andigoeskiwi

Problems with conversion to open ticket
I received a cancellation notice for my flight from ICN-IST as their schedules got reduced from 7 flights a week to three flights a week. I got rebooked automatically to the next available flight 2 days later.
I called three different agents to convert that cancelled ticket into an open ticket for later use and free choosing of the departure airport in the same region. Unfortunately each agent tells me that according to the same flight number it doesn´t count as cancellation but only as schedule change (because flight number is the same) and free rebooking will only be allowed in a timeframe of 30 days and the same routing. Are they interpreting the rules correctly as of course all flights from ICN to IST have the same flight number?
If not my next try would be to see the airport office the next days. Any other suggestions?

ISTFlyer

No, it looks like they are not interpreting the rule correctly.
You were rebooked from Day X to Day X+2 which I bet is a separate flight as the same flight shouldn't be delayed +48 hours.

Going to a city or airport sales/ticketing office and handling them would be a good next step to take.

andigoeskiwi

Just got back from the TK sales office at the airport. They accepted their rebooking on a flight 2 days later as involuntary situation and converted my ticket to an open ticket. BUT they made very clear that only rebooking in a time frame -7 / +30 days of original departure is free of charge (region to region rebooking). If I want to use the ticket outside that time frame any fare difference has to be paid. It´s a small win compared to the callcenter agents but not the flexibility I was hoping to gain.

DominickV01

Hi all,
I have a ticket that I unfortunately cannot use anymore due to covid restrictions. I called the call center and they told me I can convert it to an open ticket and later ask for a refund for that ticket. However, I'm not able to find anything on that anywhere else, so I'm not sure this is correct... Does anybody know something about this? Also, it's not clear to me if I want to rebook from an open ticket whether I need to rebook my ticket by March 31 2022 or need to travel before March 31 2022. So any guidance on that would also be appreciated

Jaenks

Welcome to Flyertalk!
I do not know where you did search but this would be the best place to start: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-u...irus-outbreak/

zymm

Just got notification that my IST-LHR flight has been cancelled, but it seems like they must have just processed a lot of cancellations as the call center either gives a busy signal, or hangs up on me when it tries to transfer to an agent. I try again later, or maybe try to go to the airport ticket office this weekend. It's too bad the rebooking functionality on the website doesn't work for me :/

Edit: Was able to get through when trying again a couple of hours later. I think I was talking to a less experienced person, because they weren't able to keep me in the same flight and class for the SFO-IST leg on the same date while replacing the cancelled IST-LHR leg with IST-CPH, despite there being no changes to the SFO-IST leg. Not a problem, since I was considering flying a day earlier anyway. There are two SFO-IST flights the day before, and both are available on the website, but the agent also couldn't see the later flight, which I would have preferred, but I won't complain too much about a 5 hour difference I just hope the reticketing is successful and I receive the confirmation in a timely fashion, as the last time an agent told me I would get an email within 24 hours it didn't happen and I had to call again to complete the reticketing... I'm happy TK is being flexible about rebooking, but it does seem to make things more difficult for their call center agents!

ISTFlyer

​​​Hi DominickV01 and welcome to FlyerTalk!

If your flight is cancelled ( involuntary change ), yes you would be able to get a full refund after converting to an open ticket.
If your flight is not cancelled or you do not have a schedule change ( voluntary change ), the fare rules would apply when asking for a refund ( despite taking the open ticket path or not )

Also, to rebook an open ticket ( if the flights are booked after 20 March 2020 ), you would need to use ( rebook ) your ticket until 31 December 2021 and complete travel until 31 March 2022.

aapee

First time I have a challenge with an open ticket: my flight (TK1762) was cancelled and my ticket was changed to an evening flight (TK1764). I changed this to an open ticket as I could not travel that weekend anyway. Over 6.5 hours between the original and rescheduled flight.

I wanted to update the ticket and TK asked me to pay the difference as they had offered an alternative flight. Any advise?

andigoeskiwi

Update: I had a talk to an TK Agent who took his time to read the rules. I got info to the cancelled flights that rebooking due to the schedule changes / cancellations will be free ´region to region´ and ´cabin to cabin´.
Rebooking must be done before one year after the ticket was issued. So my trust in TK and their flexibility is back.

kaspars

Hi STFlyer,

being TK guru, have you heard anything about the TK plans to extend these deadlines?

ISTFlyer

Sorry, I don't have access to insider information.
Although as many airlines are extending the deadline for their flexible travel ( zero change fee ) policy, I think TK would follow suit at a later stage.

kaspars

Not sure this is true, unless something has changed recently... maybe ISTFlyer has more knowledge...

kaspars

Fingers crossed!

andigoeskiwi

It´s very difficult to say whether true or not. I got different information any time talking to agents at the airport ticket office or by phone. Classical HUCA to get to someone willing to help.

jaycoh22

I purchased a Turkish Airlines ticket back in January CMB-BOS in fully refundable D class. In May, there was a schedule change and I used that opportunity to change to MLE-BOS following the COVID flexibility rules - but the ticket now shows in Z class. I am considering cancelling this trip now. Do the original refundability rules of the ticket I bought apply, or did the ticket lose the ability to get a full refund when I used my COVID flexibility to change the routing?