Turkish Business Class, Up to 4 Seats
Turkish Miles&Smiles just launched a promo for 30% off award tickets (more details) that can bring a one-way business class ticket down to 31,500 miles.
With that in mind, I thought I'd dig up some business class space for you! There isn't a ton of award space during the promo dates from many US and Canadian airports, but there are several options worth your attention.
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Now, let's get into it!
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Straight To The Points
Routes: DTW-IST, JFK/ORD/YUL to select cities via IST
Operating airline: Turkish Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: December 2023 - May 2024
Seats available: 2 (Up to 4)
Cabin layout: Varies (1-2-1, 2-2-2, 2-3-2)
Book with (per person, one-way):
- *Air Canada Aeroplan: 70,000 points
- 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: 88,000 miles
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
- Promo Dates to Europe: 31,500 miles
- *United MileagePlus: 88,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person, one-way):
- From US: $5.60
- From Canada: ~$45-49
- From Istanbul: ~$25
- Surcharges:
- From US: ~$210
- From Canada: ~$190
Partner booking fee: Air Canada, LifeMiles
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Bilt, Chase, Capital One, Marriott
- Asiana: Marriott
- Avianca: Amex, Capital One, Citi, Marriott
- EVA Air: Citi, Capital One
- Singapore: Amex, Capital One, Chase, Citi, Marriott
- Turkish: Bilt, Citi, Capital One, Marriott
- United: Bilt, Chase, Marriott
If you need more points, check out this month's best card offers!
Bookmark our Current Airline Transfer Bonuses page!
Let me know if you book!
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Flight Experience
The star of the show is the inflight catering and the lounge in Istanbul. While inflight food can be tough to get right, Turkish is known for doing just that.
On their Airbus A350 and Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, you'll find a staggered 1-2-1 business class so each seat has direct aisle access and is a lie-flat seat.
If you're on one of their Boeing 777s or Airbus A330s, the cabin layout will be 2-3-2 and 2-2-2, respectively. There isn't much privacy, but the seats are comfy.
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Available Dates
Promo Blackout Dates: March 27 - April 15, 2024
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DTW-IST
January: 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 13, 19, 20
February: 24
IST-DTW
January: 12, 27, 29
February: 16
To get the 30% promo discount for the following options, you must include a connection to/from one of the European destinations listed in the promo terms (see below).
JFK-IST
December: 29-31
January: 1, 9-14, 16-19, 22, 23, 29, 30
February: 27
March: 4, 10-12, 14, 17-20, 25-27, 31
April: 1, 8, 10, 22, 29
IST-JFK
December: 22, 24, 25, 27
January: 24, 29-31
February: 1, 14, 15
March: 14, 25, 27
Apri: 14, 15, 22
YUL-IST
February: 11, 14, 18, 23, 25, 28
March: 8, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 29
April: 12, 14
May: 1, 22
IST-YUL
January: 24, 28
February: 4, 7, 9, 11, 14, 18, 21, 28
March: 3, 13, 27
April: 5, 14, 17, 19, 24
May: 1, 3, 15, 24
ORD-IST
December: 31
January: 1, 2, 8-10, 14, 15, 28-30
February: 1, 2, 8, 20, 26, 29
March: 4, 18, 26
April: 9
IST-ORD
December: 20-28
January: 18, 23, 24, 29-31
February: N/A
March: 21
April: 13, 16, 18
May: 2
Eligible Promo Destinations
Award rates will vary if you connect to regions other than Europe.
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
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Awayz: Special Offer For STTP Premium Members
With Awayz, you can search for hotel award availability across a variety of hotel programs with an easy to use monthly calendar feature. This can be particularly useful when trying to secure a room at holes that are tough to book with points.
As an STTP Premium member, you can get $50 off your first year with my promo code STRAIGHTTOTHEPOINTSMEM. This promo ends 12/31/2023.
Sign up here.
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Best Ways To Book
Turkish: Best One-Way Rate, Surcharges Are Reasonable
Turkish has a big advantage over other options as its members have access to more award space. If you have Bilt or Capital One points, Turkish is an excellent option at 45,000 miles one-way.
If you book a nonstop to/from Detroit, you can book for only 31,500 miles one-way. From other US/Canadian airports, you can get the 31,500-mile rate if you include a connection to one of the eligible European destinations listed above.
You can call Turkish to hold space while you transfer points.
ANA: Great Round-Trip Award Rate
You can't beat 88,000 miles round-trip. Just keep in mind that you can only book round-trip, you'll be on the hook for surcharges, and Amex transfers can take a few days to process.
LifeMiles: Great Rate, No Surcharges
At 63,000 miles one-way + no surcharges, LifeMiles provides a great way to book if you have Amex, Capital One, or Citi points whether you need a non-stop, connection within the US, or a connection to somewhere else in Europe.
Aeroplan: No Surcharges, 20% Chase Transfer Bonus
Aeroplan is a solid option the east coast and midwest at 70,000 points if you have Bilt or Chase points and you want to avoid surcharges. If LifeMiles has issues with connections, Aeroplan is a good option if you have Amex or Capital One points.
With the Chase 20% transfer bonus, you'll only need 59,000 Chase points from the east coast/midwest. From the west coast, you'll need 75,000 Chase points which makes it better than the 88,000 miles required by United.
Keep in mind that connections could increase the award rate. Use use GCmap to calculate your total flight distance and double-check Aeroplan's zone-based chart. Stopovers can be included for 5,000 miles on a one-way.
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Book Luxury Hotels With Perks
Book with perks such as room upgrades, daily breakfast, and a $100 property credit via our self-service booking portal. If you want to book a Four Seasons or Rosewood property, you can submit a request here.
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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 Nonstop only
- Select your dates or choose Flexible dates and choose a month
- Select the number of passengers
- Select Business
- Show flights from All Star Alliance airlines
- Select Find flights
If booking with Turkish miles, go ahead and search on their site:
- Sign into your account (top right)
- Select "Award ticket - Buy a ticket with Miles"
- Enter origin/destination
- Select date
- Select cabin and number of passengers
You can call Turkish Airlines at 800-874-8875 to hold award space while you transfer points.
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.
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Final Thoughts
I absolutely loved Istanbul and highly recommend a visit, especially if you're a history nerd. There's plenty of great food to try, great views to take in from a rooftop bar, and make sure you enjoy a full Turkish breakfast.
A couple of friends of mine have an amazing shop there called 3rd Culture. Definitely worth a visit as you explore the city!
Happy booking!
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