Turkish Airlines offers free refunds on US tickets

By Izzet Taskiran

ISTANBUL (AA) - Turkish Airlines passengers flying from Turkey to the U.S. or vice versa before Jan. 9 can change their flights for free or get a free refund regardless of standard fare rules for any tickets issued on or before Oct. 9, the national flag carrier announced Friday.

The move comes a day after the U.S. Embassy in Ankara announced full resumption of visa services for Turkish citizens. On Oct. 8, the embassy had suspended non-immigrant visas to Turkish nationals following the arrest of a local employee working at the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul, prompting a tit-for-tat response from Ankara.

The airline said, for Turkish passport holders bound for the U.S. from Turkey (excluding transit passengers and holders of valid U.S. visas), refund requests and reservation changes would be processed free of charge "regardless of whether there is space in the same fare class" while route changes would be subject to the applicable fare rules of the original ticket.

Tickets' validity will be able to be extended till Jan. 9, 2019 free of charge, it added.

In the case of U.S. passport holders bound for Turkey from the U.S. including stopover passengers (excluding transit passengers and holders of valid Turkey visas), reservation and route changes will be made for free within the same flight cabin provided that the fare class is the same, and the flight is within the same IATA zone.