Turkish Business Class, Up to 4 Seats
If you're looking for a flight to Istanbul, other parts of Europe, or the Middle East early next year, Turkish has space for up to four people.
As is sometimes the case, I'm only seeing award space on the outbound. Fortunately, there's still plenty of time to find and book a different award for the return flight.
I imagine I'll send another alert with space to get you home!
If Istanbul isn't on your list right now, this could be a great way to connect to other parts of Europe and the Middle East.
7 Great Ways To Use Turkish Miles
Now, let's get into the award space!
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Straight To The Points:
Routes: ATL/DFW/IAD/SEA/SFO/YUL-IST
Operating airline: Turkish Airlines
Class of service: Business class
Dates: January - May 2024
Seats available: 2 (Up to 4)
Cabin layout: 1-2-1 (B789/A350)
Book with (per person, one-way):
- Turkish Miles&Smiles: 45,000 miles
Turkish Miles&Smiles has access to more award space than partner programs. However, some dates can be booked with the following programs:
- *Air Canada Aeroplan:
- ATL/IAD/YUL: 70,000 points
- DFW/SEA/SFO: 90,000 points
- 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
- *United MileagePlus: 88,000 miles
*No Surcharges
Taxes/fees without surcharges (per person, one-way):
- US to Istanbul: $5.60
- YUL to Istanbul: ~$49
- Surcharges:
- From US: ~$210
- From YUL: ~$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
Current Airline Transfer Bonuses
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.
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Available Dates
DFW-IST (787-9)
January: 15, 18-27. 29, 31
February: 1, 3-7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 18-26, 29
March: 1, 2, 4, 5, 11-14, 16-18, 21, 23-26, 28-31
April: 2-4, 10, 16-21, 24, 27-30
May:
ATL-IST (A350)
January: 1, 7-10, 12, 14, 15, 19-22, 28, 29, 31
February: 4, 13, 17, 21, 22, 24, 26, 28
March: 2, 3, 5, 6, 10-13, 17-20, 23-27, 30. 31
April: 1-4, 6, 8-10, 15, 17, 20-23, 27-29
May: 1, 5, 7, 11, 14,
YUL-IST (A350)
January: 7, 14, 17, 21, 24, 26, 28, 31
February: 2, 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, 28
March: 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20, 24, 27, 31
April: 3, 7, 10, 14, 17, 21, 24, 28
May: 5, 8, 12, 19, 26, 29
June: 2
SEA-IST (787-9)
January: 4, 7-11, 14-18, 22, 23, 25, 29-31
February: 4, 5, 8, 11, 14, 18-20, 22, 28, 29
March: 3-5, 11-14, 17, 20, 25, 27, 31
April: 2, 8, 15, 16, 22, 24
IAD-IST (787-9)
January: 1, 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24
February: N/A
March: 4, 6, 11
April: 1, 3, 15, 17, 22, 29
SFO-IST (787-9)
January: 15-17, 22-24, 30
February: 5, 19, 21, 26-28
March: 4, 5, 20, 27
April: 2, 3
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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, Capital One, or Citi points, Turkish is an excellent option at 45,000 miles one-way with reasonable taxes/fees at ~$215 from the US.
You can call Turkish to hold space while you transfer points.
7 Great Ways To Use Turkish Miles
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.
If you can take advantage of Amex's 15% transfer bonus, you'll only need 55,000 Amex points to book a one-way.
If you want to connect to a destination in the Middle East, you'll only need 2,000 more miles for a total of 47,000 Turkish miles.
Aeroplan: No Surcharges, Solid Rate From East Coast/Midwest
Aeroplan is a solid option the east coast and Atlanta 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.
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.
United: No Surcharges, Better Than Aeroplan From West Coast
Since the Aeroplan rate jumps to 90,000 points from the west coast, 88,000 United miles is a better option if you have Bilt or Chase points.
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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 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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