Turkish Airlines has launched an award sale for Miles&Smiles members that offers 30% off Business and Economy Class redemptions. This is just shy of the 40% discount we saw about a year ago, but is still a good deal in and of itself.
You’ll need to book your tickets by 27 December 2023 and travel by 31 May 2024. The catch is that only certain destinations are covered- though it’s a fairly substantial list, as we’ll see in a bit.
30% 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: 18-27 December 2023
- Travel period: 18 December 2023 to 31 May 2024
- 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 be to or from the following cities.
| Abidjan, Aktau, Alexandria, Algiers, Almaty, Amman, Amsterdam, Asmara, Astana, Athens, Baghdad, Bahrain, Banjul, Bari, Batumi, Beirut, Belgrade, Bilbao, Billund, Bishkek, Bordeaux, Bremen, Budapest, Bukhara, Cairo, Caracas, Casablanca, Catania, Chisinau, Cologne, Conakry, Constantine, Copenhagen, Cotonou, Dakar, Dammam, Dar Es Selaam, Detroit, Dhaka, Doha, Dubrovnik, Durban, Dushanbe, Dusseldorf, Entebbe, Erbil, Fergana, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Hamburg, Hanover, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Hurghada, Kigali, Kinshasa, Kuwait, Lefkosa, Leipzig, Ljubljana, Lyon, Madrid, Malaga, Malta, Maputo, Marrakech, Marseille, Nairobi, Naples, Nouakchott, Nuremberg, Oran, Osaka, Palermo, Panama, Podgorica, Pointe-Noire, Pristina, Riga, Riyadh, Rome, Salzburg, Samarkand, Sarajevo, Sharm El – Sheikh, Skopje, Sofia, Stockholm, Strasbourg, Stuttgart, Taif, Tallinn, Tashkent, Tbilisi, Thessaloniki, Tivat, Toulouse, Tunis, Turkistan, Ulaan Baatar, Urgench, Valencia, Varna, Vilnius, Zagreb |
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 33,300 miles after a 30% 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 it’s relatively tricky to find Business Class space. Suite Smile notes that Turkish Airlines has removed Business Class award space entirely for flights between Singapore and Europe, but that it’s still possible to find Business Class awards to Europe out of Jakarta, Manila, Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi (not that it helps for this promotion, since none of those cities are on the discount list).
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 (with 30% off) |
||
| Economy | Business | |
| Europe | 21K |
31.5K |
| Middle East | 22.4K |
32.9K |
| North Africa | 31.5K |
42K |
| Central Africa | 33.25K |
50.75K |
| South Africa | 35K |
59.5K |
Business Class awards from Europe to Singapore (and the rest of the Far East zone) were already excellent sweet spots at 45,000 miles, so a 30% discount means awards as cheap as 31,500 miles – assuming you can find award space.
Likewise, those who want to visit Africa can redeem Business Class travel back to Singapore from 42,000 miles, or from the Middle East from 32,900 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?
Both Citibank and the HSBC TravelOne Card partner with Miles&Smiles in Singapore.
| Bank | Ratio |
 TravelOne Card |
35,000 HSBC points = 10,000 Miles&Smiles |
 Citi Miles |
10,000 Citi Miles = 10,000 Miles&Smiles |
| TY Points |
25,000 Citi Miles = 10,000 Miles&Smiles |
Unfortunately, the HSBC TravelOne Card’s ratio entails a 40% premium compared to other partners like KrisFlyer, so I would only recommend transferring Citi Miles/TY Points, if at all.
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines is offering 30% off selected Business and Economy Class awards booked by 27 December 2023 and flown by 31 May 2024. While those based in Singapore can only enjoy the discount on the return leg, it’s worth exploring if you can stomach the fuel surcharges.
The key issue is finding award space. I’ve been able to find a good number of Economy Class awards, but Business Class awards remain elusive.
How long does it usually take for miles to be credited to the account when transferred from Citi?