When Do Turkish Airlines Miles Expire?

Deals Points is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites. Opinions and recommendations are ours alone. Terms apply to the offers. See our Advertising Disclosure for more information.

Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles miles expire three years on December 31st from the time the miles were earned.

For example, if you earned or transferred 10,000 miles in April 2023, those miles will expire on December 31, 2026.

Turkish Airlines also has a fixed expiration policy. You can only extend your miles’ validity by paying a fee.

Let’s discuss these policies in detail below.

Turkish Airline miles can only be extended by paying a fee.
Turkish Airline miles can only be extended by paying a fee (Photo by: dole777).

How to Keep Turkish Airline Miles from Expiring

Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles have a fixed expiration policy. The only way to extend the validity of your miles is to pay an expensive $10 fee per 1,000 miles.

Singapore Krisflyer is another program that also has a fixed expiration policy.

How to Restore Expired Turkish Airline Miles

Turkish Airlines might have a stringent expiration policy, but it makes up for it by letting members reinstate their miles.

You can restore your expired miles using our app or website for a fee of $10 per 1,000 miles, and they will be valid for a period of 3 years.

Comparison of Mileage Expiration Policies

Below are the mileage expiration policies of the major airline points programs to see how Turkish Airlines compares to the competition.

Airline Expiration
AEROMEXICO LOGO AeroMexico 24 months after inactivity
Air Canada Air Canada (Aeroplan) 18 months after inactivity
Air France Air France (Flying Blue) 24 months after inactivity
Alaska Airlines Alaska Airlines 24 months after inactivity
American Airlines American Airlines 18 months after inactivity
ANA ANA 36 months
Asiana Airlines Asiana Airlines 10 years
British Airways British Airways 36 months after inactivity
Delta Air Lines Delta Air Lines Never
Emirates logo Emirates 3 years
Etihad Etihad 24 months from inactivity
EVA Air EVA Air 36 months
Iberia logo Iberia 36 months after inactivity
Korean Air Korean Air 10 years
Lufthansa Lufthansa 36 months
Qantas Logo Qantas 18 months after inactivity
Qatar Airways logo Qatar Airways 36 months after inactivity
Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines 36 months
Turkish Airlines logo Turkish Airlines 3 years
United Airlines logo United Airlines Never
Virgin Atlantic logo Virgin Atlantic Never

Bottomline

Turkish Airlines’ fixed expiration policy is a major drawback for frequent flyers. It’s one of the few programs that have this kind of policy, along with Singapore Krisflyer.

If you want to extend the validity of your miles, you need to pay a fee of $10 per 1,000 miles. You can also reinstate expired miles for the same rate.

However, a three-year expiration period is enough time to accumulate miles to redeem an award flight, so there’s no excuse for letting them go to waste.

The key to maximizing the value of your Turkish Airlines miles is to plan ahead, stay aware of the expiration policy, and use them wisely.

Top offers from our partners
60,000 Points
Terms Apply
75,000 Bonus Miles
Terms Apply
100,000 Bonus Points
Terms Apply
100,000 Points
Terms Apply