Turkish Business Class (Newer Seat) on 3 Routes
It's great to see Turkish business class award space for 4 people next summer. Even better, I'm seeing space on three routes that utilize a Boeing 787-9 with Turkish's newest business class seat/cabin.
If you have any points, travel, or credit cads questions, don't forget about my weekly Q&A thread. Post any time during the week and I'll do my best to help!
Now, let's get into the award space!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: ATL/JFK/ORD-IST
Operating airline: Turkish Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: July 2022 - October 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
- *United MileagePlus - 77,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees (per person):
- One-way: $5.60
- Round-trip: ~$50 (~$111.87 with LifeMiles)
- Surcharges/Other Fees:
- One-way: ~$170
- Round-trip: ~$380-450
- 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 and ~$380 round-trip while ANA requires ~$454 round-trip.
Bank transfer partners:
- Air Canada: Amex, Bilt, 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: Bilt, 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.
Travel Restrictions and Requirements
Travel restrictions change by the day. Please take a look at the US embassy site for your destination. Here's a link to the US Embassy site for Turkey.
Flight Experience
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.
I'll note that there is additional space available on flights operated by a Boeing 777-300 with a 2-3-2 business class cabin layout. It's not very private but the seat is comfy. Space on the return to JFK is solely on the 777 at the moment.
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Available Dates
The following dates have award space for 4 people.
JFK-IST
July: 10-13, 17-19, 24, 26-29, 31
August: 1-5, 7-17, 19, 21-24, 26, 29-31
September: 2, 4-7, 9, 12-14, 16, 19-21, 23, 26-28, 30
October: 3-5, 7, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 21, 26, 28, 29
IST-JFK (on a 777)
July: N/A
August: N/A
September: 11-21, 23, 24, 26, 29, 30
October: 4-10, 12-30
ORD-IST
July: 10-14, 16-22, 24-31
August: 1-19, 21-26, 28
September: 1, 4-8, 11-14, 16-30
October: 1-18, 20-28
IST-ORD
July: N/A
August: N/A
September: 11-16, 18-30
October: 2-7, 9-14, 16-21, 23-29
ATL-IST
July: 11, 13, 14, 18, 20, 21, 25, 27, 28
August: 1-4, 8, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18, 22, 25, 27-29, 31
September: 2-8, 10-27
October: 1, 2, 4, 5, 7-9, 11, 12, 14-16, 18, 19, 21-23, 25, 26, 28-30
IST-ATL
July: N/A
August: N/A
September: 13, 15, 16, 19-23, 26-29
October: 4, 7, 8, 11, 12, 15, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 28, 29, 31
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Best Ways To Book
If you're flying nonstop to Istanbul and have Bilt, Capital One, or Citi points, 45,000 Turkish miles one-way is a solid way to go. Yes, the surcharges bring the total taxes/fees to $170 on the outbound, but I still think that's a solid deal.
You can even call Turkish and hold the award space before you transfer. Turkish will also allow you to include a stopover on a round-trip ticket if you only have Turkish flights on your award.
If you want to avoid the surcharges, 63,000 LifeMiles one-way is the way to go if you have Amex, Brex, Capital One, or Citi points. This can also be a good option if you want to connect in Istanbul to another European destination as the taxes/fees with Turkish miles could jump a bit.
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+. Personally, I'd use 2,000 more miles with Turkish and pay less out of pocket.
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.
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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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