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.

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.

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 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 recently 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.

How to extend your Turkish Airlines status

Once approved, 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 can 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.

With Turkish Airlines launching flights from Melbourne to Istanbul via Singapore next month, it will soon become much easier for Australians to fulfil this requirement! It is possible to buy a ticket just between Melbourne and 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 their hub in Istanbul.

Other Turkish Airlines fifth-freedom routes include Sao Paulo to Buenos Aires and various routes within Africa.

Renewing your status beyond 12 months

You can then extend your Miles&Smiles status for another year by earning at least 15,000 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.

Turkish Airlines currently has some great Business Class sale fares from eastern Europe (e.g. Sofia or Belgrade) to Melbourne.

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 25,000 status miles from Turkish Airlines, Anadolu Jet and/or Star Alliance flights in one year or 37,500 status miles from eligible flights over two years to maintain your Miles&Smiles Elite membership. For some reason, the requirements for Turkish residents are a bit higher.

The requirements for earning and maintaining status with Turkish Airlines compare favourably with other Star Alliance programs. They are 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.)

Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles did also have some great value flight redemption options. Unfortunately, the program is devaluing its award charts from 16 February 2024.

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 three months of trial Star Alliance Gold status, and you’d need to complete a minimum amount of flights on United Airlines to extend it.

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 over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. 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.