Turkish Airlines Complaints - Common Types, Helpful Tips, Contact Info, and How We Can Help

Written By Amy Lancelotte

Last Updated: April 25, 2024

When you book a flight with Turkish Airlines, you hope everything goes well. And while that’s generally what happens, sometimes your experience is poor, and you need to make a complaint.

Turkish Airlines complaints can range from unsatisfactory on-board service to issues that impact your itinerary, like delayed and cancelled flights, mishandled luggage, and denied boarding. Sometimes, passengers qualify for compensation, so making a Turkish Airlines complaint is definitely worthwhile.

What Can You Make a Complaint About?

If you want to maximize the chances of receiving some type of compensation (monetary or otherwise) from Turkish Airlines, your best bet is to complain about the following:

• Flight delays: Flight delay compensation of up to €600 (£520) applies when your trip leaves an EU or UK airport and your flight is delayed by 3 hours or more. The delay must also result from something within the airline’s control.
• Flight cancellations: When your flight is cancelled without reasonable notice (14 days in this case), it’s worth making a Turkish Airlines complaint. In addition to rebooking your flight free of charge or issuing a refund, you may be able to claim for expenses incurred due to the cancellation.
• Mishandled luggage: Baggage complaints are certainly worth submitting as you may be entitled to up to €1,300 (£1,000), depending on your destination or origin.
• Denied boarding: If you’ve been bumped from a Turkish Airlines flight due to overbooking, definitely contact the airline to complain, as certain scenarios require compensation up to €600 (£520).
• Customer service issues: If you’re unhappy with the service you’ve received, making a Turkish Airlines complaint may result in future discounts or vouchers.

Know Your Passenger Rights

When your flight is delayed or cancelled, and you started out in either the UK or EU, even though Turkish Airlines is not based in either of these areas, specific regulations mandate compensation amounts. In the UK, it’s called Regulation UK 261; in the EU, it’s called Regulation EU 261 (makes sense, right?).

A delay of 3 hours or more or a flight cancellation without at least 14 days’ notice triggers these regulations for Turkish Airlines flights as long as you depart from either a UK or EU airport.

Additionally, compensation is possible for denied boarding due to overbooking and issues with delayed, lost, or damaged bags. Thanks to the incorporation of the Montreal Convention, you can file a Turkish Airlines baggage complaint for up to €1,300 for internal EU flights or flights to and from the EU. In the UK, it’s up to £1,000 for both internal and international flights that start or end there.

Have you flown recently with Turkish Airlines and had a flight disruption? Check now to see if you’re eligible for compensation.Check Your Flight

Which Turkish Airlines Flights are Covered?

What Compensation Can You Expect?

In addition to a caveat that your Turkish Airlines flight has to leave from either the UK or EU, compensation amounts are dependent on distance. Here are examples based on the EU 261 Regulation:

How to Complain to Turkish Airlines

Before you actually file your Turkish Airlines complaint, make sure you have everything you need. Here are some helpful hints to streamline the Turkish Airlines complaints procedure:

• Submit your complaints as soon as you return home. If you wait too long, details and documents can get forgotten or lost.
• Try to keep everything. To validate a complaint or a request for compensation, Turkish Airlines may need to see your booking reservation, correspondence, baggage claim tickets, boarding pass, photos, etc.
• Provide your contact information. Make sure Turkish Airlines has no excuse not to reach out to you to resolve the issue. Email is the best, followed by a direct phone number.
• Be clear. Aside from precisely recounting the incident details, be specific about the outcome you expect. Reference your passenger rights under UK/EU 261 if you have to. 

Ways to Make a Complaint to Turkish Airlines

When you want to submit general feedback, the various Turkish Airlines online complaints forms are ideal. There is a button on their website to take a survey, or you can click through to find the feedback forms that apply to you.

Turkish Airlines Complaints Email

Turkish Airlines does not list or monitor an email specifically related to complaints. You’re better off using the Turkish Airlines complaints form from the website that applies to your situation.

Turkish Airlines Complaints Phone Number

The 24-hour Turkish Airlines customer service number in the USA is 1-800-874-8875. In the UK, it’s +44 0844 800 6666.

Turkish Airlines Complaints Live Chat

It’s not always convenient to call to complain, so consider using the live chat function on Turkish Airlines’ website instead. You’ll first chat with a bot assistant, but you can get through to a live agent by asking.

How to Fill Out a Turkish Airlines Complaints Form for Cancelled or Delayed Flights

1. Go to AirAdvisor.com.
2. Enter your departure and arrival airports right on the homepage.
3. Click “Check Compensation.”
4. Follow the simple prompts to enter your information.
5. Submit your info to us.
6. We’ll review the details and contact you with any questions or additional documents required.
7. Our experts will deal directly with Turkish Airlines until your claim is resolved.

We’ll help you through the whole process, and we only levy a small percentage if your claim is successful, so there’s no harm in trying.

Having trouble with a flight delay compensation claim from Turkish Airlines? We can help!Check Your Flight

Turkish Airlines Complaint Response Time

For typical feedback submissions or Turkish Airlines complaints, the response time is said to be 7 days. For compensation claims, the response time varies but is usually longer than 7 days.

FAQ / Common Questions: Turkish Airlines Complaints