Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Status Match

Did you know that Turkish Airlines offers a shortcut to Star Alliance Gold status?

If you already hold status with another airline, you could get four months of Star Alliance Gold status for free thanks to the Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles status match! You also have the opportunity to extend the validity of your Star Alliance status to a year by taking just one Turkish Airlines international flight.

Who is eligible for the Turkish Airlines status match?

Turkish Airlines offers a match to Miles&Smiles Elite status, which is equivalent to Star Alliance Gold status. This is available if you already hold an eligible status tier with any of the following alliances or airlines:

• Oneworld Emerald (e.g. Qantas Platinum, American Airlines Platinum Pro or British Airways Gold)
• SkyTeam Elite Plus (e.g. Flying Blue Gold or Delta Gold Medallion)
• Emirates Skywards Gold or Platinum
• Etihad Guest Gold or Platinum
• El Al Platinum or Top Platinum

Unfortunately, Turkish Airlines does not generally match Virgin Australia Velocity status. It also does not match Qantas Gold or Silver status – only from Platinum or Platinum One.

How to get a Turkish Airlines status match

If you qualify for a status match, you can apply using the contact form on the Turkish Airlines website. We suggest logging into your Miles&Smiles account (create one for free if you haven’t already), then selecting “Miles&Smiles program” as the feedback category and “Membership processes” as the subject.

Include a brief message about why you’re requesting a status match. You’ll also need to upload supporting documentation to accompany your request, including:

• A copy of your frequent flyer card with the competing airline, with your status level and the card’s expiry date clearly visible (a digital card may be accepted, as long as it has all the required information)
• A copy of your latest frequent flyer account activity statement with the competing airline (to prove that you earned your existing status by flying)
• A copy of your passport/ID

You’ll usually receive a reply within around a week, although we’ve seen turnaround times of as little as 1-2 business days. The airline may ask you for additional information or supporting documentation – so allow some time for the status match to be processed before you plan to travel.

Turkish Airlines may reject your status match request if your existing airline status is due to expire soon, or for any other reason at the airline’s discretion. After all, this status match is not officially advertised, and the airline is under no obligation to provide this.

What you get during the four months after the initial status match

Once matched, you’ll immediately receive all the benefits of Star Alliance Gold status for four months! This includes lounge access, additional baggage allowance, priority at the airport and other benefits when flying on any of the Star Alliance member airlines.

Star Alliance carriers include Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Air India, United and Air Canada.

How to extend your Turkish Airlines status

You can extend your status for a further eight months (bringing the total duration to one year) by taking at least one paid Turkish Airlines international flight within the initial four-month period.

This flight could be in Economy or Business Class. It just needs to be a paid flight for which you earn Miles&Smiles miles. Award flights do not count towards this.

The easiest way to fulfil this requirement, if you live in Australia, would be to fly with Turkish Airlines on its fifth-freedom route from Melbourne to Singapore.

And if you want to travel further afield than Singapore, you’re in luck! Turkish Airlines flies to more countries than any other airline in the world through its hub at Istanbul Airport.

Other Turkish Airlines fifth-freedom routes include:

• Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires
• Santiago-São Paulo
• Various routes within Africa

Renewing your status for a second year

You can then extend your Miles&Smiles status for another year by earning at least 15,000 status miles from Turkish Airlines flights within that first 12 months.

As an example, one return trip from Melbourne to Istanbul in Business Class would be enough to meet this requirement. A return Business Class trip from Asia to Europe, which is often priced very reasonably when on sale, could also be sufficient.

Renewing your status beyond the second year

After this, you would need to satisfy the usual requirements to renew your Miles&Smiles status. Luckily, Turkish Airlines makes this fairly easy!

If you’re a non-Turkish resident, you’d need to earn just 37,500 status miles from eligible Turkish Airlines, AJet and/or Star Alliance flights over two years to renew your Miles&Smiles Elite membership. If you do this, Turkish Airlines will give you status for another two years.

For some reason, the requirements for Turkish residents are a bit higher.

The status miles that you earn during the initial 12 months after your status match do count towards renewing your status beyond the second year. So, if you earned 15,000 status miles in the first year, then 22,500 in the second year, you’d get to keep your status for another two years.

If you’re a bit short, Turkish Airlines does also let you buy a small amount of status miles. And keep an eye out for double status mile promotions.

The requirements for earning and maintaining status with Turkish Airlines compare favourably with other Star Alliance programs. They’re about on par with the excellent Asiana Club and Aegean Miles&Bonus frequent flyer programs. (Asiana will soon leave Star Alliance when it merges with Korean Air.)

Real-world experiences with the Turkish Airlines status match

Numerous AFF members have successfully applied for a status match with Turkish Airlines. Here’s what a few of them wrote on our forum:

Mine was matched in only a few hours, so they’re pretty quick. Have more than 15k miles worth of travel booked with TK in the next few weeks and then a J return LHR-TBS so should be good for extending to 2 years.

Flashback on the AFF forum

I recently got one from Emerald QF to Gold on Turkish. Only took 1 economy flight with them to get the year. I am also 25% there for the added 2nd year of Gold having taken an Air India flight only in economy also. I had trouble finding out if enrolled subject to required flight but did it anyway and then got the 4months extended to a year – after initial flight they become helpful and easy to contact! I think 2 business long hauls on any star airline will get me the 2nd Gold year ( very achievable).

sapphireb on the AFF forum

My status match has already been approved – less than 24 hours. 

justinbrett on the AFF forum

Other shortcuts to Star Alliance Gold status

United Airlines also offers a status match challenge for frequent flyers of other airlines, including Qantas Gold members. That status match gives you four months of trial Star Alliance Gold status, and you’d need to complete a minimum amount of flights on United Airlines to extend it. However, before you can start a United challenge, you now need to take an “Activating Flight” on United Airlines.

Australian residents can also get a year’s worth of Star Alliance Gold status by applying for a HSBC Star Alliance credit card and spending at least $4,000 within the first 3 months.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to more than 100 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.