I hadn’t even realized there was a new Turkish Airlines Miles&Smiles Premier Visa Signature® Credit Card for U.S. customers until reader M.E. flagged it for me. And it’s sure a strange one!
- Initial bonus: 40,000 miles after spending $3,000 within 90 days of opening an account.
- Earning: 3x on Turkish Airlines spend; 2x on dining, groceries, entertainment and lodging; 1x on other spend
- Annual fee: $99
- Foreign transaction fees: No
There are two unique things about the card. First, no hard credit pull until you’re approved and accept the card offer and second that “the first 5,000 approved customers to receive the exclusive, limited edition metal card.”
The card is with startup Imprint which does the H.E.B. Grocery card. And there’s something very strange about it. As far as I can see there’s no actual travel benefit with Turkish Airlines for getting their credit card? Am I just not seeing it or is there really no checked baggage or boarding benefit, let alone status or lounge?
I can see someone choosing to get the card for its initial cardmember bonus, especially since it’s not from one of the big financial institutions like Chase or American Express (where a given customer may be maxed out). Although it seems like this would have been a lot more appealing before this year’s big devaluation of the Miles & Smiles program.
But even if you want Turkish miles you’ll be better off spending with cards from Citi, Capital One, or Bilt whose points transfer to Turkish. You can earn more points, transfer to Turkish if you wish, or transfer elsewhere. What am I missing about this product?
Gary you are missing nothing, rather it is TK who are missing a great deal f common sense. In their typical arrogance they think that Americans will fall for this nothingburger.
Just collect 43-46k miles and move on.
Don’t know if it even preserves validity of miles?
That is only reason I keep EK card.
I think the only travel benefit is that you would now be able to convert miles into status miles, but they should remind people of that… Otherwise, you’re not getting anything except a heavier wallet to carry (if you even use the card after the SUB).
It probably doesn’t work for refueling when you need it (sarcasm).
A TK credit card after that MASSIVE devaluation earlier this year? I don’t even transfer Thank You points to TK anymore. The notion of getting their card for even the sign up bonus is laughable. Add on top of that their horrible call centers ….. no thanks.
Gary, reading is a valuable skill. Try to master it.
Read the fine print at the bottom of the card offer. It links directly to Turkish Airlines and explains the rewards structure.
Having been screwed over by Turkish multiple times, and then seeing the laughably bad customer service, I avoid them at all costs. Hard pass on this card.
@JC – I think you should try both re-reading this post and the linked pages.
Is this metal card a desired thing? Yeah, I think it’s cool if you have a CC made from a 747. One of my cards is metal, nobody oohed or aahed when I used it. And, I have to send it to the bank for recycling.