Is American or Turkish Airlines better to Europe?

Turkish Airlines scores 8.8/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, American wins 1 and Turkish Airlines wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.

Which is cheaper, American or Turkish Airlines?

On the 98 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), American was cheaper on 27 and Turkish Airlines on 71. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.

Does the aircraft change the answer?

Yes. American scores 10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) and 8/10 on the 777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business). Turkish Airlines scores 8/10 on the 787-9 / A350-900 and 5/10 on the 777-300ER (legacy). Check the equipment on your date before deciding.

Has Jon flown either of these?

Neither, so this page is product facts and fares only. Any review we publish of either will be labeled Researched until that changes.

Head to head

American vs Turkish Airlines

Turkish Airlines scores 8.8/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare.

By Jon Miksis · cabin data verified September 1, 2026 · fares for travel November 8–14, 2026

Best product each one flies

Scored on what can be verified. Service, food and ground recovery are absent deliberately: they need someone in the seat, and they live in the reviews rather than here.

One caveat on the Value line, stated rather than buried: Value is computed from business fares, and a carrier with too few of them does not get a Value score at all. Where you see a dash, we have fewer than three priced business routes for that airline and did not want to invent a figure from one or two — so its product score is the mean of three dimensions rather than four, and it is not directly comparable to a score built on hundreds of fares. The airlines with the most fares behind them are named on the business-class ranking.

American

787-9P (Flagship Suite)

Seat: 10/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 2/10
Product score: 7.5/10

Turkish Airlines

787-9 / A350-900

Seat: 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 9/10
Product score: 8.8/10

Dimension by dimension

Seat: American
10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) against 8/10 on the 787-9 / A350-900.
IFE: level
Screens, connectivity and power: 8/10 against 8/10.
Lounge & bags: level
What the fare includes before you board: 10/10 against 10/10.
Value: Turkish Airlines
Median premium over the cheapest carrier on the same route: 2/10 against 9/10.

Where both were priced on the same dates

Every fare is November 8–14, 2026, so a difference between two rows is a difference between two airlines and nothing else. These are economy fares, while the cabin scores above describe the business product — read them as how each airline prices against its competitors, not as what its business seat costs.

Route	Cabin	American	Turkish Airlines	Cheaper
DEN → ZRH	economy	$1392	$740	Turkish Airlines by $652
DTW → ZRH	economy	$1249	$755	Turkish Airlines by $494
BOS → MXP	economy	$798	$761	Turkish Airlines by $37
DEN → BCN	economy	$782	$762	Turkish Airlines by $20
ATL → MXP	economy	$763	$860	American by $97
DEN → MAD	economy	$794	$766	Turkish Airlines by $28
IAH → DUB	economy	$773	$882	American by $109
DTW → FCO	economy	$778	$810	American by $32
DEN → MXP	economy	$806	$781	Turkish Airlines by $25
IAH → BCN	economy	$782	$845	American by $63
LAX → ZRH	economy	$783	$859	American by $76
IAH → MAD	economy	$783	$835	American by $52
IAH → MXP	economy	$786	$859	American by $73
DFW → LIS	economy	$790	$893	American by $103
DFW → MXP	economy	$790	$809	American by $19
DTW → DUB	economy	$1157	$798	Turkish Airlines by $359
ORD → LIS	economy	$804	$825	American by $21
DTW → MXP	economy	$1236	$804	Turkish Airlines by $432
DTW → BCN	economy	$1230	$810	Turkish Airlines by $420
DFW → FCO	economy	$1002	$810	Turkish Airlines by $192
DTW → MAD	economy	$1235	$814	Turkish Airlines by $421
DTW → MUC	economy	$818	$847	American by $29
IAH → ZRH	economy	$819	$881	American by $62
DEN → LIS	economy	$821	$853	American by $32
SFO → MXP	economy	$826	$904	American by $78
DTW → AMS	economy	$827	$838	American by $11
SEA → AMS	economy	$827	$883	American by $56
DFW → ZRH	economy	$913	$829	Turkish Airlines by $84
ATL → MUC	economy	$847	$912	American by $65
ATL → ZRH	economy	$1176	$855	Turkish Airlines by $321
IAH → FCO	economy	$919	$860	Turkish Airlines by $59
ATL → LIS	economy	$1179	$860	Turkish Airlines by $319
ORD → CDG	economy	$1203	$861	Turkish Airlines by $342
IAH → LIS	economy	$861	$968	American by $107
DEN → AMS	economy	$909	$862	Turkish Airlines by $47
DFW → CDG	economy	$864	$910	American by $46
DFW → FRA	economy	$868	$896	American by $28
DTW → LIS	economy	$1198	$873	Turkish Airlines by $325
SEA → FCO	economy	$1046	$880	Turkish Airlines by $166
SEA → MAD	economy	$911	$884	Turkish Airlines by $27
SEA → LIS	economy	$902	$1002	American by $100
DFW → MUC	economy	$920	$917	Turkish Airlines by $3
DTW → EDI	economy	$1386	$918	Turkish Airlines by $468
ORD → EDI	economy	$1078	$919	Turkish Airlines by $159
DEN → EDI	economy	$1029	$939	Turkish Airlines by $90
SFO → FCO	economy	$2056	$961	Turkish Airlines by $1095
DFW → LHR	economy	$1105	$970	Turkish Airlines by $135
SEA → BCN	economy	$1145	$972	Turkish Airlines by $173
DEN → CDG	economy	$1051	$987	Turkish Airlines by $64
DFW → EDI	economy	$1411	$999	Turkish Airlines by $412
IAH → EDI	economy	$1148	$1093	Turkish Airlines by $55
ORD → CDG	business	$10366	$4322	Turkish Airlines by $6044
ORD → MAD	business	$11115	$4347	Turkish Airlines by $6768
IAH → DUB	business	$4354	$5750	American by $1396
ORD → EDI	business	$8556	$4386	Turkish Airlines by $4170
ORD → LHR	business	$9947	$4432	Turkish Airlines by $5515
DTW → EDI	business	$10590	$4486	Turkish Airlines by $6104
ATL → MXP	business	$12651	$4527	Turkish Airlines by $8124
ATL → LIS	business	$10346	$4567	Turkish Airlines by $5779
LAX → FCO	business	$4648	$4961	American by $313
IAH → FCO	business	$7563	$4691	Turkish Airlines by $2872
IAH → MAD	business	$6775	$4890	Turkish Airlines by $1885
SEA → MAD	business	$10230	$4990	Turkish Airlines by $5240
DFW → MAD	business	$6736	$5090	Turkish Airlines by $1646
BOS → BCN	business	$5795	$5171	Turkish Airlines by $624
IAH → LIS	business	$10878	$5376	Turkish Airlines by $5502
DFW → FCO	business	$7572	$5451	Turkish Airlines by $2121
DTW → MXP	business	$10331	$5467	Turkish Airlines by $4864
ORD → MXP	business	$6799	$5468	Turkish Airlines by $1331
IAH → BCN	business	$9054	$5486	Turkish Airlines by $3568
LAX → MXP	business	$8111	$5535	Turkish Airlines by $2576
DFW → CDG	business	$6117	$5648	Turkish Airlines by $469
SEA → EDI	business	$6339	$5696	Turkish Airlines by $643
DTW → ZRH	business	$10344	$5746	Turkish Airlines by $4598
MIA → EDI	business	$7869	$5796	Turkish Airlines by $2073
IAH → MXP	business	$9973	$5825	Turkish Airlines by $4148
DTW → LIS	business	$10346	$5857	Turkish Airlines by $4489
DTW → MUC	business	$12610	$5876	Turkish Airlines by $6734
DFW → BCN	business	$7813	$5886	Turkish Airlines by $1927
BOS → MXP	business	$6601	$5895	Turkish Airlines by $706
ORD → BCN	business	$8569	$5997	Turkish Airlines by $2572
DTW → MAD	business	$10330	$5997	Turkish Airlines by $4333
DEN → MAD	business	$6775	$6040	Turkish Airlines by $735
LAX → LHR	business	$12367	$6042	Turkish Airlines by $6325
DEN → LIS	business	$12028	$6166	Turkish Airlines by $5862
DTW → BCN	business	$10325	$6297	Turkish Airlines by $4028
DEN → FCO	business	$6812	$6401	Turkish Airlines by $411
DFW → MXP	business	$6445	$7335	American by $890
DEN → CDG	business	$7260	$6448	Turkish Airlines by $812
SEA → MXP	business	$6557	$6476	Turkish Airlines by $81
DFW → DUB	business	$8478	$6486	Turkish Airlines by $1992
IAH → EDI	business	$7779	$6796	Turkish Airlines by $983
DEN → MXP	business	$6799	$6985	American by $186
IAH → ZRH	business	$10376	$6844	Turkish Airlines by $3532
DEN → ZRH	business	$18428	$6844	Turkish Airlines by $11584
SFO → EDI	business	$7893	$9671	American by $1778
SFO → MXP	business	$7961	$8935	American by $974
SFO → MAD	business	$9669	$8390	Turkish Airlines by $1279

What happens if the aircraft swaps

Both carriers are paying-the-same-fare-either-way propositions on some frames. The worst product each one flies:

American

777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business)

Seat: 8/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 2/10
Product score: 7/10

Turkish Airlines

777-300ER (legacy)

Seat: 5/10
IFE: 8/10
Lounge & bags: 10/10
Value: 9/10
Product score: 8/10

American: Reverse herringbone, direct aisle access from every seat, no privacy door.

Turkish Airlines: The cabin the retrofit is replacing, on the aircraft Turkish flies most from the US.

Common questions

Is American or Turkish Airlines better to Europe?: Turkish Airlines scores 8.8/10 against American at 7.5/10 on seat, screens, lounge and fare. On the four dimensions we can verify, American wins 1 and Turkish Airlines wins 1. Service and food are not scored here because they cannot be read off a spec sheet.
Which is cheaper, American or Turkish Airlines?: On the 98 routes where both were priced for the same week (November 8–14, 2026), American was cheaper on 27 and Turkish Airlines on 71. Every pair of fares is the same departure and return date in the same cabin, so the difference is the airline rather than the dates or the cabin.
Does the aircraft change the answer?: Yes. American scores 10/10 on the 787-9P (Flagship Suite) and 8/10 on the 777-300ER / 787 (Flagship Business). Turkish Airlines scores 8/10 on the 787-9 / A350-900 and 5/10 on the 777-300ER (legacy). Check the equipment on your date before deciding.
Has Jon flown either of these?: Neither, so this page is product facts and fares only. Any review we publish of either will be labeled Researched until that changes.

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