Turkish Miles&Smiles Upgrades From EcoFly Now Cost Up to 38% More

Before you upgrade a Turkish Airlines economy ticket with miles, there is now a question to answer first: which economy fare did you buy? Miles&Smiles split its single upgrade price in two, and only EcoFly, the cheapest fare family, pays more. Every other economy fare kept its old price.

The steepest jump is to the Far East, where upgrading from EcoFly went from 65,000 to 90,000 miles one way, up 38%. Everywhere else the EcoFly bump is smaller, a few thousand miles here and there, like Europe 1 going from 20,000 to 22,000 and Oceania from 100,000 to 110,000.

North America is where it gets interesting. The old price depended on timing: 65,000 miles if you upgraded 72 hours or more before departure, 90,000 inside that window. That 72 hour split is gone. EcoFly now pays 90,000 no matter when you upgrade, while any other economy fare pays a flat 65,000, even in those final three days. So for anyone who likes to decide late, a non EcoFly ticket to or from North America just got cheaper to upgrade.

If you plan to upgrade with miles, compare the cash price of EcoFly and the other economy fares before you buy: the other fare can cost more in cash, but its upgrade costs fewer miles. The usual rules still apply. Upgrades work on paid and award tickets, only on flights Turkish operates itself (codeshares are out), only on certain fare classes, and the request must be made at least 24 hours before departure. Inside 24 hours, that is a job for Turkish's separate Last Minute Upgrade.