Tl;dr – Though the purchase limit has changed a few times, it most recently was 50,000 miles per year.
Hello again, fellow points and miles enthusiasts, and travelfolk. Here’s another lowkey savvy move for all of you immersed in the points and miles game.
This morning, I received an email from Turkish Airlines indicating that the annual Miles&Smiles point purchase limit had increased from 50,000 to 100,000.
Although I was recently vocal about the need for caution with Turkish Airlines’ latest promotion, this news is quite positive and should lead to some fantastic deals. I recently flew Turkish Airlines long-haul business class service from Panama City to Istanbul and found the flight to be pretty solid for the most part.
Usually, you can buy Turkish Airlines miles for $30 per 1,000 miles (excluding VAT).
The issue is that for most long-haul Turkish Airlines routes, saver business class fares start at 65,000 miles. Thus, if you didn’t have Bilt Rewards, Capital One Miles, or Citi ThankYou Points (all transferable to Turkish Airlines) to make up the difference, purchasing the maximum allotted 50,000 miles wouldn’t get you enough miles to make a redemption.
With this latest development, you can now purchase more than enough miles for a saver fare, and as you see below, doing so can result in several thousand dollars off the cash price.
It gets better. You can reap significantly more value by timing your points purchase when Turkish Airlines offers a Miles&Smiles points sale. They don’t come along as frequently as some other airlines, but in the past, we’ve seen up to 100% purchase bonuses, meaning that the cost of saver long-haul business fares can, for some routes, drop to below $1000.
From my experience Turkish Airlines saver fare availability is pretty solid. Seats.aero – back me up homie!
An economy ticket might run you ~$750, so if you’re planning a trip to Istanbul (or beyond) and you’d like to enjoy considerably more comfort on your journey (lie-flat seats, with solid meals, booze, lounge access), the additional cost for doing so might be as low as $250.
The cherry on top? Turkish Airlines does not use Points.com as a vendor for miles purchases, so your buying points should code as airfare. If you use a card such as the American Express Platinum Card (5x) or American Express Gold (4X), you’ll earn a few extra points on your purchase of these miles.
I’ll be sure to let you all know about the next Turkish Miles&Smiles sale.
