I have to travel to Ufa, Russia for work and wanted to fly to Istanbul for vacation afterwards. Turkish flies there 4 times a week and shows plety of award availability on their website. Now, I don't have any Turkish points but plenty of Continental/United and AMEX points. I called United, Continental, Singapore and none of them are able to book this award saying something like this being an invalid city for awards. Since Turkish does not partner with AMEX, I am not aware of any other quick way of obtaining their miles. Am I SOL, or has anyone had any experience with booking awards to these small out of the way destinations? Shoul I try Aeroplan or ANA? Thanks