October 5, 2023
Star Alliance Awards Via Turkish Airlines Now Bookable Online
Jess
Booking domestic United flights through Turkish Airlines can save you a ton of points. It’s also been a painful process recently because it has required either calling Turkish Airlines or emailing a ticket office. Well, up until now that is! You can now book Star Alliance award flights via the Turkish Airlines website. Here’s how to do it…
Create a Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Account
You’ll need to create a Miles&Smiles account and be logged into your account to search for award flights on Turkish Airlines. Sometimes the website can be glitchy when trying to create an account, but I’ve found the app useful for creating an account if the website isn’t working.
Search & Book Star Alliance Award Flights
Once logged in, you’ll want to hover over your name and select “Award Ticket” from the drop-down menu.
On the next screen, select the “Star Award Ticket” tab.
Then you’ll search the route and dates you want, and select the number of passengers traveling.
My husband and I got an amazing business class cash fare to Tahiti thanks to Ashley Gets Around’s Premium Cabin Deals, (you’ll save $30 with our affiliate link), but I needed to book a positioning flight to LAX. Scoring a flight from Houston to LAX on United for 7,500 miles each can’t be beat!
Note that not every United flight will show as available. There must be United saver award availability to book the flight through Turkish Airlines. Select the flight you want, enter your contact information, then continue to payment.
Remember to use a credit card that comes with travel protections to pay the taxes and fees! Our favorites are the Chase Sapphire Preferred and the Capital One Venture X.
Huge Savings Over Booking With United
For two one-way flights from Houston to LAX on United Airlines, it only cost 15,000 Turkish miles + $11.20. What a deal!
That exact same flight on United would cost 15,000 United miles EACH. Booking through Turkish is basically like having a Companion Pass with United Airlines!
The exact same flight on United would be 30,000 miles + $11.20 for two one-way tickets
Other Considerations
Turkish Airlines charges $70 per passenger to cancel an award ticket and redeposit the miles into your Turkish account. If you were to book with United and cancel, you would get the miles redeposited without having to pay a fee. This is definitely something to consider when deciding whether to book an award flight with United directly or via Turkish Airlines for half the points.
Bottom Line
Being able to book Star Alliance award tickets via Turkish Airlines online is a huge win! Both Capital One and Citi transfer 1:1 to Turkish Airlines. Remember that the 7,500 mile rate is good for all U.S. domestic routes, including Hawaii!
P.S. This seems to work better if you have flown Turkish Airlines yourself in the past!
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Mine doesn’t let me search for more than 1 ticket. It says I can only book it in my name, and that I have to visit a “sales office” to book one for a loved one. Did you encounter this? Thanks!
Under your account details, there is a spot where you can designate companions, and once that is filled out and accepted, you can book tickets for them.
How do you know when they have accepted your companions? I added them a week ago and when I try and book it still says I can only book for myself unless Incontact the nearest sales office
I believe you have to have flown Turkish once yourself before you can add them. We need to add that to the post. You could also email a US office.
How far in advance do we look for domestic flight availability on Turkish air, star alliance? Looks like nothing is available 6 months ahead for July. I see some available 9 months ahead in October? Is this normal?
It can vary depending on where you are going to. I usually try to book out at least 9 months out but then I randomly can find some sooner or even last minute.