With many airlines playing hard-to-get with cash refunds on canceled flights, some airlines have created some intriguing options to keep people from asking for refunds. Turkish Airlines has definitely been one of the best at this with various options and now is a really great option – available once again.
Turkish Airlines Ticket Into Airline Voucher Plus 15%
This was actually an option by phone back in March (which seems really long ago now!) but they had taken it away for a while. So, the options available to those who had canceled tickets were:
- Convert ticket into miles at a rate of 1,000 miles per €10 value of ticket
- Change the ticket for no fee or fare increase
- Convert to an Open Ticket that allows flight to any city in the region with no fare increase or change fee
- Cash refund up to 60 days after flight operations begin again
While the cash option is preferable for many, having an Open Ticket option was great if you were flying someplace that had originally been cheap. With this, you can fly to any other city in the region without any increase at all. Even more intriguing was the mile conversion. If that works for you, a €450 economy ticket would convert to 45,000 miles – or enough miles for a one way business class ticket between the US and Europe.
Our family had a big trip between the US and Europe and back earlier this month – obviously, we did not take that trip! So, we had been considering our options. Today, I was checking again and noticed they put the voucher option up. I quickly took advantage of this one! Getting an extra 15% value is going to be huge and give us almost enough credit for another family trip to Europe!
What You Need to do for a Turkish Airlines Voucher
Here is what you need to know:
- Go to this link to get started
- Enter your confirmation number/ticket number and other information
- Receive an e-mail and text message with your reference number
- Wait 7 days (if you did this for yourself) and if the flights are wholly on Turkish
- Longer waits if you are requesting for someone else or flying other airlines in conjunction with Turkish
That’s it! If you think you may fly with Turkish Airlines in the future and if you did not get a killer deal on your current ticket, this option could be very helpful. But, if you have a very cheap ticket right now, you may be better off going with the Open Ticket option.
One thing I do not know yet is how long the voucher is good for. When I hear from them, I will update this. For us, it doesn’t really matter as the voucher would be good for at least one year and we ill be using it later this year.
Hi were you able to find out if there is a time restriction to use voucher??
I haven’t heard back yet – I should by the middle of next week I believe and will update the post then!
hallo! I copy-paste mesage that I received from Turkish airlines and it refers to validity of voucher as refound option
Hello, you can use the traveler’s check (voucher);
For ticket purchases, changes, extra baggage, exit seat and extra legroom seat purchases with Turkish Airlines,
Upgrades on Turkish Airlines flights,
Flights with other Star Alliance members,
Your check is valid up to 1 year after the date it was issued. The amount can be used to cover the entire ticket one time. If the ticket amount is less than the voucher, it can be used in pieces.
That is not very satisfactory if you purchased your ticket in January 2020 for a trip in September 2020. It means you must travel by January 2021. With Corona virus ongoing the travel window would be very short. Do you think there is a way to get the voucher use period extended?
As per comment above, it’s valid 1 year after voucher is issued, not the ticket bought.
Correct.
Sorry meant to say ticket was “ issued” in January 2020 for a trip in September 2020. That means the voucher is good until January 2021. The travel is to Turkey and Central Asia. That gives us 8 1/2 months from today. Part of that will be in winter weather (Nov.-Jan.) when travel to Turkey is not viable. So now we’re down to 6 months and with Covid it is unlikely that travel
to that area will be allowed during this window. I think the voucher use, under the current travel restrictions, should be extended.
it is 1 year after voucher issuance! NOT TICKET ISSUANCE!
Yes, that is correct.
Hi, Can i ask on how to redeem this voucher and buy the ticket? I’ve been given the confirmation of the amount for the ticket compensations via email but it is rather confusing. There’s no guideline to how I am going to use it in the future. Also, i phoned up the call centre and the lady told me that it needs to be done via phone or email. Let me know your rebooking experience.
Hello – For the miles refund option – can the miles be credited on your existing account with a star alliance partner or do you need a Turkish airline miles account ? Thanks!
They need to go to your Turkish Airlines mileage account. If you do not have one, you will create one and they will put them there.
Do I have to use the voucher for my self ? Can I use for another family member ?
I am still waiting on that. I believe it can be used for everyone but won’t know until I get mine.
Can you please post email address of Turkish airlines, from whitch you got reply.
It was a no-reply e-mail. To follow up, you need to file another feedback form on previous feedback.
But where did you initialy asked the question?
I was waiting for the reply to my request to issue the voucher. Then I replied through their feedback form.
I receive social security And I haven’t got mind yet do I need to do anything special because they been as though we already have bank accounts that it will go right in to the bank because I have a bank account with Social security
You should not have to do a thing. As long as you are not claimed as a dependent by anyone, you should get the payment and it should go to your bank account.
Hi Charlie,
Which is better, to elect to receive my refund in Miles & Smiles , or to elect the voucher plus 15%?
I would say it depends on the amount and if you think you will use them sometime this year. TK does pass on fuel surcharges so you will need to pay those but this can be a great way to turn an economy ticket into a business class one while spending a little bit extra for the taxes and then more for fuel surcharges (depending on who you end up flying with).
I wrestled with it until they offered the voucher again. For us, it was best since the miles would have been put into each person’s own account in my family and that would have meant we would have gotten less value out of them since it was essentially enough for one way in business and one way in economy in each account. With the voucher, we can do the same thing and not have to worry about award availability.
Hi Charlie,
Actually, the Miles& Smiles option sounds too good to be true. I had purchased a round trip Business Class ticket for $3,750. Turkish is offering us 347,100 miles in lieu of a cash refund. If I can “buy with miles” a round-trip Business Class ticket from the USA to Europe for 90,000 miles, that’s more than 3 round trip tickets. Is this possible or am I doing the math incorrectly?
Thanks for this posting. It is just what I’m looking for.
We have flights booked one-way coach (2 pax) from Hanoi to Cancun via IST for the 28th of May. I seriously doubt that they will be flying this route if and when they start flying on the 28th but I booked it because it avoids stops in Canada or the U.S. Just has a “tech stop” (fuel) in Mexico City. It does have a 15 hour layover in Istanbul but we can hotel it air side there. All in all not a bad way to get home but I wouldn’t call it a “super deal” @ US $1683. That’s over $2400 Canadian dollars. Ouch.
If this flight is not operating on the ticketed date, how long do you think it will take Turkish Airlines to inform us? Our Vietnam visa will expire on the 30th and we also will have to book a local flight to reach Hanoi to catch this flight.
In your opinion, would we be better off just to cancel this itinerary and receive a voucher for later use when we know the flight is operating? Thanks
HI,
I filled that form, Create refund vith a voucher 9 days ago in my behalf. I got automated message saying:
Dear Customer,
We have recorded your feedback under the reference number TK-362*** If it is 48 hours or less to your flight, we suggest you to call our call center number 444 0 849.
Our target is to complete our investigations and evaluations related to your feedback and reply to you within
7 days if you have applied on your own behalf for your travel with Turkish Airlines,
14 days if you have provided the feedback on behalf of another passenger you are authorized to represent, due to the transaction processes,
14 days if you have provided the feedback for your travel with the airline company with which we have an agreement, due to the investigation processes.
We would like to remind you that you can receive information anytime by using your reference number on our website, call center, and social media accounts in this process.
Turkish Airlines, Inc.
Customer Contact Center
Note: This is an automatic message. Please do not reply.
I haven’t heard from them, although they are saying they will get in touch in 7 days. It is really frustrating because I wasn’t able to contact any of their bussinises in my country. Did any of you had this proceadure, how long did you waited? The ticket was 1080euros and I wonder will i be able to get any refund. After this I’ll never fly with them again. If any of you have some contact like email that they actualy reply to, please post it in reply.
I had filled out the form with more questions (because I wanted to know more for the blog before accepting the vouchers). It took almost two weeks and I just now got a reply to that. So, it could definitely take longer than it was supposed to – hopefully you will get something next week!
Dear N……
First of all, we are sorry for the inconveniences caused by the Coronavirus.
In line with your feedback, we would like to inform you that we cannot meet your voucher refund request.
However, we are applying Zero Change Fee and Change to Open Ticket policies for domestic and international flights, so that you can plan your travel with more flexibility, comfort and peace of mind.
Please note that these adhibitions are provided only for once and you need to cancel your flights (leaving the ticket open) until your scheduled flight time. In this context, the entire trip must be completed by February 28th 2021, and if you make your trip after February 28th 2021, your existing fare conditions will apply. Also, we would like to emphasize that you cannot enjoy these rights if you go no-show.
For the necessary transactions, you can contact our call centers, sales offices or the travel agency from which you purchased your ticket. You can learn detailed information on:
https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-int/zero-change-fee/index.html
Sincerely yours,
Gizem S.
Customer Representative
TURKISH AIRLINES INC.
Customer Contact Center
“You may contact with us regarding our response via clicking here and creating a new feedback. If you reply this e-mail, your response will not be received.”
They refused my voucher request :O
And I cant fly before july next year. What am I supoose to do now? I am so angry
Did you cancel your flight before applying for the voucher?
I have had exactly the same response, a total refusal to issue the advertised vouche; I haven’t cancelled my flight.
They have given me the same options as you, stating that although my flight times have changed, they are still flying that day. This is all despite UK Government issuing strict travel advice and Turkey have mandatory 14 day quarantine, and mine is a three day layover in Istanbul, before onward travel. It’s a journey that is impossible to complete, so one might have thought a bit for flexibility from Turkish Airlines.
Thanks for this very helpful trail. I was told yesterday by the Call Centre that my flight was cancelled. Today when I called to ask questions about the voucher system they told me it was not cancelled. He also said that if I get a voucher the flights had to be completed within a 12 month period. Since I would be putting my trip back one year, if I have a voucher that expires say end May 2021, I cannot use it for my flights Jun-Sept 2021. Is this correct do you know? He sounded pretty confused to me!
Hi, Rod – That is true, you have 12 months from when the voucher is issued. If you opt for the other options of the Open Ticket, you can use that until December 2021! Plus, there will be no increase in fare or change fees and you can pick an origination city within the same country and a destination city within the same region – not limited to the original itinerary!
Many thanks Charlie – open ticket it is then! Cheers and keep up the good work
Dec 2021 is only valid if you purchased (!) ticket at March 21 – June 20, 2020. Now who would purchase a ticket in Apr-June 20? Right, no one.
So the open ticket is only up to Dec 2020.
Nope, when you go to the change page, it says the open ticket can be used until December, 2021
Charlie, check the details page: https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-us/announcements/coronavirus-outbreak/flexible-change/, it clearly specifies dates. Anyway, I’ve requested open ticket exchange for tickets purchased in Jan 2020, let’s see what they’ll reply.
Hey, Robert, check out this page – https://www.turkishairlines.com/en-us/zero-change-fee/
It says purchase dates before March 20 with an original flight date taking place before December 31, 2020 can be changed to Open Ticket as long as the new flight is completed by December 31, 2021.
Good luck!
Yes, I see this page contradicts to info in the page I provided, so one of them contains a false statement. I remember when I checked that a month ago, end date was till Dec 2020 for old tickets and Dec 2021 for newer tickets (my ticket was purchased in Jan 2020 and fall into an old category).
I think some are just not caught up yet. I remember they had moved it from December 2020 until February 2021 and then the next date was December 2021. When you go to the page to make the change, it will reflect December 2021.
When you say Open ticket does that mean if i set my ticket to Open ticket will that mean i don’t have to pick flight date right now when i aply for open ticket. I could make reservation any time up to 31. December 2021?
That is correct! And it could be any destination in the same region that the original ticket was for.
How long does it take to process the voucher? I requested mine a week ago and still haven’t seen anything..
I am seeing the wait around two weeks now.
Hi,I contacted Turkish Airlines on 28th April and requested a full refund as of to date no refund, do you know how long is the refund procedure, the flight was for the 11th May.
I have my flight on June 31, the reservation was made through Vayama. I’ve sent multiple requests to TA to switch to “Open Ticket” and they always respond I need to contact Vayama. Vayama tells some bullshit about “last flight date is Jan 2020” and then stopped to respond.
So I called TA and got an “Open Ticket” switch. But I can’t set a new date without an angency, I need to call 3-5 days before a flight. What are the chances there will be open seats 3-4 days before a flight?
I wonder if I can trade my TK vouchers for a cash refund? Even though TK is flying internationally now, I still can’t get from Vietnam,back home to Mexico and that flight seems like a long way down on the list of re-instated itineraries.
Hi after cancelation i have received this from Turkish Air:
Your cancelation/refund has been carried out for everyone on your reservation.
To make changes to the travel insurance you purchased along with your ticket please contact the service provider.
You can still have a refund request processed if the credit card used to make payment has been canceled or has expired. If you are no longer with the bank which issued the card, obtain an official letter from the bank explaining this, and present the letter at one of our sales offices. If you are still with the bank which issued the card but you are now using a different card, your refund can be made to this card. For more information please contact our call center or one of our sales offices.
This e-mail may contain private or confidential information. The information contained in this e- mail must not be given, communicated or distributed to anyone other than its intended recipients.
If you believe you have received this e-mail in error, please inform the sender and delete it and its attachments.
Hi so my refund will go to my bank account the one i have used originally to purchase the flight tickets or i will receive a voucher and how
hi. i cancelled my flight and availed of the voucher via the cancel flight option in the mange your booking portion of the website. a refund value was emailed together with the voucher reference number. but no actual file attachment containing the voucher was sent. will they send it after 1-2 weeks? i didnt go through the feedback section though.
“Vouchers can be used in Turkish Airlines Sales Offices only.”
Try calling your local sales office today, go ahead just try. After trying 10 different European sales lines, I tried the Turkish one, where I was told that I can only use it in my LOCAL Sales Office.
I went in person to the Prague office – it is closed, which explains the dead phone numbers. The girl at reception (non-Turkish Airlines employee – it’s a building housing multiple businesses) told me she had heard it MIGHT be the end of next month before they re-open.
The vouchers are unusable right now – a total scam.
I have $2600 cdn worth of TK vouchers and they are useless to us. Purchased another $3600 worth of tickets for different flights to get home to Mexico. I suppose we’ll use the vouchers at some point after TK opens their offices. I contacted them and told them I was pretty unhappy with the way run their voucher program but they get to keep our money so they’re happy. Even facing terribly hard times, these airlines treat their customers badly.
Dear Charlie,
Did you receive any voucher in any form after all?
I mean after email with a refund value and the voucher reference number.
Thanks in advance,
Serhiy
Hi, Serhiy! I actually held off since we are now thinking we will do our trip next year and the prices for the same route are even higher than when we bought them. So, we may go for the open ticket instead. Also, I have been hearing that you can only use them in person at a Turkish Airlines office? That would be a bad move, if true.
Yes and those offices are not open. I finally spent another $3600 cdn to get us home to Mexico and here we are, with two e-mails stating we have vouchers, their values and reference numbers. I’ll let it ride for awhile because I’m tired of the nonsense and don’t have the energy.
Dear Charlie,
As no representative of TA picks my call nowadays, I believe that here I can get some good suggestions.
I bought a ticket (economy) worth $674 for date 24th July, one and half months ago, from Lahore (Pakistan) to Omaha (US). But now I don’t hope that TA will operate on 24th July looking at their current situation. Therefore I plan to apply for refund and buy another ticket from either Qatar airways or Emirates. But TA doesn’t offer money refund, instead I am forced to opt other options like voucher, miles, open ticket, etc. Can you suggest me what to do with options and best one for me? BTW I am a new Ph.D admit (F1 visa holder) traveling for the first time to US.
Let me first say, welcome, in advance, to the US! I hope you have a fantastic time!
Next, if they do NOT operate the flight, you are entitled to receiving your money back. But, it would take a couple of months for it to come back (many airlines are citing similar timeframes).
If they do not cancel the flight, your only options are the voucher, miles, open ticket. Personally, I think the most flexible would be the open ticket since it appears that you would have to go to a TA office to use the voucher and I still have not been able to get an answer in regards to whether it would be good for one than one use or if it needs to be used all at once.
With the open ticket, it would not matter the cost of the new ticket – you are covered with your original one. Hope that helps!
Hi i just wanted to ask if how long im going to wait for my refund its almost 2months but still no one is updating via mail or call. i called and sent a mail but still they keep on saying that refund was not avail.to reissued they sent a 15% voucher that i can used to fly for the following 2 years im just wondering if ever i will take that 15% voucher do i can use that from any month of this year?
Was your original flight canceled? If yes, you would have been entitled to a refund but they were not going to process those until 60 days after they resumed their flights – so sometime in late August.
With the voucher, you can use it on any Turkish Airlines flight at any time. But, I believe it is only for you and I THINK it can only be used on one flight. If the new flight you are looking for is less than voucher, either buy business class on one leg of the trip or a higher fare class ( you would receive more miles). Another option would be to book a multi-leg trip that would allow you to travel to more places for the price of the voucher (including the 15%). Hope that helps!
So if ever im going to take this opportunity like for example this coming september 2020 then it can be ? and im here in United Arab Emirates and i want to go back in philippines by september then im going to trade my refund ticket from your airlines by month of september then it would be okey?
It appears to me that all “corona-related requests” we read about on Turkish Airlines website is there just for blearing customer’s eyes. Ultimately, they keep our money spent on tickets earlier and force customers to pay again for new tickets. Is there anyone out there who has actually benefited from Turkish Airlines voucher or Zero Change Fee option, and has actually been issued/used a new ticket?
Since the beginning of this month, after EU reopened borders for flights from outside the union, I have been trying to get my old unused ticket , which I bought on March 05, exchanged for a new one under the Zero Change Fee for a flight in the beginning of August. Yet I haven’t received anything, not even a straightforward confirmation that they confirm the change! All I got is been pushed back and forth between Turkish Airlines call center, their customer care (through feedbacks) and the travel agency, they just keep kicking the ball to each other fields without issuing my new ticket. Turkish Air says it should be done by the agency and they have all the tools to do it, while the agency says that the final confirmation must be done by Turkish Airlines – go figure… The terms of Zero Change Fee are clearly announced on both TK and my travel agency websites; however, nobody really bothers to apply them!
This is all happening despite I contacted Turkish Arlines call center in the end of March, just a couple of days after all trans-Atlantic flights were cancelled and planes grounded, and I was told at that time that my ticket qualifies for a free change and I “simply” need to call them back when I decide the dates for the new trip. Based on my experience so far, I totally agree with Robert, sm1234 and Pete above here – smells like sham!
BTW, Charlie, I would love to post more details on my experience with the Zero Change Fee policy, however it appears your thread regarding this topic is closed for comments…
https://runningwithmiles.boardingarea.com/turkish-airlines-change-policy-coronavirus/#comment-533098
Take care all
So if ever im going to take this opportunity like for example this coming september 2020 then it can be ? and im here in United Arab Emirates and i want to go back in philippines by september then im going to trade my refund ticket from your airlines by month of september then it would be okey?
Hi, thanks for your blog, very useful. Question – for zero change fee, what does “same region” mean? I have a flight booked from Vienna to Istanbul so would I be able to travel from anywhere in Europe? Also have one from Istanbul, one night in Beirut, then on to Yerevan so what regions would they be in?
Yes, it is based on their regions which typically include continents/sub-continents. For Yerevan, it would likely include the European region. The same would likely be true for your Vienna to Istanbul, but having the Turkish hub change from destination to transit point may make it different? On this, I could call with a hypothetical (or real one, if you have it) change and ask them about it. Call the Turkish-based number – I got through this past weekend in 5 minutes of waiting.