At the moment, it’s possible to earn up to a 40% bonus when you transfer Citi ThankYou points to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. However, the bonus isn’t being offered on Citi’s end, but instead, is being offered on Turkish Airlines’ end.
Transfer Citi points to Turkish Airlines with 40% bonus
Between August 1 and August 31, 2026, it’s possible to receive a 40% bonus when you move points from the Citi ThankYou program in the United States to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. However, there are some important terms to be aware of:
- The bonus is being offered on Turkish Airlines’ end, so you won’t see this on the Citi ThankYou website
- The bonus miles will only post after the end of the campaign, so that’s nowhere close to instant, unfortunately
- Members can earn up to 50,000 bonus miles with this offer
- There’s no registration required to take advantage of this
Ordinarily points transfer at a 1:1 ratio (in 1,000 point increments), while through this promotion you’d get 1,400 Miles&Smiles miles for every 1,000 Citi ThankYou points transferred, though only after the fact.
There are several great cards earning Citi ThankYou points, including the Citi Strata Premier® Card (learn more) and Citi Strata Elite℠ Card (learn more), and it’s easy to combine points between the cards.
Should you transfer Citi points to Turkish Airlines?
Back in the day, the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles program offered incredible redemption values across the board, but that’s no longer really the case. At this point, I’d say the sweet spot with the Miles&Smiles program is if you’re looking to travel on Turkish Airlines specifically to or from Istanbul.
That’s because the Miles&Smiles program now charges per segment for awards on Turkish Airlines metal. You can find the cost of one-way saver awards below, just to give you a sense of pricing.
So as an example, a one-way business class award between the United States and Istanbul will cost you 65,000 miles. In other words, with a 40% transfer bonus, you’d be paying around 47,000 Citi ThankYou points for a business class award, which is a pretty great deal.
If you know what you’re doing and have specific redemption plans in mind, this could be a great deal. Just be sure you understand the complexities of the program, and read my guide to the Turkish Miles&Smiles program. Also keep in mind the Miles&Smiles expiration policy, which is that miles expire 36 months after they’re earned, regardless of activity.
The other big restriction is that the bonus miles will only post after the campaign is done, so you couldn’t transfer points and then immediately redeem all of them (including the bonus). The cap on 50,000 bonus miles is also limiting. But hey, if you value Turkish miles, this could definitely offer some value.
Bottom line
Between August 1 and August 31, 2026, it’s possible to receive a 40% bonus when you move points from Citi ThankYou to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles. The catch is that the bonus miles only post after the end of the campaign, and you can only earn 50,000 bonus miles with this offer.
If you’re looking to travel on Turkish Airlines to or from Istanbul, there are some good deals to be had by taking advantage of this.
Do you plan on taking advantage of this transfer bonus from Citi ThankYou to Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles?
Ben, you should clarify expiration policy of Turkish miles. They don't expire 36 months after they are earned. Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles expire at the end of the third calendar year after they are earned, specifically on December 31 at 23:59 Türkiye time. So if you earn them in March 2023, they don't expire until December 31, 2027.
I’m confused. Based on your example that the miles don’t expire for 4 years and 9 months. Rest of 2023 - 9 months. Then 2024,2025,2026,2027 - 4 years. 4 years and 9 months seems like a long time.
You are correct, it should have read "they don't expire until December 31, 2026."
Sorry for the confusion.
The promo award prices for business class are extremely rare. I’ve been searching for a long time for flights to/from Boston, with maximum flexibility. Zero. The only promos available are in economy. Also, the fees for a one way business class ticket are $500.
Avoid, this program has become unusable for premium seats.
lmao i swear half of these commenters are bots these days. LITERALLY last week there was wide open space next winter/spring from BOS to IST all across the calendar. very easy to find
@Ben
Not sure how much experience you have with Miles&Smiles but mine is very bad.
On paper the program is not terrible, 65k - 135k for a one-way from the US to Istanbul in J
That said, the website glitches constantly, to the point that it is borderline impossible to book
When it glitches, they tell you to write a "feedback form" which someone answers usually telling you to just try again. The...
@Ben
Not sure how much experience you have with Miles&Smiles but mine is very bad.
On paper the program is not terrible, 65k - 135k for a one-way from the US to Istanbul in J
That said, the website glitches constantly, to the point that it is borderline impossible to book
When it glitches, they tell you to write a "feedback form" which someone answers usually telling you to just try again. The call centers are similarly useless, insisting on "feedback forms"
Moreover, I have had many bookings I have cancelled but the miles are never returned. See above for 'feedback form' process they make me do to no avail...
Anyway, not sure what your experience is but I think this is worth flagging to readers etc
No way. Citi to AA, even without a bonus, is a far better use of those ThankYou points.
Also, please don’t support authoritarian regimes like Erdogan’s. And, it’s still spelled and pronounced “Turkey” in English. We don’t call Germany “Deutschland” or Finland “Suomi”… so, stop appeasing thin-skinned mad-men.
I read the entire article 3 times to try to find where Ben called Turkey "Türkiye" didnt find it.
Onemiler, I didn't say that Ben did; but others do; also, please, use CTRL-F if you need to search. No need to read a full article 3x (I'm sure you literally did, though... *slow clap*)