The present invention is a turbine engine component comprising a superalloy substrate, a bond coat overlying the substrate having a thickness in the range of about 0.0005 inch to about 0.005 inch, a thin alumina scale overlying the bond coat, and a thermal barrier coating (TBC) overlying the thin alumina scale, the TBC having a thickness in the range of about 0.0025 inch to about 0.010 inch, and comprising at least mischmetal oxide.