airlines staff who is calling for "London Heathrow passengers". I am thinking "Okay maybe she will get us to the next flight by some special priority way or something since it is their fault". When she gathered all of us she told us to follow her and she started to walk fast. A lot of the passengers had children so they could not cope with her speed. She made us run around the airport back and forth because she could not find the gate herself and just kept calling people. Then she made us get in the area for security checks and left us stranded in the middle of nowhere. There was 10 minutes left at this point and security checks take time. We are looking around trying to find a gate number and we find it when 5 minutes left. We run as fast as we can and guess what? WE MISSED THE FLIGHT!!!! Like what!?!?!?!? Why were you there in the first place if you couldn't get us to the flight??? I am fighting with the staff like how can they depart without taking everyone? We missed it by 1 or 2 minutes as well. The staff at the gate writes "next flight" and told us to find and get the next flight. We are lost. We have no idea where the next flight is. We go back through where we came and find that "London Heathrow" lady/staff. We tell her the plane left without us and that we need to get the next flight. She constantly kept checking her phone and calling people and told us to follow her again. This time my dad directly tells her to slow down because there are families with kids so she agreed.

She took us to the customer service area, took our boarding passes and told us to wait in the corner and went inside the opaque glass office. She told us that she was getting us new boarding passes for the next flight. So we wait for an hour! Me and my dad went to check how far it was done and she was not there! SHE RAN AWAY!!! She left us stranded again in the middle of nowhere and she ran away. We ask where the boarding passes are and they say "We don't know, we did not get anything". What!?!? We try to argue with them about it and they absolutely blank us. We see another lady/staff coming there and we tell her the whole situation. She told us she will check it herself and do it for us. We wait another ridiculous amount of time and my brother is getting worse. My body and mind is not functioning anymore. Shall I punch that first lady in the face or find a treatment with what I have for my brother?

After a while she gets half of our new boarding passes and a bit later the rest of them. You know what time the next flight was at? 8:20 PM!!!! WHAT????? It was 2 pm and the next flight was more than 6hrs later. We lost our minds. They were not willing to give us any facilities. Then they told us to go "215 care point". We are again back and forth looking for this whatever point they said. We ask people they reply "Upstairs", we ask more people they blank us or ignore us by raising their hand. Funny story my dad was calling a staff like "Hello, hello, excuse me, hello" and approached her. She replies "Sorry no English". Oh wow you are in such a high position where you have to deal with English customer and you "sorry no English" us?? Okay.... We had to go through security again and we found this damn point and they give us tokens for food but families have to get the same thing. I can't get a burger and my mum stew at the same time. We had to go to the same restaurant and pretty much get the same food. We get the food and at this point I am sick. I forced myself to eat and just want to lie down. My brother can't move or eat anything. We had food and my parents left me with my brother to find a pharmacy. After a while they are back with some drinks. "What happened?" Mum: "There are no pharmacies or health shops in this airport" Great! My dad got him fries and drinks so at least something went in his body. He had it and we went to some chairs to rest a bit. He slept and so did I. I am regretting taking this airlines and just trying to stay positive. Tried to get my brother what he wanted and can you believe Halal Haribos were £4 for every 100g! What!? I got him a generous amount because money is nothing compared to family.


It's like 6:30 pm and we find the gate number. To not to risk it we go to the gate pretty early but they were departing Hajj customers at that time in the same gate. The flight was at 8:20 pm and they open the gates at 8 pm. There is no way this plane is flying in 20 minutes. I was right! That plane flew at 
9 pm Turkish time and we landed at 11 pm UK time. Reached home at 1:30 am.

My mum had work the next morning and my brother school. Thank you Turkish Airlines and that
"London Heathrow" lady for this horrible experience. 

In terms of the flights themselves, the planes are quite small, the chairs are also small and
uncomfortable. Food portion sizes are small and food itself is bland. Some air hostesses gave the
impression that they did not care for us and a bit rude but the rest is fine.


I AM NEVER EVER FLYING WITH TURKISH AIRLINES!

You might be thinking why am I posting this? Well... I usually promote what I like and not mention
what I hate. But this was special. This is me warning you of the consequences as it happened to me so
you never know, it could happen to anyone. No offense to Turkey or their people but your airlines...
If my Turkish friend is reading this: Hi! You are amazing but I am not taking this airlines and my
opinion about this airlines won't ever change.

I hope you liked this post, but I am not sure how enjoyable I made it. I am back at it again and I
apologise again for ghosting and not being up to date with my blogs. Make sure to check back again
every Wednesdays and Saturdays


Take Care,


Yours, Nafiza 

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