Turkish Airlines is the best airline in Europe based on Skytrax Ratings. It also has flights from India (Delhi & Mumbai) to Istanbul, with further connecting flights to other parts of the world, especially Europe. Even Indigo uses Turkish Airlines to connect Indian travellers to Europe with the help of their codeshare agreement. But there is so much more. You can use your Turkish Airlines Miles to fly to Europe, Canada, the USA, and the Western world.
Here’s how to find the sweet spot with Turkish Airlines Miles from India.
Developing Story: Turkish Airlines have published new award chart which has increased prices of all regions. And, sweet spots are no longer sweet and this page will be updated with new turkish miles sweet spots, if any. As of this writing [7th Feb 2024] awards are still bookable with old rates. They can be updated anytime. Refer our this blog for more information.
Sign-up for Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Account
If you don’t already have a Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles account, we recommend you sign-up for it. As it is free to join. And you would need to use your miles to book Award Tickets.
You can sign-up for Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Account here.
Know these Before you Search or Book an Award Ticket
Although multiple Award Sweet Spots are available while searching the Turkish Airlines website, there are a few clumsy things here. Firstly, the Turkish Airlines website doesn’t have an easy and smooth tool to search for Award Tickets.
Secondly, the Star Alliance Award Ticket search tool is also not the best. Thirdly, you can’t book an award ticket online apart from yourself. For this, you must call Turkish Airlines at “000800501565”.
And, no Award Ticket can be issued for a layover of more than 24 hours, technically known as a stopover. But this should not be an issue since you can’t book multiple airlines ticket. Some downside can be a bit higher taxes & surcharge fees on Award Tickets.
Also, the password for your Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles account will always be six digit numeric password and not an alphanumeric one.
But good thing takes time. So, you would need patience here.
Pro Tip: Use United Airlines Award Search for Star Alliance Flights Availability
As the Turkish Airlines website is clumsy and online availability can be an issue, it is better to search United Airlines Award tickets for availability on Star Alliance flights. Once done, you can try to find it on the Turkish Airlines website, and if not found can call them to book it for you.
Related: Turkish Award Discount Sale [30% Off]
Book Air India and Star Alliance Airlines Ticket with Turkish Airlines Miles
If you want to travel domestically or internationally on an Air India flight, you can do so with your Turkish Miles. For any Indian domestic flights, you can book an economy ticket for 7500 Turkish Airlines Miles and Business Class for 12500 Turkish Airlines Miles.
In both of the above flights, business class tickets cost INR 30,216, which gives you a value of INR 2.42 per Turkish mile. That’s just so much better. Even better than CV Points for Vistara Airlines.
In 12500 Turkish Miles, you can also travel on Star Alliance Airlines domestic flights. Like below, you can travel between Berlin and Frankfurt for 12500 miles in business class and 7500 miles in economy class.
Fixed Award Chart and Sweet Spot Turkish Airlines Miles
Due to Turkish Airlines fixed award chart, Sweet Award Spots can be on multiple routes. Also, it has two award charts. One is the “Promotional Award Chart”. And other is the “Award Chart”. In these two Award Charts, the difference is that on some flights, you might be able to book an Award Ticket at Promotional or Promo Turkish Miles; on others, you may be able to book a regular award ticket. Due to the Promotional Award Tickets, the sweet spot arises. As these are sweet spots, they would be less available than regular award tickets from the airlines themselves and due to booking by other travellers.
You can find the Award Chart here.
India to Europe with Turkish Airlines Miles
Generally, Europe-bound travel with Turkish Miles cost 30000 miles for economy class and 60000 miles for business class. But on a few dates, you can book your Europe-bound travel from India with just 19000 miles for an economy class award ticket and 30000 miles for a business class award ticket.
For Example, Turkish Airlines and Star Alliance Flights from Delhi to London can be booked for 19000 Turkish miles for an economy award ticket. But, the miles for Business Class have the sweet sport. You can travel in a Business Class for just 30000 Turkish Miles. And you have to pay $18.54 (INR 1538) as a surcharge. So, you’re using the miles required for economy class to book a business class ticket. Just to give you another perspective, for a Vistara Business Class for Delhi to London, you will need to shell out 1,20,000 CV Points.
If you want to pay for this flight, prepare to shell out INR 1,71,294. That means Turkish Miles is giving you a value of INR 5.65. That’s just unbelievable.
You can even book an economy award ticket to London for 19000 Turkish Miles—both on Air India and Turkish Airlines.
India to Canada with Turkish Miles
It’s not just Europe. You can even travel to Canada with 52500 Miles in business class. For an Air India flight that costs INR 2,87,000, you will pay 52500 Turkish Miles and INR 1538 ($18.54) as a surcharge. This gives you a value of INR 5.43 per Turkish mile. Usually, it could cost 125000 Turkish miles to book a business class award ticket.
India to South America with Turkish Miles
India doesn’t have direct connectivity to South America. Most flights are connecting flights primarily from Europe. I was checking for flights to Colombia (Bogota) from India (Delhi), and Air France, part of OneWorld Alliance, was the best flight; it takes 29 hours and costs INR 282000 in Business Class. If you would like to book it with Flying Miles, it will cost 298500 Flying Blue Miles and INR 53000 ($638.74) for surcharges.
With Turkish Miles, you can book a Business Class Promotional Award ticket for 60000 Miles. You usually need to use 120000 miles for booking this flight. Also, you must pay INR 40500 ($487.44) as a surcharge. You still get the value of INR 4 per Turkish mile here.
Fun Fact: With touristanbul you can visit Istanbul for free with Bus Tour arranged by Turkish Airlines, which includes food. It’s only available for layovers of more than 6 hours. Also, you can check with the “Hotel Desk” at the Istanbul Airport whether you’re eligible for a free hotel if your flight layover is more than 9 hours for Business Class Travellers and 12 Hours for Economy Class Travellers. However, both benefits of Touristanbul and Hotel stay is not available together. Also, there could be additional Visa requirements.
Award Ticket Hold
Although Sweet Spot of Turkish Miles is exciting, you should not transfer your Points until your plan is firm. If you believe the sweet spot will go before transferring your points, you can use the “Award Hold” feature. If your Award ticket is after seven days or more, then you can call the call centre of Turkish Airlines and ask them to hold the Award against your account. Then you will have 48 hours to make a booking with miles.
Should you pay your surcharges or taxes in USD?
As you need to pay for surcharges priced in USD on Award Tickets, you need to pay the equivalent amount in INR and, on top of it, with a forex-markup. But, with Turkish Miles, you also have the option to pay charges in other currencies except for INR. I found Bangladeshi Taka to be the better option for paying surcharges as it was costing 4% less in INR.
Charges on Redeeming Turkish Miles for Award Ticket
A few charges are payable in money while redeeming Turkish miles for Award Ticket. And some of the charges are payable otherwise. Here are the complete details.
- Booking a Domestic (Turkey) Award Ticket: Starts from $30 (INR 2400)
- Booking An International Award Ticket: Starts from $53 (INR 4300)
- Reservation Changes Charges (Domestic-Turkey): TRY 150/Per Transaction (INR 650)
- International Reservation Changes Charges: USD 70/Per Transaction (INR 5700)
- No-Show/Offload Charges (Domestic-Turkey): TRY 200 (INR 870)
- No-Show/Offload Charges (International): $150 (INR 12300)
A Silver lining here is that you get your Turkish Miles Back if there is a no-show or cancellation. But you have to cough up the charges as above.
How to earn Turkish Miles in India?
Transferring your points is the easiest way to earn Turkish Miles in India. There are six ways to earn Turkish Miles in India:
- Transfer from HDFC Bank (1:1)
- Transfer From Axis Edge Rewards (5:4)
- Transfer From Axis Atlas Edge Miles (1:2) (2x Offer Valid till 7th March 2023)
- Transfer from Marriott Bonvoy Account (3:1+5000 Miles on transferring 60000 Points)
- Transfer from Accor Account (4000:2000)
- Transfer from Citi Credit Cards
It is recommended to transfer your points only when your plan is firm.
How to book Award Ticket with Turkish Miles?
There are two ways to book Award Ticket with Turkish Miles. One is for booking an award ticket for Turkish Airlines, which is relatively better. And the second one is for booking award tickets for Star Alliance Airlines.
You must be logged into your Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles account in both cases.
How to book Turkish Airlines Award Ticket with Turkish Miles?
Firstly login to your account. Then on the home page, you will see “Award Ticket-Buy a Ticket with Miles”.
Simply click on that. And a new page will open up asking you for travel details. Enter your departure city and destination city. Your trip type (Round-Trip or One-Way) & choose the travel date and Cabin Class.
Once done, click on the red arrow. Your search result will come up. For economy class, you can use weekly view to see if a better miles redemption option is available. But it is not available for business class.
Select your flight and pay for the charges. And, done.
How to book Star Alliance Award Ticket with Turkish Miles?
It’s a bit clumsy. Once you have logged into your account, only you can book Star Alliance Award Ticket. But it’s a bit of a pain to start it. After log-in in on the top right side, you’ll see your name. Simply click on that and then click on “Miles Transactions”.
After that, a new page will open up. You will see the “Star Alliance Award Ticket” and a “Book Now” option on the right side. Use that.
A new window will open, and enter the details as you like. It can be domestic or international.
Continue and pay with miles and charges.
Voila, Done.
Bottomline
India doesn’t have great International Airlines like Emirates, Etihad or Qatar Airways. But there is an alternative, Turkish Airlines. Indian travellers can make their international and domestic travel comfortable using Turkish Miles. There are many sweet spots available. It’s their website, which is a bit clumsy. But you can get over it as few deals are just amazing. There are a lot of things which you do by calling the Turkish Airlines Call Centre, which does take away a bit of convenience. Yet Turkish Miles & Smiles is here to stay.
