Turkish Airlines is the flag carrier of Turkey and flies to 290 destinations in 119 countries. Its frequent flyer program, Miles&Smiles, features partnership with Citi ThankYou Rewards to earn miles easily. Their region-based award chart comes with lots of sweet spots to make use of.
Check out our list of the best credit card bonuses here.
Read below for more information on Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles.
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Quick Facts
| 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 |
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Miles&Smiles Elite Status
When you sign up with Miles&Smiles, you’ll immediately receive the Classic membership. There are three elite levels above Classic, Classic Plus, Elite, and Elite Plus. These correspond to Star Alliance Silver, Gold, and Platinum memberships.
You need a specific amount of miles in a year to be eligible or re-qualify for status:
| Classic Plus | Elite | Elite Status | |
| 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 |
Starting at Classic level, you can earn:
- Miles as you fly with Turkish Airlines & Star Alliance partners (more on that later).
- Award tickets, companion award tickets, and cabin upgrades.
- 1,000 welcome miles after your first flight.
While you move up the ladder, you’ll unlock extra VIP perks like:
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)
Earning Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles
Gain miles on flights with Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet, Star Alliance, and other partner airlines.
Turkish Airlines & AnadoluJet. The amount of miles you get will depend on booking class, status, and whether the flight is domestic or international. Look at the Turkish Airlines accrual chart and the AnadoluJet accrual chart.
Partner airlines include:
- Adria
- Aegean
- Air Canada
- Air India
- Air New Zealand
- Air China
- ANA
- Asiana Airlines
- Austrian Airlines
- 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
- United
It’s recommended that you fly with United Airlines since it’s a faster way for you to build up miles. Just put in your Miles&Smiles number on your reservation, instead of your MileagePlus number, and earn Turkish Airlines miles based on their partner charts.
Gain Turkish Airlines miles with a range of partners. Here are partners that are relevant to United States residents.
Hotel partners:
- Best Western
- Hilton Honors
- Marriott Bonvoy
- Radisson Rewards
- Wyndham Rewards
Car Rental Partners:
- Alamo
- AVIS
- Budget
- Enterprise
- Hertz
- National
- Sixt
Tourism partners:
- Agoda
- Trip.com
- Booking.com
- Kaligo
- PointsHound
- RocketMiles
Fuel Partners:
- Shell
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 use your earning potential to its fullest, read our 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 listed:
The Citi Prestige Card has 50,00 bonus points offer. Just spend $4,000 in the first 3 months of opening your account to be eligible. These 50k bonus points will be worth around $500 in travel.
For the most value out of your points, you should redeem them for flights with Citi, where the bonus will be worth 1.3 cents a point. This is another card that competes in the premium travel category, and the annual fee will signify that at $495.
Spending Turkish Airlines Miles (&Smiles)
Turkish Airlines miles will expire within 3 years from when they are earned, even with account activity. However, there is the option to extend them for an extra 3 years, but it will cost you $10 per 1,000 miles.
You can use your miles towards 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 on Shop&Miles. Pick from thousands of products in categories like: art, technology, cuisine, and sports.
There are several other ways for you to spend your Turkish Airlines miles. However, they aren’t relevant to United States residents, or they have poor value for your miles. It’s recommended that you stay with flight, upgrade, and merchandise awards for the most value for your miles.
Miles&Smiles Tips & Tricks
Miles&Smiles comes with limited-time bonuses, some of the previous offers are:
- 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, check here.
To use your rewards to the fullest potential, be 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 need to keep in mind are:
- 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 in this region is 40,000 (Economy), 70,000 (Business), or 110,000 (First) miles. One-way awards are half the mileage. In other words, the following one-way flights are available in Business class for 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 in this region costs 15,000 (Economy), 25,000 (Business) or 40,000 (First) miles. This means you can fly transcontinental on United Airlines Business class for just 12,500 miles each way.
Other sweet spots are:
| 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 |
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Conclusion
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles has several cool things to offer you when you sign up. Additionally, they are partnered with Citi ThankYou Rewards to make it easier for you to build up your miles. Furthermore, once you save enough miles, you’ll be able to use them towards the sweet spots on their award chart. But, the exorbitant fuel surcharges and the award-booking process are dealbreakers for most.
