Turkish Airlines quietly devalued Miles&Smiles in December 2025, killing one of its best-known sweet spots. Here’s what changed and how to sell your miles.
For the complete picture — how the program earns, how to redeem, the sweet spots, and what a balance is actually worth — read the full Turkish Miles&Smiles guide.
For years, one of the best-kept secrets in the points and miles world was that Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles — a program most Americans have no other reason to think about — offered a genuinely excellent way to book domestic United flights for meaningfully fewer miles than United’s own program charged. It was the kind of sweet spot that got Turkish miles onto “how to earn this” guides across the points-and-miles world, entirely on the strength of one redemption most holders never even flew Turkish Airlines to use.
That’s the sweet spot Turkish Airlines targeted directly in its December 3, 2025 devaluation.
Without advance notice, Turkish raised pricing on direct same-country partner awards — the exact category the United sweet spot fell under — by 50%:
| Cabin | Old price | New price |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | 10,000 miles | 15,000 miles |
| Business | 15,000 miles | 22,500 miles |
| First | 20,000 miles | 30,000 miles |
Separately, US mainland-to-Hawaii awards were pulled out into their own chart entirely, priced at 25,000/40,000/50,000 miles — an increase of up to 167% versus where they sat before.
Turkish had already raised other award prices back in February 2024; this December 2025 round was a second, more targeted cut specifically at the domestic-US redemption that made the program worth paying attention to in the first place. Region-to-region international award charts — the pricing for genuinely international Turkish-operated and partner flights outside the US — weren’t touched in this update.
If your Miles&Smiles balance exists because someone recommended the United sweet spot, or because you transferred points there specifically for a domestic redemption, the math changed under you. A balance that used to book a cheap domestic flight now costs 50% more for the identical ticket — and that’s before accounting for the separate Hawaii chart if that was part of the plan.
The international redemptions Turkish is still genuinely useful for remain intact — the fixed 65,000-mile business-class fare from North America to Istanbul chief among them, which our Turkish Miles&Smiles guide covers alongside the elite tiers, the earning routes, and the three-year mile expiry. But they require actually flying internationally on Turkish’s own network or one of its Star Alliance partners on a genuinely international route — a much narrower use case than “book any domestic US flight for cheap,” which is what made the program broadly appealing in the first place.
Nobody accumulates Miles&Smiles miles by accident the way people end up with a stray airline-card balance — Turkish isn’t a US-issued credit card’s default earning currency. Most US-based holders got there deliberately: a points transfer from a flexible currency (Amex, Chase, Citi, or Capital One, several of which partner with Turkish) specifically to chase that domestic sweet spot, or points earned flying Turkish or a Star Alliance partner internationally.
If you transferred points into Turkish miles specifically for the now-devalued domestic redemption and haven’t booked yet, you’re sitting on a balance that costs 50% more to use for its original purpose than it did before December 2025 — worth comparing directly against what those same points would be worth as cash instead of committing to a redemption that’s now a materially worse deal than the one you planned for.
or message us on WhatsApp for a fast, no-obligation number.
Get your Turkish Miles&Smiles quote →
💬 Get a Quote on WhatsApp
Yes — on December 3, 2025, Turkish raised direct same-country partner award pricing by 50% and moved US mainland-Hawaii awards to a separate chart priced up to 167% higher, both changes still in effect through 2026.
Not at the old rate. The December 2025 devaluation specifically raised the cost of same-country partner awards — the category the popular Turkish-to-United domestic sweet spot fell under — by 50%.
Region-to-region international award charts weren’t changed in the December 2025 update — the increases were concentrated in same-country partner awards and the new US-Hawaii chart.
Yes — once points are transferred into Miles&Smiles, they’re a Turkish Airlines balance and quotable the same as miles earned flying. Get a quote to get started.
Cash For My Miles buys Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles miles directly from members. You’re selling your own miles — no fees taken from your payout. This article is general information, not financial or travel advice; Turkish Airlines program terms and award pricing can change at any time.
