Citibank ThankYou 25% Transfer Bonus To Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles

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Citibank has launched a 25% transfer bonus for anyone converting its ThankYou Points to Turkish Airlines’ Miles & Smiles program through 20 February 2019.

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles may not come up in conversation all that often but the combination of a friendly award chart, a friendly companion rule and a very good Business Class offering onboard make this Citi transfer bonus once that’s well worth a closer look.

Turkish Airlines & Star Alliance Awards

Turkish Airlines charges the same number of miles for awards on its own aircraft as it does for travel on its Star Alliance partners and, despite the fact that it charges surcharges on awards (they’re not too bad), there is a lot of value to be had.

Here are a few examples of awards you can book though Turkish Airlines:

• Turkey/Europe – North America roundtrip Business Class: 90,000 miles or 72,000 ThankYou Points

• North America – Middle East (via Istanbul) roundtrip Business Class: 94,000 miles or 76,000 ThankYou Points (with change back)
• North America – Asia (via Istanbul) roundtrip Business Class: 135,000 miles or 108,000 ThankYou Points
• North America – North Africa (via Istanbul) roundtrip Business Class: 98,000 miles or 79,000 ThankYou Points (with change back)
• North America – South Africa (via Istanbul) roundtrip Business Class: 135,000 miles or 108,000 ThankYou Points

It’s also possible to use Turkish Airlines miles to save on a companion fare when purchasing a paid ticket.

As a Miles&Smiles member, when flying with a paid ticket which earns you Miles, you can have a ticket issued for a companion of your choosing for fewer Miles than a standard award ticket would cost. A ticket issued in this way is a companion ticket. Under the Miles&Smiles program, companion tickets can be divided into two groups; “limited space capacity” and “guaranteed space”.

These companion tickets can be great value:

• North America – Europe roundtrip Business Class from 63,000 miles or 51,000 ThankYou Points
• North America – Middle East roundtrip Business Class from 65,800 miles or 53,000 ThankYou Points
• North America – Asia roundtrip Business Class from 94,500 miles or 76,000 ThankYou Points

Considering Turkish Airlines is known to offer some very competitive fares it shouldn’t be hard to make the most of these companion awards.

Let’s also not forget that service in Turkish Airlines Business Class is really pretty good….and the airline’s Business Class cabins are about to get a lot better.

Turkish Airlines will be installing completely new Business Class cabins on the new long-haul aircraft it will be receiving later this year so the days of 2-2-2 and 2-3-2 Business Class cabins should soon be behind it.

The new Business Class cabin offers true lie-flat seats with direct aisle access for all passengers and will elevate Turkish Airlines Business Class pretty high in the rankings.

Bottom Line

Now that the Citi Prestige card is offering 5 points or airfare and restaurant spend Citi ThankYou points have never been easier to collect so that, combined with the Turkish Airlines award chart and new Business Class cabins, makes this conversion bonus a very nice one indeed.

Business Class awards on Turkish Airlines at the saver level are, generally speaking, easier to find than they are on the likes of United or American and they’re considerably cheaper than what you’ll find on Delta so there’s definitely value to be had here….just check award availability before you enact any kind of transfer.

[HT: View From The Wing ]