Stephen is an established voice in the credit card space, with over 70 to his name. His work has been in publications like The Washington Post, and his Au Points and Awards Consulting Services is used...
Edited by: Stella Shon
With a degree in media and journalism, Stella has been in the points and miles game for more than 6 years. She most recently worked as a Corporate Communications Analyst for JetBlue. Find her work in ...
& Kellie Jez
Kellie’s professional experience has led her to a deep passion for compliance, data reporting, and process improvement. Kellie’s learned the ins and outs of the points and miles world and leads UP’s c...
64 comments
Stefano
November 15, 2018
Does the traveler have to be the person to appear at the sales office? Or could I delegate it to friends/family who live in those cities?
Stephen Au
November 16, 2018
Hi Stefano,
Unfortunately, at least one of the travelers must be present at the sales office.
Kaew
December 12, 2018
Thank you for the very comprehensive write up.
I just want to point out that: (1) You can actually book a ticket for anyone, you only have to provide their exact name and some basic info over to the call center. (2) Some offices, including LA, is willing to issue tickets via email. They are also now implementing online booking for star alliance award tickets, but it’s still very buggy.
Stephen Au
December 14, 2018
Hey Kaew!
Thanks for reading!
You bring up several good points which we will use to update this post.
Keep in mind that a lot of these situations is dependent on the competency/knowledge of the representative.
But, we will absolutely include caveats! Thanks a lot for reading. We tremendously value your feedback.
Gary
February 08, 2019
Great insight Stephen. I’m thinking on transferring 50k ThankYou points. into Turkish Air and then find a round-trip business class award flight Honolulu (HNL) to Auckland (AKL). Where would I look? Air New Zealand doesn’t show award availability without having their Air Points in your account. Any advice on making this trip happen?
Thank you,
Gary
Stephen Au
February 09, 2019
Hey Gary,
Do not use Air New Zealand to search for award availability on their flights because their award availability might not reflect what is provided to partners like Turkish Airlines. Search on United.com or Aeroplan.com for the routes you want. Write down the flight numbers, dates, class of service, etc when you find availability. Call Turkish Airlines and follow the directions there. Thanks for reading.
Kurt
April 17, 2019
Hi Stephen,
I believe the answer is no, but is there any way to transfer my Turkish miles & smiles miles to Singapore Airlines? I have 27,000 miles that I don’t see myself using but I’m flying Singapore to Bali in 2020.
Stephen Au
April 17, 2019
Kurt,
Unfortunately, you can’t transfer. However, check out your upgrade options on SQ aiding Turkish Airlines miles! Maybe you can get some value there.
Thanks for reading.
Ash
August 23, 2019
Kurt,
Can you use your TK miles to get your free flight tickets from SIN to DPS on SQ?
Stephen Au
August 23, 2019
Hey Ash,
If you only hold Turkish Airlines miles, you can book travel solely within Asia on Singapore Airlines up to business class.
Than
May 08, 2019
Hi, I am based in Belgium and I am thinking between Miles&Smiles and Asiana Club. What do you think? Which one is better? Thanks
Stephen Au
May 10, 2019
Than,
It’s difficult to make sweeping generalizations as it all depends on what your own travel goals are. However, Asiana Club is very useful for U.S.-based travelers due to the sweet spots to Europe and the Middle East. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles is also very useful for the redemptions in this post. Thanks for reading.
Louis
July 16, 2019
Hello!
I was trying to use Aeroplan or United’s Mileageplan to find availability for ANA or EVA from Asia to Europe but i can’t seem to find any! Anyone having similar issues?
Stephen Au
July 17, 2019
Hey Louis,
Airline award availability is subject to inventory release from each individual airline. Keep playing with your dates and being flexible! Thanks for reading.
Anthony Anderson
August 01, 2019
Hey, I’m trying to figure out how to book an award flight from mainland U.S. to Hawaii. I live close to CMH. I can’t figure out if I need to find direct flights or can I have multiple stops. For example, can I fly CMH to ORD to HNL?
Thanks!
Andrew Kunesh
August 01, 2019
Hey Anthony, great question! Turkish Airlines does allow you to include layovers on mainland U.S. to Hawaii award tickets on United Airlines. However, note that the airline imposes a max connection time of 4 hours. Additionally, all legs must have saver availability in order to be booked.
Saul Sotelo
April 26, 2023
I Haven’t been able to find any of these deals from Turkish program.
Siddig
July 31, 2019
Hi Stephen,
Great article.
I think TK increased the award ticket miles since this post.
I’m looking to fly SFO-RUH (one way or return) and it’s costing 240,000 + $656 tax.
is there is a better way to do this ?
Stephen Au
August 09, 2019
Siddig,
This isn’t correct. Turkish Airlines has “guaranteed award space”, which is significantly more expensive than the saver award space. This space is available when airlines don’t release any saver space. Keep playing around with dates until you see dates that have availability.
Siddig
August 01, 2019
Hi Stephen,
Great insight.
I have 120,000+ miles on Turkish Airlines and I’m trying to book a trip to Riyadh (RUH) in Dec, but the one way business is coming to 120K. In your piece here you mention 47K one way. Can you help me figure it out What is the best option for me ?
Thanks
Stephen Au
August 06, 2019
Siddig,
I’m not sure which routes you’re thinking about, but Turkish Airlines controls availability. I would recommend calling them to see if they can help you out.
Nilesh Bhimani
August 24, 2019
I have 50k + miles in my Miles and Smiles account of Turkish. I am living in India/Mumbai.
1. How can I consume these miles for any of the domestic trip in India?
2. Can I spend mile to buy any product (Other then air ticket or any service)?
Waiting for your response,
-Nilesh Bhimani
Stephen Au
August 26, 2019
Nilesh,
If you’re making redemptions on Air India, we would suggest you call Turkish Airlines directly at their 24 hour booking and customer services hotline:
0008000501565
Also, please visit their website and contact them regarding other uses of Turkish Airlines miles.
Memin
August 28, 2019
Hi there,
I’m a Miles And Smiles (TK) member and am flying from Istanbul to Hong Kong on Singapore Airlines. Can I earn miles from this flight? If yes, would that be status miles or just bonus miles?
Thanks,
Memin
Andrew Kunesh
August 28, 2019
Hey Memin, good question! You can earn both elite and redeemable miles on Miles & Smiles when flying on most Singapore Airlines tickets. How many miles you’ll earn depends on the length of your flight and the fare class you’re booked in. You can check how many miles your fare class earns on Turkish Airlines’ partner earning page for Singapore Airlines.
Nithya
September 05, 2019
My husband and I are were able to make a booking using miles and smiles over the phone for an Air Canada flight. Everything was done over a 10 minute phone call including providing credit card. We did not have to go to a sales/ticketing office and our tickets were issued immediately by email.
Stephen Au
September 06, 2019
Hi Nithya,
Great to know! Thanks for the data point.
Isaac Thobela
October 07, 2019
HI Stephen,
1. I have my daughter who joined Miles&Smiles last year in December, she will not be traveling anymore, so can she transfer the miles to me?
2. What is the difference in terms of status and bonus miles, with more emphasis on how to use them.
Stephen Au
October 08, 2019
Hi Isaac,
You can transfer miles at a $10 per 1,000 miles.
Status miles are used to achieve elite status, which grants benefits like extra baggage allowance and lounge access. On the other hand, Miles&Smiles miles are used for award flights.
Harshil
October 08, 2019
Hi,
I’m based in Mumbai. I’ll be travelling on a round trip to Auckland via Singapore on Air New Zealand in their premium economy class. Also I’ll be traveling from BOM-IST-ORD-OSL-IST-BOM economy on class E. All these travels would be done in the next 4 months. My question here is where do I collect miles which give me more benefit to reach star Alliance gold. I don’t understand whether to go for an airline program that gives me more miles for my travel or an airline program like Asiana that gets me a faster to star Alliance gold (which even lasts longer). And I would probably not travel for 8 months after these trips. What should I do?
Thank you. I’ve read a lot on your website and it has been very helpful. Never found information like this anywhere else.
Stephen Au
October 08, 2019
Hi Harshil,
It all depends on whether or not you value redeemable miles more than benefits like extra baggage allowance and lounge access. Unfortunately, there’s no one-stop shop answer for your situation. Since you wouldn’t be traveling for another 8 months, the amount of utility you’ll get from elite status isn’t as high. Therefore, it might be best to earn redeemable miles in this case. It might be good to credit your flights to Air Canada Aeroplan or Asiana Club.
Nurjsn
November 12, 2019
Hi Stephen,
I need to buy 4 round trip tickets ( international) for next summer via Turkish airlines. I am hoping to book them via miles that I can earn on credit card. Would you recommend citi thank you card over United explore card? What would be your recommended route I should follow to get much needed 4 tickets on Turkish airlines?
Michael McHugh
November 13, 2019
Hi Nurjsn,
Which Citi credit card are you referring to?
Abe A
November 20, 2019
What about upgrading with miles from economy to business class? You didn’t touch on it.
Andrew Kunesh
November 25, 2019
Hey Abe, you can find the mile upgrade requirements and upgrade costs on Turkish Airlines’ website. However, we highly recommend using your points for award tickets — this is almost always a better value than a mileage upgrade.
Sagi
January 23, 2020
I can’t manage to upgrade with Miles&Smiles on Lufthansa. Do you happen to know about it?
Stephen Au
January 23, 2020
Sagi,
You can’t just upgrade any ticket. It must fall under the correct, upgrade-able fare class. You must then find upgrade availability. Then and only then can you upgrade your tickets.
Anas
December 16, 2019
I don’t know about all the other options, but that 47K business class from US to the middle east (which i used before), doesn’t exist anymore. They show it as an award option, however, they never assign any Business award seats to this 47K level. I argued with them on the phone and I proved it when the agent couldn’t find a seat for up to 12 months in advance. You will never be able to get it.
Stephen Au
December 19, 2019
Hi Ana,
Thanks for sharing. We have some credible data points recently that demonstrate this booking is possible. If you were on the phone with an agent, we would recommend hanging up and calling again to be connected to someone else who can do it. Also, it depends on the airline you’re looking to book, as some airlines don’t release availability to Turkish Airlines.
bryan
January 06, 2020
Honolulu (HNL) to Auckland (AKL) cost 52,500 Turkish Airlines miles in economy class, not 15,000 miles.
Stephen Au
January 06, 2020
Hey Bryan,
Thanks for bringing this stealth devaluation to us. We’ll be updating our guide accordingly.
Sho'nuff
February 29, 2020
Is this correct, Hawaii to Oceania went up in price or was this just the user finding availability that wasn’t saver? I live in HNL and am looking to go to other Oceania so wondering.
Stephen Au
March 10, 2020
Sho’nuff,
The price is 52,500 miles one-way in economy, 75,000 miles in business, and 115,000 miles in first. Thanks for reading!
Mark
January 10, 2020
Hi Stephen,
I’m based in Singapore and on Krisflyer (no status currently) and flying soon on Turkish for the first time on a J ticket to Buenos Aires return. I read about what you wrote on the merits of miles & smiles and have a few questions:
1. what is the best FFP to credit the miles for this upcoming flight on TK. Krisflyer or miles & smiles?
2. If I credit to miles & smiles, while my first 2 sectors (SIN-IST and IST-EZE) will not earn sufficient miles to give me the equivalent of Star silver status, if I reach this status after my third sector (EZE-IST), will I get the Star Silver status bonus credit for the 4th sector of my flight (IST-SIN)?
3. Are there sweet spots for redemption of miles & smiles for travelers based in Singapore and Far East?
Stephen Au
January 10, 2020
Hi Mark,
1. There’s no definitive answer. In general, you’ll get more value out of Miles&Smiles miles with the exception of booking Singapore Airlines flights. The only way (for the most part) to book J or F for long-haul flights on Singapore Airlines is by using Singapore Airlines miles.
2. It depends on if the tickets are booked on a single reservation. If they are, you won’t get bonus credit. If they aren’t and the time difference between the 2 flights is large, then yes.
3. As far as sweet spots go from Singapore, there may be, but it all depends on how you value your miles. The challenge will be actually getting Turkish Airlines to ticket the award to you.
If you feel like you’d get value from an ultra-personalized points wealth management and travel concierge to to truly optimize your points and miles, please feel free to contact me directly at stephen@upgradedpoints.com to inquire about a monthly subscription service.
PhatMiles
January 14, 2020
Very nicely written.
What is their policy on lap infants on their own airline as well as partners?
Jarrod West
January 15, 2020
Hi PhatMiles,
Here is the full lap infant policy for Turkish Airlines directly from their website.
Maria
January 16, 2020
Hello,
I saw that the value of miles needed for an award ticket from Europe to almost anywhere had doubled since end of December, which was terribly disappointing for me. Turkish Airlines gave no notice of this. Any idea why this happened and why now?
Jarrod West
January 16, 2020
Hi Maria,
Unfortunately, Airlines occasionally devalue their miles and award charts and seldom give a reason as to why they are doing so. It is a very unfortunate part of the hobby, which is all the more reason to spend your miles while you have them!
Adam Garrett
January 27, 2020
Any idea why it takes more miles (10k) to get from East Coast to West Coast than it does to get from East Coast to Hawaii (7500)?
Stephen Au
January 30, 2020
Some award charts have strange quirks. If you can leverage this, please do take advantage of this!
George
December 22, 2021
Hi Stephen, I’ve used Aeroplan to look for availability (from YVR to Atlanta) & there were a lot of availability (YVR-YYZ-ATL) for next June (2022); however, I called Turkish Airlines & they said they could not find any redemption seats.. I find that very strange (my points will expire soon: on Dec 31, 2021). Have you had any similar experience & is it even worth paying to extend another 3 years? Thx again! Great article btw!!
Stephen Au
December 28, 2021
Hi George,
Aeroplan has access to many more Air Canada flights since Aeroplan is Air Canada’s frequent flyer program. You’ll need to search on a different site like United.com. Everything that you can see on United (that doesn’t involve United flights) should be bookable with Turkish Airlines miles. Good luck!
khatl
June 02, 2022
Thanks for the great article. I see everywhere that it’s stated US to Europe (IST) is only 45k miles in biz, yet all my searches show 105k miles for a one way redemption. Do they have dynamic pricing, or charge different rates based on US departure points (I’ve checked NYC and ATL)?
Stephen Au
June 06, 2022
Hi khatl,
They have different fare buckets with different mileage prices. The cheapest tickets are the hardest to find while the most expensive are the easiest to find.
Jack
July 01, 2022
Hi Stephen,
I have 100,000 points on United.. I am trying to fly from US –> KTM. United does not have a flight so while checking Turkish is my best bet, but the issue is how can I use the United 100,000 points on Turkish to either book or upgrade. I tried to book through united and it does not give me an option, I called Turkish and the guy had no clue about how to use that points from a partner airlines.. any insight would be helpful
Thanks,
Jack
Jarrod West
August 01, 2022
Hi Jack,
While you can use your United miles to book flights operated on Turkish, the flight still has to be booked through United. So if there is no availability shown for your dates you would need to select a different time to fly in order to use your miles.
Gina
August 28, 2022
I see Saver awards for economy from BWI to HNL one way. But searching for the same flight in Turkish gives me the “Flight not found on the selected date and route. You can search for a new flight by changing this information. If you are searching for a repatriation flight you can get more information via Turkish Airlines Call Center.’ message.
John
December 02, 2022
There are never any flights available, ever. Something is wrong here.
Aviral
November 21, 2022
I have 14K Turkish Miles, some 50k chase points and 50k American Advantage miles. I need to book flight from New Delhi to Boston within 6-15 January. I am not able to pin down how to use all these points. Its so frustrating for me.
Jarrod West
November 22, 2022
Hi Aviral,
Check out our guide on the best ways to fly to India with points and miles for some redemption ideas.
John
December 02, 2022
It is impossible to find flights using the Turkish Airlines Star Alliance awards tickets. I have searched on their website and called their call center many times over the past 8 months. I feel that Turkish Airlines is not being straightforward about their partnership. You can only book Turkish Airlines with miles not other carriers.
Mzx
January 07, 2023
Hi, I think the Far East saver table has changed quite a bit. Now it is 40,000 RT within that region (I.e. this makes Maldives much more expensive).
JJ
June 06, 2023
Yeah, the “Award table” shows 30k within Far East and “Promotional Award table” 40k within Far East.
15k round trip intra-region seems to be on Turkish Airlines so how can you take SQ within Asia for 15k? Am I missing something?
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