If you want to take part in the incredible promotion that gives 1 million points, there’s very bad news. You probably need to book all your flights by 4:59 PM Eastern Time (no, this isn’t a joke, unfortunately). The flights are cancellable for free for 24 hours, so there’s no risk. BUT if that’s completely impossible for you (very understandable), there’s another thing you can do to maybe give yourself a chance.
Turkish just pulled a dirty move this afternoon, it’s honestly really unworthy of the 7th best airline in the world.
Here are the details.
Overly generous promotion cut short with little notice
Turkish Airlines just realized that 1 million points is worth a lot.
The airline decided the promotion was over EXCEPT for those who had booked their Turkish Airlines flights by July 8. It’s still July 8 in Türkiye until 4:59 PM Eastern Time.
(It’s incredibly crappy, I don’t see another word!)
There’s a sentence that could suggest that having only one flight booked on July 8 makes you eligible for the promotion (unlikely to be the right interpretation). That means at the very least, if you really can’t book everything, book at least one flight (it’s cancellable).
We already told you about how useful the free 24-hour cancellation rule, which several airlines have, is. With Turkish specifically, I’ve canceled several flights since the promotion launched, and I can confirm that cancellation is done easily and efficiently online.
That’s why, if you can book everything, you should do it. It’s risk-free!
But stay tuned in the next 24 hours…
Why? We now objectively know that Turkish is acting in bad faith.
So it’s not impossible that “July 8” means all those who hadn’t booked their flights before they announced the end of the promotion. And that even if you book them all between now and the end of July 8, it won’t work…
We can’t rule anything out considering this recent development.
But, apart from making you waste a bit of time, I recommend doing like I’ll do: I’m going to book the 6 required Turkish flights. I’ll at least keep the option open for 24 hours.
And I’ll get back to you after investigating this and trying to contact them.
If you want to have at least a chance of doing the promotion, you MUST book in the next hour or so. That’s the reality we’re facing today.
The only thing that’s clear is that if you don’t book anything, it’s over. Will flights booked until midnight count? It’s not clear, but it’s clear that you can book risk-free and cancel tomorrow, and it’s clear that if you don’t book, it’s over.
I don’t have time to do anything other than tell you what I’m going to do and tell you how to do it. What’s urgent now is for you to book!
What you need to do
Here’s what you need to do:
- Log in to your Turkish account
- Create one for free if you don’t have one
- Book your flights before 4:59 PM Eastern Time
- Cancellable for free for 24 hours
- Decide if you want to do the promotion
- You have 24 hours to decide
- Stay tuned for a follow-up post
Make sure to receive our free newsletter specifically about travel rewards (it’s different from the one with our other general content, like our flight deals).
There’s no risk. You’ll be able to cancel.
Use the itinerary in the article about the promotion. It might not be optimal (clearly not, actually), but you need to book something now if you want to participate.
If you’re not comfortable booking everything, I recommend at least booking one to see, in case we can confirm that’s enough. It doesn’t seem like it. But it’s risk-free! Book a one-way Istanbul-Skopje which is $56 every day, and place it roughly in the middle of the date range you were thinking of leaving. That’s what will limit you the least if it works. You’ll have to figure out how to do the rest before and after for the remainder.
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Summary
Turkish Airlines’ promotion for 1 million points is going to be cut short in a frankly despicable manner, with very little notice. Book your flights right now (that’s what’s really urgent) and stay alert for more info before the 24-hour deadline to cancel them for free.
What would you like to know about the changes to the Turkish Airlines promotion? Tell us in the comments below.
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