If you are a frequent flyer who likes to stay on top of the hottest trends in air miles and reward points, then you are surely going to love the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles program. You can fly with Turkish Airlines and other partners like Lufthansa, United Airlines, etc., for fewer miles than you expect. As Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance member, you can also redeem its miles to fly through their partner airlines. In this article, you will learn more about how to redeem and earn Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles miles, how to redeem your miles, the best routes for redeeming your miles, and other information.
The following are the best credit cards in India to earn Turkish Miles. You can convert the reward points earned at a fixed transfer ratio –
5 EDGE Miles on Axis Travel Edge and Airline Spends. 2 EDGE Reward Points on all Other Eligible Spends
5000 EDGE Miles on Spends of ₹1,000 Within the First 30 Days of Card Issuance
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The Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card is a solid mid-range travel card that offers strong rewards on flight and travel bookings, making it a good option for frequent flyers. Cardholders earn accelerated EDGE Miles on airline spends and bookings via the Travel Edge portal, along with complimentary domestic and international lounge access for a smoother travel experience. One of its key advantages is the flexibility to convert EDGE Miles to multiple airline and hotel loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio, including partners like Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles. This makes it particularly useful for those looking to accumulate miles for international redemptions while keeping costs relatively low compared to premium cards.
4 Reward Points/₹100 for Flights, Travel Platforms, and International Spends (~4%). 2 Reward Points/₹100 for All Other Eligible Spends (~2%)
₹1,000 Cashback, PostCard Voucher Worth ₹3,000, and 3 Month EazyDiner Membership on Spending ₹25,000 Within 30 Days of Card Issuance
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The HSBC TravelOne Credit Card is a strong travel-focused credit card offering a wide range of airline and hotel transfer partners, making it ideal for those who value flexibility in redemptions. Cardholders earn accelerated reward points on flights, travel platforms, and international spends, along with benefits like airport lounge access and lifestyle perks. One of its biggest strengths is the ability to transfer reward points to multiple loyalty programs at a 1:1 ratio for most partners, including options like Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer and Air India Maharaja Club. Additionally, points can also be converted to Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (at a 2:1 ratio), making it a useful option for international award travel.
6 Travel Credits for Every ₹200 Spent on Travel. 2 Travel Credits/₹200 Spent on All Other Purchases
5,000 Travel Credits
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The SBI Miles Elite is a premium card in the Miles travel credit card series by SBI Card. Cardholders earn Travel Credits on every spend, with higher rewards on travel-related transactions, along with benefits like complimentary domestic and international lounge access, Priority Pass membership, and travel insurance coverage. One of its key strengths is the ability to convert Travel Credits into air miles and hotel points across a wide range of partners at competitive ratios, including Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles (at a 2:1 ratio). This makes it a useful option for those seeking diverse redemption choices, especially for international travel.
5 Reward Points/₹150 on Regular Spends (3.33%) | Up To 10x Reward Points On SmartBuy (Up To 33.33%) | 2x Reward Points (10/₹150) On Weekend Dining (6.67%)
Complimentary Membership of Club Marriott, Swiggy One and Amazon Prime (On Spends of Rs. 1.5 Lakh Within 90 Days of Card Issuance)
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Another super-premium HDFC Bank credit card, the Diners Club Black, provides membership to popular merchants like Swiggy, Amazon Prime, Times Prime, MMT Black, Club Marriott, etc. It also offers complimentary lounge access and other travel insurance benefits to the cardholder.
5 Reward Points/₹150 Spent (3.33% Reward Rate)
12,500 Bonus Reward Points and Complimentary Club Marriott Membership
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HDFC Bank’s most premium credit card, the Infinia, is invite-only and not available to everyone. You get best-in-class benefits like dedicated concierge service, complimentary lounge access, travel insurance, etc, with the card.
Earn 12 EDGE Reward Points per ₹200 on Spends up to ₹1.5 Lakh and 35 EDGE Reward Points per ₹200 Thereafter in a Calendar Month
Choose a gift voucher worth Rs. 12,500 from any one of Luxe, Yatra, or Postcard Hotels
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The Magnus credit card is a super-premium offering by Axis Bank and offers nice travel benefits, including travel insurance and complimentary lounge access. You get discounted hotel stays, dining discounts, 24×7 concierge services, and much more with this card.
Follow these steps to create a Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles account –
When you fly with Turkish Airlines, in addition to Turkish Miles, you also earn Status Miles that you can use to advance your membership tier and gain more privileges. Frequent flyers earn elite status, and as their tier increases, they receive better perks and benefits on Turkish Airlines flights. There are four elite tiers in the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program:
This is the entry-level tier that you get when you register for the Miles&Smiles loyalty program. You will start collecting Miles when you fly with Turkish Airlines and other partner airlines. It allows you to redeem award flights, upgrade your miles, and earn miles from your credit card spending. Members also receive a 1,000-mile bonus as a welcome reward on their first flight.
Members qualify for the Classic Plus tier by earning 25,000 Status Miles or flying 40 flights in the previous 12-month period. In order to renew this status tier, you need to earn 17000 Status Miles or book 30 flights in one year. You get all the privileges of the Classic tier and the following:
Members qualify for the Elite tier by earning 40,000 Status Miles in the previous 12-month period. In order to renew, you must earn 30,000 Status Miles in 1 year or 45000 Status Miles in 2 years. You get all the privileges of the Classic Plus tier and the following:
The Elite Plus is the highest membership tier, and you can get it by earning 80,000 Status Miles in the previous 12-month period. To renew the membership, you must earn 40,000 Status Miles in 1 year or 60,000 Status Miles in 2 years. You get all the privileges of the Elite tier and the following:
If you travel a lot throughout the year, the Miles & Smiles frequent-flyer program is great for you. You can earn miles in different ways, and here are some of the top ways in which people earn Miles & Smiles miles.
You will earn miles on flying via Turkish Airlines flights, where you get a different number of miles based on specific flights. The formula for calculating your earned miles depends on the flight distance, type of fare, and your elite status level. You will earn fewer miles for cheaper fares and more miles for higher fares.
As Turkish Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance, you can earn Miles by flying on their partner airlines. Different partners have different miles earning rates, so you should check how many miles you can earn before booking your ticket.
You can transfer the reward points earned on your select Axis Bank and HDFC credit cards to Turkish Airlines’ Miles & Smiles Miles at a fixed ratio.
Once you have earned Turkish Miles & Smiles Miles, the next step is to redeem these points and use them. There are different ways to put your earned airmiles to use. Here are the most common ways to redeem your Turkish Airlines miles.
You can redeem your miles for Turkish Airlines award tickets in both economy and business class. Go through the airlines’ region-based award chart to know about the number of miles you will require to redeem a flight. You will see both promotional and normal pricing. There are fewer seats available on award flights with promotional pricing.
If you go through the chart thoroughly, you will find many sweet spots to travel to and redeem your miles for a high value. You can even use the miles to book award tickets for your family members or upgrade to a higher class.
You can redeem your miles on Turkish Airlines flights but it is possible that a flight may not be available to your preferred destination. In such cases, you can book flights on other partner airlines with your miles, as Turkish Airlines is a Star Alliance member.
You may find a good redemption option to any destination worldwide on another partner airline. You will get more value for your miles on some partners than others as some partners like United/Air India, don’t pass fuel surcharge, while partners like Lufthansa/Swiss Air do, so you should research for maximum benefit.
In order to search for a Star Alliance partner award flight, you will have to use its award search engine. Here is how to access it.
The Turkish Airlines website does not show all available options for Star Alliance partner award flights. Also, you cannot view flights by calendar or for nearby dates. Therefore, you can try out United Airlines, Seats, Aero, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, etc., to check for Star Alliance partner award flights instead of Turkish.
For more details on how to check the availability on Star Alliance partners, check the following article.
Let’s check out the best routes and award flight sweet spots from India to redeem your Turkish miles at maximum value. The following information and miles are subject to availability.
If you don’t have enough miles to redeem an award ticket and are falling short, there is no need to worry, as you can purchase Miles from the Turkish Airlines website. You can purchase 1000 to 50,000 Miles for $30 plus taxes.
All members can purchase miles, and the fees paid by them is not refundable. You can buy miles either for yourself or for other members as well. The minimum amount of miles you must purchase is 1000, and miles are credited immediately to your account after you make the payment on the website.
Turkish Airlines miles have a validity of 3 years from the date you earned them, after which they expire. If your miles are about to expire, then you can either extend them or even get expired miles reinstated by paying the relevant fees and charges.
If your miles are about to expire, then you can extend them for a fee of $20 per 1000 Miles. This will extend the validity of your Miles for an additional 3 years, and the oldest miles are extended first. Also, extended miles can be extended again if they are about to expire after a period of 3 years. However, miles that have already expired cannot be extended anymore.
You can cancel or change the flight time or date of your award ticket, but you will have to pay additional fees and charges for this. If you have a companion award ticket, then the alterations must be made on both tickets by contacting the Turkish Airlines sales office.
The following fees are charged per transaction related to your awarded flight ticket by Turkish Airlines –
The Miles earned by you and present in your Miles&Smiles account can be redeemed to book award tickets for your friends and family members. There is no complex process involved, and while booking award tickets, you can do so for your loved ones. It is even possible to redeem discounted companion award tickets if someone is traveling with you.
Unlike some other airline loyalty programs, Turkish Airlines allows you to collect and spend Miles as a family together on a single account. The Family Membership is available to Elite Plus, Elite, and Classic Plus tier members. The member’s Miles, spouse’s Miles, and unmarried children under 25 years old Miles are added together as Family Miles. Members can transfer unused miles to their family members without affecting their tier status.
You can use your Turkish Miles to book award tickets for your infants as well if they are traveling with you. You can book award travel for the infant at just 10% of the mileage required to book an award ticket for an adult, plus applicable taxes. You can book award travel for infants directly from the Turkish Airlines website.
If you need to travel from Atlanta to Istanbul, and the miles required to book an adult award ticket are 45,000 Miles, then you can book award travel for your infant at just 4500 Miles. Also, even on normal tickets, you get discounted rates for infant passengers based on the date of travel and travel route.
Miles & Smiles is Turkish Airlines’ frequent flyer or loyalty program, and it is quite accessible and easy to use. You can conveniently earn and redeem Turkish miles on both Turkish-operated and Star Alliance member airlines’ flights for a privileged and comfortable air travel experience.
Remember the following things and information about the Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles Program –
Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles frequent flyer program is one of the best ones out there, through which you can use your miles to book Turkish-operated as well as other Star Alliance member airlines’ flight tickets.
It is simple to earn Turkish miles by flying Turkish-operated flights or partner airlines’ flights, with your reward miles credited to your Miles & Smiles account. Also, you can transfer partner credit cards’ reward points to Turkish miles at the pre-determined ratio.
Redemption rates for Turkish Airlines flights are relatively low, and you can get maximum value out of your earned miles, especially if you are flying within a region. Turkish Airlines’ business class offers an unmatched flying experience, providing top-quality entertainment, dining, and comfort.
You may find it troublesome to redeem your miles for award flights, especially for Star Alliance member airlines, but you can get in touch with the airlines’ sales and reservations team, and they will help you out. Miles & Smiles is among the top frequent flyer programs currently, and you should definitely put it to use if you prefer comfortable, luxurious travel.
The best credit cards to earn Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles miles in India include a mix of premium and mid-range options offering flexible point transfers. Cards like the Axis Bank Horizon Credit Card provide a 1:1 transfer ratio, while the HSBC TravelOne Credit Card and SBI Miles Elite Credit Card allow conversions at a 2:1 ratio with strong travel benefits. For maximum value, premium cards such as the HDFC Bank Diners Club Black Metal Credit Card and HDFC Bank Infinia Metal Credit Card stand out with a 1:1 conversion ratio and high reward-earning potential, while the Axis Bank Magnus Credit Card offers decent value with a 5:2 transfer ratio, especially on travel spends.
It is quite simple to earn Turkish Miles with the Miles & Smiles program if you are someone who travels frequently. Here is how you can earn miles –
Once you earn Turkish Miles in your Miles and Smiles account, the next step is to redeem and use these miles. Here is how you can do it –
Yes, it is possible to use your Turkish Miles to book Star Alliance member airlines’ award flights. You can do it in the following way –