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 10, 2019, 7:21 am
#677
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
Also, it depends on the date. If you want to fly on holiday periods of Turkey, they would block it for vouchers. Same for USA holidays. You wouldn't find any ELPL voucher availability on 20-21 December but you would find it on 24-25 Dec.
Assuming that you live in the US ( from your profile ), you could book your ticket with a reputable US OTA which offers a 24 hour free cancellation period. Before booking the ticket, check J class availability as well. Try to upgrade your ticket via the hotline or a sales office by using your vouchers. If you failed to upgrade, cancel the ticket for free.
Oct 10, 2019, 8:53 am
#678
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,351
As bad as it is, as I wrote before, what I do not/did not appreciate was when I BOUGHT the ticket, called up and there WAS availability, then they informed me that I had NO CERTIFICATE, when they in fact had screwed up the entire system. When they fixed the certificate problem, maybe 5 days later, there was of course no more upgrade availability, and then it took another 10 days or so, of back and forth, mostly starting again and again, for them to "investigate" the matter, which included them checking the recordings of my phone call with prior agents (especially the first) and the idiocy of me explaining, "well I called from xxx number or yyy number, I cannot remember which - I called literally from a 2 line phone" and them only checking xxx number seemingly each time. At the end I got it resolved, but it must have taken 20 phone calls, how many e-mails that I cannot recall, and an e-mail or two to actual executives that I know at TK...............which is probably what got it fixed............this is NOT something that any top tier flier at any airline should have to endure (and quite frankly everyone with a brain at their end also thought ridiculous as well!).
Oct 10, 2019, 7:17 pm
#679
Join Date: Nov 2017
Location: New York, NY
Programs: TK Elite+ Delta Platinum Medallion
Posts: 108
Thank you all including ISTFlyer. I was so pissed off with the whole mess that I booked BA First Class on 777 Oct 19 - Oct 28 JFK - IST for $ 3400.00 R/T. Paid with Miles on AX Centurion, got 50% back today, ie 170 K Miles and all done.
On Online like Expedia, I found K class only. Is that also upgradeable with E+ Voucher or only in J Class ??
YES, I live in NYC.
On Online like Expedia, I found K class only. Is that also upgradeable with E+ Voucher or only in J Class ??
YES, I live in NYC.
Oct 10, 2019, 7:21 pm
#680
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
Thank you all including ISTFlyer. I was so pissed off with the whole mess that I booked BA First Class on 777 Oct 19 - Oct 28 JFK - IST for $ 3400.00 R/T. Paid with Miles on AX Centurion, got 50% back today, ie 170 K Miles and all done.
On Online like Expedia, I found K class only. Is that also upgradeable with E+ Voucher or only in J Class ??
YES, I live in NYC.
On Online like Expedia, I found K class only. Is that also upgradeable with E+ Voucher or only in J Class ??
YES, I live in NYC.
BA First, never tried it but the deal is great. I know some muggles who pay $4000-5000 for a TK J class roundtrip from Turkey to the USA.
Enjoy your trip with BA.
Oct 16, 2019, 12:38 pm
#681
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 310
I have just booked a Multi-city flight with my SO. I've upgraded the outbound trip for myself using one of my vouchers and for my SO using 45k miles.
JFK - IST - AMS
Original Booking Class: Q
J class availability: Yes
I class availability: No
edit: additional data point, I wasn’t going to upgrade my return, IST-IAD. However, i still checked upgrade availability and there is no availability. The flight doesn’t have J or I class availability either.
JFK - IST - AMS
Original Booking Class: Q
J class availability: Yes
I class availability: No
edit: additional data point, I wasn’t going to upgrade my return, IST-IAD. However, i still checked upgrade availability and there is no availability. The flight doesn’t have J or I class availability either.
Last edited by max_kolesne; Oct 16, 2019 at 3:33 pm
Nov 26, 2019, 5:33 am
#682
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: YOW
Programs: TK E+, AC 25K, A3 S, UA S, BoNVoY TE
Posts: 103
Concerning data point
Here is my latest interaction with Turkish Airlines and the Elite Plus upgrade process.
I tried to upgrade MRU-IST-YUL. The loads according to Expert Flyer were as follows:
MRU-IST-YUL: J4 (married segments)
MRU-IST: J4
IST-YUL: J2
When I tried to use my Elite Plus voucher I was told that only the IST-YUL flight could be upgraded using the voucher. What made this interesting is that I was then told that availability to upgrade with miles was available on BOTH segments. I tried to re-check the voucher upgrade availability with 3 different call center agents, same reply each time. In the end, my spouse and I decided to upgrade MRU-IST-YUL (on 2 different PNRs) with miles (67.5k p/person) successfully. The loads now show:
MRU-IST-YUL: J4 (married segments)
MRU-IST: J4
IST-YUL: J0
A friend of mine who is also traveling on the same flights just checked to see the new upgrade availability. Only the MRU-IST segment was now available to upgrade with miles.
The above situation is very concerning as it contradicts previous experiences, namely that if an upgrade with miles was available then an upgrade with Elite Plus voucher should also be available (both based on J inventory). In addition, in this case, it looks like the individual segments overruled the married segments.
I have a high tolerance for dealing with TK, but the inconsistencies in logic which lead to an inability to know how the system works is becoming very very tiring.
I tried to upgrade MRU-IST-YUL. The loads according to Expert Flyer were as follows:
MRU-IST-YUL: J4 (married segments)
MRU-IST: J4
IST-YUL: J2
When I tried to use my Elite Plus voucher I was told that only the IST-YUL flight could be upgraded using the voucher. What made this interesting is that I was then told that availability to upgrade with miles was available on BOTH segments. I tried to re-check the voucher upgrade availability with 3 different call center agents, same reply each time. In the end, my spouse and I decided to upgrade MRU-IST-YUL (on 2 different PNRs) with miles (67.5k p/person) successfully. The loads now show:
MRU-IST-YUL: J4 (married segments)
MRU-IST: J4
IST-YUL: J0
A friend of mine who is also traveling on the same flights just checked to see the new upgrade availability. Only the MRU-IST segment was now available to upgrade with miles.
The above situation is very concerning as it contradicts previous experiences, namely that if an upgrade with miles was available then an upgrade with Elite Plus voucher should also be available (both based on J inventory). In addition, in this case, it looks like the individual segments overruled the married segments.
I have a high tolerance for dealing with TK, but the inconsistencies in logic which lead to an inability to know how the system works is becoming very very tiring.
Nov 26, 2019, 7:14 am
#683
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
I thought we'd arrived at the conclusion - in the thread with the online upgrading using miles - that J is no longer necessarily a prerequisite to upgrading using miles.
But besides that, your experience looks more like disallowing long-haul to long-haul connection E+ upgrades with one voucher (assuming that TK has loaded a MRU-YUL fare and isn't pricing two separate fares to get you there) rather than anything to do with J space or married segments.
But besides that, your experience looks more like disallowing long-haul to long-haul connection E+ upgrades with one voucher (assuming that TK has loaded a MRU-YUL fare and isn't pricing two separate fares to get you there) rather than anything to do with J space or married segments.
Nov 27, 2019, 4:02 am
#684
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Cyprus
Programs: LH SEN, A3*G, TK*G E+, ALL/Accor Plat
Posts: 644
I thought we'd arrived at the conclusion - in the thread with the online upgrading using miles - that J is no longer necessarily a prerequisite to upgrading using miles.
But besides that, your experience looks more like disallowing long-haul to long-haul connection E+ upgrades with one voucher (assuming that TK has loaded a MRU-YUL fare and isn't pricing two separate fares to get you there) rather than anything to do with J space or married segments.
But besides that, your experience looks more like disallowing long-haul to long-haul connection E+ upgrades with one voucher (assuming that TK has loaded a MRU-YUL fare and isn't pricing two separate fares to get you there) rather than anything to do with J space or married segments.
Nov 27, 2019, 5:08 am
#685
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
For vouchers J still seems to be required but, as you say, there is something else going on.
Nov 27, 2019, 7:31 am
#686
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
Just a remark that there should be J class inventory available to upgrade. There could be no J fare class availability for sale at the time of upgrade.
Jan 2, 2020, 1:28 am
#687
Join Date: Mar 2012
Posts: 60
Odds of using voucher when waitlisted
Hi, everyone!
i have just booked a return flight in Y TXL-ZNZ-TXL for end of May hoping to be able to use my E+ upgrades. For the outbound it’s fine, for the inbound there’s no fare class availability (plenty of seats though).
I am wondering, if they waitlist me (which they have offered), what are the odds of space opening up? Also, could a local office (I’m thinking of the one I have an established rapport with) force a seat? They did that once 4 or so years ago, although in a very different scenario (it was a Z fare-seat which I had received as compensation for an overbooking, and it was 11 months ahead of travel time).
I will share what I find out. Thanks :-).
P
i have just booked a return flight in Y TXL-ZNZ-TXL for end of May hoping to be able to use my E+ upgrades. For the outbound it’s fine, for the inbound there’s no fare class availability (plenty of seats though).
I am wondering, if they waitlist me (which they have offered), what are the odds of space opening up? Also, could a local office (I’m thinking of the one I have an established rapport with) force a seat? They did that once 4 or so years ago, although in a very different scenario (it was a Z fare-seat which I had received as compensation for an overbooking, and it was 11 months ahead of travel time).
I will share what I find out. Thanks :-).
P
Jan 2, 2020, 3:38 am
#688
Join Date: Sep 2019
Programs: turkish
Posts: 2
Hello!
I have a question: I didn't use my 2 vouchers that I have until August 2020. I have to take a flight now, after this flight I will keep the status of my E+ card (I finish the 40,000 points during the first year). If I use the two upgrades vouchers during this flight, after getting the 40,000 points and maintaining the E+, will TK give me 2 more vouchers for this year?
Thank you
I have a question: I didn't use my 2 vouchers that I have until August 2020. I have to take a flight now, after this flight I will keep the status of my E+ card (I finish the 40,000 points during the first year). If I use the two upgrades vouchers during this flight, after getting the 40,000 points and maintaining the E+, will TK give me 2 more vouchers for this year?
Thank you
Jan 2, 2020, 4:50 am
#689
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 310
Hello!
I have a question: I didn't use my 2 vouchers that I have until August 2020. I have to take a flight now, after this flight I will keep the status of my E+ card (I finish the 40,000 points during the first year). If I use the two upgrades vouchers during this flight, after getting the 40,000 points and maintaining the E+, will TK give me 2 more vouchers for this year?
Thank you
I have a question: I didn't use my 2 vouchers that I have until August 2020. I have to take a flight now, after this flight I will keep the status of my E+ card (I finish the 40,000 points during the first year). If I use the two upgrades vouchers during this flight, after getting the 40,000 points and maintaining the E+, will TK give me 2 more vouchers for this year?
Thank you
Jan 3, 2020, 7:28 am
#690
Join Date: Dec 2018
Posts: 310
IST - IAD
Original Booking Class: Q
J class availability: Yes
I class availability: No
Upgrade: Yes
Additional data point: I have completed the upgrades at the sales office. I booked the flights using the app when I was in the office. I have upgraded my flight by using an E+ voucher for myself, and miles for my wife. The staff said, before booking, if there is J-class availability then it is certain that I would be eligible for an E+ upgrade. However, there was no guarantee for an upgrade with miles. When I paid and completed the booking, the app did NOT show any possibility for an upgrade with miles. The sales office agent could still process the upgrade with miles as well.
Original Booking Class: Q
J class availability: Yes
I class availability: No
Upgrade: Yes
Additional data point: I have completed the upgrades at the sales office. I booked the flights using the app when I was in the office. I have upgraded my flight by using an E+ voucher for myself, and miles for my wife. The staff said, before booking, if there is J-class availability then it is certain that I would be eligible for an E+ upgrade. However, there was no guarantee for an upgrade with miles. When I paid and completed the booking, the app did NOT show any possibility for an upgrade with miles. The sales office agent could still process the upgrade with miles as well.