Looking for a cheap way to fly to Türkiye, Greece, or the Middle East? While Turkish miles aren't as valuable as they once were to fly on partner airlines like United, these miles can still be incredibly valuable for flying on Turkish Airlines flights.
After a massive devaluation in early 2024, booking partner award tickets with Turkish miles no longer makes sense in most cases. And just last month, Turkish put the final nail in the coffin on its amazing sweet spot to fly United to Hawaii, hiking award rates by 150%.
But if you want to fly Turkish Airlines nonstop to Istanbul – or connect to other nearby cities – having a stash of Turkish miles is the best way to do it.
The good news is that these miles are easy to earn thanks to instant transfers from Capital One cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, as well as Citi ThankYou points and Bilt Rewards.
The program does have a few quirks, but if Türkiye is on your mind, it's time to put the Turkish Miles & Smiles program on your radar.
The Basics of Turkish Miles & Smiles
Where You Can Fly Turkish
Turkish Airlines flies to more than 120 countries across the globe. That's more than any other airline in the world. And while you don't need to fly Turkish Airlines to use its Miles & Smiles program, flying Turkish Airlines itself is hands down the best way to use Turkish miles.
In the U.S. and Canada, you'll find Turkish Airlines flights to its hub in Istanbul (IST) from 17 gateways.
- Atlanta (ATL)
- Boston (BOS)
- Chicago-O'Hare (ORD)
- Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW)
- Denver (DEN)
- Detroit (DTW)
- Houston (IAH)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Miami (MIA)
- New York City (JFK)
- Newark (EWR)
- Montreal (YUL)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Seattle (SEA)
- Toronto (YYZ)
- Vancouver (YVR)
- Washington D.C.-Dulles (IAD)
Beyond Türkiye and the airline's gleaming Istanbul (IST) hub airport, you can connect on Turkish to countless destinations throughout Europe, Asia, and the Middle East – though it will cost more miles.
Turkish Airlines Partners: Airlines You Can Fly
Beyond Turkish itself, you can also use Turkish miles to fly on one of its many Star Alliance airline partners. In total, there are 25 Star Alliance airlines, which include Air Canada, United, ANA, EVA Air, SAS, Air New Zealand, and several others.
This means you'll be able to use Turkish miles to fly all over the world, but in most cases, you'll find better deals to fly partner airlines with other programs, like Air Canada's Aeroplan. That being said, partner award tickets booked with Turkish miles can still be valuable on shorter flights or domestic trips.
Booking some of these partner carriers can be more complicated than flying Turkish itself – especially when it comes to finding award availability. Turkish's wonky IT system for these partner award tickets doesn't help, either.
But at the end of the day, your options are nearly endless. So, how do you get started?
Sign Up for a Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Account
Creating a Turkish Miles & Smiles frequent flyer account is free. But it’s not as simple as other airlines. Follow these directions carefully.
Start by downloading the Turkish Airlines mobile app to sign up for a new account, which you can then use to log in on your desktop or laptop after you’ve registered. This is a much smoother process than registering on Turkish’s website.
Here’s what to do:
- Download the Turkish Airlines mobile app.
- Register for a new account on your phone. (☰→ Sign in → scroll to bottom → Sign up)
- You’ll need to choose a city from a dropdown menu. If your city isn’t listed, just choose the closest city. It won’t matter in the end since you enter a zip code.
- Your password for Turkish is more like a PIN: It can only contain numbers and must be 6 digits (Cannot contain date of birth, cannot have three consecutive digits, and the same number cannot be repeated more than twice).
- Find your membership number in the app or in your confirmation email.
- Head back to the Turkish Airlines homepage and log in to your new account using your membership number without the “TK” at the beginning.
- You can then go to your account settings and choose to have your mobile number and email as log-in options so you don’t have to memorize your membership number.
After all that, you should be able to log in from any web browser using your credentials.
Why should you go through all this trouble to get signed up with a Turkish mileage account? Keep reading to find out where Turkish miles can take you …
Why Turkish Airlines Miles Are Valuable
If you're wondering why you should care about Turkish miles, here's a breakdown of some of the top reasons you should consider using this valuable frequent flyer program for your next points and miles trip.
- Great sweet spots: 65,000 miles one-way for business class to Türkiye, 93,000 miles for business class to the Middle East, 22,500 miles for a one-way domestic flight in business class, and more.
- Better availability: If you're looking to fly Turkish Airlines, you'll find the best availability when booking with Turkish miles – especially for two passengers in business class.
- Easy-to-earn miles: Turkish Airlines is a 1:1 transfer partner with Capital One, Citi ThankYou points, and Bilt Rewards.
- Great business class product: Turkish business class on the 787 and A350 is a treat. They also have plans to introduce a new business class suite and update the interiors of their older 777s in the coming years. No matter which plane you fly, the service is excellent – and the lounge at Istanbul's Airport (IST) is one of the best.
- Improved customer service: Many people shy away from using Turkish miles because it is more complicated than other mileage programs – and to be honest, the website can be a bit cumbersome to use. However, we've noticed an improvement in customer service with Turkish phone agents lately, which is good news since you may sometimes need to complete your booking over the phone.
Overall, your opportunities for cheap flight redemptions using Turkish miles can often outweigh the hurdles you may need to overcome to book your tickets. Before we delve into the sweet spots for booking with Turkish miles, let's review some of the quirks involved.
Read our full review of Turkish Airlines business class!
A Few Cons With Turkish Miles
Website and Booking Awards Have Some Quirks
The IT department at Turkish Airlines could use a few pointers. It doesn't start great, with an error-ridden sign-up process that all but requires you to sign up using the mobile app.
Unfortunately, the quirks don't end there. You'll need to use a separate online search tool depending on whether you want to redeem miles for flights on Turkish Airlines itself or a Star Alliance partner airline such as United.
Furthermore, you'll often find that the Star Alliance award search tool doesn't display all flight options — even when the award space is there. This means you may need to book your award ticket with Turkish miles over the phone or by email. On top of that, you'll only be able to book tickets for yourself online. If you need to book a travel companion as well, you may need to call to complete the booking for a second passenger – especially if it's the first time you're booking a Miles and Smiles award ticket.
Fuel Surcharges Mean You'll Want to Avoid Flying Certain Airlines
One caveat to Turkish's award rates is that fuel surcharges will be passed on when booking with Turkish miles. This means you may need to pay higher cash fees for your award ticket, depending on the airline you're actually flying with.
If you're flying Turkish Airlines itself, the fees are reasonable and similar to what you'd pay when booking Turkish Airlines flights with ANA Mileage Club, for example … but more than if you were to book with other Star Alliance programs that don't pass along fuel surcharges, such as Air Canada's Aeroplan, Avianca LifeMiles, or United MileagePlus.
Here's a quick look at the fuel surcharges and what the total taxes and fees come to when flying certain airlines on an award ticket booked with Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles. You may want to choose your airline wisely.
- USA to Istanbul (IST) in business class flying Turkish Airlines: ~$475 total fees roundtrip ($380 fuel surcharge). Not too shabby.
- USA to Frankfurt (FRA) in business class flying United: ~$175 total fees roundtrip (no fuel surcharge) Woohoo!
- USA to Frankfurt (FRA) in business class flying Lufthansa: ~$2,300 total fees roundtrip ($2,000 fuel surcharge!) Ouch!
In short, avoid flying Lufthansa Group airlines on long-haul flights when redeeming Turkish miles, including Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, and SWISS. It will cost an arm and a leg in fees to fly these airlines across the pond when using Turkish miles. If you're dead set on flying these airlines, consider booking with one of the programs mentioned above that don't pass along fuel surcharges.
For other airlines that do have fuel surcharges, including Turkish Airlines itself, the fees are fairly reasonable when booking with Turkish miles – especially when considering the great redemption rates and better availability for Turkish Airlines flights.
Turkish Airlines Miles Award Chart & Sweet Spots
Finding the best way to book a flight using miles is all about finding sweet spots. And the Turkish Airlines award chart still has a few.
If you expand the “Turkish Airlines Award Ticket” table by clicking “More information” once you've landed on Turkish's award chart page, you'll be able to see the number of miles required to book nonstop, one-way flights between Türkiye and different regions around the world.
The “Promotion Award Ticket” table is for its lowest awards, often referred to as “saver” awards. The “Award Ticket” table displays the cost of its higher-priced award tickets. You'll find these on more dates, but the cost is often prohibitively expensive.
If you follow the business class column down to the North America row, you'll see that it's 65,000 miles one way.
After Turkish made changes to how it prices award tickets in early 2024, you'll now need to add the cost of each segment together to get the price for connecting flights. This means a business class flight on Turkish Airlines from North America to the Middle East with a stop in Istanbul would cost 93,000 miles each way (65,000 + 28,000).
To find out which countries belong to each region, expand the “Award Regions” section at the bottom of the page.
There is also a special award chart for domestic flights on partner airlines, as well as a new, updated award chart for flights to Hawaii. You'll find this at the bottom of the “Award Tickets on Star Alliance Member Airlines & Other Partner Airlines” section.
Now, let's dive into some of the best sweet spots in the Turkish Airlines award chart.
Business Class to Türkiye for 65K Miles One-Way
If you're looking to fly to Türkiye, it doesn't get much better than this deal. You can fly nonstop on Turkish Airlines one way for just 65,000 miles from every corner of North America. It's the same rate whether you're flying from New York City or from the West Coast.
You won't find a better deal to book this nonstop flight from San Francisco (SFO) to Istanbul (IST) for just 65,000 miles plus $218 in taxes and fees one-way.
… Or Connect to Greece for 85k Miles One-Way
Flying Turkish Airlines is a great way to connect to other cities in Eastern Europe, too. The quick routings and excellent service make these flights a breeze. While this was nearly half the price a few years ago, we can't go back in time … and this is still a very competitive rate if you want to book a business class flight to Greece.
For example, this Turkish Airlines business class from Chicago (ORD) to Athens (ATH) via Istanbul (IST) for 85,000 miles one-way. Not too bad when you're flying to Greece in a lie-flat bed across the pond and a proper business class seat between Istanbul and Athens.
One thing to note is that you cannot book mixed cabin awards when booking with Turkish miles. That means you need to find award space in business class for all legs to book this deal, which can make pulling off connecting flights tougher.
Business Class to the Middle East for 93K Miles
Flying to the Middle East is a long journey, especially when departing from the West Coast. In total, you'll need to shell out 93,000 miles for a one-way business class flight to destinations like Dubai (DXB) and Muscat (MCT).
For example, this Turkish Airlines flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to Muscat (MCT) via Istanbul (IST) costs just 93,000 miles, plus around $300 in taxes and fees, one-way.
Economy Sales to Istanbul for 56k Miles Roundtrip (or 28k One-Way)
Every now and then, Turkish has an economy award sale – typically 30% off, but it has been as high as 50% off. This means you can sometimes find nonstop economy flights from North America to Istanbul for just 56,000 miles roundtrip (or one-way for only 28,000 miles).
You can also connect to other cities in Türkiye for the same price, which makes this a fantastic deal. Keep an eye on Turkish's current offers or sign up for Thrifty Traveler Premium and get alerts sent straight to your inbox when there's a good sale or a flood of award availability.
Biz Class Between Europe & Türkiye for 25K Miles
Want to hop around within Europe? Turkish miles can also help you fly between Türkiye and other European countries for less.
One of the best sweet spots in its award chart that doesn't involve North America is to fly business class from Europe to Türkiye for just 20,000 or 25,000 miles each way … and that includes some fairly long flights across the entire continent.
Say you're exploring France and want to hop over to Turkey to check out the crossroads of Europe and Asia before heading back home. You could book a nonstop flight from Paris-Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Istanbul (IST) for 25,000 Turkish miles one-way in business class.
Best of all, these are proper business class seats within Europe. Most other airlines simply block the middle seat of an economy row and call it business class when flying within Europe, so flying Turkish Airlines is the way to go if you want a proper business class seat. On some major routes, Turkish even flies Airbus A330s, A350s, or Boeing 777s with lie-flat seats.
How to Book Flights Using Miles & Smiles
Now that you know some of the amazing places you can go for affordable rates using Turkish miles, how exactly do you get these flights booked?
The first thing to understand is that Turkish has two different search engines: one for Turkish Airlines flights and a separate tool for searching partner airline tickets.
To navigate to either tool from Turkishairlines.com, click the link that reads “Award ticket – Buy a ticket with Miles.” That will bring you to the award search engine. You can also use this direct link.
Turkish Airlines Flights
If you're trying to book flights operated by Turkish Airlines, you're in luck: It tends to be quite straightforward.
When you're logged in to your account, you'll see two tabs on this screen. The one on the left – labeled “Award Ticket” – is the search engine to use for Turkish Airlines flights. If you aren't logged in, you'll only see this option.
This search engine will not work for flights operated by Star Alliance partner airlines such as United or Air Canada, or for a mix of partner airline flights and Turkish flights. For those flights, you'll need to navigate to the Star Award Ticket tab (more on that below).
As long as you are looking for Turkish Airlines flights, input your departure and arrival cities here. It will be easiest to search one way at a time.
One important note is that if you are logged in, you may not be able to search for more than one passenger. This is one of the biggest quirks with Turkish's website. If this is your first time booking with Turkish, you can typically only book for yourself on the first booking, but you can call to book two passengers, if needed.
Want to search for two or more passengers to check if availability exists before going through the hassle of booking with Turkish by phone? There is a trick to searching for two or more passengers, and it's pretty simple: just log out of your account. If you start the search process without logging in to your account, you'll be able to search for multiple passengers on Turkish Airlines flights.
You'll know you're logged out if it says “Sign In” at the top and if you only see the one tab for “Award Ticket” on the search bar.
After clicking “Search flights,” you'll get a list of flights available on that day and a one-week view of fares at the top of the screen. This will only show the lowest price available on each day (i.e., economy rates), so you'll need to click on each date to see if there is availability in business class. Unfortunately, regardless of the class of service you select before searching, all results will always be shown.
You can sort by price, duration, and flight times if the list is long. More importantly, the results display the aircraft type. We recommend choosing flights on Turkish's Airbus A350s or Boeing 787s for the best experience in business class. The A330s and 777s have older seats, and it's unclear when those cabins will be refreshed.
You'll likely see several more dates available at Turkish's higher award rates – in this case, 135,000 miles in business class between North America and Türkiye. You'll need to search using trial and error to find the lower-priced 65,000-mile one-way business class rates.
Once you choose your flight and click through, you'll be prompted to log in. If you searched for two or more passengers while you were logged out, it will stick after logging in, but it's unclear if this will work throughout the booking process. You may still need to call to book two (or more) passengers if it's your first booking with Turkish.
Turkish gives you the option to pay your taxes with miles, but this is a horrendous deal. Make sure to save your miles and pay your taxes with money. You'll need miles in your account to proceed further in the booking process, and you can call Turkish to hold the seats before transferring points if you'd like.
Star Alliance Award Tickets
Trying to book a United flight or another Star Alliance partner airline with your Turkish miles? You'll need to click on the “Star Award Ticket” tab on this screen. You must be logged in to your Turkish account to see this tab.
Since availability can be pretty limited for partner-airline flights bookable with Turkish miles, you may want to turn to another website to find availability first, such as United.com or Avianca's LifeMiles award calendar tool. Then, plug in those exact dates into the Star Award search tool to book with Turkish miles.
The results appear a little differently in Turkish's “Star Award” search tool for partner airlines. If both economy and business class seats are available on the date you searched, you'll see a toggle at the top to choose which class of service you want to book. You can then filter the flights as needed to find your flights.
It's quite rare to find, but booking a United business class flight across the United States for just 22,500 Turkish miles one way is a fantastic deal, especially if you can snag a seat on a wide-body aircraft with lie-flat seats. Just don't expect to come across this too often – United is pretty stingy with releasing domestic business and first class awards to partners.
Book by Phone or Email
Finally, if it comes down to it and you can't find the flights you want bookable online, you can try completing the booking over the phone by calling a Turkish Airlines agent at 1-800-874-8875.
You'll want to have all the details of the flights you found with saver award space to give to the agent. In our experience, this is a fairly painless experience. We've had no problem booking three recent flights with Turkish miles – the entire process from start to finish took about 10 minutes in each case.
Another option is to email one of the ticket offices in the U.S. or Canada. You can find the email address for any office on its website. Scroll to the bottom of the page for call center details.
Please note that these offices are typically only open during weekday business hours, and response times may vary. While email may be easier, a phone call could be quicker if you're worried about the flights you want to book disappearing.
Here's what to include when you email Turkish Airlines to book an award:
- Miles&Smiles number
- Passenger name(s) with date of birth
- Travel date(s)
- Class of service
- Flight numbers by segment (with dates, airport codes, and flight times)
- 1) 21FEB UA 1793 MSP-DEN 1336 1455
- 2) 21FEB UA 1805 DEN-HNL 1635 2116
Ask them to price out this itinerary as a mileage redemption and wait for a response. If an agent is able to book your award over email, they may ask you to fill out several forms, including a redemption form, credit card authorization, and photos of your card and ID.
Turkish Airlines Change & Cancellation Policy
If you change or cancel your flight before check-in, there's a $70 fee to get your miles back. After check-in, or if you simply fail to show up for your flight, a $150 fee will be charged to reinstate your miles.
You can change or cancel over the phone, and miles will be redeposited into your account after paying the fee. You can find the full terms and conditions on Turkish's website.
Bottom Line
If you have a ton of Capital One miles or Citi ThankYou points and haven't thought about Turkish Miles & Smiles before, you should put this valuable frequent flyer program on your radar. It's the best way to book Turkish Airlines flights around the world.
Yes, there are additional steps required to book certain flights. However, for those willing to put in the extra effort, you'll be rewarded with excellent redemption rates and improved availability if you choose to fly Turkish Airlines. Give Turkish miles a shot and you might end up reading our next guide while sipping some Turkish coffee in Istanbul.
There isn’t a way to book a stopover on the website. Do you have information on booking a stopovrr with a couple of days stay in Istanbul? I am flying from YYZ to TLV but would like to stay 2 nights in IST. The award saver flight is 47500 on the day in flying.
This is good solution
can I use united miles on turkish portal to book those fares or does it have to be turkish miles and smiles miles? BTW-flew their Bus class from LA to Tel Aviv. It was amazing
Unfortunately, you cannot use United miles to book via the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program. There is no way to transfer United miles to Turkish miles.
Can you only purchase one companion flight with your miles and smiles points through Turkish Airlines or could you buy more than one?
Yes, you can book more than one companion using your Turkish miles. You can only book for yourself on the first award booking online. But you can book for anyone else by phone the first time you book with Turkish, and online thereafter.
Am I reading that if I transfer 60k points from Capital One to Turkish Airlines I can’t book a family of 4 RT from Continental U.S. to Hawaii? I would have to create 4 separate accounts? Would Capital One let me transfer to 4 separate accounts? Or I am reading your response wrong?
You can book a family of four on one account, but if this is your first time booking with Turkish, you won’t be able to do that online. Instead, you’ll need to call or email Turkish to book the flights. After you’ve made your first booking with Turkish, you can then book more than one passenger online.
I just booked 5 rt tickets form states to Hawaii. United is only showing my ticket and states it is not confirmed and still in hold status and will be canceled within 24 hours if payment is not made-which it has. I waited 24 hours to see if systems needed to update and am still in the same situation. United only shows my “hold” ticket and has no record or tickets for the other 4 members….also unable to choose seats. Anyone able to resolve this?
Hi Megan! I’m sorry you’re having trouble with this booking. It can definitely be a struggle at times when booking with Turkish miles. You will likely need to speak to a Turkish agent on the phone to resolve this issue. If at first you get an agent that doesn’t seem to know what they’re doing, I’d simple suggest to politely hangup and try calling again until you get an agent who is able to help.
Very helpful. Couple of things folks should know. Turkish miles expire after 3 years. You cannot use them to buy tickets for anyone other than yourself. At least that was my experience. Which is a bummer. You can pay $10 to transfer 1000 miles. So that can become pricey quickly. The site is terrible at showing what awards are available. If you put in desired dates chances are they will say sorry not available. The number goes to a call center that knows nothing and recommends you send a feedback memo to the airline. Which doesn’t trigger a response. These were my experiences today. Others may have better luck. I can see it working if you have lots of flexibility and are traveling alone and on a whim.
Hi,
I booked a United flight from ORD to SNA for next month but I then spent several hours trying to get seat assignments. Turkish was telling me to call United and vice versa. Even after I called United for the third time with the TA confirmation number, the UA confirmation number and the TA ticket numbers, all United could tell me was that although there was a reservation in their system for me they had nothing my family members (who I booked at the same time) and even that reservation had been cancelled (although my credit card was charged for the service fee) or not completed (maybe because the service fee charge hadn’t gone through yet?). Any advice would be appreciated.
I am in this same situation. Any follow up on this would be greatly appreciated.
Hey Peter,
I’m seeing the same 105,000 from SFO to IST on Turkish Air today for May, 2023.
About a week ago I was seeing the 45,000 and 105,000.
What do you think is going on?
Hi Garry,
The 105,000-mile rate from SFO to IST is the higher-priced rate that Turkish will charge for its own flights on several more travel dates than the 45,000-mile “saver award” rate. This inventory is constantly in flux and saver award seats were likely available when you checked earlier but are no longer available. These could open up in the future, so keep your eyes peeled.
The best way to pinpoint when “saver award” space is bookable is to use United’s website as explained above in the “How to Book Flights Using Miles & Smiles” section. For routes from the U.S. to IST, isolate the search to the nonstop route and filter in United’s search for “nonstop only”. Once you spot dates available for 77,000 miles on United’s site, check to make sure it’s a flight operated by Turkish Airlines, and then plug those exact dates into Turkish’s award search tool. Those dates should have flights available for 45,000 miles one-way in business class on Turkish’s website.
Every single award on Miles & Smiles website is now showing at least double. For instance, any one-way award from any city in the US to IST in business is showing 105,000 miles. Any intro-European award (CDG-IST, for instance) is showing 30,000 miles in business. This is not right, has there been a devaluation?
Hi Cameron,
When you see one-way business class awards for 105,000 miles one-way on the Turkish website, those are the non-saver award rates. Turkish will sell this level award on several more dates than it sells a saver, or “promotional” award as Turkish calls it.
It will be easiest to pinpoint which dates are available at the “saver award” level by searching on United’s website using it’s advanced search. Follow the instructions above under the “How to Book Flights Using Miles & Smiles” header to pinpoint the dates available first. Then, plug in those dates you found via United’s site into the Turkish award booking tool. It will be easiest to search for the nonstop routes first.
Look for 77,000-mile one-way rates for routes between U.S. and IST on United’s site. Plug in those same dates into Turkish’s site, and it should be 45,000 Turkish miles one-way.
Currently, I do see several “saver-award” level tickets available on the CDG-IST route starting in mid-August. And there is good availability ORD-IST for 2023 travel, for example. Hope this helps!
“Turkish will sell this level award on several more dates”
Saying the full pricing is just on “several” more dates is pretty misleading – for SFO there’s about 8 days in the next year where the discounted tickets are actually available.
Hi Julian!
I understand your frustration. In the past, Turkish used to release more “saver award” space than it has recently. We’re hoping this changes in the future, but for now, you are correct. It is increasingly rare to see the saver award or “promotional award” rates (as Turkish calls it). The higher rate you see (which is more than double) is the standard award rate Turkish charges. While this is available on most dates, it’s not a good deal.
Instead, just follow the instructions above to search for “saver award” space via United’s website and plug those exact dates into the search on Turkish’s website. We keep a close eye on award space and will alert Thrifty Traveler Premium+ members whenever it opens up. Hope that helps!
Are those screenshots old? Turkish updated their award chart. A roundtrip to Hawaii is 20k miles, not 15k. Take a look at the page you linked to.
Hi Christopher,
The screenshots were taken the day the story was posted. Indeed, the award chart does show 20k miles for economy flights within North America. This is the rate for flights between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. However, there is a nuance for domestic travel. Turkish used to highlight this below its award chart but it no longer spells this out. Fortunately, it still applies in practice though and flights that are wholly within the U.S. (including flights to Hawaii and Alaska) will price out at 7,500 miles one-way or 15,000 miles roundtrip.
I just almost every month until next May from Dallas to Istanbul but it’s 105000 each way for business.
Follow the instructions in this post to search United’s site first for nonstop flights from DFW-IST. Any flights bookable at 77,000 miles each way should be bookable at the 45,000 rate via Turkish’s site. For example, I see most Thursdays and Saturdays in January and February 2023 are available flying DFW IST