Turkish Miles&Smiles: Still Worth Holding After the 2025 Devaluation

For years, Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles had a reputation as the cheat code of the points world: domestic United flights (including to Hawaii) booked through a Turkish account for as little as 7,500 miles one-way in economy — a fraction of what United itself or any other transfer partner charged for the same seat. If you’ve seen that number floating around older articles, it’s important to know it no longer exists.

What changed

Turkish devalued its Star Alliance domestic award pricing sharply in December 2025. Standard domestic U.S. awards on partner airlines rose from 7,500/10,000 miles to 15,000 miles one-way in economy and 22,500 in business. Awards to and from Hawaii were hit even harder, jumping to 25,000 miles one-way in economy (up from 10,000). The gap that made this program famous has largely closed.

What still works

• Miles&Smiles remains a broad transfer partner — Amex, Chase, Citi, and Capital One (plus Bilt) all move points in, typically 1:1, giving you flexibility that narrower programs don’t offer.
• Even at the new pricing, 15,000–22,500 miles for a domestic U.S. partner award is still competitive with — and often cheaper than — booking the same flight directly through United MileagePlus' own dynamic pricing during high-demand periods.
• Turkish’s own long-haul metal (Istanbul to the U.S., and onward Star Alliance connections into the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia) remains reasonably priced in business class relative to comparable transferable-point redemptions.

Who should still care about this program

If you’re holding Chase, Amex, Citi, or Capital One points and need a flexible Star Alliance option — particularly for booking United partner awards when United’s own dynamic pricing spikes, or for reaching international Star Alliance destinations Turkish serves directly — Miles&Smiles is still a reasonable transfer target. It’s no longer the outlier bargain it once was, but "no longer the best deal in the hobby" and "not worth using" are very different things.

The bottom line

Treat any "7,500 miles" claim about this program as outdated. At current 2026 pricing, Miles&Smiles is a solid, flexible mid-tier option — not the loophole it used to be. Confirm live pricing before transferring, since award charts on this program have proven willing to move again.