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Turkish Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkey and flies to 290 destinations in 119 countries. Its frequent flyer program, Miles&Smiles, features a partnership with Citi ThankYou® Rewards to easily earn miles, and a region-based award chart with plenty of sweet spots to utilize. It is among the world’s best frequent flyer programs for earning & redeeming points/miles.
See our best credit card bonuses here.
Let’s dive into everything you need to know about Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles below!
| Airline Alliance | Star Alliance |
| Hubs | Ankara (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), Izmir (Turkey) |
| U.S. Destinations | Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, San Francisco, Washington D.C. |
| U.S. Credit Cards | None |
| Redemption Options | Award flights, upgrades, merchandise |
| Average Mile Value | $0.013 |
CHASE SAPPHIRE PREFERRED® CARD
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card currently has an offer for 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Redeeming the 60,000 bonus points through the Chase Ultimate Rewards program, which is praised by users, will get you $750 in value towards travel. The 60K bonus points are worth $750 because you get 25% more value whenever you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase Ultimate Rewards.
Even better, strategize with Chase Ultimate Rewards points transfer partners to potentially get even more value. Each point can be worth up to 2 cents apiece (60k points = ~$1,200). Read more on this here.
Miles&Smiles Elite Status
When you register with Miles&Smiles, you automatically get Classic membership. There are three elite levels above Classic – Classic Plus, Elite and Elite Plus – which correspond to Star Alliance Silver, Gold and Platinum memberships.
You need a certain number of miles within one year to qualify or re-qualify for status:
| CLASSIC PLUS | ELITE | ELITE PLUS | |
| Qualification | 25,000 miles | 40,000 miles | 80,000 miles |
| Re-qualification (1 year) | 17,000 miles | 30,000 miles | 40,000 miles |
| Re-qualification (2 years) | 30,000 miles | 45,000 miles | 60,000 miles |
Once you obtain elite status, you’ll have it for two years.
Starting at Classic level, enjoy:
- Earning miles as you fly with Turkish Airlines & Star Alliance partners (more on that later)
- Award tickets, companion award tickets & cabin upgrades
- 1,000 welcome miles after your first flight
As you move up from one tier to the next, you unlock additional VIP perks:
Classic Plus –
- Star Alliance Silver privileges
- Pool family miles
- 30% off companion award ticket
- Business class check-in (domestic)
- Private lounge access (domestic)
- 10kg excess baggage
- 50% miles bonus (business)
- 25% miles bonus (comfort)
- Priority reservations
- Priority waitlist
Elite –
- Star Alliance Gold privileges
- Status miles for purchase
- 50% off business class companion ticket
- Business class check-in (domestic & international)
- Private lounge access (domestic & international)
- 20kg excess baggage
- 100% miles bonus (business)
- 50% miles bonus (comfort)
- Dedicated customer service phone line
- Special immigration desk access (Ataturk Airport)
Elite Plus –
- Star Alliance Platinum privileges
- 2 free upgrades/year
- 25kg excess baggage
- Gift elite status
- Guaranteed reservations
- Special security entrance at Ataturk Airport (international)
*For updated information, click here for our source.
Earning Turkish Airlines Miles (&Smiles)
Earn miles on flights with Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet, Star Alliance and other partner airlines.
Turkish Airlines & AnadoluJet. The number of miles you’ll earn depends on booking class, status and whether the flight is domestic or international. View the Turkish Airlines accrual chart and the AnadoluJet accrual chart.
Partner airlines include:
- Avianca
- Brussels Airlines
- Copa Airlines
- Croatia Airlines
- EgyptAir
- Ethiopian
- EVA Air
- LOT Polish Airlines
- Lufthansa
- Olympic Air
- SAS
- Shenzhen Airlines
- Singapore Airlines
- South African Airways
- SWISS
- TAP Air Portugal
- Thai Airways
- United
We recommend flying United Airlines, because it’s a quick way to rack up on miles. Simply enter your Miles&Smiles number on your reservation – instead of your MileagePlus number – and earn Turkish Airlines miles based on this partner chart.
Earn Turkish Airlines miles with a range of partners. Below are partners relevant to United States residents.
Hotel Partners
Car Rental Partners
- Alamo
- AVIS
- Budget
- Enterprise
- Hertz
- National
- Sixt
Tourism Partners
- Agoda
- Trip.com
- Booking.com
- Kaligo
- PointsHound
- RocketMiles
Fuel Partners
- Shell
For the full list of Miles&Smiles partners, click here.
Earn miles when you shop online at Turkish Airlines Shop&Miles. Categories include Electronics, Fragrances, Home Appliances, Jewelry, Luggage, Personal Care, Power Tools, Sports and more.
To maximize your earning potential, read our complete guide to online shopping portals.
Earn Turkish Airlines Miles with Citi ThankYou Rewards
For the Citi ThankYou® Rewards program, the transfer ratio is 1:1. We recommend earning ThankYou points with these cobranded credit cards.
CITI PREMIER® CARD
The Citi Premier® Card offers a 80,000 ThankYou Points after you make at least $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening. These points are worth $800 in gift cards through Citi.
This card offers 3 points for every $1 spent on travel including gas stations, 2 points for every $1 spent at restaurants and on entertainment, and 1 mile for every $1 spent on all other purchases.
The card has an annual fee of $95 that is waived for the first 12 months.
CITI PRESTIGE® CREDIT CARD
The Citi Prestige® Card has a 50,000 bonus points offer. Spend $4,000 within 3 months of account opening to qualify. These 50k bonus points are worth $500 in travel.
For the most value out of your points, redeem for flights through Citi, where your bonus will be worth 1.33 cents per point. This is another card that competes in the premium travel category, and the annual fee will signify that at $495.
In effect, this card is only a good option for frequent travelers who can take advantage of the premium benefits : 5X points on air travel & restaurants, 3X points on hotels & cruise lines, $250 Air Travel Credit annually, and free access to 1,300+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select. For those in this niche market, this card will provide high perceived value.
Spending Turkish Airlines Miles (&Smiles)
Turkish Airlines miles expire three years from when they’re earned, even with account activity. You do have the option to extend them for another three years, but it’ll cost you $10 per 1,000 miles.
Use your miles for award flights and upgrades with Turkish Airlines and partner airlines.
Award ticket. There are two redemption levels: Limited Space Capacity and Guaranteed Space. The former is a saver rate, so you’ll want to book Limited Capacity if there’s availability.
Companion ticket. When flying with a paid ticket which earns miles, you can have a ticket issued for a travel companion for fewer miles than what a standard award ticket would cost.
Upgrade. Enjoy all the privileges of the next flight class when you upgrade using your miles. To qualify, you must hold a valid, paid Economy or Business class ticket which earns miles, and your reservation must be confirmed.
For award charts and terms and conditions, click here.
Shop with your Turkish Airlines miles via Shop&Miles. Choose from thousands of items in categories like Art, Technology, Cuisine and Sports.
There are other ways to spend your Turkish Airlines miles, but they’re either not relevant to United States residents, or they’ll give you poor value for your miles. We recommend sticking to flight, upgrade and merchandise awards.
Miles&Smiles Tips & Tricks
Miles&Smiles offers limited-time promotions. Past offers include:
- A 30%-mile discount on award tickets
- A 30%-mile bonus on certain routes
- 3x miles at Best Western Hotels & Resorts
- 3,000 miles for an Enterprise premium vehicle rental
For current promotions, click here.
To maximize your rewards, make sure to keep in mind the following routing rules:
- One-way awards are allowed at half the price shown in the award charts.
- You can’t mix carriers on the outbound or inbound legs (or you’ll be charged for 2 awards).
- You can’t mix cabins of service.
- For Turkish Airlines award flights, one stopover is permitted.
- For Star Alliance award flights, one stopover is allowed on:
- Economy class tickets (minimum cost: 60,000 miles)
- Business class tickets (minimum cost: 90,000 miles)
- First class tickets (minimum cost: 135,000 miles)
- One open jaw is allowed on roundtrip itineraries.
- Tickets can have a maximum of 8 segments.
- Backtracking is allowed, but the same airport cannot appear more than once in the outbound or inbound legs.
Other things you should know:
- Fuel surcharges can be excessive. You won’t be able to see the required fuel surcharges for a specific award flight unless you have the required miles in your account.
- Star Alliance award tickets must be issued from a physical Turkish Airlines ticket office, but you may be able to contact a ticket office and have them complete the transaction over email or phone.
Far East (from Japan to Sri Lanka). A roundtrip flight within this region costs 40,000 (Economy), 70,000 (Business) or 110,000 (First) miles. One-way awards are half the mileage. So, the following one-way flights are available in Business class for just 35,000 miles:
| Route | Airlines |
| Tokyo – Singapore | ANA/Singapore/Thai |
| Tokyo – Bangkok | ANA/Singapore/Thai |
North America (United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda & Netherlands Antilles). A roundtrip flight within this region costs 15,000 (Economy), 25,000 (Business) or 40,000 (First) miles. That means you can fly transcontinental on United Airlines Business class for just 12,500 miles each way.
Other sweet spots include:
| Flight Details | One-Way Cost |
| Sydney – Honolulu Economy | 15,000 |
| Munich – Dubai Business | 24,500 |
| Munich – Tokyo – Bangkok Business | 45,000 |
| Frankfurt – Capetown Business | 45,000 |
| New York – Frankfurt – Dubai Business | 47,000 |
| Chicago – Mumbai Business | 52,500 |
| Brazil – Bogota – London Business | 52,500 |
| Sydney – Delhi – Paris Business | 60,000 |
Bottom Line
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles has a few things going for it. The partnership with Citi ThankYou Rewards makes it easy to rack up on miles. Once you’ve saved up enough, you can use your miles towards one of the many sweet spots in the Miles&Smiles award chart.
However, the exorbitant fuel surcharges and the laborious award-booking process are dealbreakers for most people. What do you think? Is it worth the effort to join Miles&Smiles?
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