Best Ways To Book Turkish Airlines Business Class With Points

Turkish Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkey. With a strategic location solidly in the center of the world, it’s no surprise that this airline flies to the most countries of any airline globally.

This airline offers nonstop flights to Istanbul (IST), is a Star Alliance partner, and has an underrated business class product (particularly the food and beverage).

In this guide, we’ll show you how to book Turkish Airlines business class using points, saving you thousands of dollars per ticket!

Let’s get started.

Table of contents

A Look Inside Turkish Airlines Business Class
How To Fly Turkish Airlines Business Class Using Points
Great Turkish Airlines Business Class Redemptions
How To Earn Enough Miles for Turkish Airlines Business Class
When Should You Search for Award Space
What Makes Turkish Airlines a Great Redemption Business Class
Final Thoughts

Table of Contents

A Look Inside Turkish Airlines Business Class
How To Fly Turkish Airlines Business Class Using Points
Great Turkish Airlines Business Class Redemptions
How To Earn Enough Miles for Turkish Airlines Business Class
When Should You Search for Award Space
What Makes Turkish Airlines a Great Redemption Business Class
Final Thoughts

A Look Inside Turkish Airlines Business Class

Turkish Airlines 777-300ER business class. Image Credit: Turkish Airlines

Let’s get the bad news out of the way first. Turkish Airlines’ older business class product is still being flown and is woefully crowded.

Arranged in a 2-3-2 configuration on its 777-300ER aircraft, these forward-facing seats are lie-flat but don’t have direct aisle access at every seat.

However, due to the seat design, the ottoman on which you rest your feet is actually larger than usual, which means extra legroom!

If you happen to be flying on Turkish’s new flagship aircraft, the 787-9, you’ll enjoy a much-improved hard product with seats in a 1-2-1 configuration, a sleek pod design for extra privacy, and direct aisle access.

Turkish Airlines Boeing 787 9 Business Class Seat 8A from Behind — Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 business class seat. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Turkish Airlines’ ground experience is great, too. This is because its hub airport in Istanbul (IST) has a spectacular lounge that serves as its flagship, and it comes with restaurant-quality food cooked to order, tons of space, showers, nap areas, and even a grand piano!

Turkish Airlines Business Lounge Self Playing Piano — Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in Istanbul. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Hot Tip: Check out our review of Turkish Airlines Boeing 787 business class [IST > DPS], including an extensive look at the outrageous Turkish Airlines Business Lounge in Istanbul.

Even if you’re not departing Istanbul, you’ll have access to a wonderful array of lounges because of Turkish Airlines’ membership in the Star Alliance.

Once you step foot onto the plane, the star of the show is the food and drink. Sure, you’ll also get a Versace amenity kit that’s loaded with goodies, but you’ll also enjoy a diverse wine selection, Taittinger Champagne, an onboard chef curating multi-course dining experiences, quintessential Turkish deserts, and all the bells and whistles that come with Do & Co catering.

The inflight entertainment is top-notch, too!

The biggest overall downside is the dated hard product you’ll be seated in unless you’re flying the ultramodern 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. There are minor service flaws here and there, but nothing catastrophic.

How To Fly Turkish Airlines Business Class Using Points

Turkish Airlines offers splendid award availability.

Also, Turkish Airlines has a gigantic list of nonstop routes to/from the U.S., including nonstop flights to non-gateway cities like Denver (DEN) and Boston (BOS)!

Turkish Airlines releases long-haul award availability earlier than virtually any other Star Alliance airline, often releases 4 or more seats at a time, and rarely restricts capacity through blackout dates.

There’s a lot to love about the security of having Turkish Airlines business class availability, especially if you’re booking travel for a family.

U.S.-to-Istanbul flights come with around $270 in taxes and fees (of which $240 is fuel surcharges), while flights in the reverse direction have around $300 in taxes and fees.

For the purposes of our discussion, we’ll be looking at the prices to fly from the U.S. to Turkey in business class across the various loyalty programs.

Let’s take a look at those frequent flyer programs best suited for booking Turkish Airlines business class.

ANA Mileage Club

In a world where airlines are seemingly devaluing frequent flyer programs with no end in sight, ANA Mileage Club has held steadfast in its commitment to preserving award flight prices.

That’s why ANA Mileage Club is always at the top of our list when we’re looking at the best ways to book basically any Star Alliance business class flight!

ANA Mileage Club does not allow one-way award bookings, only round-trip or open-jaw bookings. Also, ANA passes on Turkish Airlines’ fuel surcharges, but it offers exceptional round-trip award pricing for business class flights.

Here’s the award chart for round-trip flights on Turkish Airlines between the U.S. and Istanbul:

Cabin Class	ANA Miles Cost (Round-Trip)	Taxes and Fees
Economy	55,000	~$390
Business	88,000	~$494

Because ANA isn’t the best website to preemptively search for award space before booking, we recommend following these directions:

Use United’s website to search for award space.
After finding the best flight, write down the flight information.
Go to ANA’s website.
Click ANA Mileage Club near the right-hand side on the top banner.
Click International on the left side of the site under Flight Awards.
Click Award Reservation to the right of the International button.
You’ll be prompted to log in. Enter your ANA Mileage Club number and password.
Toggle Round trip or Open-jaw for your trip type.
Enter your origin and destination airport, flight dates, cabin class, number of travelers, and hit Search.
Choose your flights and use a credit card to pay for taxes and fees.

A successful award search on ANA will clearly show Turkish Airlines as the operating airline, as well as the correct mileage amount and total taxes/fees:

Turkish Airlines ANA Mileage Club search — Image Credit: ANA

Earning ANA Mileage Club Miles

ANA Mileage Club is an Amex transfer partner and Marriott Bonvoy transfer partner. The best way to earn ANA miles is to transfer Amex Membership Rewards points at a 1:1 ratio (it takes around 3 business days to process).

Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. That means if you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, you will end up with 25,000 ANA miles. Marriott Bonvoy transfers to ANA take around 4 business days to complete.

Recommended American Express Cards (Personal)

Business Owner? Check out our article on the best Amex business cards that earn Membership Rewards.

Bottom Line: If you’re looking for the most attractive way to book Turkish Airlines, you can bet that using Amex Membership Rewards points to transfer to ANA Mileage Club is the best option. You’ll pay a shocking 88,000 points for a round-trip business class flight from the U.S. to Istanbul!

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles

One of the more intriguing loyalty programs is Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, and it only makes sense that it’s one of the best options to book Turkish Airlines flights.

It’s generally pretty difficult to redeem Turkish Airlines miles for flights on airline partners, but you should be able to book a Turkish Airlines-operated flight completely online if you have Turkish Airlines miles.

The flight costs are pretty darn low, one-way flights are permitted, and the online search engine is reliable for Turkish Airlines flights.

Specifically, Turkish Airlines flights between the U.S. and Turkey have one-way costs as follows:

Cabin Class	Turkish Airlines Miles Cost (One-Way)	Taxes and Fees
Economy	30,000	~$145 to $183
Business	45,000	~$211 to $250

Turkish Airlines charges just 2,000 miles more than ANA Mileage Club does for a round-trip business class award booking, but you’ll need to also consider that it’s more difficult to earn Turkish Airlines miles.

Here are the steps you can follow to book a Turkish Airlines business class flight using Turkish Airlines miles:

Visit TurkishAirlines.com.
In the top-right corner, click Sign In and log into your Miles&Smiles account.
After logging in, you’ll see a search box.
Click the checkbox in the top-right corner of the search box that says Award ticket – Buy a ticket with Miles.
Enter your departure and arrival airports, your date of travel, the number of passengers, and toggle the box that says Business Class.
Perform the search.
Click on your desired flight and click Select this flight.
Redeem your Turkish Airlines miles and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Hot Tip: If you don’t have enough miles for a full redemption you can use miles for up to 50% of a paid ticket using the Cash&Miles program.

Earning Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Miles

Turkish Airlines has 4 transfer partners: Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Bilt Rewards points transfer almost instantly, Citi ThankYou Points transfer in 1 to 2 business days, while Capital One miles transfer in 1 business day, all at a 1:1 ratio.

Marriott Bonvoy transfers points to Turkish Airlines at a 3:1 ratio. For every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points you transfer, you’ll receive a bonus of 5,000 Turkish Airlines miles.

Recommended Citi Cards

Bottom Line: If you need to book a Turkish Airlines business class ticket and happen to have Citi ThankYou Points, the best deal is to transfer them to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles at a rate of 45,000 miles in each direction. Taxes and fees are passed on, which are generally around $170 to $220 one-way.

Avianca LifeMiles

Avianca LifeMiles is another solid frequent flyer program to use for Turkish Airlines award flights. This particular currency is one of the easiest to earn, even though its redemption rates are reasonable.

And if you can deal with incomplete award searches being displayed and are willing to invest a bit more time into planning this flight, you can take advantage of some awesome aspects of this program.

Let’s get the award chart out of the way, first. Check out the table below to learn about redemption costs between the U.S. and Istanbul:

Cabin Class	Avianca LifeMiles Cost (One-Way)	Taxes and Fees
Economy	30,000	~$38
Business	63,000	~$38

You’ll immediately notice that fuel surcharges are not passed on, as is the case with all LifeMiles award flights.

If all of this sounds good to you, follow these steps to book your ticket using LifeMiles:

Use United’s website to search for award space; then write down the flight information.
Visit LifeMiles’ website.
Change the site language to English by clicking the flag icon in the top-right corner and choosing English.
Click Log in at the top-right corner and enter your LifeMiles Number and Password.
Once logged in and redirected to the homepage, click Fly.
In the flight search box, you’ll see a menu that says Smart Search by default. Change it to Turkish Airlines.
Enter your flight information, select either one-way or round-trip, and click Find Flights.
Choose your dates from the calendar.
After confirming availability, transfer your points to LifeMiles and make the reservation by redeeming LifeMiles.
Enter your traveler information and use a credit card to pay for any taxes and fees.

Earning Avianca LifeMiles

Another positive attribute of LifeMiles is the huge list of transfer partners consisting of Amex Membership Rewards, Brex Rewards, Capital One Miles, Citi ThankYou Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

All of the above, except Marriott Bonvoy, transfer instantly at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy transfers at a 3:1 ratio.

There are 2 other reasons why you’d want to consider transferring to LifeMiles, even with its more expensive redemption rate on paper:

Transfer bonuses of 20% to 30% are routinely offered by Amex, Brex, and Citi
LifeMiles periodically publishes award sales, up to 20% off

In the event that you can line up a transfer bonus with an award sale, you can bring down the cost of a flight that normally costs 63,000 LifeMiles to less than 40,000 transferable points!

Plus, LifeMiles sells miles with huge bonuses regularly, all the way up to 200% extra bonus miles (1.0 to 1.1 cents per point), which means even if you had zero points and miles, you could basically buy a business class ticket on Turkish Airlines for ~$600 in each direction!

Recommended Capital One Cards

Bottom Line: Even though LifeMiles charges 63,000 miles per person for a one-way business class flight, there are many reasons why you’d want to consider it over Turkish Airlines. This includes amazing mileage sales, enhanced transfer partnerships, award flight discount sales, and the absence of fuel surcharges. In particular, this is the best way to book Turkish Airlines business class if you have Capital One miles, thanks to the enhanced 1:1 transfer ratio offered.

Air Canada Aeroplan

Air Canada’s points program, Aeroplan, could be a very useful way to book Turkish Airlines flights.

It uses a complex pricing system for award flights, but here’s what you need to remember about U.S.-Turkey flights: they fall under Aeroplan’s award chart for flights between North America and the Atlantic region.

Moreover, Aeroplan uses a distance-based award chart, which means you’ll need to figure out how far your flight travels in distance to get an accurate price.

Here’s the award chart:

Distance (Miles)	Economy	Business
0 to 4,000	35,000	60,000
4,001 to 6,000	40,000	70,000
6,001 to 8,000	55,000	85,000
8,001+	70,000	100,000

For example, a nonstop, one-way flight between Boston (BOS) and Istanbul (IST) is 4,814 miles in flight distance, which means this business class flight would cost 70,000 Aeroplan points.

Also, Aeroplan permits stopovers on one-way flights for an additional 5,000 points, making it a no-brainer if you’re planning on visiting Turkey and another city.

No fuel surcharges are passed on, and there’s a low CA$39 (~$32) partner booking fee assessed for each ticket.

Here’s how to book:

Go to the Air Canada website.
Hover over the button that says Sign in in the top-right corner and click Sign in.
Enter your Aeroplan login credentials and click Sign in.
You’ll see a search box on the redirected homepage.
Toggle the slider that says Points.
Choose Round-trip or One-way for your trip type.
Enter your flight information.
Click Find.
Use your Aeroplan points and a credit card to book your Turkish Airlines flight.
- If you want to add a stopover, you’ll need to call Aeroplan at 800-361-5373 to confirm your booking after finding availability for each segment.

Earning Air Canada Aeroplan Points

Aeroplan points are easy to earn because you can transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Most notably, this is the first Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner we’ll be considering for Turkish Airlines business class flights.

Amex, Bilt, Capital One, and Chase transfer to Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly. Marriott Bonvoy transfers to Aeroplan in 5 business days at a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus when you transfer 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points.

Recommended Chase Cards (Personal)

Business Owner? Read our article on the best Chase business cards that earn Ultimate Rewards.

Bottom Line: To book Turkish Airlines business class flights using Chase Ultimate Rewards points, the best program is Air Canada Aeroplan. You can also transfer points from Amex, Bilt, Capital One, and Marriott Bonvoy.

Asiana Club

One of the programs with the best redemption prices to Turkey is Asiana Club. But it does come with a huge caveat — it’s pretty hard to earn Asiana miles.

This approach primarily appeals to those who have already accumulated a small pile of Asiana miles. But if you already have Asiana miles, the redemption price is even better than ANA Mileage Club:

Cabin Class	Asiana Miles Cost (One-Way)	Taxes and Fees
Economy	25,000	~$135 to $173
Business	40,000	~$211 to $249

As usual, taxes and fees, including fuel surcharges, are all passed on.

Asiana Airlines doesn’t allow partner award bookings to be made online, only Asiana-operated flights. Follow these directions to book your Turkish Airlines flight using Asiana miles:

Find award availability using a Star Alliance partner website like United.com.
After finding availability, call Asiana Airlines’ reservation center at 800-227-4262.
Provide the reservations agent with your flight details.
Book the ticket using Asiana miles and a credit card for taxes and fees.

Earning Asiana Club Miles

Asiana Airlines’ only transfer partner is Marriott Bonvoy, which has a 3:1 ratio with a 5,000-mile bonus after transferring 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points. Transfers take around 4 business days.

Recommended Marriott Bonvoy Cards

United MileagePlus

United MileagePlus is the last major frequent flyer program we’ll be discussing to book Turkish Airlines business class flights.

If you don’t have the patience or willpower to deal with award searches, United MileagePlus is probably the best bet for you.

You definitely won’t get the best redemption prices, but you’ll book your ticket through a familiar search engine, won’t be liable for fuel surcharges, and can do your booking 100% online on 1 website.

United MileagePlus uses a dynamic award pricing system, but partner award flights don’t deviate much for the most part:

Cabin Class	United Miles Cost (One-Way)	Taxes and Fees
Economy	From 30,000	~$5.60
Business	From 77,000	~$5.60

If you see mileage prices of 80,500 or 88,000 miles, that could be due to the dynamic award system United has in place.

United MileagePlus doesn’t pass on any fuel surcharges, keeping your out-of-pocket costs as low as possible.

Here’s how to book your flight using United MileagePlus:

Go to United.com.
On the homepage’s search box, check off the box that says Book with Miles.
Choose either Roundtrip or One-way.
Type in your airport pairs.
Enter your dates, number of travelers, and cabin class.
Click the Find flights button.
Browse your flight results and book a ticket by spending your United miles and use a credit card for taxes and fees.

Earning United MileagePlus Miles

United MileagePlus has transfer partnerships with Bilt Rewards and Chase Ultimate Rewards at a 1:1 ratio (points transfer instantly) and Marriott Bonvoy at a 3:1.1 ratio (points transfer in 1 business day) with a 5,500-mile bonus for every 60,000 Marriott Bonvoy points transferred to United (resulting in 27,500 United miles).

Also, Chase issues co-branded United MileagePlus credit cards that earn United miles directly, offer free checked bags on United flights, and more.

Recommended United Cards

Other Great Options for Booking Turkish Airlines

Some other frequent flyer programs that you can use to book Turkish Airlines business class flights include Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer, EVA Air Infinity MileageLands, and Lufthansa Miles & More.

These options are generally either unattractive in price, come with extra booking hurdles, or are difficult to earn.

That being said, if you already have a bunch of miles in a different Star Alliance airline’s currency, you might be better off using those first before transferring any points.

Great Turkish Airlines Business Class Redemptions

Now that we’ve analyzed the best frequent flyer programs to book Turkish Airlines business class flights, let’s take a look at what it would look like to book a round-trip business class flight on Turkish Airlines with the following summary table:

Route (Round-Trip)	ANA Miles Cost	Turkish Miles Cost	Avianca LifeMiles Cost	Air Canada Points Cost	Asiana Miles Cost	United Miles Cost
U.S. to Turkey	88,000 + $454	90,000 + $454	126,000 + $76	140,000 to 170,000 + $81	80,000 + $454	154,000 + $11

In terms of absolute lowest mileage prices, Asiana Club wins — but when you also factor in how hard it is to earn Asiana miles, it won’t be a practical redemption method for a vast majority of travelers.

The 2 best ways to book Turkish Airlines business class with points are ANA Mileage Club (with Amex Membership Rewards points or Marriott Bonvoy points) and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles (with Citi ThankYou Points and Capital One miles). These 2 programs have the most attractive redemption rates, as well as the ability to easily earn points through credit card spending.

Air Canada Aeroplan is the best Chase Ultimate Rewards transfer partner for Turkish Airlines flights originating from the East Coast or Midwest, allows a stopover on one-way bookings for an additional 5,000 miles, and does not pass on fuel surcharges.

United MileagePlus has decent redemption rates, but its true selling point is a ridiculously simple process to book award tickets. MileagePlus has better award prices than Aeroplan for Turkish Airlines flights between Istanbul and the West Coast or Gulf Coast (Texas).

Asiana Club has the best redemption rates, but you’d generally want to use this program if you have a ton of Marriott Bonvoy points.

The next discussion is stopovers — each will have unique allowances and rules:

ANA Mileage Club permits 1 stopover and 1 open-jaw on each award booking
Turkish Airlines allows either 1 stopover or 1 open-jaw on each award booking (even one-way tickets)
Avianca LifeMiles doesn’t permit stopovers
Air Canada Aeroplan allows stopovers on one-way tickets for an additional 5,000 miles
Asiana has incredibly complicated stopover allowances on partner-operated flights, but up to 8 stopovers are allowed on a round-trip award
United MileagePlus does allow stopovers via its Excursionist Perk, which takes a bit of research and familiarization to utilize

Here are some of the best redemptions you can make aboard Turkish Airlines:

Atlanta (ATL) – Istanbul (IST) – Izmir (ADB) one-way in Turkish Airlines business class with a stopover in Istanbul for 45,000 Turkish Airlines miles
Chicago (ORD) – Istanbul (IST) one-way in Turkish Airlines business class for 63,000 Avianca LifeMiles
Los Angeles (LAX) – Istanbul (IST) – Bodrum (BJV) round-trip in Turkish Airlines business class with a stopover in Istanbul for 88,000 ANA miles
Miami (MIA) – Istanbul (IST) one-way in Turkish Airlines business class for 70,000 Aeroplan points
San Francisco (SFO) – Istanbul (IST) – Ankara (ESB) one-way in Turkish Airlines business class for 77,000 United miles

How To Earn Enough Miles for Turkish Airlines Business Class

A variety of ways exist to book Turkish Airlines business class; similarly, there are a variety of ways you can earn enough miles for Turkish Airlines business class!

In this guide, we’ve shown you the major frequent flyer programs you should use, and in the section, we’ll show you how you can use literally any transferable currency to book the Turkish Airlines flight you want.

If you are currency-agnostic, the best deals will be using Marriott Bonvoy points transferred to Asiana Club, Amex Membership Rewards points transferred to ANA Mileage Club, or Citi ThankYou Points transferred to Turkish Airlines.

However, you might occasionally encounter a deal with LifeMiles where you can get a transfer bonus and an award flight sale.

Here is the summary of points you can earn to book Turkish Airlines business class:

American Express Membership Rewards points transfer at a 1:1 ratio to ANA Mileage Club in around 3 days and Avianca LifeMiles and Air Canada Aeroplan almost instantly.
Bilt Rewards points transfer instantly to Turkish Miles&Smiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, and United MileagePlus at a 1:1 almost instantly.
Brex Rewards points transfer instantly to Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio.
Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer to Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly.
Citi ThankYou Rewards Points transfer to Turkish Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio in 1 to 2 business days and Avianca LifeMiles at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly.
Capital One miles transfer to Turkish Miles&Smiles at a 1:1 ratio within 1 business day and Avianca LifeMiles and Air Canada Aeroplan at a 1:1 ratio almost instantly.
Marriott Bonvoy points transfers at a 3:1 ratio to ANA Mileage Club (4 days), Avianca LifeMiles (1 day), Air Canada Aeroplan (5 days), Asiana Club (4 days), and Turkish Miles&Smiles (unknown time) at a 3:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy also transfers to United MileagePlus at a slightly improved 3:1.1 ratio in 3 days.

LifeMiles consistently receives transfer bonuses of 20% to 30%, Aeroplan sometimes gets transfer bonuses of 15% to 25%, and Turkish Miles&Smiles has rarely received transfer bonuses of 20% to 25%.

You can expect to never get transfer bonuses for ANA and United, just to set expectations.

When Should You Search for Award Space

Turkish Airlines generously releases award space, anywhere from 2 to 6 business class seats at once. Generally, flights from the U.S. East Coast enjoy the best award availability, while flights from the West Coast are slightly harder to find.

Turkish Airlines also releases more award availability around 1 month in advance, but they generally do not release award availability last minute (less than 1 month before departure).

So the easiest way to book Turkish Airlines business class is to plan far in advance or around 1 month in advance. It’s generally not a good idea to try to book Turkish Airlines business class flights a few days before departure.

We recommend searching for award availability using United’s website.

What Makes Turkish Airlines a Great Redemption Business Class

Turkish Airlines doesn’t get the attention it deserves due to its dated hard product on the Boeing 777-300ER and the A330-300.

However, if you look past that, you’ll actually find that Turkish Airlines excels in pretty much every other aspect.

Even so, the hard product actually becomes a highlight if you have the chance to fly on the 787-9 Dreamliner!

Let’s take a look at some reasons why you’d want to book Turkish Airlines business class.

Great Award Availability

For most of us, we don’t have all the time in the world to look for award availability and wait around for flights to pop up.

This is especially true if you have a family, are less flexible, and need to have a guaranteed, comfortable business class option.

This is where Turkish Airlines excels. Turkish Airlines is known for releasing award availability (especially for travel during the prime summer months) earlier than all of its other partners.

Also, when doing so, Turkish Airlines usually releases 4 business class seats on its flights, sometimes more!

Because of its membership in the Star Alliance, there are also plenty of ways to book Turkish Airlines business class with virtually any transferable points currency.

Phenomenal Catering

Turkish Airlines Boeing 787 9 Business Class Potpourri of Seafood — Turkish Airlines Boeing 787-9 business class potpourri of seafood. Image Credit: Greg Stone

Turkish Airlines is world-renowned for channeling the culinary spirit of Turkey into its onboard products.

Turkey is, no doubt, a foodie destination, known for Turkish desserts, unique options, and refined palates.

The flag carrier takes this to heart by employing Do & Co to help its food and beverage program. In addition to a large wine selection, Turkish Airlines boasts multi-course meals, an onboard chef in business class, a phenomenal airport lounge dining experience, and one of the most complete catering services in the sky.

Amazing Connectivity

Another underrated attribute of Turkish Airlines is its incredible connectivity.

Turkey is located smack in the center of the world, which, logistically, makes them the best-positioned airline to connect one end of the world to another via its hub in Istanbul.

The airline operates nonstop flights to more than 120 countries around the world, overshadowing its closest competitor, Lufthansa, by more than 15 countries.

So if you want to fly to the Middle East or North Africa, Africa, Central Asia, or Eastern Europe, chances are Turkish Airlines can get you there in 1 stop.

Hot Tip: When you build a stopover of over 20 hours in Istanbul into your business class itinerary, you can enjoy a stay in a 5-star hotel for 2 days, free of charge! Turkish Airlines’ Stopover in Istanbul page has more details.

Final Thoughts

With Turkish Airlines, you’re able to take advantage of possibly the most lucrative business class deal out there: ANA Mileage Club’s round-trip award tickets.

Even if you don’t have Amex Membership Rewards points, Turkish Airlines business class flights are bookable using basically any transferable points system.

If you have Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Air Canada Aeroplan or United MileagePlus both work (the former is best for stopovers and/or flights originating in the U.S. East Coast).

If you have Citi ThankYou Rewards Points, it’s hard to beat Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles or Avianca LifeMiles.

If you have Capital One miles, Avianca LifeMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles are great options.

Brex Rewards also offers LifeMiles as a strong transfer partner.

You’ll enjoy Turkish Airlines’ fantastic business class product faster than you thought if you stick to the principles outlined in this guide!

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Featured Image Credit: Pixabay/ Mircea

Frequently asked questions

What is the best way to book Turkish Airlines business class?

The best way to book Turkish Airlines business class is through Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles, ANA Mileage Club, Avianca LifeMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, Asiana Club, or United MileagePlus.

Turkish Airlines offers attractive rates and is capable of booking Turkish Airlines award flights online.

Otherwise, the best rates will be on ANA Mileage Club, though only round-trips are allowed.

What credit cards can help me fly Turkish Airlines business class?

Turkish Airlines business class is bookable using any of the transferable currencies.

If you have Amex points, the best option is ANA Mileage Club.

If you have Chase points, you can redeem through Aeroplan or United.

If you have Citi ThankYou Points, utilize either Turkish Airlines or Avianca LifeMiles.

If you have Marriott Bonvoy points, you can transfer to Asiana Club.

Lastly, if you have Capital One miles, you can transfer to Turkish Airlines, Avianca LifeMiles, or Air Canada Aeroplan.

What do I get when flying Turkish Airlines business class?

Turkish Airlines is famous for its tasty food and beverage program. And even though its older business class is dated, it's still a fully lie-flat seat.

In addition, you'll find some terrific lounges, particularly in Istanbul, plus generous award availability and warm service.

Is Turkish Airlines serving food in business class?

Turkish Airlines, early in the pandemic, made extreme cuts to its in-flight catering. Luckily, though, it has since almost completely restored its food and beverage offering!

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About Stephen Au

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Stephen has been privileged to enjoy many premium cabin products and 5-star hotels. As one of the foremost experts in credit cards, over the past 4 years, he has amassed a portfolio of over 70 credit cards, both personal and business. Stephen has personally tested, first-hand, almost every major rewards credit card on the market today, spanning banks such as American Express, Bank of America, Barclays, Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, City National Bank, U.S. Bank, and more.

Disclaimer: Any comments listed below are not from the bank advertiser, nor have they been reviewed or approved by them. No responsibility will be taken by the bank advertiser for these comments.

19 comments

Nouri December 14, 2021

Great article but you mentioned 45,000 miles with Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles for one way business class ticket from US to Istanbul. It’s 105,000 miles actually + USD 189.70. (Check both high and low season, same number of miles needed)

Reply
- Stephen Au December 17, 2021
  
  Hi Nouri,
  
  The price you’re getting quoted is not the “promotional level” pricing. These are a bit harder to find but much cheaper. The 105,000 miles pricing is much easier to find but much more expensive.
  
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  - Nouri January 26, 2023
    
    Is it better to book economy and if promotional business opens later, ask Turkish airlines to cancel economy and book promotional business? Regular business with points is too expensive at 105,000 points.
    
    Reply
  - Jacob May 4, 2023
    
    Hi Stephen, I think Nouri may be on to something. It looks to me like Turkish totally repriced their award tickets. Before, it was somewhere around 47K regular from North America to the Mideast and even less with the promotion rate. I think my wife flew business class for 37K plus $350 or each way from Seattle to Tel Aviv!) But now it looks like even the promotional ticket would be 94K each way. I think it went from being the absolute best deal around to average. Would you mind terribly taking a look their current award chart and saying what you think? I think there was a huge change and if I’m correct maybe you could break the story, perhaps with a hat tip to Nouri and me!
    
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Jackie March 6, 2022

Hey Stephen! Lots of good tips here! What would you suggest for someone wanting to book a business class ticket with Turkish Airways from Seoul, South Korea to England with a stopover in Turkey? Would you still say that Air Canada would be the best route? We’ve got about 95,000 Ultimate Rewards points that could be transferred and put towards the cost of two tickets. Any suggestions?

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- Stephen Au March 7, 2022
  
  Hey Jackie! Aeroplan is probably the best bet here. It allows a stopover in Turkey for 5,000 more points, but just remember to search for availability on each segment separately! Then, call Aeroplan to book the entire reservation using points.
  
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Stephanie October 6, 2022

Hello,
Thank you for this very helpful article. Question for you: is it possible to transfer my Avianca Lifemiles or my Aeroplan points directly to Miles and Smiles so I can book directly with Turkish airline?
Thank you.

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- Jarrod West October 10, 2022
  
  Hi Stephanie,
  
  Unfortunately, no it is not possible to transfer your LifeMiles or Aeroplan points directly to Miles and Smiles. However, you can use both of those programs to book tickets on other Star Alliance carriers, but you must do so through its own booking program.
  
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Usama October 17, 2022

Hi Stephen, I am only seeing 125000 miles for a one-way business class ticket from US to Pakistan. Am I missing something?

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- Jarrod West October 17, 2022
  
  Hi Usama,
  
  You need to locate saver award space to receive the lowest award ticket pricing. This usually requires booking far in advance, or being as flexible as possible with your travel dates. So if you’re not seeing it now keep searching!
  
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JJ November 14, 2022

Stephen,
Thank you for your research. I and looking to book from the NYC area to Istanbul next June for 2 weeks in business class and are not finding any deals with less than 110k points (I have Amex points). Also, I saw there was a special from Turkish airlines where if you travel with a stop in Instanbul they will provide 2-night stay in a 5-star hotel. Can you help me out here as I can’t really seem to find details on cheaper flights than 110k or anything about the hotel special? Thanks

Jim

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- Stephen Au November 19, 2022
  
  Hi JJ,
  
  Turkish Airlines is more reliable, at least nowadays, on flights booked less than 3 months in advance. I’d suggest resuming your search during that time. You’ll need to find award availability for each segment separately, book the ticket, and then call or email Turkish Airlines to add the stopover to your ticket. But this stopover hotel promotion is performed after your tickets are booked, not before.
  
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David February 3, 2023

I am trying to search for a direct flight from Toronto to Istanbul on aircanada’s web site but it’s not showing me the direct flights (with Turkish airlines). When I search the same dates on Turkish Airlines web site, I see those flights are available. Any idea why they would be doing that?

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- Jarrod West February 6, 2023
  
  Hi David,
  
  It is likely that Air Canada does not have access to any more award space on TK on the dates you are searching. Airlines only release a few available seats to their partners, but naturally offer more access to those booking through the TK program.
  
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David K February 3, 2023

Hi Stephen,
I just read this great article as well as your EXPERT FLYER article as I’ve been slogging through this type of stuff without enough tools for too long. I really appreciate your in-depth and straightforward approach. I have been trying to book a trip to Paris and Italy or Paris and Istanbul for this coming September or October. I am pretty flexible and have signed up for ExpertFlyer premium but on repeated searches from SFO to IST, I find ZERO award seats in 2023 unless I am searching within the next 2-3 weeks. Is this normal? On AirFrance, I used expert flyer and was able to find award seats but only by inputting fare codes that they don’t use (I & J). Their O class business seats don’t seem available this year either. I feel I must be using the tools incorrectly or maybe a glitch in the matrix. After reading several articles about Turkish airways being generous with their award space, I am surprised that I cannot seem to find anything even close to those two months. I have flown Turkish business before (last year) and it was awesome but wanted to do it again with my wife. Any insights?

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- Jarrod West February 24, 2023
  
  Hi David,
  
  If you’d like to receive assistance from Stephen with your award booking you can reach out to him via his website Aupacs.
  
  Reply
AMV February 8, 2023

I believe TK stopover and open jaw rules have changed at some point. I am no longer able to book a stopover on a one way ticket, and when I called them they price it as two separate flights. I believe it also says no stopovers >24hrs on their new T&C.

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Jay March 6, 2023

There isn’t a “smart search” option on Avianca anymore or at least not today. The basic search option only shows is the standard one that only returns one Avianca flight.

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Jacob May 5, 2023

Stephen, Thank you for the great article. I tried to post something as a reply but I’m not seeing it. It looks like to me the Turkish Miles and Smiles chart changed very dramatically recently. With regular award Biz class tickets from the US to the Middle East 110K and no longer 47Kish. Which it was in March when my wife flew. Could you maybe check on that? Thank you!

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