fnaime23

I wanted to take a moment to express and share how surprised I was yesterday when it took me just minutes to upgrade one of the legs on my trip with miles over the phone.

after seeing the pictures of the new lounge in IST, I decided to use some of my miles to upgrade a leg of my trip to business to allow me access to the lounge. I had previously booked a two way trip from LAX-IST-BEY on Comfort Class it was booked as A for LAX-IST and IST-LAX, the IST-BEY and BEY-IST leg were booked as Y. since there is only Y and J on that flight.

I called and I asked the first English speaking agent that I wanted to upgrade with miles, he transferred me to someone that asked me for the Miles and Smiles number and I told him what part of the trip I was looking to upgrade. I was transferred to enter my pin. After that I was issues a new ticket with the changes. I was really surprised at the ease that this all happened and the speed.

The one issue I had was on the website, it says for an upgrade from comfort to business on that same flight would be 10k miles, while on the phone i was told 15k. which is what it would be if I had booked the high price eco ticket. I'm aware that that flight is only Y and J, so I was given a Y seat. It seems like there is a bit of inconsistency that they need to work on to resolve that. but other than that it was an easy fast process.

anyone had such a good experience, or bad one. was it so simple since i was making changes a month in advance on a flight like IST-BEY or is this something common.

why fly

i have CC class A fares booked for Dec can i upgrade yyz-ist for 10k miles each way?

fnaime23

I think that route will cost you more than 10k. my IST-BEY was 10k, which is about an hour and half flight. I think LAX-IST was about 50k if not mistaken. But you can check their website, or call and they will tell you exactly what it will cost.

LegalEagle

Is it possible to upgrade on TK from Comfort Class (booked in A) to business class using miles from one of the partner airlines like United or U.S. Air?

wcalvert

Yes, but you need to be on a full fare ticket which may or may not cost more than business ticket.

It's called a star alliance upgrade.

why fly

well is A fare high enough to upgrade with? that was the question.

MLang2

If you have TK miles, the upgrade costs are shown here. You need to take in regard that there are high season periods and low season periods.

From Comfort to Business it is 17.500 or 22.500 TK Miles.

mahasamatman

Using Mileage Plus, you can only upgrade from Y or B. A does not qualify.

I'll also add my own related question. What are the odds of a Star Alliance upgrade from a Y fare on LAX-IST? TK has decent one-way fares to TLV, so I was thinking of trying them out.

cricketrun

Confirm about the *A upgrade from Comfort (booked in A) to Business Class...upgrade for member airlines is only available from B or Y classes. Which is unconvenient and bad.
I look forward to the day when premium eco will be considered correctly as an intermediate class between Y and C.
As LH member I have upgrade e vouchers which - again - can be used only from B and Y to C.

As I will fly with TK for the first time in few weeks JFK --> IST in A I was looking forward to ways to upgrade. Does TK do cash upgrades at check in? From KVS tool the 77W I am supposed to fly has a wide open C class ( 24 out of 28 seats are open).
Thanks for any advice you can provide me with!

moeser

Yes,they do cash upgrades at CI but I don't have a glue how much they will ask.
I doubt that you'll get the 77W ( 1-2-1 ) though TKs new 777 ( 2-3-2 ) instead.

fnaime23

I just trying to upgrade a flight IST-LAX on January 15 from Comfort Class to Business and I was told that I had to be put on waiting list. But online if I try to make the reservation, it shows that business class is empty except for a 2 or 3 seats.

is this a TK policy or is this general policy. Should I call back and tell them the site shows its empty. why can't I get booked?

mahasamatman

Sounds pretty standard to me. Airlines don't make all seats available for upgrade. They'll only open them up if they think they can't sell them.

fnaime23

In your experience when should I check again? should I keep checking and how often?

I would like to mention, its interesting that it didn't go smoothly this time. I started this thread because I was impressed at the ease of my original upgrade (on previous trip) from eco to business on IST-BEY. but now its more complicated, I guess it depends on the route.

mahasamatman

If they've waitlisted you, there's no need to check. If and when they open up upgrade inventory, the waitlist will be processed in order. (Note - I am basing this on my knowledge of other airlines. I don't know about TK specifically, but assume they operate in a similar fashion.)