eyes_turned_skyward

It was a huge disappointment to notice this today. Just 3-4 weeks ago when I was making pre-plans for my trip, it was still possible to get TK miles through hotel bookings on Rocketmiles.
Anyone to shed some light on why they've dissolved their partnership? Going from miles earned on Rocketmiles to miles earned on Booking is like going from the prince to the pauper.

sydunipete

Oh no! Rocketmiles was a lucrative way to make TK points. Yesterday I was browsing and noticed it wasn't possible to select TK as a partner within the Rocketmiles site. I have two hotel stays marked as eligible so I hope they process and I have over 90,000 miles worth of bookings not yet stayed!

SK AAR

Lucrative but expensive way to earn miles. I don�t like the rates offered by RM. Can almost always be found better elsewhere.

I noticed the same a few days ago when considering booking a hotel w/ RM to get a few TK miles

sydunipete

It depends. I run a spreadsheet comparing:

• Rocketmiles less value of TK miles awarded.
• Hotels.com less 9% (that's the value of the 10th night free)
• Booking.com less value of TK miles awarded.
• Direct less value of any hotel points awarded (Accor, Hilton, Radisson etc)

Then make a decision based upon those calculations and other factors such as cancellation, prepayment required etc etc. (I know - I have too much time on my hands.)

Rocketmiles often comes back with some amazing deals - particularly in Asia (they often seem to consolidate from Agoda).

I've sent a message to the Rocketmiles concierge asking about my completed (but not yet awarded bookings) and my not yet completed bookings (I have some where I elected to pay for the extra miles). I can still select TK if I make a new booking and the points calculations look about correct. Their phone agent was hopeless. I'll update this forum when / if I get a response (or if my eligible miles land in my TK account).

sydunipete

I just received this response from the RM concierge.

"We sincerely regret to inform you that the partnership with Turkish Airlines and Smiles is temporarily suspended and we cannot provide a specific turnaround time as to when it will be active. Nonetheless, the miles of the reservation you booked with Rocketmiles before the program has been suspended will still be credited to your account."

craigthemif

I am not sure whether I would believe them.

Whether it's an IT problem or a commercial dispute about the price RM pays for TK miles, I struggle to imagine your TK miles posting smoothly.

Master_Dn

Any alternatives to get TK miles from hotel bookings? Kaligo doesn't really have any good deals and their millage credit is quite low compared to Rocketmiles.

sydunipete

hotels.turkishairlines.com

This is really booking.com but once again the miles are nothing compared with Rocketmiles. Also when looking at a property on booking.com and hotels.turkishairlines.com I often notice the booking.com rates are lower - I presume to allow for pricing in the miles.

Sigh.

I've tried RM with another frequent flyer program I belong to (Virgin Australia) and they are nowhere near as generous. So I suspect this is a case of - it it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

flyerby

booking.com has better pricing if you are logged in or making a reservation via a mobile device. Nevertheless, sometimes you are right and their price without earning is better.

The usual earning is 2 miles for every Euro spent but sometimes they have a promotion of 5 miles per Euro.

starflyergold

Yes. Rocketmiles send out an email to their customers celebrating Pride month (which included the Miles@Smiles logo as they were a PR partner). TK went nuts; Rocketmiles showed no backbone and retracted the initial email. TK left in a huff and terminated the partnership.

sydunipete

Meanwhile my eligible miles are sitting in RM unable to be transferred to TK. (and I've got many more in future stays that can't be cancelled.)

What are the chances of TK changing their mind after a while?

starflyergold

I would think they are marginal. But who knows...

ovacikar

OMAAT reports https://onemileatatime.com/news/rock...e-month-email/

eyes_turned_skyward

Omg, of all the things I imagined happening, this was definitely not of them. While I can understand the disagreement in corporate philosophy and corporate PR, it's such a loss to us customers.
Thanks for the info. I can only hope they patch things up soon.

sydunipete

When I ran a company we always sought our customer's permission before using their logo or name in anything. Rocketmiles should have done the same. However I hope that TK is big enough to put it behind them for the benefit of their clients - because right now it's only their frequent flyer clients that are suffering.