I love how were increasingly seeing airlines launch gamified promotions, which are great in terms of member engagement. It felt like airlines didnt bother offering these kinds of promotions for so long, but weve seen several of these in recent times, from programs like SAS EuroBonus, Etihad Guest, Ethiopian ShebaMiles, and JetBlue TrueBlue.
Continue reading: Fly Turkish Airlines To Six Continents, Earn One Million Miles (Offer Ends Early)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Ben- has been a few months since you've posted a planned new review trip- hope all is well with your family. Best wishes
@ Harold -- I hope to get out there again soon, I appreciate the interest. I have two big life events going on right now, which I'll share more about in a bit, but they have both kept me grounded for a bit. Stay tuned!
One fun question is - how do you get to Australia on TK? It doesn't even seem to fly there.
Tempted to try and price this out. For purposes of the contest, is Istanbul considered Europe or Asia, or does it not count?
would a paid economy ticket that is upgraded with miles qualify? If so, it wouldn't be too hard to upgrade most flights.
Africa, Europe and Asia can easily be done as shorthauls out of IST (e.g. during an Istanbul stopover on another of the trips). So you absolutely need only three longhauls: North America, South America and Oceania. If you're based in one of these three continents, you get them "for free" when positioning back home at the end.
Hello guys, any idea what’s the expiration date of these miles would be ? Sounds like the crux to me.
@ Dusty -- Great question, let me update the post to answer that. "No. Flights with final arrival points in Türkiye or the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus do not count toward campaign completion."
Destinations in Turkey don't count at all. Therefore you also can't use Ankara for Asia for example (and even Georgia somehow ended up in the Europe zone, so you need at least UAE, Qatar or something like that). For Europe, I think the cheapest and closest option will be Balkan destinations like Bucharest or Chisinau.
Might consider this.......I'm an hour flight from Istanbul. Have to factor in the price of my wife divorcing me for leaving her alone with the toddler for a few weekends but still might be worth it.
I consistently see billboards in NYC advertising divorces for $750 all in. You’ll be just fine.
Very cool promotion!
I found a quick itinerary using google flights departing NYC in October. Obviously this excludes hotels, food, etc.
NYC - IST - TBS $570 - Turkish, Europe
TBS - IST - Cairo $399 - Turkish, Africa
Cairo - IST - Sydney $700 - Turkish, Oceania
Sydney to KUL $172 Scoot Airlines, Repo
KUL - IST - San Palo $1,247 - Turkish, South America
San Palo to Madrid $312 Latam, Repo
Madrid - IST - NYC $598 - America
Total price: $3,998 + a lot of hours in the air haha
@ Ethan - Unfortunately, I don't think you included a destination counting for the Asia requirement (KUL won't count because you are originating there, and the rules say that only arrival airports count).
I priced out an itinerary for around $3,400 in August for all of the flights (including a couple positioning flights). This doesn't include hotels, food, etc.
MIA - IST - DXB $664 R/T - Asia
DXB - IST - ATH $177 - Europe
ATH - IST - GRU - EZE $970 R/T - South America
EZE - GRU - IST - ATH (see above)
ATH - CAI $87 on Aegean (positioning)
CAI - IST - SIN - SYD $1300 R/T - Australia
SYD - SIN - IST - CAI - Africa
CAI - DXB $189 on Flynas (positioning)
DXB - IST - MIA (price included in r/t from above) - North America
Total: $3,393
You can drop the GRU-EZE both ways for an extra $300-$400 if your looking for less flights.
If anyone can find a cheaper fares on Turkish to Australia, please share!
Does flying round trip between the Asia-Australia fifth freedom routes (SIN-MEL or KUL-SYD) give me two continents?
Why would you buy a million miles if it isn't to see the world? With this deal, you get to visit 6 continents by spending about $6k on airfares and a million miles is a pretty decent reward, essentially worth $10-14k.
@Trey anyone who has the cash on hand, flexibility and stamina to fly this much on a whim probably doesn't need the miles. But with the proliferation of remote work and the magic of youth, prob not a bad investment.
My better half (and my boss) signed off on me taking advantage of the ex-Vietnam CX mistake fare F flights in 2019. That one took about 12 legs total over the course of 3.5 weeks and left me completely exhausted but it was all in business and first class (including domestically—AA 32B) so I can't complain. I vowed I wouldn't travel again until summer 2020. Welp. Also def heard how insane I was before, during and after the trip from both parties.
Would I do it all over again if I could (and she allowed it)? Emphatic yes.
@ Jeffrey Lin -- Those flights wouldn't qualify at all. Per the terms:
"Only itineraries originating from or transiting through Türkiye are eligible. Intra-regional direct flights are not eligible."
Its also worth keeping in mind that Turkish has their IST stopover program, where you can get a free hotel room if you have a round trip itinerary booked. The number of free nights and type of hotel varies based on your origin/destination and class. With this, you can further limit the amount of money spent on hotels.
If they don’t connect thru IST/Turkey, I don’t think it will count for any continents!
Turkey trying to dictate exonyms will never not be funny to me, especially when they refer to us as Amerika and ABD. Dorks.
I don’t think TK flies its own metal to SYD via SIN, I believe it’s via KUL. Just highlighting in case it affects the pricing, as TK often uses JQ as the carrier for SIN-SYD which would render that option ineligible. TK uses SIN as the transit stop for flights to MEL.
@JB:
Your pricing analysis is incorrect. If memory serves, MIA-IST-DXB cannot be classified as Asia.
Thank you for this sample itinerary with prices. South America is limited to GRU, EZE, SCL and Australia is limited to SYD and MEL.
Dreaming of where I'd like to go, it's SYD, SCL. North America is easy as that would be the return trip. Finally, where to go in Europe and Asia and Africa. Maybe Rome, Cairo or Tunis, and Amman or Dubai?
This is a really decent promo. And one which ten years ago I would have probably jumped on.
Can be done with repos for under $3500 in less than 9 days, originating and ending in NA as well.
Yes it certainly can. Per the rules if you originate in IST, or go through IST then the destination continent counts. UAE counts as Asia
Hard pass! Given the amount of taxes and surcharges that TK charges for awards, these miles are worth junk. Maybe useful for Star Alliance awards because of lower YQ but award rates are higher than other programs. Now if Aeroplan had a promo like this...
Ben, do you know if certain fare types are restricted? I've seen some people mention promo fares are not allowed, but I'm not sure what that is. On their site, they say "Tickets purchased using a promo code are excluded from the campaign." I didn't use a promo code, but I'm flying Economy U, T, S, Q, and P fare types and I'm hoping those are OK.
If you haven't use a promo code, then you're good in any revenue booking class (I believe awards are excluded but maybe not).
@Alex that's incorrect. TK flies its own metal to Sydney via KUL and to MEL via SIN. So indeed you're sitting in the same plane from IST to Australia.
The miles expire as follows:
2027 if class of travel is economy or a combination of business and economy
2030 if class of travel is solely in business class.
@Ladakn99:
By your statement, that would be 9 days of travel in economy, jumping from one flight to the next for travel in economy, for some flights over 12 hours - in economy. I can't imagine a worse fate.
@Nicolas:
Miles exp 2027: If flown in economy or a combination of economy and business.
Miles exp 2030: If flown solely in business
A group of you should come up with workable itins priced in both economy and business and fly the challenge as a group. Perhaps some legs if not all. Imagine how much fun that could be.
The devil is in the details...
So if you land in IST as the end of a ticket, no.
Use a promo, no.
Leave from / connect in IST, yes.
Seems like you must fly
ANYWHERE to IST to NEW destination (or IST to NEW destination, but not RT)
NEW destination to IST to ANYWHERE (cannot end in IST)
Pretty limiting and likely more expensive.
Ben, as far as milage expiration from the promo. What would expiration be if some flights were in Biz and others in Economy??
If every one of the 6 flights need to originate from IST, then its a no go for us.
@Alex - Sorry, that was a typo. That exact fare was round-trip ATH-IST-KUL-SYD. That entire journey was on TK. I wrote that part from memory and for some reason had SIN stuck in my head rather than KUL.
Thank you for the clarification Ben! And thank you for always sharing fun news and updates about the aviation industry
One more thing I am curious - does Amex International Airline Program qualifiers for this offering? Or tickets purchased via travel agents? There is a "business contract" exemption in the promo terms, so these fares may fall under this exemption.
“Let’s find a place with celebration and song/
When souvenirs come along, keep on moving”
hi, i checked through t&C , i didnt see expiry info, would u mindh highlight where u get the info?
If someone was only traveling for the promo, it can be done in a week.
Here’s a sample I put together for the week of September 7th:
1. IST-CAI Sunday 6:55AM-9:15AM $201
2. CAI-IST-SIN-MEL 10:10AM-7:20PM+1 $745
3. MEL-SIN-IST-JFK Monday 9:20PM-5:55PM+1 $950
4. JFK-IST-AMM Tuesday 7:50PM-5:15PM+1 $747
5. AMM-AQJ-IST-ATH Wednesday 6:50PM-3:05AM+1 $275
6. ATH-IST-GRU Thursday 3:55AM-5:45PM $771
Total cost $3689 +cost of getting to IST and back from GRU. Sounds very doable if based in Europe. If based in the US, you can switch things around to have the trip end in the US.
I made a sample of the tightest back-to-back itinerary. You can obviously spread it out more and actually enjoy some of the destinations.
@Ben, Turkish plane turnaround time in CAI is 55 minutes. Is that enough to deplane and reboard?
Just doing a sanity check here. These flights meet the requirements for the challenge right? All on Turkish metal.
LAX-IST-SOF (Europe)
SOF-IST-DXB (Asia)
DXB-IST-LAX (North America)
LAX-IST-CAI (Africa)
CAI-IST-SYD (Oceania)
SYD-IST-GRU (South America)
forget CAI turnaround in 55 minutes. 2-3 hours are more realistic. maybe you can book a VIP service for the international transit. then it might be possible - but the PITA will be that you won't get an online boarding pass for tickets departing in Egypt. you need to pick up the boarding pass at an airport counter.
This is by far the best campaign i've ever seen. SAS campaign was good but all it offer is short flights within Asia. You need to conquer the world to get this. Hard but worth it. Turkish miles can take you everywhere you want.
Hah, they must have realized a lot more people were trying for the payout than they originally projected.
It is extremely unclear if people ticket BY Jul 8 or BEFORE July 8 would qualify.
Also while it states folks who have bought at least 1 ticket would qualify, new terms stated that ALL tickets must be purchased before.
Nah, I was on the fence but this helped me make my decision. I would not even participate even if they reopened, this company is way too shady.
@Ben this is SHADY AF. there is language allowing them to delete eligible destinations at any time. This is Peak Turkish. Makes SAS offer look heavenly. I am one of the 900 SAS millionaires and I was going to do the TK but won't now.
Turkish Airlines reserves the right to modify, suspend, or cancel the campaign, including its terms, definitions, and any other related information.
Interesting to see how airlines have different approaches...
Etihad few days ago: So many people have responded positively, we give out more prices to make sure more people can win
Turkish Airlines: So many people have responded positively, we shut down, sorry
Pick your fighter.
I would like to ask if the ticket I purchased on July 8 is eligible under the policy. Is the purchase time determined based on Turkey local time?
Remember they fly to other destinations in Egypt where turnarounds may be far easier.
Current Terms & Conditions on the TK website as of 2:30 PM Eastern say "Tickets purchased after July 8, 2025 will not be considered within the scope of the campaign." So it is now ambiguous whether ALL tickets need to be bought today (assuming Istanbul time zone) or only ONE. It also says the campaign has ended. I wouldn't chance it at this point.
I think Etihad announced the modifications to the promo because people weren't as motivated to try to attempt it since there were only 3 winners. That made most sensible people bow out early. By increasing the prizes to over 100 people, Etihad assumed that might cause more people to be willing to attempt it.
SKETCHY AF. TRACKS WITH BUYING A TURKISH RUG IN KUSADASI. TERMS KEEP CHANGING BY THE MINUTE. SAS WAS CLASS ACT. THIS IS SKETCH.
Terrible! They changed the rules after they published the offer! I just went in to to book and their app said the offer has ended! Today is the 8th!!
Check the app Ahmad, under the program, it states:
Route: 6 Continents Has Ended
Thank you for the great interest you have shown in our Route: 6 Continents campaign.
In line with recent updates, the campaign has officially concluded as of July 8, 2025.
Trump-should threaten to raise tariffs on Turkey unless this change is reversed or even threaten to flatten Ankara!
People are still trying?????
I actually was planning for this.
However, now? Even if I had at least one booked or flown I would still walk away.
They pulled one today, don't you think they're not going to do it again?
Let's not forget even if it goes through, they have 3 years and a million miles as hostage.
Wait, most people still belive in propaganda and being brainwashed by lying politicians.
So go ahead.
Enjoy wasting time chasing a million miles. Erdogan thanks you for all the free money.
Like EK, I have been avoiding TK until recently their seat improvements on 787 and A350. Maybe I'll never get to fly thier 350.
Just booked one like a minute ago, about 5 minutes before midnight Istanbul time!
My confidence level is about 20%!
I’ll check with them before I book anything else.
Check eticket timestamp.
My condolences for participating in a rigged competition.
Your next hurdle, make sure there is no schedule change before you fly or they can invalidate your ticket.
You're playing a game at their mercy. And they happen to be untrustworthy.
My confidence of qualifying 30%
My confidence of actually winning 10%
My confidence M&S now and when I'm trying to redeem 10%
At least now I know what to do this Thanksgiving.
WTF?!? I'd already spent a few hours planning this and was ready to pull the trigger in the coming days. Now I can't?? What an epic waste of time!
Tbh, I was worried about dropping a few thousand $ only to cross my fingers that TK would actually pay up. Turns out, I was right to be distrustful (my other worry was that they'd devalue their FF program again).
TK might have a great onboard product, but that's it. The lounge is meh, and their customer service is an abomination. Maybe the worst CS of any "first world" carrier.
Shocking that a reputable company would do this. I was planning to book a couple of the flights last week, and I'm very glad now that I didn't
I booked one flight to TBS and not sure I want to book more… I’ll have to confirm with their customer service via email and frame that email if I decide to book more tickets!
@ben : there is a new version of the T&C... they updated and made things me clear, but added a very weird one : "13. Only tickets issued during the campaign’s ticketing period are eligible for changes."
not sure at all what this means.
This is my personal opinion.
But TK has modified this program and it's website at least 4 times after it launched.
4 TIMES!!!!!!
Hardly any confidence left for TK being trustworthy or intention to run this promo in good faith.
It's like an intern did it without approval only to be fixed by an associate the next day then a senior yesterday then a manager today.
TK senior manager should hear about this tomorrow and their VP sometime next week. Erdogan in September.
So you can expect T&C to change in bad faith all the way until November 15.
I had just sorted out my PTO to do this challenge! Oh well, TK won't be getting my $ now, extremely disappointing for them to change the Ts&Cs midway through the promotion.
Feels like they’re being let off lightly here. If certain other airlines did this, they’d be chastised a great deal more about it!
I think there's more social pressure in other countries than in Turkey. They've been getting away with abysmal service and shady practices for a long time.
you can't have a ticket isssued before June 27 and change it within the promotion period to make it eligible (due to ticket reissue)
,,For the purposes of qualifying for the promotion, only arriving destinations will be considered; departure points and transit stops won’t cont toward this offer,,
What they consider arriving destinations in return tickets?
It would be each leg. For example if you are flying LHR-IST-ORD your LHR-IST-ORD counts as North America, and your ORD-IST-LHR counts as Europe
@ben TK has removed the whole 1million promo page from their website....very worrying
Just FYI - Turkish just abruptly deleted the web page with all the terms and conditions. Not sure how you see it, but sounds quite worrisome to me…