Dave69NewYork

Should not be a problem. I flew with 8 KG

Passportinonehand

Thanks for the quick reply!

ISTFlyer

They generally don't weigh carry-on bags; however, they look at the dimensions by eye.
So, you should be good if your bag could fit under the seat.

FlyerLX

Just wanting a bit of info... Could someone help, or point me to a relevant post, please?

How do I move from one M&S status level to the next? And how do I maintain a status level? The TK website gives the status points needed but is not really clear about time limits...

Once I have credited my first flight to M&S, how long do I have to collect the 25K miles needed for Classic Plus? Once I have Classic Plus, how long do I have to collect the 40K needed for Elite? And once I have Elite, how long do I have to collect the 80K needed for Elite Plus? And once I have Elite Plus, how long do I have to collect the 80K needed to keep Elite Plus?

Does a membership year start on the day when you earn your first status mile?

... Or have I misunderstood?!?!

Many Thanks😊

ISTFlyer

So, you would need to collect 25k miles for Classic Plus in any 365-day interval during your membership. Same for Elite and Elite Plus. There is no specific timeframe to reach Elite after reaching Classic Plus, for example, you would just need 40000 miles from Day 1 and Day 365 of your choice regardless of when your Classic Plus membership has started. The miles that counted for your Classic Plus membership would be counted if the qualification periods for both status overlap. Similar situation for Elite Plus.

Requalification periods are different and the number of miles required for requalification is lower than what you need to obtain to achieve the status initially.
When you reach Elite Plus, you would need to get 40k miles after the first 12 months after you qualified for Elite Plus or 60k miles after the first 24 months. If you are able to requalify within these periods, your membership would be extended another two years and your requalification period would start at the end of the initial 24 months. This process repeats until you are downgraded to Elite.

And, yes, for qualification, it's Day 1 from Day 365; for requalification, it's the given interval by TK.

FlyerLX

Thank you for your help! So do I now understand it right?

- Once I join M&S, I need 25000 miles within any 365 day period to get Classic Plus?

- On the day when I fly my 25000th mile, I get Classic Plus for 2 years?

- During my 2 years of Classic Plus, I get Elite if I fly 40000 miles within any 365 day period?

- On the day when I fly my 40000th mile, I get Elite for 2 years?

- During my 2 years of Elite, I get Elite Plus if I fly 40000 miles in the first 365 days and 40000 miles in the second 365 days, or if I fly 80000 in either one of the 365 day periods?

- Once I reach Elite Plus, I keep Elite Plus if I fly 40000 miles in the first year after I reach Elite Plus, or if I fly 60000 miles in the first 2 years after I reach Elite Plus?

Thanks again!!😊

ISTFlyer

Yes, these assumptions are correct.
Just to clarify, when you achieve Classic Plus, the counter does not zero and it's an additional 15k miles to achieve Elite status.

In any 365 day period regardless of your Elite qualification, you would need to achieve 80000 miles in any 365 days to achieve Elite Plus.
Qualifying for Elite and qualifying for Elite Plus are two mutually exclusive events and do not rely on each other.

In this part, you're correct on your assumptions.

FlyerLX

Thank you very much for the detailed info- it’s a big help! I guess the TK website is not too clear about Elite Plus being totally separate...

ISTFlyer

All statuses are independent of each other.
For example, you could earn 25000 miles from Day 1 to Day 100 for Classic Plus and earn 40000 miles from Day 35 to Day 400 for Elite.

To clarify, the status system is not like FlyingBlue where the counter and the date zeroes out when you achieve a new status.

FlyerLX

.... So how does the overlap work? If you already have 25000 on 01 January and fly another 15000 on 02 January, does that give you Elite (40000 total...)?

And if you have Elite on 02 January, and if you then fly another 40000 between, for example, 3 January and 10 January, that doesn’t give you Elite Plus...?? For Elite Plus you would have to fly 80000 regardless of your mileage already flown? Have I got it right...?

ISTFlyer- Big thanks again for your help!!

ISTFlyer

Yes, this is correct.

That does give you Elite Plus, you already have 40k miles on 2 January, why shouldn't you able to count them for Elite Plus, you would need 40k more until 31 December or 65k more until 1 January the following year.

When you achieve Elite, the counter does not zero. It's 80k miles in any given 365 days regardless of when you qualify for Elite or not.

You're welcome.

vctran

Hi everyone,

New to FT been scrounging around the forums...basically just got married and wanted to surprise my wife with business tickets when we return home so she can visit my family for the first time...basically am choosing Turkish because the duration is relatively short, but wanted to see if it would be better for me to upgrade to business at the airport or am I better off just paying outright for our tickets?

Flying KWI —> SAN.

Round trip business for 2 is about $7800.

I’m considering Qatar Airways also but it seems a bit more expensive than my budget ($12000) although I’d love to travel in Qsuites and not get horrible box food. Just wanted to see everyone’s thoughts. I usually like to wait last minute and pay for an upgrade if the deal suits me and I know QA does cash upgrades, but unfamiliar with the Turkish Airlines process.

ISTFlyer

Hi ​​​vctran and welcome to FlyerTalk!

Now, Turkish Airlines has started to serve proper meals on long-haul Business Class so you would at least get something similar to the old service on your long-haul leg. Although, for the KWI-IST leg you would still get boxed food.

For the upgrade part, TK does only offer discounted cash upgrades from flights at several outstations and that is only offered at the check-in desk subject to availability. If no discounted cash upgrade is available on your travel date, you would be asked to pay the fare difference. QR has a much more consistent cash upgrade system that you could upgrade from 14 days before the flight until check-in online, through the app, or at the check-in desk.

$2200 per person is not a small amount of money in this case.
I have no idea about TK's discounted cash upgrade rates, although QR generally asks something between $700-1400 for cash upgrades on Doha-USA flights.

vctran

Ok thanks for the advice. Outstation being returning to IST from whatever destination? I am new to the miles game...as my mom stuck me on her United flight benefits which I used to the fullest extent! Sounds like I might just pay for business to SAN then see if I can snag an upgrade on our return flight back if that’s what an outstation is. Kuwait requires a two week quarantine so don’t need to really be well-rested getting back.

ISTFlyer

No, from selected outstations to Istanbul. There isn't a list available so you would learn if upgrades are offered at check-in or not. There is a thread dedicated to that here but the data over there is not that recent.

By the way, as TK doesn't fly to SAN, you would need to stop by the check-in desk at your connecting airport where your first TK flight would depart in order to learn if a paid upgrade is offered or not.