Sep 8, 2017, 8:42 am
Last edit by: flyerby
E+ members receive two upgrade vouchers per membership year that can be used as system-wide upgrades. Vouchers are not delivered to E+ status holders in physical or electronic form and only exist on the screens of TK agents.
It is advisable to call TK to verify the number of vouchers you have prior to and after the upgrade (unless you have no vouchers left).
Upgrades are done by calling TK CS or a local TK office (by phone or email).
One voucher is needed to upgrade per direction. For example, the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK will need one voucher to upgrade, and the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK-IST-LHR will need two vouchers. If an agent tells you otherwise, HUCA.
How to find itineraries with availability for a voucher upgrade?
Find an itinerary in any class in Y that has 4 seats left in J booking class on the same itinerary as the Y. To be extra cautious, you may also check the individual legs (when applicable) for 4 seats left in J booking class. For example, for the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK, check at least that LHR-IST-BKK has 4 seats left in J booking class, and in addition, check LHR-IST and IST-BKK individually too.
You can no longer check for upgrade availability without having an e-ticket number.
A relatively low-risk method of proceeding is therefore...
1) Reserve a ticket online with TK but don't pay for the ticket yet. Just put it on hold for 48 hours for free for E+ members.
2) Book an economy class ticket on the same itinerary with a reputable USA-based OTA that offers a 24-hour cooling-off / full refund period.
3) Once you have received your e-ticket number, go to Manage Booking on the TK website and check if TK has offered a business upgrade with miles for your intineray. Any segment eligible for an upgrade with miles on the website is also eligible for an upgrade with E+ vouchers.
4) Another option would be to call TK CS and ask an agent to check if the ticket in (2) is upgradeable with your vouchers. Do not upgrade this ticket; just check.
5) Once availability is confirmed for your itinerary, pay for the ticket in (1). Upon payment and ticketing, call TK CS to ask an agent to upgrade this ticket.
6) Cancel for free the ticket in (2).
Another even lower-risk method would be to skip (1) and just upgrade the ticket in (2). If unsuccessful with the E+ upgrade, you can proceed to cancel your economy ticket within the 24-hour cooling-off period. Going with this route, you would then have to be in contact with the OTA and not TK in cases of schedule change, cancellation, or IRROP, which is not usually advisable unless you really have to.
You might be asked to enter a PIN number via an automatic system to access your vouchers; this is the PIN you use to log on to your TK M&S account.
It is advisable to call TK to verify the number of vouchers you have prior to and after the upgrade (unless you have no vouchers left).
Upgrades are done by calling TK CS or a local TK office (by phone or email).
One voucher is needed to upgrade per direction. For example, the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK will need one voucher to upgrade, and the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK-IST-LHR will need two vouchers. If an agent tells you otherwise, HUCA.
How to find itineraries with availability for a voucher upgrade?
Find an itinerary in any class in Y that has 4 seats left in J booking class on the same itinerary as the Y. To be extra cautious, you may also check the individual legs (when applicable) for 4 seats left in J booking class. For example, for the itinerary LHR-IST-BKK, check at least that LHR-IST-BKK has 4 seats left in J booking class, and in addition, check LHR-IST and IST-BKK individually too.
You can no longer check for upgrade availability without having an e-ticket number.
A relatively low-risk method of proceeding is therefore...
1) Reserve a ticket online with TK but don't pay for the ticket yet. Just put it on hold for 48 hours for free for E+ members.
2) Book an economy class ticket on the same itinerary with a reputable USA-based OTA that offers a 24-hour cooling-off / full refund period.
3) Once you have received your e-ticket number, go to Manage Booking on the TK website and check if TK has offered a business upgrade with miles for your intineray. Any segment eligible for an upgrade with miles on the website is also eligible for an upgrade with E+ vouchers.
4) Another option would be to call TK CS and ask an agent to check if the ticket in (2) is upgradeable with your vouchers. Do not upgrade this ticket; just check.
5) Once availability is confirmed for your itinerary, pay for the ticket in (1). Upon payment and ticketing, call TK CS to ask an agent to upgrade this ticket.
6) Cancel for free the ticket in (2).
Another even lower-risk method would be to skip (1) and just upgrade the ticket in (2). If unsuccessful with the E+ upgrade, you can proceed to cancel your economy ticket within the 24-hour cooling-off period. Going with this route, you would then have to be in contact with the OTA and not TK in cases of schedule change, cancellation, or IRROP, which is not usually advisable unless you really have to.
You might be asked to enter a PIN number via an automatic system to access your vouchers; this is the PIN you use to log on to your TK M&S account.
Elite Plus upgrade voucher
May 18, 2019, 7:59 pm
#556
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: The KUL city
Programs: AA Lifetime Plat, TK Elite+
Posts: 2,663
Managed to get it done in about 10 minutes or so.
May 18, 2019, 7:59 pm
#557
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: TK M&S, LH MM, Global Entry, Hertz Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,087
Upgraded US-IST-EU for my +3 using miles, with a three day stopover in Istanbul.
Used a voucher to upgrade myself, but that only worked for the US-IST portion of the trip due to the stop in IST.
Agent had to split my PNR from my +3 because of the difference in upgrades using miles vs voucher. Not sure how I feel about that, I asked to join us back up, but she said it wasn’t possible, but would put notes on both PNR’s.
Ticket numbers remained the same.
Am happy I get to share the upgrades with my family and grateful to the FT TK folks for helping us on the way there.
Used a voucher to upgrade myself, but that only worked for the US-IST portion of the trip due to the stop in IST.
Agent had to split my PNR from my +3 because of the difference in upgrades using miles vs voucher. Not sure how I feel about that, I asked to join us back up, but she said it wasn’t possible, but would put notes on both PNR’s.
Ticket numbers remained the same.
Am happy I get to share the upgrades with my family and grateful to the FT TK folks for helping us on the way there.
May 22, 2019, 7:35 am
#560
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,048
May 22, 2019, 8:03 am
#561
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
I'm tempted to buy a fully flex ticket on TK's website & cancel it & buy the regular economy fare whilst on the phone with the agent.... Might be difficult if I run into availability issues first though, can't afford to by several fully flex tickets at once lol
May 22, 2019, 10:03 am
#562
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,048
- booking a fully-flex Y ticket
- fully upgrading using E+ voucher
- immediately cancelling reservation and hoping both E+ voucher and J / upgrade space immediately return
May 22, 2019, 10:12 am
#563
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
I like how you're thinking... but wouldn't you basically be?
- booking a fully-flex Y ticket
- fully upgrading using E+ voucher
- immediately cancelling reservation and hoping both E+ voucher and J / upgrade space immediately return
May 22, 2019, 10:16 am
#564
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Barcelona, London, on a plane
Programs: BA Silver, TK E+, AA PP, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott LT Plat, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 13,048
I didn't understand the purpose of what the OP is trying to do, determine if there is upgrade space availability? In that case, I would use a USA based OTA instead of buying a flexible ticket and cancel it. In TK, you won't receive a refund immediately like other European carriers. The process for non-Turkish cards could take up to 15 business days so that amount would be blocked until they actually process the refund. However, in a US OTA, they block the money for 24-48 hours and then charge you, so if you cancel within the 24 hour period, they would remove the money block instead of refunding money that they received.
May 22, 2019, 2:55 pm
#565
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: TK E+, RJ S, AZ E
Posts: 1,869
May 22, 2019, 3:07 pm
#566
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2018
Location: Istanbul, Turkey
Programs: TK Elite Plus,BAEC GGL,ITA Executive, AFKL Gold,QR Gold,HH Diamond,Bonvoy Gold,ALL Gold
Posts: 14,186
May 23, 2019, 1:50 am
#567
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
I didn't understand the purpose of what the OP is trying to do, determine if there is upgrade space availability? In that case, I would use a USA based OTA instead of buying a flexible ticket and cancel it. In TK, you won't receive a refund immediately like other European carriers. The process for non-Turkish cards could take up to 15 business days so that amount would be blocked until they actually process the refund. However, in a US OTA, they block the money for 24-48 hours and then charge you, so if you cancel within the 24 hour period, they would remove the money block instead of refunding money that they received.
Doing some random award space searches, is it a safe bet to assume I will be able to use my evouchers for flights where there's at least 5 seats available in Business Limited redemption rates?
Last edited by AirCanada881; May 23, 2019 at 6:06 am
May 25, 2019, 2:52 am
#568
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
Other thought: if booking a fully flex refundable economy ticket on the TK website directly and upon confirming on the phone with the agent that upgrade availability is possible why not ask the agent to change ticket from a fully flex ticket to economy promotion, get refunded the fare difference and then upgrade on the phone? Everything happens in one call and one PNR
May 25, 2019, 7:03 am
#569
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: CDG
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 1,611
So something interesting happened, I called TK with the French number, 0825 80 09 02, selected English, entered my M&S number & was immediately redirected to the Elite line, spoke to a super nice gentleman who checked upgrade availabilities for me without even asking for a PNR, all he asked for were dates & flights I was interested in. I didn't go through the booking process as I was just looking for info but either he was new & didn't know what he was talking about, or he was in fact right, which in turn means I'm in luck!
May 25, 2019, 10:13 pm
#570
Join Date: Sep 2017
Programs: TK E+, RJ S, AZ E
Posts: 1,869
So something interesting happened, I called TK with the French number, 0825 80 09 02, selected English, entered my M&S number & was immediately redirected to the Elite line, spoke to a super nice gentleman who checked upgrade availabilities for me without even asking for a PNR, all he asked for were dates & flights I was interested in. I didn't go through the booking process as I was just looking for info but either he was new & didn't know what he was talking about, or he was in fact right, which in turn means I'm in luck!