TK introduces Basic Economy for Domestic Flights under the name: EcoFly
 

From today, Turkish Airlines has three different ticketing options in Economy class for domestic flight bookings instead of two.
Economy Promotional and Economy Flexible options have been changed to EcoFly, ExtraFly, and PrimeFly.

EcoFly would be the Basic Economy for Turkish Airlines only allowing 15kgs of checked baggage per passenger with no free seat selection, no changes and no refunds similar to Pegasus Airlines. However, TK and *A elites are able to benefit from their extra baggage allowance and TK elites ( not *A ) could benefit from the free seat selection option. Passengers would not able to select their seats for free during OLCI and they would be auto-assigned. Passengers would have the option to select their seats by paying ₺25 for each flight.

ExtraFly would be the semi-flex option for domestic flights allowing 20kgs of checked baggage per passenger and an option to change and cancel tickets with a fee. Also, this option would give 250 extra bonus miles for M&S members alongside with free seat selection for every passenger ( all seats except bulkhead seats and exit-rows ).

PrimeFly would be the flexible option which was not available in the past and would offer a full refund if the passenger decides to cancel the flight and would offer unlimited free changes until 2 hours before the flight. Also, this option would provide 25kgs of free checked baggage in addition to 500 extra bonus miles for M&S members. All passengers could also choose their seats ( all seats except bulkhead seats and exit-rows ) for free when they buy a PrimeFly option.

This changes only apply for domestic flight only itineraries and international itineraries that contains a domestic flight is not affected by these changes.
It's expectable that Turkish Airlines could introduce a similar format on international flights on a future date.

I couldn’t find the “seat selection” benefit for Elite and Elite Plus. Is this an insider information, or did TK already update this information anywhere?

My second question would be about the “extra miles.” I wonder if the non-flexible class would still give 150 miles. If yes, then the “flexible” class will now issue 650 miles instead of 600.

EDIT: Answering my first question, I have found the screenshot below when trying to book a flight. Elite and Elite Plus apparently can now choose seats for free when flying with Anadolu Jet as well. If there is no devaluation in terms of status miles earned from domestic flights, this looks like a positive change for members with status.

EDIT 2: It seems like booking fare classes are the same for all EcoFly, ExtraFly and PrimeFly. So, for instance, in my dummy booking of fare class P, the summary page on the booking page shows the amount of miles to be earned as 150 miles even for PrimeFly. The website says “500 extra Bonus Miles” which probably means that even PrimeFly will generate 150 status miles and 650 bonus miles if the booking fare class is one of the cheap fare classes. The old option to choose “semi-flexible” or “flexible” for elevated status miles seems like no more, or one would need to call the call center or visit a sales office to book one of the fare classes that would generate 300 or 600 status miles.

EDIT 3: The mobile app still sells domestic Y class tickets using the old style.

EDIT 4: The extra legroom seats are not free for Elite and Elite Plus, they still cost 40 TRY.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...e4afc8f0eb.png

If you book via turkishairlines.com, it would give the status miles for the lowest available fare bucket for sale.
So the flexible option would give 150 status miles and 650 bonus miles.
However, a TA could book you into Q fare class with the flexible option which would be 600 status miles and 1100 bonus miles.

Edit: You have answered your own question for Q2. A sales office or the hotline may be helpful in booking fare classes that would give 300 and 600 status miles.

I found also this:

Elite ve Elite Plus üyelik statüsündeki yolcular ve aynı PNR numaralı bilete sahip olan yakınları Türk Hava Yolları uçuşlarında ücretsiz koltuk seçimi haklarından yararlanabilir.


Which means: Elite and Elite Plus members and their relatives booked on the the same PNR can benefit from free seat selection on Turkish Airlines flights.

On a slightly different note, I am surprised that TK doesn't offer free selection of Bulkhead, Extra legroom and exit row seats to its own elites (Elite and Elite Plus)! Free standard seat selection can be had by anyone booking the right type of Eco fare, and not just the TK elites, so I am wondering what TK does differently for its own top-tier elites seated in the Economy cabin?

The answer to your question is nothing. For international flights, in the existing system, exit row/bulkhead seats are not free until everyone until 48 hours of departure, then blocked through OLCI for airport control and then these seats are distributed for free of charge at the airport at a first come first served basis regardless of status. The most annoying part in this is that for IST-XXX flights, transfer passengers are more likely to get exit-row seats for free as they have the option to ask for an exit seat at their first point of departure. However, it's easy to find exit row seats for domestic flight at airport check-in but the benefit of the extra legroom is generally much more effective at medium/long-haul.

That is one of the reasons that I don't pay extra to fly direct with TK on longer itineraries when I travel solo. Even Alex Cruz's BArb gives free exit row seats for long haul flights for Gold members upon booking and for Silver members upon OLCI. Even on $499 discounted transatlantic Basic Economy tickets. The reason that TK sells extra-legroom/bulkhead seats for their elites, is that they have realized that elites started paying for seats ( I talk about the wealthier Turkish population that doesn't fly anything else than TK ) as they don't have the vision that other airlines offer these seats for free to their elites.

AtlasGlobal is the only airline in Turkey that currently offers free exit-row seats for their own elites and blocks the first three rows of Economy for their elites.

Obviously, TK does not have theoretical seating for their Elites as well.

I'm co-signing this post.

Yesterday I booked on thy.com a domestic flight for mom from ERZ to SAW with Anadolujet in "ExtraFly" for this saturday and the first three rows were blocked. She isn't a M&S-member.

The first three rows were blocked.

Then I made a virtuell booking for me as elite and the first three rows where still blocked. Maybe the first three rows are blocked now for M&S-tiers?

The first three rows of AnadoluJet flights are blocked for VIP and protocol ( governors, mayors, etc... ) pax.
They are only available at airport check-in. If they are available, they are given upon a first come first served basis.

Just for your info as an elite plus member, I can not choose a seat free of charge in Anadolu Jet flight to Denizli. Asks for 15-20-30 TL depending on seat positions. Most likely I would do for Turkish Airlines flights.

Interesting, the website let me choose seats as an elite plus the day that they introduced the new system. Maybe it was a glitch and they’ve fixed it.

Bookings made before the changes are unaffected. You would still need to pay for your seat if you booked your ticket before 23 Sep.

ISTFlyer. Could you advise me of the applicable fare bases for these economy fares? I have already booked and paid for a domestic flight for 21 November. As a *A Gold could I without penalty reticket same flight/date which would allow me increased luggage allowance and free seat selection.

If you bought your ticket before 23 Sep, the old fare rules apply so it depends on your fare bucket and when did you buy your ticket.

Are the bonus miles added altogether or seperately. Just completed a domestic one way but only received 300 miles(t class with extra fly option)?

Edit: Auto email doesn't show the additional miles, just checked my statement, it's there.