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Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the LA Travel and Adventure Show. If you’re in the area of one of these shows, which “travel” around the country I’d say they are well worth the $15 entry fee. One of the airlines that had a presence at the show as Turkish Airlines. I had the opportunity to speak with one of the reps about their “free stopover” promotion that they’re still running. Turkish tourism has taken a hit as a result of security scares, and this new promotion hopes to drum up some activity. I visited Turkey back in 2014 and really enjoyed seeing the ancient sites of Istanbul, experiencing a Hammam, and immersing myself in the culture ( especially the food, OMG the foooooood!). Here’s a look at the current promotion whereby you can get a free night 4 star hotel on an economy ticket, and 2 free nights in a 5 star hotel with a business class ticket.
The rules
- Your stopover must be on a roundtrip ticket
- must return to the same origin country
- Stopover must be over 20 hours
- Can be on the outbound or inbound
- Must be on the list of qualified countries and routes – see below
List of countries and routes
Below you can see the entire list of countries and corresponding email address to contact Turkish for arrangements.
The Terms and Conditions:
- Note that all transport is the responsibility of the passenger
- All visa fees are the responsibility of the passenger
Additional information
You may recall that Turkish has offered similar transit hotels in the past. The terms of these promotions were often confusing and from what I understand, this promotion is much more straight forward when it comes to qualifying. The rep I spoke with said that he thought any fare bucket would qualify, but he will be in touch with me to reconfirm this information. I specifically inquired about award flights, as I know most of my readers would be using points for travel, and he didn’t think it would be a problem at all.
As far as hotel choices go: they are chosen by the rep you speak with, and if one hotel is full, they move on down the list. In terms of inquiring about the list and choosing yourself, he didn’t think it was possible, but I’d guess YMMV depending on the rep you get and how active this promotion ultimately becomes.
The new Dreamliners
I also spoke with the rep about the 40, Boeing 787-9s that Turkish has on order, the new business class, and expected delivery. He addressed and acknowledged concerns that the airline had in regards to the 2-3-2 cabin and that the airline was aware that it was a passenger complaint. While he didn’t have any specs or renderings of the new cabin, he did hint that it would be something new and fresh. He didn’t comment as to when those aircraft would be put into action.
It’s a shame that political events, terrorist threats, and concerns of tourist security have negatively impacted Turkish toursim. It’s a place I’d love to revisit, and take more time to see Ephesus, Cappadocia, and the Turkish Riviera.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
Welcome Offer
Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- $50 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 2x on all other travel
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel℠ and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver ( primary ), purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in Chase Travel℠ for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Get complimentary access to DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees and lower service fees for a minimum of one year when you activate by December 31, 2027.
- $95 Annual Fee
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® is exceptional starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash® , Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.