I have on my Miles and Smiles account 21,553 total miles. I rang Turkish Airways up today on the number 0844 8006666. Some of the advice I was given was confusing and perhaps you can help.

First, the woman there said that for 13,000 of these air miles I can book a single flight to Moldova. I still have to pay airport taxes. This is just for the ticket. OK, clear enough.

I cannot use this "classic" Miles and Smiles account to get an extra baggage allowance, she said. I can only use it for such "free" tickets.

Then the situation got confusing. I asked her how this operated if I wanted to use these 13,000 miles for a free flight (minus taxes). At some stage of the chat she indicated that if I went onto any UK travel agency site, I could somehow communicate to them that I want to use these air miles to pay for the ticket. Later in the conversation, however, she switched tack and claimed I can only redeem these 13,000 miles by booking the flight through the official Turkish airways website.

Which of these two versions is correct please?