The Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge is a virtual mirror-image copy of the Turkish Airlines Business Lounge In Istanbul.
I’m tempted just to refer you to my earlier review of the Turkish Business Class lounge and write “the end” but I spent some time in this lounge and photographed it thoroughly as well. Here’s an updated photo tour.
Turkish Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Review (IST)
My comprehensive review below remains relevant…even the food has not changed. The lounge still gets crowded. But I still find it to be a very solid lounge for Star Alliance Gold travelers who are flying in economy class.
Expect great food including a salad, grill with beef and chicken, pasta bar, wok station, pide, gözleme, moussaka, and many sweet treats for dessert.
Hard liquor and Coke products are gone (there are Turkish soft drink substitutes), but self-serve wine and Prosecco are still available.
There’s plenty of seating and the internet speeds have improved (you still have to scan your boarding pass to receive a wi-fi code, so the government can track what you are viewing…).
Meeting rooms, showers, and sleeping rooms are available.
You can even store your luggage during your stay:
For more details and pictures, please see my full review of the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul below. In short, still a very nice lounge.
My original review, from March 25, 2020, is below.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Access + Hours + Location
While the Turkish Business Lounge is for business class passengers on Turkish Airlines and other Star Alliance and partner carriers, the Miles & Smiles lounge is for Elite and Elite Plus members of the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program as well as Star Alliance Gold travelers. Each eligible traveler is allowed one guest. The lounge is open 24/7 and located near Gate C1.
Note there is also a side entrance for female passengers, handicapped, and those with young children.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Map
For your reference, here’s a map of the lounge:
As you enter the lounge, you’ll scan your boarding pass in order to open an automated gate…no human interaction required.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Seating
Seating includes a large open area overlooking the terminal below with white sectional couches (same as the old lounge) and several other smaller seating areas scattered throughout the lounge.
There is also a “Tea Garden” and “Library” area of the lounge with more quiet seating (and of course a wide selection of tea in the Tea Garden).
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Food + Drink
For a comprehensive look at food and drink, please see my Business Lounge review, which carefully describes the sort of food and drink you can expect in this lounge as well. You’ll note several live cooking stations, a salad bar that is constantly replenished (24/7), and a pair of coffee stations in which baristas are happy to prepare the coffee drink of your choice (also 24/7, though you may have to ask).
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Private Suite
A Private Suite offers a private bedroom to passengers who meet the following criteria:
- Traveling on Turkish Airlines (not on a Star Alliance partner)
- Award tickets qualify
- A connection between four and nine hours
- At least one of your flights (either arriving or departing) needs to be at least eight hours
There are no ensuite facilities in the room, but shower suites with restrooms are right down the hall. Be advised that the walls are thin and if you are a light sleeper you may be awakened by foot traffic.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Daybeds
If you cannot snag a private suites, daybeds are available, though these are often even more difficult to get than the suites since they are available to all lounge guests.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Restrooms + Showers
Two large restrooms are available in the lounge and showers are available at the same reception desk for the Private Suite.
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Lounge Istanbul Lockers
If you are staying awhile, you can drop your luggage off in a keypad-controlled locker near the entrance to the lounge.
CONCLUSION
Singapore Airlines has a separate lounge for its Star Alliance Gold passengers and it is a huge step down form the business class lounge. Thankfully, Turkish Airlines has two lounges just to space out crowds and both are more or less identical (the Business Lounge has an art gallery, which is really the only difference). If you are flying economy class out of Istanbul, enjoy a great meal in this lounge before your flight and show up early…it will relax you before a long flight on Turkish (where legroom is tight).
I spent almost 12 hours here last month between flights and was most impressed by the range of food/drink offerings and variety of seating areas. TK has improved on its old IST lounge, in part by creating two almost identical ones to deal with peak crowding and it would seem little difference in amenities. Having had long transfers at several hub airports, I can say this is the place I’d rather be. As you note, STARGolds are treated to 3rd rate facilities @SIN in both terminals if flying Y (even worse during renovations now going on at T3) and OW upper elites @DOH. By comparison, even the QR J lounge exclusive to its own J customers, has its highlights but is very sterile and lacks the character of this TK one. I look forward to revisiting it if we ever get back into the air…
Matthew, why don’t you do an article about what made you decide not to practice law as a distraction from the COVID-19 coverage. I am a lawyer and I find your analysis of legal matters well written and informative. Just a thought.
@Carl … How can a decision to not practice law be a distraction from covid-19 coverage ? ( first sentence .) Ha-ha .
That’s not a separate entrance for female passengers, it’s a separate entrance for *pregnant* passengers.
Lost in translation then, because when I tired to use it I was told females only. I thought it was one of those moves Erdogan is making to Islamize the country.
Providing priority lanes for pregnant ladies is NOT theocratic.
Interesting there is no significant difference between this and the business class lounge. You’d think TK would reserve some better amenities for those passengers actually flying in business.
Each airline handles it differently. Oddest to me are the LH group Senator lounges, which are only accessible to *G and higher elites, and are actually *better* than their business lounges.
I hoped—vainly, it turns out—that LH might be changing their approach when they unveiled their gorgeous new all-in-one business lounge at BOS without a separate space for elites, but it seems to have been a one-off.
Only difference is the art gallery. I too would think one would be better, but perhaps standardization is the easiest approach. The question of which one *should* be better is an interesting one…are business class passengers or elite members more loyal? Airlines would do well to think beyond transactional loyalty and look at the bigger picture. I like how LH does it with Senator vs. Business lounges.
My 85 year old Mother and I will be laying over in IST for 12 hours in October. Is there any way to reserve one of the private suites for her in either the business lounge or the Miles and Smiles Lounge? We will be flying business class. I’ve talked to various people at the airline and no one has any information about this. Thanks!
They cannot be pre-reserved, but I suspect that your mother and you will be able to obtain one upon arrival or shortly thereafter.
Hi i have 6000 points of miles and smiles how i can use it to enter Istanbul airport luang and how much is it equal and how much i should pay
Star Alliance does a lot of things well, but this lounge is exemplary of why One World has a better lounge game. This is generally considered one of the best, if not the best *G lounge. The food is good, but it’s incredibly crowded, and the drink selection is weak.
I’d rather be in any lounge CX, QF, QR, JL, or IB put out any day. When you consider OWE vs *G, BA and AY come in to play. Honestly, even the UL lounge in CMB has a better drink offer than this.
It’s a fine lounge, but I think people love it too much.
Where can one go in IST to get away from the crowds? By Skyclub standards maybe the massive TK lounge looks ok, you don’t even have to wait in a long line to get in. But inside, it’s horribly overcrowded.
All the lounges at Istanbul are sub-par. For those that like to drink (alcohol) its extremely limited and Turkish doesn’t serve alcohol at all on their domestic flights (even in business) or in their domestic lounges. This lounge was crowded when I visit late last year, and the whole airport whilst massive, is not very functional. I got 4 flights in and out of the airport – 3 we were bused to waiting aircraft despite the many gates. I love the city and the country – but the airport and lounges are a huge missed opportunity. Just because you have the space, doesn’t mean you should use it all…
I’m so torn on this lounge, having been there several times. The food selection is impeccable and almost unmatched, but the alcoholic drink selection is abysmal unless you like cheap wine. The lack of a bar – or any decent alcoholic drinks for that matter – is such a glaring omission that I’m surprised it doesn’t get more scrutiny. I’d be very curious what the reason is behind it, especially when you can have an outstanding alcoholic beverage onboard their international flights.
I just think it’s part of Erdogan’s push to move the country in a more theocratic direction and TK is happy to oblige because it saves a lot of money by cutting booze…
So the government tracks what u look at on Wi-Fi? Did not know it was that restrictive and invasive?
Well, Mr Klint is a great travel blogger, fun to read, except when he shares his not so educated opiniated political opinions 😉
It is true and a fact that governments (any, including Israel and the USA), agencies, authorities could and can track any IP address, MAC address on the internet as long as connected – if you’re a person of interest.
Registering & logging in with an email address is a requirement to use any free public network in Turkiye. Justification behind that is to hinder abusive (in general sense) usage. Otherwise, regardless of your email, authority can track your usage anyways- again if you’re a person of interest. I believe many free public internet service provider in the US asks for your private info in exchange for usage, just like Westfield Century City shopping mall in LA, Mr Klint’s home town.