Turkish Business Class: Dallas to Istanbul Promo
If you want to visit Istanbul, there is a mountain of award space from Dallas through the end of the schedule (July 2022). Even better, this new route is operated by a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner.
Shoutout to GSTP for flagging the Turkish Miles & Smiles promo which provides an excellent 25% off redemption rate through late March 2022.
More on that below.
Now, let's get into the award space!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: DFW-IST
Operating airline: Turkish Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: October 2021 - July 2022
Seats available: 4
Cabin layout: 1-2-1
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan - 70,000 miles
- ANA Mileage Club - 88,000 miles (round-trip only)
- Asiana Club - 40,000 miles
- *Avianca LifeMiles - 63,000 miles
- EVA Infinity MileageLands - 65,000 miles
- Miles & More - 56,000 miles
- Singapore KrisFlyer - 76,500 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles - 45,000 miles
- 33,750 miles through late March
- *United MileagePlus - 77,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: ~$50
- Surcharges/Other Fees:
- One-way: ~$170
- Round-trip: ~$380
- Partner booking fee: Air Canada, LifeMiles
Some programs pass on most of the surcharges, but not all. For example, the total taxes/fees with Turkish will be ~$170 one-way, ~$380 round-trip while ANA requires ~$454 taxes/fees round-trip.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Chase, Capital One, Marriott
- ANA: Amex, Marriott
- Asiana: Marriott
- LifeMiles: Amex, Brex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Air: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore: Amex, Brex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Turkish: Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- United: Chase, Marriott
Drop me an email if you book!
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DISCLAIMER: Please be aware that the COVID-19 situation and the resulting travel restrictions could prevent you from traveling. Additionally, please make sure you understand the cancellation, redeposit, and change fees required before booking with a particular program.
Details
Turkish Airlines offers 1-2-1 seating with lie-flat seats on its Boeing 787-9.
Overall, it's a nice seat. If you're like me and have wide shoulders, it might feel a little snug up top but it's still a comfy seat. I imagine you'll want to recline or lie down for a decent bit of the 9+ hour flight.
While the new seat is nice, the real star of the show is the inflight catering and the lounge in Istanbul. While inflight food can be tough to get right, Turkish has a reputation for doing just that.
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Need a new card? Support STTP!
It doesn't get enough attention, but this card's 80k-point bonus is worth a look (Learn More). It's a great option to transfer points to American (through Nov. 13), Turkish, etc. Doesn't hurt that you can earn 3x on groceries, dining, gas, flights, and hotels.
Everyone's favorite beginner card continues to have a 100k sign-up bonus and will soon get revamped bonus categories. You can find more info here or apply in-branch to get the annual fee waived.
You can find other cards here. Thanks for your support!
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Available Dates
The following dates have award space for 4 people.
DFW-IST
October: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31
November: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29
December: 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 26, 27, 29, 31
January: 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31
February: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28
March: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30
April: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29
May: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30
June: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29
July: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25
IST-DFW
October: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 24, 25, 27, 29, 31
November: 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28, 29
December: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29, 31
January: 14, 16, 17, 19, 21, 23, 24, 26, 28, 30, 31
February: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28
March: 2, 4, 6, 7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 16, 18, 20, 21, 23, 25, 27, 28, 30
April: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 29
May: 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18, 20, 22, 23, 25, 27, 29, 30
June: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 24, 26, 27, 29
July: 6, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 20, 24
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Best Ways To Book
If you're flying nonstop to Istanbul by late March 2022 and have Citi points, you're not going to beat 33,750 Turkish miles one-way. Yes, the surcharges bring the total taxes/fees to $170 on the outbound, but I still think that's an excellent deal. Even if you book round-trip, 67,500 miles + $379 is solid!
After late March 2022 or if you want to connect...
If you have plenty of points and want to avoid the surcharges, 63,000 LifeMiles one-way is the way to go. If you don't earn quite as many miles and/or are okay with some surcharges, 45,000 Turkish miles is excellent.
Turkish will also allow you to include a stopover on a round-trip ticket if you only have Turkish flights on your award.
Typically, ANA Mileage Club is the best round-trip option if you have Amex points. In this case, I'm not so sure. While 88,000 miles round-trip is great, ANA passes on all of the surcharges which brings your taxes/fees to $450+.
If you have both Citi and Amex points, I'd use 2,000 more miles with Turkish and pay less out of pocket. Also, Turkish will let you hold the award space.
Even if you only have Amex points and are booking round-trip, 126,000 LifeMiles could be preferable when you consider that you'll save over $350+.
Aeroplan could be a solid option if you have Amex points and want a stopover in Istanbul. You can include a stopover on a one-way for 5,000 miles which means, for 75,000 miles, you could visit Istanbul then jump off to another city in Turkey, Cairo, Rome, etc.
Please keep in mind that Aeroplan's zone-based chart also has a distance component. You can use GCmap to calculate your flight distance.
If you only have Chase points, United is your best bet at 77,000 miles one-way and no surcharges. You can use the Excursionist Perk to stopover in Istanbul on your way to another European destination.
If you're sitting on a ton of Marriott points, Asiana's rate of 40,000 miles one-way is excellent. Like Turkish, Asiana doesn't pass on all of the surcharges so that's a bonus. Just keep in mind transfers from Marriott can take several days.
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How To Book
If you don't know the exact dates you want to fly, keep things simple and use United's calendar search option.
- From United's homepage, select Advanced search
- Choose to show price in miles
- Enter the origin & destination
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Under Connections, uncheck 1 and 2+ if searching nonstop
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Run the search
- If booking with another Star Alliance partner, confirm space by searching with that program
- Transfer points (if necessary)
- Log into your account
- Run the search again
- Complete the booking
Once you know the exact dates you want, you can run the search with the program you'll be using to book. As always, I recommend confirming the program you're using sees the award space before you transfer points.
Transfers to Turkish aren't instant so you can call to put the award on hold if you prefer (800-874-8875) before transferring Citi points. They'll hold the space for up to 72 hours. Transfers from Citi usually take 24 hours or so while transfers from Capital one are instant.
Bottom Line
I absolutely loved Istanbul and highly recommend a visit, especially if you're a history nerd. There's also plenty of great food to try, great views to take in from a rooftop bar, and make sure you enjoy a full Turkish breakfast.
Happy booking!
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