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When you think of deals on Star Alliance award bookings, your first thoughts might be Avianca LifeMiles, Air Canada Aeroplan, and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer. However, the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program can offer a wide variety of excellent redemptions at great value for your miles — despite the recent devaluation on February 16, 2024.
Assuming you hold rewards from Bilt, Capital One, or Citi (or even Marriott Bonvoy points), you can transfer these to Turkish for even better redemptions. Here's a review of a few of Turkish Airlines' top sweet spots within its Miles & Smiles loyalty program.
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Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Award Chart
Over the years, Turkish Airlines has made it significantly easier to redeem miles for award flights — and not just for flights it operates. Unlike airlines with dynamic award pricing, Turkish posts two main award charts: one for flights it operates and another for Star Alliance/partner-operated flights.
While there are a lot of numbers to pore over, you can still determine precisely what your award itinerary will cost — something many other frequent flyer programs don't offer. Looking at you, United, Delta, and American Airlines.
Don't want to squint to read the new charts? You can use the new Turkish Airlines mileage calculator to see how much an itinerary will cost.
The new award chart for Turkish-operated flights is split into two sections that highlight one-way promotional and standard pricing. Awards are cumulatively priced by region, segment, and class. So, if you're trying to estimate the cost of a potential award, you'll want to add the cost of the first segment to the cost of the second one. Thankfully, this segment-based pricing structure only applies to Turkish-operated awards, not partner-operated ones.
Turkish Airlines publishes a separate award chart for Star Alliance and partner-operated flights. This chart is also region- and class-based, but, again, note that per-segment pricing doesn't apply. Contrary to the Turkish chart, this one isn't so easy to read. You can find the one-way pricing for partner/alliance-operated flights below:
For domestic flights, you'll utilize a unique third chart, which covers one-way Star Alliance flights within the same country. This chart covers United Airlines awards from Newark (EWR) to Honolulu (HNL), for example.
Miles & Smiles award regions
One of the pricing factors for Turkish- and partner/alliance-operated awards is the region of both departure and arrival. The table describing countries and correlated regions is viewable below:
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Sweet Spots
Without further ado, here are five sweet spots you can redeem Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles for.
Fly United Airlines in the United States
It's not as sweet a deal as it used to be, but flying United Airlines domestically is still one of the best ways to redeem Turkish Airlines miles. No matter where your itinerary begins or ends, domestic flights cost 10,000 miles in economy, 15,000 in business class, or 20,000 in first class (if one would start to operate within the U.S.) each way — even if you have to connect.
Thus, you could fly all the way from Newark (EWR) to Honolulu (HNL) for just 10,000 miles in economy — or from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) up to Anchorage (ANC) for the same price. That's a lot of flying for a reasonable amount of miles, but you'll need to be patient when digging for one of these awards. They're hard to find.
Domestic United awards in premium cabins, such as business class or domestic first class, are also difficult to find. But if you can spot one, snag it! Booking a transcontinental or Hawaiian-bound award in a premium seat for 15,000 miles is an incredible deal. Even better, the rates you'll pay through Turkish on these routes are friendlier than if you redeem United MileagePlus miles for the same awards.
But again, domestic United awards can be hard to find, so, unfortunately, it's worth managing your expectations.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Pay Award Taxes and Fees?
Fly Turkish Airlines from the United States to Turkey
One-way business class tickets to Turkey on Turkish Airlines cost 65,000 miles plus applicable taxes and fees. While this rate isn't as low as it was pre-devaluation (at 45,000 miles), these awards are generally accessible. And compared to what a lot of other carriers charge for transatlantic business-class flights, it's still more than reasonable.
Plus, Turkish flies to nearly every corner of the United States. You can book a flight out of Chicago (ORD), Dallas–Ft. Worth (DFW), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), Newark (EWR), Los Angeles (LAX), and Seattle (SEA). Broad accessibility makes Turkish an excellent option for fairly priced international business-class tickets from most major cities. Here's an example fare from Dallas (DFW) to Istanbul:
While the $217.80 in taxes and fees is more than you'd pay flying with United Airlines, it's less than you might pay flying similar routes with fee-heavy partners like Lufthansa.
However, if you try to connect beyond Turkey on the same itinerary, note you'll have to tangle with the airline's segment-based pricing scheme.
Fly from the U.S. to Europe for 85K–90K miles in business class
Turkish Airlines divides Europe into two regions. While you'll technically fly further to reach many of the “Europe 1” countries, the rates for business-class awards to this region are less than those to “Europe 2.” For example, a business award from the U.S. to Greece, Hungary, or Croatia costs 85,000 miles, while one to the United Kingdom, France, or Switzerland costs 90,000 miles. Ultimately, you'll get more bang for your buck by flying a little further.
There's a high concentration of Star Alliance carriers in Europe and North America, so there are plenty of options to get from the U.S. over to Europe — both regions 1 and 2. For example, you could fly from Montreal (YUL) to get to Athens (ATH).
But if you want to head to London (LHR) or most other “Europe 1” countries, United Airlines can take you there (and most places) nonstop for 90,000 miles, plus negligible taxes and fees. There's extra value in awards being prevalent, which United awards bookable with Turkish miles are.
Fly from the U.S. to the Middle East for 93K miles in business class
With the new Turkish award charts, partner awards to countries such as Jordan, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates come in at 93,000 Miles & Smiles miles. Yes, that's a hefty price tag, but it's comparable to what several other carriers charge for similar flights.
To book these awards, or any awards you find Star Alliance availability on that Turkish doesn't show (not just to the Middle East), the best practice is to call Turkish after you find bookable partner space. For example, if you're looking to book a flight from Newark (EWR) to Dubai (DXB), you can use United's 30-day calendar to find partner award availability and then dial Turkish's support line at 800-874-8875 to confirm agents can book the space.
After the representative confirms there's bookable space, it's a good time to complete your points transfer (if necessary) to Turkish Miles & Smiles and then pay the taxes and fees over the phone. However, some points transfer to Turkish quicker than others, so keep this in mind before you call to book. Refer to AwardWallet's mile transfer times tool for an idea of what to expect.
Fly from the U.S. to India or Nepal for 100K miles in business class
Continuing the theme of long-haul luxury, you can fly even further from the U.S. to Central Asia for a few thousand more miles than it takes to get to the Middle East. In business class, countries such as India and Nepal are accessible for 100,000 Turkish miles each way.
To Central Asia, the mileage requirement for partner-operated flights is identical to the number of miles required to fly on Turkish Airlines. Ultimately, you can take your pick of carriers to fly from the U.S. (and the rest of North America), and there are several to choose from. Pending availability, Central Asia is accessible on Air India, Air Canada, United Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and a few others.
How To Earn Turkish Miles & Smiles
You can earn Turkish Miles & Smiles miles by crediting Turkish flights or Star Alliance partner flights to Turkish Airlines. You also can transfer a multitude of points directly to Turkish Miles & Smiles.
That means cards like the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card, Citi Strata Premier℠ Card, and The Bilt Mastercard® will all transfer rewards directly to Turkish Airlines for redemption in the Miles & Smiles program.
The complete list of programs that offer point transfers to Turkish Miles & Smiles is shown below:
Related: Do Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Miles Expire?
Final Thoughts
It's not a secret that the Turkish Airlines award charts of new aren't as good as the Turkish Airlines award charts of old. Nowadays, you'll need to redeem a handsome amount of miles to get around the world. But for certain redemptions — especially if you can leverage a transfer bonus — the mileage requirement to get to select destinations is reasonable and better than what you'll find on other carriers.
What's your favorite use of Turkish Miles & Smiles awards? Let us know in the comments below.
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