Thanks for the advice. I am going to book the tickets. Hopefully I don't have to put their rebooking policy to the test.

I was sure to be safe about the fares. It was this problem that kept me from doing a similar trip using IST as the destination. The Lufthansa fares weren't very friendly =(

Imagine spending time on a plane and not getting any miles. The horror.

Thanks for the hello love_to_travel!