Turkish Airlines Canceled My Return Ticket Because I Missed My Outbound Flight

I arrived at the airport three hours before my flight, but they assigned the flight to gate F18, which was literally at the far end of the airport. The flight was scheduled to depart at 15:30, and I reached the gate at 15:15, only to be denied boarding. I understood that I was late, but then I was not allowed to book a ticket for the next flight. Why? Because of a policy I had never heard of before: if you miss your outbound flight, your return ticket is automatically canceled. No, this is not a joke; it is real. As a Turkish Airlines Elite Plus member who has taken countless flights, hearing about this policy for the first time shocked and angered me. But isn’t this the airline of firsts? And it doesn’t end there. We waited nearly six hours at the airport just to retrieve our luggage from the missed flight. It has now been 24 hours, and there is still no sign of our baggage. They left us behind but took our bags, it seems. What have I learned from this experience? Regret. Turkish Airlines is regret. TGS is regret. Just regret, regret, regret.