Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles suffered a major devaluation in February 2024 which saw its award charts gutted, and the introduction of segment-by-segment pricing.
This increased the cost of award tickets by as much as 100%, and since then, the programme has become mostly irrelevant to someone based in Singapore.
However, Turkish Airlines has now launched a Valentine’s Day promotion offering a 50% mileage rebate on award tickets booked for two passengers under the same reservation. This deal temporarily restores award prices to reasonable — even attractive — levels, but only if you can travel in the two-week period between 10-23 February 2025.
The booking period starts on Tuesday, 4 February 2025, so have a read of this article and decide if you want to transfer credit card points to have them ready to go.
Turkish Miles&Smiles 50% award rebate
Details |
With Turkish Airlines’ Valentine’s Day promotion, members who book two tickets under the same reservation code will be automatically refunded 50% of the miles redeemed.
The following conditions apply:
- Booking period: 4-16 February 2025
- Travel period: 10-23 February 2025
- Applicable carriers: Turkish Airlines only
- Award types: One-way or Round-trip
- Applicable cabins: Business or Economy Class
The offer is valid for any route on the Turkish Airlines network, whether domestic or international.
Do note that this is a rebate, not a discount. In other words, if an award costs 200,000 miles, you need the full 200,000 miles to book it, not just 100,000 miles.
The rebate will be credited within 10 days after the flight’s completion, and miles will be valid for three years.
Turkish Miles&Smiles award tickets can be changed or cancelled for a US$70 fee.
Is it worth it?
Here’s how much Turkish Airlines awards through Miles&Smiles usually cost, and how they would price with a 50% rebate.
✈️ One-way Awards from Singapore | ||
Economy | Business | |
Melbourne | 17K |
28K |
Turkey | 17.5K |
32.5K |
Europe | 22.5-25K |
42.5-45K |
Middle East | 26.5K |
46.5K |
North America | 37.5K |
65K |
South America | 42.5K |
70K |
Obviously, 42,500 to 45,000 miles for Business Class between Singapore and Europe would be excellent value, though keep in mind that Turkish Airlines does have significant fuel surcharges that add up to around ~S$450 each way.
In general, it is not easy to find award space between Singapore and Europe on Turkish Airlines, but if you’re willing to reposition to Bangkok, Jakarta or Kuala Lumpur, you might have better luck.
Fortunately, there is plenty of award space on the fifth freedom flight between Singapore and Melbourne, and 28,000 miles + S$357.20 for Business Class would be a very good deal indeed.
This flight is operated by an Airbus A350-900, which features the same Stelia Aerospace Symphony seat that Singapore Airlines uses for its regional Business Class. It’s not the most cutting edge of long-haul products, but you’re at least guaranteed direct aisle access and a lie-flat bed.
You can use the Seats.Aero tool to quickly search for Turkish Airlines award space. As the screenshot below shows, there are a few dates during the promotion period with Business Class awards between Singapore and Istanbul.
If you’re looking at the Miles&Smiles award charts on the Turkish Airlines website and the figures don’t seem to match those in my table, do remember that the programme now uses segment-by-segment pricing for Turkish Airlines flights connecting in Turkey (I’ve already factored this into my calculations).
For example, a Turkish Airlines award ticket from Singapore to London is the sum of:
- an individual Singapore to Istanbul award
- an individual Istanbul to London award
Which banks offer transfers to Turkish Miles&Smiles?
In Singapore, points transfers to Turkish Miles&Smiles are available through Citi and HSBC.
Transfer Ratios | |
S$27.25 fee |
|
S$27.25 fee |
|
Free |
Citi points transfers have a S$27.25 fee, and usually take up to five days to process.
HSBC points transfers are instant and free, but the catch is the relatively poor transfer ratio. The “baseline” for HSBC points transfers is 25,000 points = 10,000 miles, so Turkish Miles&Smiles costs about 40% more.
To see the full list of transfer partners available to each card in Singapore, refer to the post below.
Complete list of Singapore credit card airline and hotel transfer partners
Conclusion
Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles will soon launch a 50% rebate on every pair of award tickets booked between 4-16 February 2025, whether in Economy or Business Class. The catch here is the extremely restricted travel period. Unless you’re able to fly between 10-23 February 2025, you won’t be able to take advantage of this offer.
And even if you can, it’s important to remember that this is a rebate, not a discount. 10 days after your flight, you’ll receive 50% of the miles back in your account, which you then need to spend on a separate redemption- which could be tricky with the regular Miles&Smiles pricing.