Turkish Airlines has launched a new award sale for Miles&Smiles members that offers up to 40% off Business and Economy Class redemptions. This offer is valid for tickets issued by 30 September 2022, with travel up to 15 March 2023.
The catch is that members based in Singapore will only be able to enjoy the discount in a one-way direction, as your journey needs to originate from certain cities in order to be eligible.
Up to 40% off Turkish Airlines awards
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| Turkish Airlines Award Sale |
Here’s the key details of Turkish Airlines’ Miles&Smiles award sale:
- Booking period: 12-30 September 2022
- Travel period: 12 September to 15 March 2023
- Applicable carriers: Turkish Airlines only
- Award types: One-way or Round-trip
- Applicable cabins: Business or Economy Class
In order to enjoy the discount, your journey must originate from the following cities.
| Discount | Originate From |
| 40% off | Khartoum, Hurghada, Juba, Luxor, Nairobi, Riga, Sharm El Sheikh, Tallinn, Vilnius |
| 30% off | Abidjan, Abu Dhabi, Aqaba, Accra, Aktau, Almaty, Amman, Asmara, Baghdad, Bahrain, Bamako, Bari, Basel, Basra, Batumi, Beirut, Bilbao, Billund, Bishkek, Bordeaux, Bukhara, Bucharest, Jeddah, Cluj, Cotonou, Constanta, Dhaka, Dammam, Doha, Dubrovnik, Dushanbe, Erbil, Fergana, Gothenburg, Hanover, Isfahan, Alexandria, Catania, Constantine, Kuwait, Ljubljana, Lyon, Medina, Mashhad, Muscat, Naples, Najaf, Nuakchott, Oran, Podgorica, Pristina, Riyadh, Salzburg, Sarajevo, Thessaloniki, Sofia, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Sulaymaniyah, Sharjah, Shiraz, Tehran, Tabriz, Tel Aviv, Tbilisi, Turkestan, Ulan Bator, Urgench, Skopje, Varna, Zagreb |
Notice how Singapore is not on the list. This means you can enjoy the discount when flying from one of the above cities to Singapore, but not the other way round.
The discount will be automatically reflected when you search for awards on the Turkish Airlines website. For example, a one-way Economy Class award from Nairobi to Singapore normally costs 47,500 miles, which is reduced to 28,500 miles after a 40% discount.
Likewise, a one-way Economy Class award from Lyon to Singapore normally costs 30,000 miles, which is reduced to 21,000 miles after a 30% discount.
You’ll notice I’m using Economy Class examples. That’s because I’m having so much difficulty finding Business Class space. I’m sure it must be out there, but good luck finding it.
Award tickets booked under this promotion can be changed for a US$25 fee (only dates can be changed, not routings). Tickets can also be cancelled and miles refunded for a US$25 fee.
Miles&Smiles sweet spots
Turkish Airlines uses a zone-based award chart (be sure to refer to the “promotional award ticket table”), which has identical costs for Star Alliance and Turkish Airlines award redemptions.
Since travel for this promotion must be on Turkish Airlines, I’m only going to show the zone pairings that make sense for someone in Singapore (e.g. no Oceania).
| One-way Awards to Singapore | ||||
| 30% off | 40% off | |||
| Y | J | Y | J | |
| Europe | 21 | 31.5 | 18 | 27 |
| Middle East | 22.4 | 32.9 | 19.2 | 28.2 |
| North Africa | 31.5 | 42 | 27 | 36 |
| Central Africa | 33.25 | 50.75 | 28.5 | 43.5 |
| South Africa | 35 | 59.5 | 30 | 51 |
Business Class awards from Europe to Singapore were already excellent sweet spots at 45,000 miles, so a 30-40% discount means awards as cheap as 27,000 miles (from Riga, Tallinn, Vilnius)- assuming you can find award space.
Likewise, those who want to visit Africa can redeem Business Class travel back to Singapore from 36,000 miles, or from the Middle East from 28,200 miles.
If you can’t find the rates above when searching, it simply means that promotional awards aren’t available for the date in question. You’ll need to try other dates instead.
What about fuel surcharges?
Turkish Airlines is known for hefty fuel surcharges, but if it’s any consolation, it does not pass on the full fuel surcharge to award tickets.
For example, a Naples to Singapore Business Class redemption has €290.72 of taxes and surcharges attached to it.
When I search for the same ticket on ITA Matrix, I can see that the taxes component sums up to €30.39. This means that the fuel surcharge component on the award ticket must be €260.33, which is still significant, but somewhat lower than the €315 surcharge on the cash ticket.
Which cards offer transfers to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles?
If you’re looking to earn Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles, the only bank in Singapore which offers transfers is Citibank.
- 10,000 Citi Miles= 10,000 Miles&Smiles
- 25,000 ThankYou Points= 10,000 Miles& Smiles
A transfer fee of S$26.75 is applicable
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines is offering 30-40% off Business and Economy Class awards booked by 30 September 2022 and flown by 15 March 2023. While those based in Singapore can only enjoy the discount on the return leg, it’s still a good opportunity if you don’t mind the fuel surcharges.
The key issue is finding award space. I’ve been able to find a good number of Economy Class awards, but anything in Business Class remains elusive.
(HT: Vinz)
I must be reading something wrong. When I refer to the Award Chart here: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/miles-and-smiles/redeem-miles/redeem-miles-on-flights/turkish-airlines-award-tickets/, it says award tickets between Far East and Europe 2 is 235,000 miles (presumably for return?) I don’t seem to see 45,000 miles one way pre-discount.
The blogger above said: “Turkish Airlines uses a zone-based award chart (be sure to refer to the “promotional award ticket table”)”
Try that.
I have had a lot of difficulty previously (about two months back?) to book award tickets in both the app as well on the website for more than one person. I will always hit an error message after keying in the details of the passengers. This is despite award availability when I searched online. “The first award ticket can only be issued under your name. If you want to have it issued for a loved one, please contact the nearest sales office.” And so I did. I called up the international call centre line, as well as made a trip… Read more »
Where you able to find a way around it ?