Ultimate Guide to Turkish Airlines
Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey, offers a comprehensive frequent flyer program called Miles&Smiles. With an extensive network spanning over 300 destinations across more than 120 countries, Turkish Airlines provides travelers numerous opportunities to earn and redeem miles across its partners and on its own flights. This guide will delve into the nuances of earning and spending Turkish miles, explain the program's expiration policy, highlight some sweet spot redemptions, and discuss other program-specific nuances and cancellation policies.
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How to Earn Turkish Airlines Miles
Flying Turkish Airlines
Earning Miles&Smiles miles is straightforward when flying on Turkish Airlines. Miles earned are based on the distance flown, the fare class, and your membership status. The higher your status, the more miles you earn.
Flying Partner Airlines
For partner flights, miles are typically determined by a combination of miles flown and fare class. Turkish Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, so you can earn miles when flying with any Star Alliance partner. For example, if you fly Singapore Airlines, you can elect to earn Turkish Airlines miles. The following table defines how many Turkish miles you’ll earn when flying Singapore:
Credit Card Transfer Partners
Turkish Airlines is partnered with several major credit card issuers, allowing you to transfer points from these cards into your Miles&Smiles account. These include:
All things considered, Turkish Airlines miles are not as easy to come by as other programs, but are relatively accessible if you have the right cards. Here are some of our favorite cards for accumulating transferable points that you can use to get more Turkish miles:
| Credit Card | Annual Fee | Welcome Bonus | Application |
|---|---|---|---|
 Bilt Mastercard® | $0 | Earn Bilt Points on your monthly rent payments with no transaction fee (up to 100,000 per calendar year) when using the card 5 times each statement period. | Learn more |
 Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card | $395 | Earn 75,000 bonus miles after you spend $4,000 on purchases in your first 3 months from account opening | Learn more |
Buy Miles
If you need more miles for a redemption, you can buy Miles&Smiles miles directly from Turkish Airlines. However, this is generally a rather expensive endeavor. Turkish charges $30 USD for every 1,000 miles you buy—not great.
How To Earn Turkish Airlines Status
Miles&Smiles offers four membership tiers.
Status Miles are accumulated alongside the miles you earn from eligible Turkish and Star Alliance flights. So, to get Elite status, you would need to fly 23,000 miles on Turkish Airlines business class (Fare C/D). Turkish status is useful to have because it gives you additional benefits when flying Star Alliance carriers and can provide a better airport experience.
Notably, you can get Turkish Airlines using status matches. Follow my story on how I did this successfully to get Star Alliance Gold status for 4 months.
Who Are Turkish Airlines Partners?
As a part of the Star Alliance, Turkish Airlines has an extensive list of partner airlines. With Turkish Airlines Elite or Elite Plus status, you’ll enjoy the full benefits of Star Alliance Gold status, which can help save time and money during your journey at the airport.
Turkish also has several non-alliance, codeshare partners:
- Air Astana
- Bangkok Airways
- ITA Airways
- JetBlue
- Hawaiian Airlines
- Etihad Airways
Do Turkish Airlines Miles Expire?
Miles&Smiles miles expire three years after they are earned. However, you can extend the validity of your miles by paying a $20 fee/1,000 miles. As far as I’m aware, Elite members do not get this expiration timeframe waived.
How Turkish Airlines Prices Its Award Flights
Turkish Airlines uses a region-based award chart, making it relatively easy to understand the number of miles needed for various routes. Redemption rates depend on the origin and destination regions and the class of service.
Turkish uses a slightly different chart than what it uses for Star Alliance partner flights (roundtrip pricing):
The Star Alliance/partner airline award chart is much more complicated. In essence, pricing varies by departure/arrival region and there are a total of 12 regions we’re working from.
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Upgrading With Miles
You can use your miles to upgrade from economy to business class on Turkish Airlines flights. The number of miles required varies based on the route:
Turkish Airlines Sweet Spots
Despite the recent devaluation, Turkish Airlines still has some (albeit, few) fantastic sweet spots in their award chart. Here are a few examples:
USA <> Turkey On Turkish Airlines Business Class: 65k Pts One Way
Turkish Airlines flies several nonstop routes out of the United States to/from Turkey, and the prices for these routes are not too shabby—just 65,000 Turkish miles one way with okish fees.
East Coast USA <> India On Turkish Airlines Business Class: 100k Pts One Way
Turkish now prices its award tickets based on the cumulative distance traveled, including any layovers. However, with this in mind, there are still some great awards available when flying to/from India via East Coast USA airports. For example, when flying to India via JFK, BOS, and even ORD, Turkish Airlines only charges 100k miles to fly one-way business class.
Domestic USA Business & Economy Flights: 10k & 15k Pts One Way
The Turkish Airlines award chart is split up for partner award bookings, but the most intriguing scenario is for domestic flights within any one country. When looking at this chart, it’s easy to recognize the value that could be derived:
Based on the chart, you can get one way economy flights from mainland 48 states US to Hawaii or Alaska for just 10,000 miles one way. For business class, you’re looking at just 15,000 miles one way, independent of the distance traveled (as long as it is a domestic flight).
Cancellation Policy
Turkish Airlines charges $70 USD for each award travel change you want to make.
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles is a robust frequent flyer program with numerous earning and redemption opportunities. Whether you're a frequent flyer or an occasional traveler, understanding the ins and outs of this program can help you maximize the value of your miles and enjoy the many benefits Turkish Airlines has to offer.
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