Right in the middle of the diplomatic row between Turkey and the United States is Turkish Airlines. The carrier serves nine U.S. cities and is the clear loser in the mutual decision to suspend visa issuance, essentially halting tourism and business travel in Turkey from U.S. citizens and vice versa.
> Read More: Retaliation: Turkey Eliminates U.S. Tourist Visas, Barring Entry for Most U.S. Citizens
In a statement on its website, Turkish Airlines assured U.S. transit passengers they could continue to connect in Istanbul without issue while offering refunds or free re-scheduling to those who booked trips to Turkey.
Dear Passengers,
Due to the recent developments, some changes have been made on Turkey-USA and USA-Turkey visa application processes. These changes do not affect passengers transferring to connecting flights in Istanbul.
Excluding passengers transferring to connecting flights in Istanbul; for all passengers holding Turkish passports flying to the USA between October 12th, 2017 and October 31st, 2017, and all passengers holding American passports flying to Turkey between October 9th, 2017 and October 31st, 2017 on Turkish Airlines and AnadoluJet flights, with tickets issued on or before October 9th, 2017, the following procedure can be carried out till October 31st, 2017:
For Turkish passport holding passengers:
1) Reservation changes can be made free of charge.
2) Refund requests:
- a) Refunds can be issued for tickets which have not been used.
- b) On tickets which have been partially used, a refund for the unused portion of the ticket can be issued.
3) Extension of ticket validity:
The validity of tickets can be extended to October 31st, 2017 (inclusive) without paying any price difference or penalty.
4) These implementations are applied to only Turkish Airlines and AnadoluJet flights.
For American passport holding passengers;
1) Reservation and route changes can be made free of charge.
2 Refund requests:
- a) Refunds can be issued for tickets which have not been used.
- b) On tickets which have been partially used, a refund for the unused portion of the ticket can be issued.
3) Extension of ticket validity:
The validity of tickets can be extended to October 31st, 2017 (inclusive) without paying any price difference or penalty.
4) These implementations are applied to only Turkish Airlines and AnadoluJet flights.
CONCLUSION
I join Turkish Airlines in hoping for a swift resolution to this matter. In the meantime, understand that if you were planning on traveling to Turkey and do not yet have a visa, Turkish Airlines will refund your ticket or reschedule your travel for a later date.
Also note you can still connect without issue in Istanbul if traveling with an American passport. Turkish has based its latest ad campaign around transit so hopefully this diplomatic tension will not scare away transit passengers.
> Read More: Turkish Airlines Super Bowl Ad with Morgan Freeman
The big negative if for transit passengers who would have a long layover. Istanbul is a great city for a long layover, and now that advantage is gone. I certainly won’t book a route with an overnight layover in IST now, so I think there will still be a significant impact on transit passengers from the US. In the short term, it should make for lots of available award space, though.
Matthew,
We booked multiple segments using Aeroplan miles and one involves an overnight connection in IST. Would Aeroplan allow us to change the routing for free? Or should we call Turkish? TIA!
I wonder if the Oct 31 deadline signals this is when their sources tell them this stupid pissing contest will end.
@ Matthew — Hopefully this WILL scare away passengers and open up plenty of connencting award space!
That would be one advantage for us!
What about the airline’s need to make a profit so they don’t go the way of AirBerlin? the employees? Just your chance to book award space? WOW!
Our trip to Istanbul is b0oked for 10/20, so we decided to wait a few days to see if the situation might get resolved. But this last weekend decided to cancel our trip so we could plan an alternate vacation. When I called Turkish Airlines on Saturday, I was surprised to learn that we must appear in person at a sales office (naturally only open M-F, 9 – 5 pm) with our US passports in order to change or cancel our tickets. And, they won’t allow my husband to appear with my passport and his, we both need to be present. Why in the world? Are they really that worried that people are taking advantage of their “largesse” in this situation?
I used to fly Turkish quite frequently and am deeply disappointed with how horrible their customer service has become. By the way, their waiver policy is no longer accessible on their website, I think they are purposely obscuring and making it difficult for passengers to cancel.
Very sorry to hear this…
I was told the same thing and when I went to the sales office I was told NO REFUNDS for US citizens who booked after October 09. I booked online on October 20 for a flight leaving November 30. A huge run around and they just want to keep your money ($1,000 to me) and refuse to let you fly.
Do not fly to turkey and never fly Turkish airlines, they are thieves.
Credit card dispute.
You need to update this article. Turkish Airlines is no longer providing refunds or helping passengers change their tickets. They stopped doing this on November 20th, despite no resolution to the US visa ban. My husband and I booked our flights 3 days before the ban was announced and weren’t flying until 11/23. We are being offered no refund or waver of change fees and now have a 20 plus hour layover in Istanbul. I’m 20 weeks pregnant, so it’s going to be a blast sitting in an airport for that time period.
You are just transiting Istanbul (layover less than 24 hours). That’s a different circumstance than traveling to Turkey or actually stopping over there.
I missed a flight while going to USA and I had to buy a visa to enter. The airline told me I can refund visa value. How can I do this please.
You can use the customer service form at turkishairlines.com to request, but I doubt you’ll get it.