Urgent: Reservation Cancelled While $3,690.66 Payment Remains Pending

What happened

I paid $100 to Hold the Price. On August 15, 2026, I returned to pay for the tickets while the Turkish Airlines website was still showing time remaining. The page first showed approximately 15 hours remaining and later still showed 5 hours 28 minutes remaining.

When I clicked Pay and Fly, the website displayed an expiration error saying the reservation had already expired, even though the countdown behind the error still showed 5 hours 28 minutes remaining.

Because the website blocked payment, I called Turkish Airlines. A representative sent me a special payment link for $3,690.66. I used that link. The payment page displayed "Order Completed Successfully." Citi also showed a pending Turkish Airlines charge for $3,690.66.

Despite this, Turkish Airlines did not issue the tickets. When I called again, I was told the payment could not be seen and I was offered the option to pay another $3,690.66 over the phone. I will not authorize a duplicate payment while the first Turkish Airlines charge remains pending.

The reservation has now been cancelled because the deadline expired while this payment problem remained unresolved. I spoke with Citi, and Citi advised that the $3,690.66 pending Turkish Airlines charge may remain pending for up to 30 days unless Turkish Airlines takes action to release or resolve it. This leaves me without the reservation and with $3,690.66 still tied up on my card because of a payment process that Turkish Airlines itself confirmed as successfully completed.

Requested immediate resolution

Ticketing and payment

Reinstate reservation SG8NYL, which has now been cancelled after the payment deadline expired.
Restore and protect the original fare for both passengers. The cancellation resulted from the unresolved Turkish Airlines website/payment failure.
Locate and apply the $3,690.66 payment.
Issue both tickets immediately.
Do not charge a second time.

Confirmation and refund

If the first payment was not captured, immediately release/reverse the $3,690.66 authorization and provide written confirmation so Citi can remove the pending charge.
Refund the $100 Hold the Price fee according to the terms shown on the Turkish Airlines website.
Escalate the matter to a supervisor or ticketing/payment department.
Provide a written case number, payment disposition, reservation reinstatement decision, and written resolution.

Timeline

Before payment deadline

Reservation remained active

Turkish Airlines displayed an active Hold the Price countdown, including approximately 15 hours 49 minutes remaining.

August 15, 2026

5 hours 28 minutes still shown

The booking page still showed 5 hours 28 minutes remaining, but clicking Pay and Fly triggered an expiration error.

August 15, 2026

Turkish Airlines issued a custom payment link

Customer service sent a payment link for reservation SG8NYL in the amount of $3,690.66.

August 15, 2026

Payment page confirmed success

The custom payment page displayed: "Order Completed Successfully."

August 15, 2026

Citi showed the Turkish Airlines charge

Citi displayed a pending Turkish Airlines charge of $3,690.66.

August 16, 2026 at 01:33

Turkish Airlines requested proof

Customer Relations asked for the card transaction record, merchant/date/amount evidence, the error screenshot, and the successful payment confirmation page.

August 17, 2026 at 17:41

Evidence re-uploaded

The PDF evidence packet was submitted again through the feedback process.

After the payment deadline

Reservation SG8NYL was cancelled

While the payment issue remained unresolved and no tickets had been issued, the reservation was cancelled after the deadline expired.

Bank update

$3,690.66 remains pending on Citi

I spoke with Citi. Citi advised that the pending Turkish Airlines charge may remain on the account for up to 30 days unless Turkish Airlines takes action to release or resolve the authorization.

August 18, 2026 at 00:08

Feedback status

Turkish Airlines feedback page showed: "Your feedback is being reviewed."

Turkish Airlines response

Dear Inna SABZALIYEVA, You have indicated that you experienced an issue during the payment process for your reservation. However, the information provided does not include any bank statement, card transaction record, or payment receipt confirming that the payment was successfully charged to your account. In addition, we have not received a screenshot of the error message you reported encountering. To enable us to investigate your request, kindly provide the following: • A bank statement, card transaction record, or payment receipt showing that the amount was charged to your account. • A document or screenshot clearly displaying the transaction amount, transaction date, and merchant name (Turkish Airlines). • A screenshot of the error message encountered during the payment process. • If available, a screenshot of the payment confirmation page indicating that the transaction was successful. For your security, please ensure that only the first 6 and last 4 digits of the card number are visible, with all remaining digits masked. Once the requested documents have been provided, your case will be reviewed by the relevant team for further assessment. Sincerely Yours, Askar M. Customer Representative TURKISH AIRLINES INC. Customer Contact Center

The evidence below directly addresses the requested documentation: the countdown and error, the customer-service payment link, the successful payment confirmation, and the Citi pending transaction.

Evidence

All evidence is shown below and is also available as a single PDF.
Open the complete evidence PDF

Miles and Smiles account identification for Inna Sabzaliyeva — **Exhibit 1 - Miles&Smiles account identification**Identifies Inna Sabzaliyeva's Turkish Airlines account.

Reservation SG8NYL and itinerary — **Exhibit 2 - Reservation and itinerary**Shows booking reference SG8NYL and the Ashgabat-Istanbul-Miami round-trip itinerary.

Hold price reservation showing about 15 hours 49 minutes remaining — **Exhibit 3 - Hold-price reservation still active**Turkish Airlines showed approximately 15 hours 49 minutes remaining.

Booking page showing 5 hours 28 minutes remaining — **Exhibit 4 - 5 hours 28 minutes remaining**The booking page still showed time remaining before the stated deadline.

Expiration error overlay while countdown still shows 5 hours 28 minutes — **Exhibit 5 - Expired error while countdown remained active**The expiration error appears over the same page that still visibly shows 5 hours 28 minutes remaining.

Additional Turkish Airlines hold price expired error — **Exhibit 6 - Additional expiration error**A second view of the error that prevented ticketing.

Turkish Airlines customer service text message with custom payment link for 3690.66 dollars — **Exhibit 7 - Customer-service payment link**SMS shows the custom payment link for SG8NYL in the amount of $3,690.66.

Payment page saying Order Completed Successfully — **Exhibit 8 - Payment confirmation**The Turkish Airlines payment page states: "Order Completed Successfully."

Citi account showing pending Turkish Airlines charge of 3690.66 dollars — **Exhibit 9 - Citi pending charge**Citi shows a pending Turkish Airlines charge for $3,690.66 dated August 15, 2026.

Contact / closing statement

This page was created solely to make the evidence easy for Turkish Airlines Customer Relations, ticketing, and payment teams to review. Please reinstate the cancelled reservation at the original fare, reconcile the submitted payment, issue the tickets, and provide a written case number. If Turkish Airlines will not apply the payment, please immediately release/reverse the $3,690.66 pending authorization and confirm that action in writing so the funds are no longer tied up on my Citi account.

Sincerely,
Inna Sabzaliyeva