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Turkish Airlines has launched a new route between Istanbul and Phuket, Thailand. To celebrate, Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles is offering a very interesting discount: 45,000 miles for a return reward in Business Class! You must book before 10 August, 2017.

Alas, this promotion is not quite as amazing as it might appear:

• • You must fly between now and 31 October, 2017 – this is rainy season in Phuket, so you won’t really get much help with your suntan
  • You can only fly on a return basis
  • Turkish Airlines Miles & Smiles adds fuel surcharges to its rewards, less than British Airways usually, but still substantial
  • The schedule for the Istanbul to Phuket route is rubbish, as you can see below…

A flight arriving anywhere at 4:00 a.m. is going to be unpleasant – a 5:30 a.m. departure back to Istanbul is probably even worse. If you do have 45,000 Turkish miles, however, your best bet might be to fly to Phuket and then book another positioning flight straight away that morning to a more appealing destination in the region: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Bali etc.

At the very least, you would be able to experience Istanbul’s excellent lounge twice for only 45,000 miles…