Apr 8, 2020, 6:03 am
Last edit by: ISTFlyer
THE WIKI IS NOT UP TO DATE - IT WOULD BE UPDATED IN DUE COURSE
Please read the WIKI before asking your question as it has the most essential information about the Miles&Smiles extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As 31 March 2020;
- Turkish Airlines has extended every member's status for another 6 months and members' requalification periods ( on 31 March 2020 ) are extended to 18 months.
- The expiry date of current Elite Plus vouchers is extended for 6 months. The next Elite Plus vouchers that are scheduled to be deposited to your account would be deposited 6 months later than the original date.
Example Scenarios:
Original Card Expiry: 30 September 2020
New Card Expiry: 31 March 2021 ( 2nd Re-Qualification period extended 6 months )
Now in: 2nd Re-Qualification Period
If Elite Plus member;
Revised expiry date of active ELPL vouchers: 31 March 2021
New vouchers would be deposited on: 1 April 2021 ( if requalified )
Original Card Expiry: 31 January 2022
New Card Expiry: 31 July 2022 ( 1st Re-Qualification period extended 6 months )
Now in: 1st Re-Qualification Period
If Elite Plus member;
Revised expiry date of active ELPL vouchers: 31 July 2021
New vouchers would be deposited on: 1 August 2021
- The 12 month period for status qualification/upgrade still remains the same. However, TK doubled the number ( limit ) of purchasable status miles for those who were close to a status upgrade.
Please read the WIKI before asking your question as it has the most essential information about the Miles&Smiles extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As 31 March 2020;
- Turkish Airlines has extended every member's status for another 6 months and members' requalification periods ( on 31 March 2020 ) are extended to 18 months.
- The expiry date of current Elite Plus vouchers is extended for 6 months. The next Elite Plus vouchers that are scheduled to be deposited to your account would be deposited 6 months later than the original date.
Example Scenarios:
Original Card Expiry: 30 September 2020
New Card Expiry: 31 March 2021 ( 2nd Re-Qualification period extended 6 months )
Now in: 2nd Re-Qualification Period
If Elite Plus member;
Revised expiry date of active ELPL vouchers: 31 March 2021
New vouchers would be deposited on: 1 April 2021 ( if requalified )
Original Card Expiry: 31 January 2022
New Card Expiry: 31 July 2022 ( 1st Re-Qualification period extended 6 months )
Now in: 1st Re-Qualification Period
If Elite Plus member;
Revised expiry date of active ELPL vouchers: 31 July 2021
New vouchers would be deposited on: 1 August 2021
- The 12 month period for status qualification/upgrade still remains the same. However, TK doubled the number ( limit ) of purchasable status miles for those who were close to a status upgrade.
Status extension and miles expiry (COVID related)
Apr 3, 2020, 1:01 am
#47
Join Date: Jul 2017
Location: CGK, BDO, MXP
Programs: QR Gold, WY Gold, TK Elite, EY Silver,
Posts: 462
After I was matched to Elite last November and extended for one year after the first flight, I also got extended until April 2021 from November 2020 and it is definitely fine with me. Two weeks ago I received the first plastic elite card with the expire date of March 2020 
.
.
Apr 3, 2020, 1:36 am
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
To me it looks like TK just does "stuff" (e.g. extended membership years) in their Production system - without proper testing before. Otherwise it is hard to understand why so many people now have issues with their status miles.
As a result, they then need to employ a back office team (with admin rights) to fix the issues manually...
Just doesnt sound very efficient
As a result, they then need to employ a back office team (with admin rights) to fix the issues manually...
Just doesnt sound very efficient
It looks as though the system coped with a six month extension by retrospectively shifting forward the starting date of the current membership period to maintain a 24 month cycle.
Without further adjustment, the result has been that status miles collected in the first six months of the current cycle have been zeroed out.
Presumably regular miles, and their expiry dates, are not in peril. But we might expect some fun and games with the allocation, use and expiry of upgrade vouchers.
Apr 3, 2020, 7:06 am
#49
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,825
(Expiry date extended from Dec 2021 to June 2022).
Apr 3, 2020, 9:18 am
#51
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
It seems likely that the 6 month extension ha pushed the system into recognising a new membership period, June 20 to June 20: meaning that any status miles you collected between Dec19 and June 20 are likely to have disappeared.
That's the theory I've come up with, because it matches exactly, to the mile, the depleted state of my account. Could be wrong though, maybe just a me-problem, not systemic!
Of course, if you earned no status miles after Dec 19, you're fine.
Apr 3, 2020, 10:13 am
#52
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Denmark
Programs: TK Elite
Posts: 11,825
True
That is exactly the issue. The many status miles I earned in February are gone now as the counter has been reset to zero.
That is exactly the issue. The many status miles I earned in February are gone now as the counter has been reset to zero.
Apr 3, 2020, 10:41 pm
#54
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: LAX
Programs: TK M&S, LH MM, Global Entry, Hertz Gold, Sixt Platinum
Posts: 1,087
I hope TK will sort out the missing miles from the six month time frame ‘shift’ eventually, even though it doesn’t affect me.
There’s some hope for that, as there hasn’t been an official announcement for any of this yet.
Looks like my next set of E+ vouchers will now be available six months later...again, this doesn’t immediately bother me, but I’m sure it will be annoying to many.
There’s some hope for that, as there hasn’t been an official announcement for any of this yet.
Looks like my next set of E+ vouchers will now be available six months later...again, this doesn’t immediately bother me, but I’m sure it will be annoying to many.
Apr 4, 2020, 12:44 am
#55
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: London
Programs: Hilton, IHG - BA, GA, LH, QR, SV, TK
Posts: 17,008
"thought they had" because, of course, the team has never got round to recording voucher availabilty on members' statements.
So I guess it's possible voucher allocation has a separate date-marker in the system, not triggered by status anniversaries. But who knows?
Who knows, indeed: it's part of an unstable house of cards put together over the years.
Last edited by IAN-UK; Apr 4, 2020 at 6:47 am Reason: "status anniversary" clearer than "status renewal"
Apr 4, 2020, 5:49 am
#56
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 15,345
IAN - AFAIK they never fixed that issue. I have already written about the asinine conversations that I had about it/them, and the two weeks of craziness I had to go through to use them. I would bet that they have not even thought about this issue yet (as they had not before)!
Apr 4, 2020, 8:03 am
#57
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
Unfortunately the status extension seems to be no good news for me. My 1st membership year after extension was supposed to begin on Nov 1 and I already have booked trips in November and December which would be sufficient for requalification. Now as my status was extended until April 30 it seems that those status miles would be completely useless. Anybody in the same situation? I am considering to ask Turkish to keep the original membership period. Do you think they would do that?
Apr 4, 2020, 9:19 am
#58
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
Unfortunately the status extension seems to be no good news for me. My 1st membership year after extension was supposed to begin on Nov 1 and I already have booked trips in November and December which would be sufficient for requalification. Now as my status was extended until April 30 it seems that those status miles would be completely useless. Anybody in the same situation? I am considering to ask Turkish to keep the original membership period. Do you think they would do that?
Also, even though they understood what you meant, it's highly likely that you wouldn't get a positive answer from them. However, if the zero change fee policy extends, you could be asked to rebook your flights to May 2021 or a later date.
Apr 4, 2020, 9:41 am
#59
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Germany
Posts: 136
It's highly possible that TK would not understand what you are trying to tell them. After filling a feedback form, you would probably receive an answer like "We have extended all our members' expiry date 6 months" or something similar which would not be the answer to your issue.
Also, even though they understood what you meant, it's highly likely that you wouldn't get a positive answer from them. However, if the zero change fee policy extends, you could be asked to rebook your flights to May 2021 or a later date.
Also, even though they understood what you meant, it's highly likely that you wouldn't get a positive answer from them. However, if the zero change fee policy extends, you could be asked to rebook your flights to May 2021 or a later date.
The issue is that all of my milage runs are not booked with TK and involve very restrictive and cheap premium fares which I might not be able to cancel or to rebook at similar price. All the trips are within 2 months after the original start of membership period.
Apr 4, 2020, 10:55 am
#60
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 is also my fear after dealing with TK in the past. However if you are extremely persistent sometimes it is possible to achieve something.
The issue is that all of my milage runs are not booked with TK and involve very restrictive and cheap premium fares which I might not be able to cancel or to rebook at similar price. All the trips are within 2 months after the original start of membership period.
The issue is that all of my milage runs are not booked with TK and involve very restrictive and cheap premium fares which I might not be able to cancel or to rebook at similar price. All the trips are within 2 months after the original start of membership period.
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By the way, someone has asked the TK HelpDesk Twitter account about Elite Plus voucher extensions and they told that their validity is extended 6 months.
In addition, for those people who were close to a status upgrade, the status mile purchase limits have been doubled.
The tweets below are in Turkish;