Lower TK fare classes are now eligible for upgrades with UA miles
 

This is probably worth sharing since I know many probably many people here use the united miles as I do.
I found out that United will be adding four new upgrade-eligible fare classes for flights operated by Turkish Airlines.
This means that you can use the M, A, H, and S fares discounted coach tickets for a more affordable Turkish Airlines ticket.
So for example, if you have a round-trip ticket from New York to Istanbul, a B-class fare would run you about $2,325.
An S-class ticket on the same flights is going for $1,485 which is going to be significantly more affordable than one in B class.So in addition to the $1,485 ticket, you’ll need to shell out 25,000 United miles in each direction to upgrade to business class.
This could actually represent a good deal, depending on how much the underlying S-class coach ticket costs.

If you were to outright redeem United miles for a Turkish business class seat on this route, you’d need to shell out 154,000 miles round-trip.
By redeeming an upgrade instead, you’d be out 50,000 miles and $1,485 for the coach ticket (and you’d still be eligible to earn miles on the ticket).

This presently reflected on UA's Star Alliance Upgrade Awards
Strictly speaking, this is a TK change that is being reflected on UA's site. The operating airlines sets the upgradeable fare classes.

That is excellent news indeed :) However, let's remember that TK usually has some pretty low business fares to start with ... often through consolidators you can get $2k to Europe ... so even $1500 may not be that good of a deal when you add 50k UA miles which I would value at $750. Now, there will be cases where this is going to be useful, no question. Always good to see when new options are added :)

Well said. Also, Business Class on the TK 77Ws is awful with an archaic 2x3x2 configuration.

How do you search for S fares on the Turkish website?

Thx for the update! Where/how does one learn how many miles are required before buying a ticket?
IIRC, there is no upgrade award chart published anymore.

You can't search it online.
You could either call the hotline or you could use ITA Matrix.

What's the best way to see if there's upgrade inventory on a TK flight?

Do an advanced search on ITA Matrix.
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...02ea6d26d0.png

For upgrade inventory, you need to code F bc=j in ITA Matrix.
J fare class availability in TK is required for mileage upgrades.

F bc=s would give you the cheapest Economy fare that you are able to upgrade.

If you're travelling with someone though, and you're 6'4" like me, it's almost preferable to the 787. Still comfortable enough.

Chris

Thanks for trying, but that example does not show upgrade inventory.

Thanks. That's what I needed.

Archaic, yes. Awful, no - although obviously that's a personal preference. The seats are comfortable, a good size, and have lots of storage space. They don't have a huge amount of privacy, but compared to many J seats out there they are still a good ride IMHO.

Hi, I was able to get an S class ticket on Turkish Airways from Istanbul to NYC and confirmed on ExpertFlyer there are still 4 business class upgrades available (J) on that flight.

However, when I try to use United’s Star Alliance upgrade interface it tells me no upgrades are available. I’ve tried calling United which keeps directing me to their website and to Turkish. Turkish has confirmed the upgrade availability is there. Any idea how I can secure these seats?

Thank you

ps: when I use ITA Matrix using F bc=J it shows nothing available. I’ve never used it before so not sure I’m doing it right... ExpertFlyer and Turkish are telling me the upgrades are there...

Matrix will only show if there is inventory and a J fare, both may not be true. UG available for TK may not mean UG available to *A necessarily, that's always a problem. Same with LH, just because I/O is available it does not mean there is an upgrade available. If the website replies there are no UGs available it means it is not the lower booking class that is the problem. Not surprised I would say.