30% off award tickets? Yes, please!
We’ve already created resources for the monthly promo awards offered by Air France-KLM Flying Blue and Singapore Krisflyer but now we’re going to throw Turkish Miles&Smiles into the mix. In honor of the 30th anniversary of Miles&Smiles, Turkish Airlines is running a 30% off award ticket promo and there are some fun opportunities for you.
How To Earn Turkish Miles & Smiles Miles
Here’s the thing, earning Turkish Miles&Smiles miles — say that 3 times fast — isn’t as easy as earning Flying Blue or KrisFlyer miles. That being said, there are still a few options if you live in the USA. My personal favorite is to transfer Citi ThankYou Points at a 1:1 ratio.
It’s the only one of the 4 major transferable points programs to partner with Turkish Airlines — I keep telling people not to ignore ThankYou Points! The following credit cards can help you earn the points you need:
You can also transfer Marriott Bonvoy points to your Miles&Smiles account. Just remember that the transfer ratio is 3:1 and that when you transfer a block of 60,000 points, you’ll receive a 5,000-mile bonus. You can earn Marriott points on your cash stays with Marriott or via one of several co-branded Amex and Chase credit cards.
- Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant American Express Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Business American Express Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Bold Credit Card
- Marriott Bonvoy Boundless Credit Card
Finally, if you don’t have access to either of these or don’t have time to earn the points via credit cards or hotel stays, you can buy miles from Turkish Airlines. For example, you can buy 31,500 miles for $945. It’s pricey so, hopefully, you won’t need to do that but it might be worth it if you need a 9+ hour flight and don’t want to sit in economy.
Check out some other great ways to use Citi ThankYou Points for some fun flights!
Discounted Award Ticket Details
Similar to the Flying Blue and Singapore KrisFlyer promos, you can only fly on Turkish Airlines to take advantage fo the 30% discount. The terms aren’t too complicated but let’s take a look at them so you know exactly what you can do.
- The routes are to/from Istanbul
- August deals: You must book and travel by August 31, 2019
- September deals: You must book by September 30, 2019 and travel between September 1 and 30, 2019
- One-way or round-trip are eligible
- Both economy and business class are eligible
- Discount is eligible for upgrades from economy to business class
Here’s a look at the eligible cities for both August and September:
| August 2019 | September 2019 |
| Asmara | Atlanta |
| Bangkok | Ashgabat |
| Herson | Karachi |
| Hurghada | Ganja |
| Cluj-Napoca | Nakhchivan |
| Kathmandu | Tunis |
| Ljubljana | Adler-Sochi |
| Lviv | Krasnodar |
| Samara | Kazan |
| Sharm El-Sheikh | St. Petersburg |
| Tallinn | Moscow |
| Vienna | Yekaterinburg |
| Voronezh | Prague |
| Yanbu | Amsterdam |
| Budapest | |
| Baghdad | |
| Doha | |
| Riyadh |
Favorite Deals For August And September
As you can see, there are plenty of options but the ones that really stand out to use are the long-haul options to the US and Asia. Let’s take a closer look at an August option and a September option.
Business Class To Atlanta (September)
This is easily my favorite deal of the bunch. Whether you fly Atlanta to Istanbul (11 hours 15 minutes) or Istanbul to Atlanta (12 hours 35 minutes), you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy some fantastic business class inflight dining.
While the normal award rate is 45,000 Miles&Smiles miles, you can book a flight during September for only 31,500 miles. Even better, Turkish Airlines is putting a Boeing 787 Dreamliner on the route starting September 10, 2019.
While Turkish Airlines does pass on surcharges, a one-way flight from Istanbul to Atlanta should only have about $210 in total taxes/fees.
Just for kicks, there are 4 business class seats from Istanbul to Atlanta on September 28.
Business Class To Bangkok (August)
If you’re looking for a last-minute trip this month between Turkey and Asia, it’s tough to beat 31,500 miles in business class to/from Bangkok. This is another flight that really gives you the opportunity to settle in and enjoy the experience as it’s listed at over 9 or 10 hours — depending on the direction you fly. If I had my choice for either of these two deals, I’d fly out of Istanbul to take advantage of some time in the new business class lounge.
The total taxes/fees on this flight out of Istanbul should be around $175.
How To Search And Book With Turkish Airlines
You can search and book online with Turkish Airlines but you might want to start your search with United. Unlike Turkish Airlines, United allows you to see a calendar of dates (2 months). If you filter the results to only see non-stop award space, it will be much easier to find dates with space.
There’s a chance Turkish will give Miles&Smiles members access to more award space but I’d still start with United then switch to searching day by day with Turkish if you don’t find anything with United.
If you find award space on a date that works for you and want to check the total/taxes fees, you just need to select the flight you want. You’ll be taken to a grayed out page if you don’t have enough miles in your account, but you’ll be able to see the taxes/fees.
Final Thoughts
If there’s a way to book a discounted award ticket, you know we’ll be all over it and let you know. As Turkish Airlines starts operating more routes on their new Dreamliners, these business class deals will be even more fun. Personally, I’m pulling for a deal to Washington Dulles!
Finally, let this serve a reminder to not overlook Citi ThankYou Points. Transferring Citi points is the best way to get Miles&Smiles miles and Citi has even run transfer bonus promos to Turkish Airlines. If you’re able to line up a transfer bonus and a 30% discounted award ticket, you’ll be getting some insane value. You can bet we’ll be keeping an eye out for another transfer bonus.
