Parents stuck in Istanbul, what to do?

[riasat.abir]

I am a Canadian Citizen and my parents were coming to Canada to land as PR. They were flying via Turkish Airlines and the transit was in Istanbul.
Their flight to Istanbul was delayed by 40 minutes and they couldn't catch the flight to Vancouver which had a 2-hour transit shortened by the delay. They reached the gate at the last moment before the flight departed but weren't allowed to board.

Now, Turkish Airlines charged them 2900$ to book a second flight from Istanbul to Montreal to Vancouver with the same ticket number. The layover is going to be overnight they didn't provide any accommodation either. More importantly, their covid negative certificate will expire after 72 hours before the next flight to Canada. They don't have VISA to enter Turkey to get the PCR test again at the airport. So I'm am worried they won't be allowed to enter Canada.

I contacted the customer service but seeking advice on what to do in such a situation?

 

[canuck78]

I am a Canadian Citizen and my parents were coming to Canada to land as PR. They were flying via Turkish Airlines and the transit was in Istanbul.
Their flight to Istanbul was delayed by 40 minutes and they couldn't catch the flight to Vancouver which had a 2-hour transit shortened by the delay. They reached the gate at the last moment before the flight departed but weren't allowed to board.

Now, Turkish Airlines charged them 2900$ to book a second flight from Istanbul to Montreal to Vancouver with the same ticket number. The layover is going to be overnight they didn't provide any accommodation either. More importantly, their covid negative certificate will expire after 72 hours before the next flight to Canada. They don't have VISA to enter Turkey to get the PCR test again at the airport. So I'm am worried they won't be allowed to enter Canada.

I contacted the customer service but seeking advice on what to do in such a situation?

Can they apply for a visa on arrival in Turkey? The airline is supposed to let them on the flight because their covid test is now expired. Airlines aren’t always consistent about applying the rule but they need to figure this out so they don’t lose the $2900. Would suggest researching where you can do PCR testing in Turkey.

Hopefully others can learn from your parents. A tight transit time is not advisable during covid times because there are so many potential consequences. Hopefully this can get sorted out without too many more issues.

 

[nileshrayani]

Never ever use turkish airlines!

 

[canuck78]

Never ever use turkish airlines!

To be fair they had a very short transit time it’s not Turkish Airline’s fault. During covid there are extra delays but on any day you could have your first flight delayed and miss such a tight connection.