Turkish Airlines, the flag carrier of Turkey, flies to 290 destinations worldwide in 119 countries. The airline’s frequent flyer program, Miles&Smiles, features a partnership with Citi ThankYou Rewards to make earning miles even easier!
See our best credit card bonuses here.
Joining Miles&Smiles will allow you to earn and redeem miles and work your way toward elite status. Continue reading our Miles&Smiles guide to learn more!
Miles&Smiles Quick Facts
| Miles&Smiles Hubs | Ankara (Turkey), Istanbul (Turkey), Izmir (Turkey) |
| Alliance | Star Alliance |
| 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 |
 The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. You'll earn: • 5x on travel purchased through Chase TravelSM • 3x on dining, select streaming services and online groceries • 2x on all other travel purchases • 1x on all other purchases • $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit • Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027. Get 25% more value when you redeem for airfare, hotels, car rentals and cruises through Chase TravelSM This card carries a $95 annual fee. |
Miles&Smiles Elite Status
Registering for Miles&Smiles comes with an automatic Class membership. As you earn miles, you can work your way up to one of the three elite levels– Classic Plus, Elite and Elite Plus – which correspond to Star Alliance Silver, Gold and Platinum memberships.
You need a certain number of miles within one year to qualify or re-qualify for status:
| Tier | Requirement |
| Silver | 25,000 Tier Miles or 20 Tier Segments |
| Gold | 50,000 Tier Miles or 40 Tier Segments |
| Platinum | 125,000 Tier Miles or 60 Tier Segments |
You will hold your elite status for two years after you earn it.
The Classic level brings you the following benefits:
- Earning miles as you fly with Turkish Airlines & Star Alliance partners (more on that later)
- Award tickets, companion award tickets & cabin upgrades
- 1,000 welcome miles after your first flight
As you move up from one tier to the next, you unlock additional VIP perks:
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)
*For updated information, click here for our source.
Earning Turkish Airlines Miles (&Smiles)
Other than traveling, you can earn Turkish Airlines miles in the following ways:
Earn miles on flights with Turkish Airlines, AnadoluJet, Star Alliance and other partner airlines.
Turkish Airlines & AnadoluJet. The number of miles you’ll earn depends on booking class, status and whether the flight is domestic or international. View 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
We recommend flying United Airlines, because it’s a quick way to rack up on miles. Simply enter your Miles&Smiles number on your reservation – instead of your MileagePlus number – and earn Turkish Airlines miles based on this partner chart.
Earn Turkish Airlines miles with a range of partners. Below are partners relevant to United States residents.
Hotel Partners
Car Rental Partners
- Alamo
- AVIS
- Budget
- Enterprise
- Hertz
- National
- Sixt
Tourism Partners
Fuel Partners
- Shell
For the full list of Miles&Smiles partners, click here.
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.
Earn Miles&Smiles Miles With Citi ThankYou Rewards
The Citi ThankYou Rewards program has a transfer ratio of 1:1. We recommend earning membership reward points with these cobranded credit cards.
The Citi Prestige® Card has a 50,000 bonus points offer. Spend $4,000 within 3 months of account opening to qualify. These 50k bonus points are worth $500 in travel.
The best way to get the most value out of your points is to redeem your points for flights through Citi. This is a great card for the premium travel category with an annual fee of $495.
With this card you will have the opportunity to earn 5X points on air travel & restaurants, 3X points on hotels & cruise lines, $250 Air Travel Credit annually, and free access to 1,300+ airport lounges with Priority Pass Select. For those in this niche market, this card will provide high perceived value.
Spending Turkish Airlines Miles(&Smiles)
Turkish Airlines miles expire three years from when they’re earned, even with account activity. You do have the option to extend them for another three years, but it’ll cost you $10 per 1,000 miles.
Use your miles for 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 via Shop&Miles. Choose from thousands of items in categories like Art, Technology, Cuisine and Sports.
There are other ways to spend your Turkish Airlines miles, but they’re either not relevant to United States residents, or they’ll give you poor value for your miles. We recommend sticking to flight, upgrade and merchandise awards.
Miles&Smiles Tips & Tricks
Miles&Smiles offers limited-time promotions. Past offers include:
- 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, click here.
To maximize your rewards, make 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 should know:
- 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 within this region costs 40,000 (Economy), 70,000 (Business) or 110,000 (First) miles. One-way awards are half the mileage. So, the following one-way flights are available in Business class for just 35,000 miles:
| Route | Airlines |
| Tokyo – Singapore | ANA/Singapore/Thai |
| Tokyo – Thai | ANA/Singapore/Thai |
North America (United States, Canada, Mexico, Bermuda & Netherlands Antilles). A roundtrip flight within this region costs 15,000 (Economy), 25,000 (Business) or 40,000 (First) miles. That means you can fly transcontinental on United Airlines Business class for just 12,500 miles each way.
Other sweet spots include:
| 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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Bottom Line
If you’re a frequent flyer, consider joining the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program. This program is in partnership with Citi ThankYou Rewards, making it easy to rack up on miles. You can save up points and miles towards one of the various sweet spots in the Miles&Smiles award chart.
That said, some people weigh the benefits of this program against the the exorbitant fuel surcharges and the laborious award-booking process. At the end of the day, the value of Miles&Smiles is up to you! Do you think the program is worth the hassle?
For more posts like this, check out our list of credit card bonuses and the best brokerage bonuses.
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