[Expired] [Award Alert] Fly Between Chicago and Istanbul From 15,000 Miles on Turkish Airlines

Update:The offer mentioned below has expired and is no longer available.

As part of a promotion through the rest of 2023, Turkish Airlines is revealing new deals weekly on its Instagram account for discounted award tickets.

This week’s promotion is particularly interesting, as the carrier is offering 50% off award travel for 2 destinations: Chicago (ORD) and Luxembourg (LUX).

Let’s run through everything you need to know.

Offer Details

Travelers can save 50% when booking one-way or round-trip economy award tickets using the Turkish Miles&Smiles program. Destinations include Chicago and Luxembourg (including Chicago to Istanbul nonstop or Chicago to Luxembourg via Istanbul).

The promotion is valid for travel through March 31, 2024, however, tickets must be purchased by November 8, 2023. Blackout dates are December 11, 2023, through January 15, 2024.

With the 50% discount, you can redeem just 15,000 miles each way — or 30,000 miles round-trip — between Chicago and Istanbul (or Luxembourg).

How To Book

Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus are generally pretty reliable ways to find Star Alliance award space, thanks to their monthly calendar function. You can also use Turkish Airlines’ website itself, although it is rather slow and only lets you search for a day at a time.

However you find availability, final bookings must be made through Turkish’s website. 

Even if you’re running low, it’s easy to earn Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles. Turkish is a transfer partner of Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, and Citi ThankYou Rewards. These flexible currencies all transfer to Turkish Airlines at a 1:1 ratio, which means 1 flexible point becomes 1 Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles mile. You can also transfer points from Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred.

Hot Tip: Looking for other ways to fly to Europe? Check out our handy guide: The Best Ways To Fly to Europe With Points & Miles [Step-by-Step].

Final Thoughts

A 50% discount on already reasonably-priced economy class awards is exciting news. If you’re comfortable with flying in the back of the plane for this long-haul flight (and either are based in Chicago or can easily get yourself there to catch a flight), this is an excellent deal for those looking to get to Istanbul and beyond.