nsr

I'm TK Elite/*G and recently every ticket I have with them has a technical issue.
This time I cannot choose an exit row online (I can choose other seats). I call in and when transferred to their dreadful payment system it keeps saying invalid number.
I tried 3 times on 3 different cards (All Visa BTW that worked fine in the past in the system, no Amex) with 3 different agents. Eventually the agent says this is a general problem that is not unique to me but happens all the time! and there is nothing they can do about it!

On my last flight I did the only thing I could do with my ticket online when I simply couldn't change it online or on the phone - I cancel it and flew on LH.
This time it's just absurd. I paid $2K on a ticket, I want to pay $79 for a seat, the seat is available and I just cannot.

On their flights, they keep showing the *G movie on how they help *G passengers avoid delays and work for you.
TK, go back to the basics!
I flew a lot with many airlines and of course there were issues with all of them but I never had an issue that a phone agent couldn't fix (sometimes it took 10 min, sometimes an hour or more). Not having a way to override the system and solve a problem for a customer is just unacceptable.

gr8pirate

Tweeting @TK_HelpDesk usually gets a fast response. Good luck.

siberslava

stevespam

I know TK are not famous because of their Customer Service, but I must admit, I was very surprised with my first (and only, so far) twitter request. For long time, i was trying to correct my name at my TK profile (this little mistake didn't allow check in staff to credit my miles and i always had to send them copies of my boarding pass once i finish my trip).

I've sent several emails, contacted their brazilian office (in Sao Paulo) and couldn't get a reply. After reading FlyerTalk, i've discovered TK had a twitter account. So I've contacted them, explained my issue, they replied in less than 1 hour and after 2 days, my name was corrected.

I hope OP gets a positive experience, just like I did.

swiss_global

Generally, ticket office staff (in both cities and airports) do the very best they can. They are generally willing, very kind and apologetic. However, sometimes they can't help because their IT is really crap. Even if they follow their handbooks dot by dot, success is not always granted.

nsr

Did any of you hear of a different J class for award and for purchase?

I spent 2 hours with phone agents including the Customer Relation office at Turkey.
There is J1 on the flight I'm in (on EF - on the first segment) and once they open my reservation they cannot upgrade...

First, they say need at least J2 - which is nonsense - because I had flights with J1 clearing.
Then they claim that J is used for cash promotion or award and in this case it's the former so I cannot upgrade.

From their website:
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-i...rds/index.html
"In Business Class, if there is space in the "J" class and you have a confirmed reservation, you can upgrade"

I don't know what to do.

flyerby

nsr

In the past 2 hours I spoke with 3 agents. One in the US, one in Turkey and one in customer relation in Turkey. (and I also sent a message via twitter).
EF shows J1 for the first segment and second segment but not when you try to do the two together. That is a "normal" behavior, I had it in the past and had no issue whatsoever to upgrade just a single one. In this case not only it is available in both segments even if they try to do 1 segment they cannot which is absurd (and they all verified the J is available). Their excuse is that the J is different?! This is simply a scam! As someone who flew with many airlines in the past 20 years I have never encountered such nonsense. We all know the game of miles, and we all know there needs to be an availability. I'm fine if it's not available, I'm not fine if I cannot upgrade according to the rules of the game and NO one at TK can/will help. There is always a way to bypass the system if such an issue happens and here all agents are completely clueless and refuse to help.

flyerby

shuly

Could this be a married segment issue?

In any case, I would try my local TK office, where they are more likely to try harder for me.

Shuly

nsr

It's exactly what I told them and I mentioned the married segment issue to all 3 agents (2 of them in the local office in Turkey) and they broke it into separate segments and still couldn't get the upgrade. If looking at one of the segments only outside of my reservation they see J1 but they claim it's a "different" J?!
*I had in the past cases (a couple just recently) where there was a married segment issue and they were able to book me only on one segment. On EF it showed J1 on the single segment and J0 if doing both (which is the same behavior I saw today)

nsr

Here is the reply I got on twitter: "Your complaint file has been created. Your reference number is XXXXXXXX. Our proper unit will be in contact with you in a short time. We wish you a great day."

They are just useless. I'm going to cancel my flight and rebook on Lufthansa. I have 6 more flights this year and I have a feeling none of them will be on TK. This should be a case study in Business School on how to alienate your best customers. I don't understand how this company even survives.

craigthemif

Married segments are unfortunately rather common in the industry. You will soon run out of "full service" airlines if you avoid every single one that does married segments.

Is it also a scam that airlines sell AAA-BBB-AAA for twice the price of BBB-AAA-BBB? No, that's just how airline pricing works.

The strange part is that normally married segments come up because connecting flights are usually less attractive than direct flights. But in the case of TK it looks like origin/destination IST are the seats TK are struggling to sell.

nsr

I don't understand your point here.
Nowhere in their website they are claiming anything about how they price their tickets so your AAA-BBB-AAA example is irrelevant.
Of course married segments are common. I have no issue with married segments not in any airlines and not even in TK. They are not claiming it's not available, the agents claim that this J is a different J and that is ridicules.
If they put a statement on their website which they followed (up until today) then to me this a scam. I had no issue whatsoever if J was simply unavailable and other buckets were available to sell (like any airlines does).

craigthemif

My point is simple. If TK don't want to sell J from your preferred departure point to your preferred destination, then it's not a scam. The fact that a third-party (or even the phone agent) suggests that there might be J bucket space available for components of your route is irrelevant as you are asking the agents to "travel hack" their own computer system, which they are unwilling or unable to do.

TK can sell J fares from AAA-BBB-AAA but not for BBB-AAA-BBB. Their call, but certainly not irrelevant.

TK agents aren't very good. Agreed. Making up weird excuses... Not good but again not limited to TK.

I would also love a TK website that actually displayed information in a sensible manner. Barring that, the old website would do just fine.