Turkish Airlines Participates in Star Alliance Upgrade Awards

Turkish Airlines now offers its Miles & Smiles® Frequent Flyer Programme (FFP) members Star Alliance Upgrade Awards. This unique redemption incentive enables customers to redeem miles or points from their FFP accounts for one-class upgrades on scheduled flights operated by the participating Star Alliance member carriers.

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Star Alliance Upgrade Awards requires a confirmed and ticketed booking prior to travel which can then be upgraded for a higher class of travel through the existing FFP redemption channels, in general, either through calling reservations or visiting a website (depending on carrier’s offer). The upgrade is processed electronically, eliminating the need to issue paper certificates to the customers. Both conventional paper tickets as well as electronic tickets can be upgraded under this scheme. Upgrades are permitted for one class of travel, either from Economy Class to Business Class or from Business Class to First Class*. Additionally, on United flights offering First and Economy Class only, upgrades from Economy to First are possible. As with most FFP redemption products, capacity restrictions apply and upgrades from certain types of fares are not permitted

Star Alliance, the way the Earth connects, is the first global airline alliance to offer such a product, which is available to the FFP members of Air New Zealand (Airpoints®), ANA (ANA Mileage Club®), Asiana Airlines (Asiana Club®), Austrian (Miles & More®), LOT Polish Airlines (Miles & More®), Lufthansa (Miles & More®), SAS (EuroBonus®), Singapore Airlines (KrisFlyer®), SWISS (Miles & More®), TAP Portugal (Victoria®), THAI (Royal Orchid Plus®), and Turkish Airlines (Miles & Smiles®). More Star Alliance member carriers will begin to offer this product in the future.

Since its inception in 1997, emphasis has been placed by the Star Alliance network on adding value to each member carrier’s FFP by offering alliance- wide benefits to the customers. For instance, Star Alliance was the first airline alliance to offer harmonised benefits for both Gold and Silver Card holders across the network, which include:

Priority Check-In
Star Alliance Gold members can make use of separate check-in desks.

Priority Waitlist
Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority waitlisting if the desired flight is already fully booked.

Priority Airport Standby

Star Alliance Gold and Star Alliance Silver members receive priority standby listing if they arrive at the airport without any reservation for a specific flight (subject to local regulations).

Lounge Access

Star Alliance Gold members have access to more than 805 lounges at airports around the world.

Priority Baggage Tags

Star Alliance Gold members are entitled to priority baggage service across the network.

Increased Baggage Allowance

Star Alliance Gold customers are entitled to one additional piece of checked baggage (piece concept) or an additional 20 kilos (weight concept).

Moreover, Star Alliance is currently the only alliance that provides customers with one point of contact to book and ticket award travel on all other Star Alliance carriers. Turkish Airlines joined Star Alliance on April 1st, 2008.