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
Oct 2, 2019, 8:18 pm
#661
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 294
Oct 3, 2019, 9:14 am
#662
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: TK M&S, LH MM, Global Entry, Hertz Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,087
Oct 3, 2019, 11:13 pm
#664
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: TK M&S, LH MM, Global Entry, Hertz Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,087
Oct 7, 2019, 9:59 am
#666
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Mostly EU & (SE)Asia
Programs: Various shiny cards at hotel chains and airlines
Posts: 1,040
Seems like there are new rules in place. While the vouchers require J-availability, it does not mean that upgrades are available. Thus, even when J-cl availability is shown in Expertflyer and THY website, and you can use easily miles for an upgrade (also booking into J), voucher use might be restricted, per new internal regulations that are not allowed to be shared with customers. HUCA-d this with several agents, they said that they changed the rules last month after making the points upgrades easier on the website.
Oct 7, 2019, 8:31 pm
#667
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: 13,051
Seems like there are new rules in place. While the vouchers require J-availability, it does not mean that upgrades are available. Thus, even when J-cl availability is shown in Expertflyer and THY website, and you can use easily miles for an upgrade (also booking into J), voucher use might be restricted, per new internal regulations that are not allowed to be shared with customers. HUCA-d this with several agents, they said that they changed the rules last month after making the points upgrades easier on the website.
That said, I don't believe that we have a single data point in this thread where there was J space on the TK website for the precise itinerary and the upgrade didn't actually process.
It's much more useful IMO to deal in actual FT-er transactional data points rather than information provided by TK agents. We all know that to be less than reliable...
Oct 8, 2019, 3:56 pm
#668
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: DTW
Programs: TK E+, WY, Radisson R
Posts: 2,360
Seems like there are new rules in place. While the vouchers require J-availability, it does not mean that upgrades are available. Thus, even when J-cl availability is shown in Expertflyer and THY website, and you can use easily miles for an upgrade (also booking into J), voucher use might be restricted, per new internal regulations that are not allowed to
Oct 8, 2019, 4:31 pm
#669
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: FRA
Programs: M&M FTL, TK*EPL, A3*G, HH Diamond
Posts: 125
Hey guys, I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere there's a rule that requires me to credit miles to Turkish Miles & Smiles programme when I use upgrade coupons. Is that true? I can't imagine how it could be enforced, but I already managed to collect required miles to keep my sweet elite status so I'd rather credit the miles somewhere else. Anyone tried to credit miles to other frequent flyer programme while flying upgraded ticket (using vouchers)? Do they just always credit miles to their own programme no matter what's put on the ticket?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Oct 8, 2019, 4:48 pm
#670
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
Hey guys, I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere there's a rule that requires me to credit miles to Turkish Miles & Smiles programme when I use upgrade coupons. Is that true? I can't imagine how it could be enforced, but I already managed to collect required miles to keep my sweet elite status so I'd rather credit the miles somewhere else. Anyone tried to credit miles to other frequent flyer programme while flying upgraded ticket (using vouchers)? Do they just always credit miles to their own programme no matter what's put on the ticket?
Thanks!
Thanks!
Oct 8, 2019, 5:08 pm
#671
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: FRA
Programs: M&M FTL, TK*EPL, A3*G, HH Diamond
Posts: 125
You may technically change the FQTV after your upgrade is confirmed via the MMB section but then you won't be able to benefit from your *G privileges ( extra baggage, etc... ) that is not offered for Business Class pax. But, it's also possible that the system would give an error.
I really don't want to get downgraded because I broke T&Cs. I'd love to collect some award miles to the other programme, but I don't care if it won't credit eventually. I probably won't risk, but maybe someone has experience with such case and it's really safe.
It just hit me there's a rule to credit miles to TK when you use your TK Elite free wifi benefit onboard Turkish Airlines flight. I'm not saying it makes no sense, because, to be honest, it does.
Oct 8, 2019, 5:18 pm
#672
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
That's not really the case, because my second fqtv card is *G as well.
I really don't want to get downgraded because I broke T&Cs. I'd love to collect some award miles to the other programme, but I don't care if it won't credit eventually. I probably won't risk, but maybe someone has experience with such case and it's really safe.
It just hit me there's a rule to credit miles to TK when you use your TK Elite free wifi benefit onboard Turkish Airlines flight. I'm not saying it makes no sense, because, to be honest, it does.
I really don't want to get downgraded because I broke T&Cs. I'd love to collect some award miles to the other programme, but I don't care if it won't credit eventually. I probably won't risk, but maybe someone has experience with such case and it's really safe.
It just hit me there's a rule to credit miles to TK when you use your TK Elite free wifi benefit onboard Turkish Airlines flight. I'm not saying it makes no sense, because, to be honest, it does.
Business Class passengers also have free Wi-Fi regardless of their status. You would need the seat number, last name, and the e-ticket number in order to log in; but you're right about the point you made with the Wi-Fi. When traveling Y, you must credit to M&S in order to benefit from the free Wi-Fi ( both for unlimited ( ELIT & ELPL ) and 10 MB ( CLSC & CLPL ) packages ) service.
Oct 8, 2019, 8:29 pm
#673
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: 13,051
Hey guys, I'm pretty sure I saw somewhere there's a rule that requires me to credit miles to Turkish Miles & Smiles programme when I use upgrade coupons. Is that true? I can't imagine how it could be enforced, but I already managed to collect required miles to keep my sweet elite status so I'd rather credit the miles somewhere else. Anyone tried to credit miles to other frequent flyer programme while flying upgraded ticket (using vouchers)? Do they just always credit miles to their own programme no matter what's put on the ticket?
Thanks!
Thanks!
So not only might you be risking your upgrade, but P class doesn't give any miles in any other programme, so you'd also have to fight with the other ffp to explain that you were actually booked in a different fare class. Then you'd have to trust that the respective back offices are willing to talk to each other to sort out the mess.
Oct 9, 2019, 3:46 am
#674
Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: FRA
Programs: M&M FTL, TK*EPL, A3*G, HH Diamond
Posts: 125
Don't do it. TK IT is very delicate. It can't even credit the correct number of miles to M&S. I believe my last feedback from M&S was that upgraded tickets automatically process as "P" class.
So not only might you be risking your upgrade, but P class doesn't give any miles in any other programme, so you'd also have to fight with the other ffp to explain that you were actually booked in a different fare class. Then you'd have to trust that the respective back offices are willing to talk to each other to sort out the mess.
So not only might you be risking your upgrade, but P class doesn't give any miles in any other programme, so you'd also have to fight with the other ffp to explain that you were actually booked in a different fare class. Then you'd have to trust that the respective back offices are willing to talk to each other to sort out the mess.
Oct 9, 2019, 7:29 pm
#675
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: New York, NY
Programs: TK Elite+ Delta Platinum Medallion
Posts: 108
Rule Change on Elite + Upgrade to Business on Economy Tickets
Hi all. As an Elite+ Holder I was entitled, once a year to buy an Economy ticket for example JFK to IST round trip and get upgraded to Business Class. This is a perk of Elite + Holders. I would call the Turkish Airlines number, book the ticket that had Business class availability, pay over phone and be done. Today I called and I was told that I have to buy the ticket first with them and they would check afterwards if there is a seat available. If not, there is no waitlist and I would have to wait till 24 hrs before to upgrade subject to availability. I was told that this rule changed in June 2019.
I asked what class they book Business and I was told J Class. i asked if there is J class available on certain flights and I was told that even if there is, it may not be available for award Tickets.
This is so unfair. They keep making it so difficult without any prior notice. Has anyone experienced this ?? Any comments or suggestions ??
I asked what class they book Business and I was told J Class. i asked if there is J class available on certain flights and I was told that even if there is, it may not be available for award Tickets.
This is so unfair. They keep making it so difficult without any prior notice. Has anyone experienced this ?? Any comments or suggestions ??