Turkish Airlines has a great business class product on most flights within Europe. Unlike most European carriers, you can expect a “real” business class seat on all flights as well as good service and a tasty hot meal. Through December 15th, you can upgrade any flight from Istanbul to Europe for 7,500 miles.
The most important part of this deal is that it is valid for any paid economy class fare. That means you do not have to purchase a pricey economy class ticket in order to upgrade. Even the cheapest fare buckets are eligible for upgrades. Economy class award tickets cannot be upgraded to business class for 7.5K miles.
The terms and conditions are limited–
- Promotion valid between September 18, 2017 and December 15, 2017.
- Promotion valid on flights to Europe departing from Istanbul.
- Under the promotion, upgrades to Business Class can be made in exchange for 7,500 Miles.
- Promotion valid on paid Economy Class tickets.
- Promotion only valid on scheduled flights operated by Turkish Airlines. Not valid on Codeshare or Star Alliance member airline flights.
- Award ticket rules apply under the promotion.
- Upgrades can be made via Turkish Airlines call centers and sales offices.
- Turkish Airlines reserves the right to make changes to promotion conditions or cancel the promotion.
Note, you can only upgrade flights from Istanbul to Europe–not flights from Europe to Istanbul.
How to Check for Turkish Airlines Upgrade Space
Your upgrade can only be confirmed if there is award space (“I” class) on the flight. You can check for I-class using ExpertFlyer or for free using the United or Aeroplan online award search tools.
While you probably don’t want to drop 7,500 miles on a flight under two hours, it is still worthwhile if you do not otherwise have access to the amazing Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge in Istanbul.
> Read More: Review: Turkish Airlines CIP Lounge Istanbul
You can check out two recent intra-Europe Turkish Airlines business class reviews below:
> Read More: Frankfurt to Istanbul in Turkish Airlines A330 Business Class
> Read More: Istanbul to Hamburg in Turkish Airlines A320 Business Class
Note that Turkish runs wide body aircraft with lie-flat seating to several cities including Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Paris. That’s an even sweeter upgrade.
Transfer Citi ThankYou Rewards to Turkish on a 1:1 Basis
Sounds great…but how do I get Turkish points in order to upgrade?
Citi has just added Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program as transfer partner, meaning you can transfer in points to take advantage of this deal. This promotion and new transfer partner makes Citi points much more lucrative.
CONCLUSION
I am a huge fan of Turkish Airlines and not just because I’ve heard good things about it, but because I’ve flown it often. This upgrade is worthwhile…I plan to personally take advantage of it.
This is incorrect. Not all TK narrow body planes feature proper J seats. Some do, some have standard Euro J seating and it’s luck of the draw what you get.
I don’t believe this is any longer the case. Do you have any recent experience?
Most definitely a whole bunch don’t feature proper J seats. Recent experience as of May… it’s still hit or miss. Whole FT thread about it
Thanks for your comments.
Feel free to post the link to the FT thread here.
I can echo this: in early July I flew business class in a TK 737-800 and it was an old-school Euro-business setup with standard economy seats and the middle blocked off.
Also the FT thread that discusses the 738 and 739 J seating is here:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/turkish-airlines-miles-smiles/1169709-i-m-flying-tk-xx-route-xxx-xxx-aircraft-seat-used-master-thread.html