Fly Turkish Airlines

Would you mind if I take up this column with a personal matter? Indeed, it is not really a personal matter. This might be interesting reading for anyone who flies with British Airways.

Turkish Airlines (THY) has started direct flights to Toronto. Please keep this in mind when traveling — not only to Toronto but to anywhere in the world. I recently read that THY has almost doubled its performance in a very short period of time. I’m not surprised.

Two years ago I was invited to the general assembly of L’Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (AIJA) — the International Association of Young Lawyers. The meeting was held in Toronto and included both an academic and a social program. The meetings had a dress code: business attire, while the gala dinner required black tie.

The flight to Toronto was long, and it was very unfortunate that THY did not fly there two years ago. With no THY flight, I checked available flights to Toronto and decided to go with British Airways.

I knew I shouldn’t have done this. I had already had a bad experience on a British Airways flight to Mexico in 2005 with really bad food and a bad flight for 14 hours. The food was so bad that people on the plane reacted to it strongly. The pilots made an announcement saying the employees of the catering company working for British Airways had gone on strike, but I doubt the quality of plane food in any case.

Yes, I took another British Airways flight, this time to Toronto with a connection at Heathrow. It was a long flight, and all I had with me was my passport, money, a laptop and dress shorts — T-shirts and flip-flops. All my business clothing, business cards and other professional stuff was packed up in my luggage with all the other ordinary clothes.

Upon landing I found out that my luggage had not arrived in Toronto but instead went to Chile. “Oh my God!” I said, for this was no tourist trip. I needed my business cards and belongings and a suit and proper shoes. After an absolute lack of assistance offered by British Airways at the airport and four hours later I was given a $50 card which I could only use after explaining for 15 minutes the reasoning behind each of my purchases. I arrived in the hotel and was told my luggage would arrive the next day. I said OK and tried to find a solution. The first day I wore a suit I borrowed from the concierge, who was really friendly, but bought the cheapest Timberland shoes. The hotel had no black shoes so I had on a black suit with brown Timberlands.

The next day my luggage had still not arrived. It was two days now and I was getting really frustrated. I called British Airways, and the other end told me my luggage was hanging somewhere around in London! Where exactly? In a bar or something?

The concierge didn’t want to share his suit with me anymore, and he had a point. I did some shopping, but because I was told my luggage would arrive immediately, I didn’t buy any suits, only simple trousers and a jacket and other ordinary clothing. My luggage didn’t arrive on the evening of the second day, either. I only received my luggage (I don’t remember exactly, but it should be either) on the third or fourth day after my arrival. By this point it was no longer important. I waved good-bye to the people and missed the opportunity to meet many people as I had no business cards on me. I spent the whole event in improper clothing. It was a real disaster, a waste of time, a reputation killer and quite expensive considering all the unplanned purchases I was forced to make.

Upon my return to Turkey I decided to do something; this was, after all, not the first time I had had to chase my luggage, missing many opportunities to meet new people and incurring odd expenses until my luggage showed up. British Airways told me they were generous enough to me by giving me a $50 card and were not supposed to pay for my pleasure shopping (were they referring to those brown shoes?), and if I wanted more I should sue them. So I did. My claim was roughly around $1,000, and the court asked me to pay around $400 to make this claim.

What could I do? I gave up chasing this disturbing matter and spending even more money. I’d rather forget about it and never fly British Airways again.

You know what they say, “Experience is expensive.” I’ve shared my expensive experience here and want you to know: Fly THY, and you’ll be treated well. Zaman reported online.

Tags: flights tio turkey, thy, turkish airlines

Category: Good FAQ, Travel, World