hfly

iax, you think that the last two years is something special? Remember 9/11? The Iraq War? The Gulf War, or the Gulf War before that? Avian Flu? H1 Virus? Camel Virus? About 270 PKK bombings? Dev Sol? Economic meltdown about every 5-10 years? Actually the last year has been mostly calm, the year before was the bad one, between the Coup attempt, several major bombings and the like. This is not even the first time that there has been a visa spat (although this is the worst), there was the time in 1995 when they instituted tourist visas for US citizens as well as the time that they kept hiking the fee. In my experience a flight like LAX-IST operates with literally 85%+ pax connecting to other places, the biggest two being Iran and Israel, both prefer TK to the other options they could take, and their patronage isn't going anywhere. Truth be told there is normally very little US tourism October through March, so there has not been that big an effect yet. If it is not straightened out there will be.

iahphx

Without gov't subsidy, Turkish probably couldn't last a year in the current environment. That said, I'd be shocked if the gov't didn't give then "what they need" And compared to some other nearby over-sized airlines (Qatar and Etihad being poster boys), I would think Turkish is a far more viable commercial venture (with continued subsidies, of course).

BigE

Has anyone had any luck recently getting TK to adjust their flights?

In early Jan, my wife and I (U.S. passport holder and U.S. resident) are flying BKK to IST with a 2+ day stopover in Istanbul, then IST to OSL (all on TK). We don't already have an e-visa. It looked like I was going to be able to get visa on arrival, since my flight isn't leaving from the U.S., but now those hopes are dashed. The wife has a Thai passport as well as a U.S. passport, but in a different name.

Can anyone figure this mess out and tell me what my options are? (a) my first choice would be to change my flights, but we asked TK a month ago and they said "no" even we paid for C and are *G (TK seems customer unfriendly), (b) We have only about 1 day in Bangkok (immediately prior to departure) and that's the only embassy/consulate we'll be near. I'm skeptical that we'd be able to make an appointment, get all the paperwork they went, and get the visa back in time. Plus, it sounds like it costs $160-$200 at other embassies, per person (I couldn't find out about Bangkok yet), which isn't worth it for just two days. (c) staying airside stinks, if they'd even let us get on the plane (would they, with 2+ days layover?).

UPDATE: I called the U.S. Turkish Airlines # and they told me that there is a travel waiver in effect but it applies only to flights within a few days (currently through Dec 20) AND you have to go in person to an actual TK ticket office. That might mean a downgrade from C to Y. But then they also said that because there was a 20-minute change to one of my flight times, I was able to change for free for that reason, which I did right then (over the phone). It struck me as odd that an inconsequential time difference allowed me to change my flights but the impossibility of getting a visa didn't.

TPJ

I have a very limited experience in finance, but TK is traded on IST Stock Exchange, publishes Annual Reports audited by KPMG. Would KPMG risk endorsing a Corporation that cooks the books? After Enron and Lehman Brothers? Just asking

PS. Based on this one: http://investor.turkishairlines.com/...POR_REVIZE.pdf they are in the black again (for the first 3 quarters of 2017):

hfly

iah, whether true or not, what does that have to do with anything that we are discussing here?

starflyergold

Second reminder: This thread is about visa issues and TK flights. It is not about the sorry state of one country or the other. Feel free to visit OMNI for that.

starflyergold
TK M&S forum moderator

Astrophsx

Just a heads up. I was able to contact the LA consulate via email. They literally said that the reason I could not get through to them by phone was that no one is answering the phone there between the normal phone hours of 2pm to 4pm due to the influx of phone calls. If you have an emergency case the best way to reach them is via email (which they said is listed under their phone number on the website). I had a few email exchanges and they come off quite rude.

Profonde

I have heard that you can still apply for US visas in any US embassy outside Turkish border. Any Turkish citizen having experience with that?

Should I be able to apply from Dubai US consulate?

Cheers

Sinter

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-t...-idUSKBN1ED165

According to this Reuters article, yes.

Naturally, Turkey today came out and vaguely stated they would be imposing some limits as well. Let's see if I can get a clear answer from the NY consulate by email as to whether I can get a visa appointment prior to my planned July trip or not.

Edit: Never mind, January 2019 it is for Americans as well according to this article. https://en.trend.az/world/turkey/2838219.html

lonelycrowd

Obviously it's just one data point, but my wife got through to the Boston consulate today and they said that they still have plenty of appointments available. They said to contact them directly if the website shows no availability, so it seems that they have not (yet) fully implemented the "no visas until 2019" directive.

mjz

Sorry, but I'm having a hard time keeping current on this matter. We're US passport holding citizens flying from the USA to ATH (via Istanbul) this Summer. We'll be in Greece for 9 days, and then had planned to fly from ATH to IST (airline unknown), spend a long weekend in Istanbul, and then return from IST to the USA (UA award ticket on TK booked months ago). I believe initially, US citizens could get a VOA if arriving in Istanbul from another country as long as they were in said country for 3 days or more. Is this still a possibility? The article above referencing January of 2019 has me skeptical that this matter is going to be resolved in a timely manner. I'm now considering calling United and rebooking the return of our trip from ATH back to the USA with only a layover at IST.

CMK10

I'm up in New York now, I flew up today for my 3 PM interview. They had my picture on a piece of paper with the lobby guard and then the guard at the consulate office. The second guard issued a piece of paper DMV style. After a half hour I was called up to the window and I handed over my printed visa application, ticket confirmation emails, hotel confirmation email and $160 in cash. I hadn't brought a picture but they had a set up where an employee would take yours on the spot for $13. I was told the Visa would be issued but it couldn't be issued the same day and it'll be available for pick up tomorrow between 2 and 4 or it can be mailed to me for $31. The agent didn't ask me any questions about my application, background or travel plans. Minus the headache of not getting it the same day, it was relatively painless.

Sinter

Unless you have permanent residence in Greece, you should not be able to receive a visa on arrival.

CMK10 and lonelycrowd thanks for that info. Will certainly follow up with the NY consulate at some point about it.

mjz

Thank you, this is helpful and we don't have permanent residence in Greece.

lonelycrowd

I just got a confirmed appointment for mid-January in Boston. The online pre-application was a bit wonky to say the least (at least with Internet Explorer... with Firefox it was a complete disaster). Hopefully they will be forgiving if some of my information didn't go through correctly.