Turkish Airways’ Miles&Smiles program is understood for being a hidden gem of a loyalty program that provides an award chart with some engaging redemption charges for economic system and business-class journey.
Regardless of charges having elevated considerably in 2024, some choices stay comparatively well-priced. You may also nonetheless fly comparatively cheaply on home flights throughout the U.S., and this system is a 1:1 switch associate of three common transferable currencies.
If you wish to study a global frequent flyer program that may allow you to guide a flight to Hawaii for simply 10,000 miles, this is what you could learn about Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles.
Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles elite standing
The Miles&Smiles program has three elite membership tiers (except for its fundamental membership, Basic):
- Basic Plus: Earned after accruing 25,000 standing miles or on 40 flights. Advantages embrace precedence check-in, lounge entry for home flights, 25% bonus standing miles on business-class flights and a further baggage allowance of twenty-two kilos.
- Elite: Earned after accruing 40,000 standing miles. Advantages embrace the entire Basic Plus perks, devoted cellphone assist, free normal seat choice, lounge entry for home and worldwide flights with one visitor, Star Alliance Gold standing and a further baggage allowance of 44 kilos.
- Elite Plus: Earned after accruing 80,000 standing miles. Advantages embrace the entire Basic Plus and Elite advantages, in addition to two free cabin upgrades, gifting an elite card to 3 folks, a assured seat in sure cabin lessons and a further 55 kilos of checked baggage.
An excellent advantage of incomes standing on this program is that it’s legitimate for 2 full years after you earn it. Another applications solely supply elite standing for one yr after incomes.
You earn standing miles by flying; frustratingly, there isn’t a clear data on the Miles&Smiles web site relating to what number of standing miles every flight earns.
Easy methods to earn Turkish Miles&Smiles
Switch factors from bank card applications
Whereas no Turkish-branded bank cards can be found within the U.S., you may switch rewards from three applications with transferable currencies on to Miles&Smiles at a fee of 1:1: Bilt Rewards, Capital One and Citi ThankYou Rewards.
Listed below are a few of the greatest welcome bonuses out there that you possibly can switch to Miles&Smiles:
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- Capital One Enterprise Rewards Credit score Card ($95 annual charge): Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 within the first three months from account opening, plus obtain a $250 Capital One Journey credit score to make use of within the first yr.
- Capital One Enterprise X Rewards Credit score Card ($395 annual charge): Earn 75,000 bonus miles after spending $4,000 on purchases throughout the first three months from account opening.
- Capital One VentureOne Rewards Credit score Card (no annual charge): Earn 20,000 bonus miles after spending $500 throughout the first three months from account opening.
- Capital One Enterprise X Enterprise ($395 annual charge): Earn as much as 350,000 bonus miles: Obtain 150,000 miles after spending $30,000 within the first three months, and a further 200,000 miles after spending $200,000 within the first six months from account opening.
- Citi Strata Premier℠ Card (see charges and charges): Earn 60,000 bonus factors after spending $4,000 on purchases within the first three months of account opening.
Switch factors from lodge applications
You’ll be able to switch Marriott Bonvoy factors at a fee of three:1 (so 3,000 Bonvoy factors would grow to be 1,000 Turkish miles). For each 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy factors you switch, you will obtain a bonus of 5,000 Miles&Smiles miles.
You may also convert 5,000 Alternative Privileges factors to 1,000 Miles&Smiles miles.
Associated: 17 methods to earn a number of Marriott Bonvoy factors
Earn miles for flying
You’ll be able to fly Turkish Airways-operated flights to earn reward miles primarily based in your fare class, Miles&Smiles elite standing degree and flight distance.
Turkish Airways is a member of the Star Alliance. Consequently, you too can earn miles by flying Turkish’s associate airways — like Lufthansa, United Airways, Air Canada and Swiss — then crediting these miles to your Miles&Smiles account. For a lot of U.S.-based vacationers, the almost certainly associate to fly and credit score to Miles&Smiles would probably be United Airways.
You may earn Turkish miles primarily based on the fare class and distance of your United-operated flight.
This system additionally companions with the next airways outdoors of the Star Alliance:
There are totally different incomes charts for every associate airline. So, test in case your fare class can earn miles, and see what number of miles you will earn earlier than placing your Turkish frequent flyer quantity on a associate reservation.
Earn miles by different companions
The Miles&Smiles program has a complete record of different incomes companions that you could find right here. It contains (however just isn’t restricted to):
- Hilton Inns
- Kaligo
- The Bicester Assortment
- Avis
- Hertz
- Enterprise
- Sixt
- IHG One Rewards
- Reserving.com
- Turkcell
Lastly, Turkish miles expire three years from the time they’re earned. You’ll be able to pay a charge of $20 for each 1,000 miles which are about to run out to increase them for an additional three years.
Associated: Easy methods to maintain your factors and miles from expiring
Easy methods to redeem Turkish Miles&Smiles
Easy methods to guide a Turkish Airways-operated award flight
If you wish to guide an award ticket operated solely by Turkish Airways, you will get to the award reserving engine from the Turkish homepage by clicking the “Award Ticket” checkbox.
It will require you to log into your Miles&Smiles account after which go to the award ticket reserving engine. There, you may enter your origin, vacation spot, dates, class of service and variety of passengers. This primary search display screen is just for Turkish-operated flight itineraries.
After deciding on a flight, you will see the flight particulars, the plane kind and the award house labeled as promotional or common pricing, which is able to match the revealed award charts.
The next web page gives you the overall flight value, together with taxes and charges, even when you do not have the required miles in your account.
Easy methods to guide a Star Alliance associate award flight
You need to discover the Star Alliance award search engine to seek for Star Alliance-operated award flights.
To entry Star Alliance award searches, log into your Turkish Miles&Smiles account. On the drop-down menu (under your identify), choose “Miles Transactions.” You may see the hyperlink that may take you to the Star Alliance award ticket reserving engine.
The Star Alliance search engine appears an identical to the Turkish-operated award search engine, besides it says “Star Award Ticket” on the prime.
You’ll be able to then comply with the identical course of to guide associate flights.
Associated: The perfect web sites to seek for Star Alliance award availability
Issues to learn about this system
One of the simplest ways to redeem Turkish miles is for award flights. Whereas different choices could exist in this system, reserving Turkish Airways- or Star Alliance-operated flights will get you most worth.
With that in thoughts, listed below are just a few of a very powerful guidelines and nuances of Miles&Smiles:
- The Miles&Smiles web site is glitchy, difficult and irritating. You may want loads of endurance and persistence to navigate it. For instance, when selecting a login password, it will possibly solely be numeric, should be precisely six digits, can’t have the identical quantity greater than twice (whether or not consecutive or not) and won’t be remembered by your Google password supervisor. You need to then obtain a textual content message code to log in, which can or could not arrive, particularly when you’ve got a non-Turkish cellphone quantity.
- The membership quantity this system gives to you could not work in the event you do not delete the primary two “TK” letters.
- There are two ranges of award availability for Turkish-operated flights: common and promotional. Common does not technically have a reputation. It’s simply labeled “award ticket” whenever you see it within the search outcomes. “Promo house” (nonetheless known as “restricted house capability” within the phrases and situations) means fewer seats can be found at a a lot decrease mileage value than the common “award ticket” house.
- You’ll be able to guide one-way awards for half the value of a round-trip journey.
- You’ll be able to redeem miles for another person, however it’s essential to register them in your Miles&Smiles account first.
- When you want further miles to buy an award ticket, you should purchase them at a fee of $30 (together with value-added tax) per each 1,000 miles (as much as 50,000 miles per calendar yr).
- Gas surcharges will not be charged on United flights and are considerably affordable on Turkish flights, however they are often problematic on some Star Alliance carriers like Lufthansa and Swiss.
- Award tickets may be canceled or modified for a charge of $70.
- One open jaw is allowed on a round-trip ticket. An open jaw is an itinerary whenever you fly into one metropolis and out of one other.
- One stopover is allowed on the outbound or return of a Turkish Airways-operated award itinerary. A stopover is whenever you keep in a metropolis alongside the trail of your itinerary for a time frame.
Finest makes use of of Turkish Miles&Smiles
Miles&Smiles makes use of two totally different award charts, one for Turkish Airways-operated flights and the opposite for Star Alliance and different partner-operated flights.
Listed below are a few of the greatest methods to redeem Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles:
- Fly on United Airways from the mainland U.S. to Hawaii for 10,000 miles one-way in economic system or 15,000 miles one-way in enterprise class.
- Fly on United Airways from the mainland U.S. to Alaska, Puerto Rico or the U.S. Virgin Islands for 10,000 miles one-way in economic system or 20,000 miles one-way in firstclass.
- Fly on United Airways from the mainland U.S. to Mexico for 30,000 miles one-way in economic system or 40,000 miles one-way in enterprise class.
- Fly on Turkish Airways, Star Alliance companions or a mixture from wherever inside North America (Mexico and Canada included) to Istanbul for 65,000 miles in enterprise class.
Nevertheless, discovering award availability may be robust. Subsequently, earlier than transferring your bank card rewards to Turkish Airways, affirm that there are award tickets out there, as transfers are irreversible.
Associated: A overview of Turkish Airways’ 787 in enterprise class from Cancun to Istanbul
Observe that whilst you can guide Turkish Airways-operated flights and most partner-operated flights on-line, it’s troublesome to search out the most affordable promotional award tickets operated by Turkish Airways with out clicking by day-to-day. You might want to use an exterior software like Seats.aero to simply discover the most affordable charges throughout 12 months.
Backside line
Logging into your account on their web site is a problem, particularly with a registered non-Turkish cellphone quantity.
Some nice worth redemptions are nonetheless out there, particularly if you could find the pretty elusive 65,000-mile business-class tickets to Istanbul.
