Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles

The Highlights

Miles&Smiles has some solid value, but the booking process can be clunky.

• One of the best uses is long-haul domestic U.S. flights on United for 10,00 miles one-way.
• Business class to Europe on Turkish is a solid deal at 65,000 miles, though fuel surcharges apply.
• Partner awards often require manual booking by phone or email, and the online search tool is unreliable.
• Miles&Smiles transfers from Bilt, Capital One, and Citi, but transfers are not instant and can take a few days.

What to Know About This Point System

Don’t be fooled by the name: Turkish Airlines has a very big domestic presence. And while it used to be difficult to accumulate points, you can now rapidly collect points thanks to the partnership with Citi ThankYou Rewards and Marriott.

They use a region-based award chart. North America actually includes Antilles, St. Maarten, Curacao, Bermuda, Canada and Mexico. For round trip flights in this region, it will cost you 20,000 miles economy, 30,000 miles business and 50,000 miles first class.

If you’re going internationally, some have been able to fly to Europe in business class for as little as 26,000 points utilizing transfer bonuses. Citi has bonuses throughout the year that will increase your points when you transfer them. And Turkish Airlines occasionally offers special discounts for award flights. So if the stars align and you can collect on both of those things, you will more than double the value of your miles.

Miles & Smiles is pretty special and we’re so happy to be able to take advantage of their offers. But be aware of their fuel surcharges, which obviously will vary greatly depending on your destination. There are a number of partners you can use, some that notably do not have fuel surcharges, like New Zealand Air. When it comes time to transfer points, they will not show up immediately. You may need to wait a full day or more before they show up in your account.

Just a little nugget to put in your back pocket: if you end up in Istanbul for a long lay over, take advantage of the free city tours through TourIstanbul that are available to Turkish Airline travelers. Simply go to international arrivals and show your boarding pass at the TourIstanbul desk, no reservations needed.

How to Redeem

The best way to redeem your Turkish Miles&Smiles miles is for airfare on Turkish Airlines or one of their partner airlines. Turkish uses a region based award chart for flights on both their own metal and partner carriers. Click here to see the award chart for Turkish.

• Two types of Turkish award tickets: Promotional awards and standard awards.
  • Promotional awards cost far fewer miles but can be harder to find.
• How to search: Log into your account, select “Award ticket - Buy a ticket with Miles,” and enter your search details.
  • You can toggle between Turkish Airlines and Star Alliance partners.

Turkish also has a separate region based award chart for Star Alliance and other partner airlines, and this is where some of the best sweet spots can be found. Click here to see the award chart for partner airlines.

• How to search partner awards (method 1): Follow the same steps as above, then toggle between “Award Ticket” and “Star Award Ticket.”
• How to search partner awards (method 2): After logging in, open the dropdown under your name, click “Miles Transactions,” then “Book now” under “Star Alliance award ticket.”

Before searching, be aware of several quirks and glitches with the Turkish website:

• Your password must be exactly 6 digits and cannot repeat the same digit more than twice (the site does not explain this).
• Your membership number includes a TK prefix, but when logging in you must omit the TK. Again, this is something the website does not clarify.
• The website is often buggy, and logging in or navigating between pages may require multiple attempts.

Visit Turkish Airways Miles&Smiles