Turkish Airlines, like many airlines, is trying to get business to pick up again and they need cash for that to happen. To help that long, they are running a short sale with a 40% discount on economy and business class tickets. This could be great – but make sure you read this post to get a picture at what could happen if things go wrong (I will say that it appears I am very close to getting a refund – finally!). In short, this is a great deal as long as you are good with having Turkish Airlines credit if your flight is canceled.
Turkish Airlines Sale of 40% Off in Business and Economy
Link: Turkish Airlines 40% Off Sale
Here are the main details about this Turkish Airlines sale:
- Book between January 13 – 15, 2021
- Travel between April 1 – December 31, 2021
- Valid on one-way or roundtrip tickets
- Good for Economy or Business Class
- Valid on all Turkish Airline flights except domestic flights and those to/from mainland China
- The 40% discount is off the base fare. This means you will still be paying the full taxes and fees on the ticket
- This sale works through Turkish Airlines directly or through any authorized sales outlets (but I would suggest you book right through Turkish in case there is a problem)
- In case of reissue, zero change fee rights apply.
To see all the details and terms (including a particular note about legal action being taken if a party is found to “have contravened any rules”), see this page.
I have checked many of the routes that I am familiar with Turkish Airlines pricing for and found this to be quite a good sale. The discounts are real and the prices are good. Just keep in mind that Turkish Airlines has been selling tickets for a while now on routes that they end up either having to cancel or limit schedules on. So, be flexible in your booking in case this is such a case.
Good Idea to Buy or No?
I actually love flying Turkish Airlines (I have flown them to/from every US gateway city and flown with them in business and economy over 50 times) but have had a real problem with the way they have handled the refund process for flights they had to cancel last year. I would not have had such a problem if they had actually offered alternatives that were genuinely better and did not involve extra work to get value from (things like offering a voucher with an extra 15% in value but you had to go to a Turkish Airlines sales office to book the ticket).
Hopefully, they have learned their lesson and will operate in good faith should such problems arise this year. I do know that their Flexible Travel option is a great deal for anyone that can be flexible. Under it, the customer is free to make changes to dates or destination with no change fee and only a fare difference. This can be done as many times as you want until December 31, 2021. Find out more about it here.
Bottom Line
This Turkish Airlines 40% off sale is a great deal if you want to get back to traveling internationally this year. There are some great prices available and Turkish will let you make changes for free (as long as you pay the fare difference).
Last year, Turkish Airlines made it very difficult to get refunds on flights they canceled and many passengers are still waiting for those refunds. So, if you do not want a voucher if the flight gets canceled and you need the money back, consider the fact that it may be a while before that happens. My guess would be that any flights booked from June on should be fine, especially on more established routes (like JFK, IAD, and ORD).
This sounded like a good deal and a way to use my voucher. But for example one way Vienna to Istanbul on September 21 is $101.25USD but only $1.21 of that is base fare, the rest being taxes and fees and a fuel surcharge. So I expect the price will be very similar after the promotion. I might book it anyway.
Yeah, some European fares can be mostly the taxes and fees (one of the reasons that Ryanair/Easyjet use non-central/smaller airports). But, if you are going to make that trip anyway, you could always switch dates anytime later (for a fare difference)!
I had a problem with Aegean refund but got it via my credit card “dispute” took about 2-3 months – I assume can Handel same way with Turkish?
-I am more worried about the relationship with Turkey-Greece “political”
They just may stop flying to and from Athens If things get worse and being married to a Greek passport holder ………….
Yeah, Aegean has been really bad. I do not know anyone they have refunded yet (despite having 1/2 billion euro cushion in early summer and getting government money).
Talks are supposed to start again soon. Even though the Turkish government owns a huge stake of TK, I think they know it is in their best business interest to have flights resume again before the major tourist season.
I will be flying Turkish from Greece to the US sometime this year so will definitely update based on any issues. The good thing about transiting with them is that only airline employees are examining the passports since you don’t need to enter Turkey.
I had very good experience with Turkish, They cancelled my return flight from Bali to Milan in March for 2 in C, I got the money back (4K US$) within a few days.
That’s awesome! I hope the same for all the passengers still waiting as well. 🙂
If you had to change the booking later, wouldn’t the fare difference be significant given that the 40% discount would no longer apply?
It would but you also have the option to change destinations for free (just fare increase, if any). There are some places where it could actually drop in price so this is a nice option to have if the place you book for is not yet opened when it is time to travel there.
Thanks Charlie. Thought of buying 2 RT business class tickets which is $5k+ in cash even after the discount, so if we had to change it later it would likely be difficult to make use of that credit (normal biz class fare would be high, and economy probably wouldn’t use up all the credit). I also assume they won’t refund the difference if your new booking is cheaper. Seems like this is only worth booking if you are certain you’ll travel on the original itinerary?
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