In August 2023, major changes were announced to Finnair Plus, whereby the program is adopting Avios as its rewards currency. There’s a major update, as the new program is now live.
In this post:
Major Finnair Plus changes for 2024 are now live
As of March 2024, the Finnair Plus program has been overhauled. Let’s go over the details of what has changed.
Finnair Plus adopts Avios as rewards currency
Finnair Plus has adopted Avios as its rewards currency, which is the same currency used by transatlantic joint venture partners British Airways, Aer Lingus, and Iberia, as well as Qatar Airways and Vueling.
With Finnair having adopted Avios as its rewards currency, Finnair Plus points have been converted into Avios at a 3:2 ratio, and Finnair Plus tier points have been converted into tier points with the new program at a 3:2 ratio.
Finnair Plus Avios & tier points earning rates
With Finnair adopting Avios as its rewards currency, the program has also started awarding Avios and elite status based on how much you spend, rather than how much you fly. This factors in both ticket revenue and ancillary revenue (though surcharges on award tickets don’t qualify toward this).
Finnair Plus members earn anywhere from 6-10x Avios per €1 spent, as follows:
- Finnair Plus basic members earn 6x Avios per €1 spent
- Finnair Plus Silver members earn 7x Avios per €1 spent
- Finnair Plus Gold members earn 8x Avios per €1 spent
- Finnair Plus Platinum members earn 9x Avios per €1 spent
- Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo members earn 10x Avios per €1 spent
Not only is that the rate at which you earn Avios that you can redeem toward awards, but this is also the rate at which you earn tier points toward status. With the new program, elite requirements are as follows:
- Finnair Plus Silver status requires 15,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Gold status requires 45,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum status requires 80,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo status requires 300,000 tier points (250,000 of which have to be collected on Finnair)
One unique aspect of the Finnair Plus program is that you can redeem your points for elite status. With the new program, you’re able to redeem three Avios for one Finnair Plus point. This could be an interesting opportunity for those looking to earn oneworld Sapphire or oneworld Emerald status, given the lounge access perks that this offers. However, there are limits to this:
- Finnair Plus non-elite and Silver members can exchange Avios for up to 7,500 tier points
- Finnair Plus Gold members can exchange Avios for up to 22,500 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum and Platinum Lumo members can exchange Avios for up to 40,00 tier points
Finnair Plus Avios redemption rates on Finnair
Finnair Plus has rolled out new Avios redemption rates. You can expect to pay the below number of Avios for one-way award flights.
Awards also have surcharges, though they’re at least mild. If you have a connecting itinerary, you’ll only be charged the surcharge correlated to the most expensive segment flown.
A couple more things to be aware of:
- When your award booking includes a connecting flight, Avios will be charged separately for each flight, except for flights within Finland and Northern Europe; for example, a Frankfurt to Helsinki to New York business class award would cost you 82,500 Avios (20,000 Avios plus 62,500 Avios)
- Keep in mind that Finnair Plus points have converted into Avios at a 3:2 ratio, so a redemption rate of 62,500 Avios is the equivalent of 93,750 Finnair Plus points; that means some awards have gone up in cost pretty considerably
Finnair Plus Avios redemption rates on partners
Finnair Plus has also introduced new award pricing for travel on partner airlines. Finnair Plus has separate award charts for travel on each partner airline, which is… interesting.
For example, below is the Finnair Plus one-way redemption chart on Alaska Airlines.
Below is the one-way Finnair Plus redemption chart on American Airlines.
Honestly, in some cases the award pricing seems not bad? For example, 30,000 Avios for a one-way first class award on American anywhere within North America (continental US and Canada) could be a good deal, compared to what you’d pay with some other programs.
Finnair Plus milestone rewards
Finnair Plus has introduced milestone rewards, whereby you earn certain additional rewards when passing thresholds:
- Finnair Plus basic members receive 3,000 bonus Avios after earning 12,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Silver members receive two lounge passes after earning 20,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Gold members receive two upgrade benefits after earning 55,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum members receive four upgrade benefits after earning 95,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo members receive eight upgrade benefits after earning 310,000 tier points
- Finnair Plus Platinum Lumo members receive four upgrade benefits after earning 320,000 tier points
Finnair Plus simplifies upgrade benefits
Finnair Plus has simplified its upgrade benefit for elite members, offering just a single type of upgrade voucher, so that members have more flexibility. Then the number of “credits” required for an upgrade varies based on the flight’s length. Specifically:
- You need one upgrade voucher to upgrade a short haul flight from economy to business
- You need two upgrade vouchers to upgrade a long haul flight from economy to premium economy
- You need three upgrade vouchers to upgrade a long haul flight from premium economy to business
- You need four upgrade vouchers to upgrade a long haul flight from economy to business
Finnair Plus increases saver award availability
Finnair Plus has increased the number of “saver” award seats available on flights:
- Short haul flights have at least six award seats (two in business and four in economy)
- Long haul flights have at least eight award seats (two in business, two in premium economy, and four in economy
This is fantastic, given how stingy Finnair has historically been with award availability.
Finnair introduces free inflight messaging
Finnair has introduced free inflight messaging for all Finnair Plus members on short haul flights operated by narrow body aircraft. Furthermore, Finnair Plus Gold and Platinum members receive a 30-minute streaming Wi-Fi package on all flights operated by A319s, A320s, and A321s.
My take on these Finnair Plus program changes
If you’re a Finnair frequent flyer, it’s understandable that you’re probably not happy about these changes being implemented. Revenue based points earning is rarely intended to reward the average consumer more, and on top of that, we have seen some award costs increasing.
That being said, I feel pretty positively about these changes, given the limited value of Finnair Plus points with the old program:
- It’s possible to transfer Avios between the various “currencies,” so we’ll see free transfers between British Airways Executive, Finnair Plus, etc. (though this will only be rolled out in the coming months); that’s valuable flexibility, since currently Finnair Plus doesn’t partner with any major transferable points currencies in the United States, except Capital One
- Finnair Plus previously had horrible redemption values on partner airlines, so with the switch to the Avios platform we’re seeing that improve, both directly and indirectly (by being able to transfer points)
- I’m excited about more saver awards, including a guarantee of two business class award seats per long haul flight
- Finnair Plus allows you to convert Avios for tier points (which you need for status) at a 3:1 ratio, and this could potentially be a way to redeem transferable points currencies to help you earn oneworld Sapphire or oneworld Emerald status
So I’m not trying to be delusional here and suggest that Finnair Plus is making these changes to do us all a favor. However, from a redemption perspective, and for someone who is otherwise a casual user of the program, I think this could be a positive development.
Bottom line
As of March 2024, major changes have been implemented at Finnair Plus. We’ve seen Finnair adopt Avios as its rewards currency, and also introduce revenue based points earning. On top of that, Finnair has changed its award costs, and has introduced guaranteed award availability.
For those who just casually collect Finnair Plus points, I think these changes are a net positive, given the realities of the old program, like the limited ways to earn Finnair Plus points, the limited value of redemptions through the program, etc.
What do you make of these Finnair Plus changes?
Great I checked my Finnair account and it’s showing the avios. I’ll transfer to BA or QR and then aim for some qsuites. I bought a whole lot of Finnair miles in a great sale they ran last year. Hope they don’t take too long to enable the avios transfers.
The only award that would be of interest would be the AA first class for 30k.
AY J seem to be available a lot via AS.
Great I checked my Finnair account and it’s showing the avios. I’ll transfer to BA or QR and then aim for some qsuites. I bought a whole lot of Finnair miles in a great sale they ran last year. Hope they don’t take too long to enable the avios transfers.
The only award that would be of interest would be the AA first class for 30k.
AY J seem to be available a lot via AS.
Lucky, you forgot to mention that the Avios earning stays the same when it comes to codeshare or partner airlines. They don’t have the same tier point multiplier like flying through Finnair metal
I'm not an AY frequent flyer and I'm not even a member of its FF program, but I'm thinking about joining Finnair Plus now, because of its fixed award charts, unlike all of the other Avios airlines (and many of the OW airlines) which use distance-based award charts. Fixed awards naturally present redemption opportunities that distance-based awards (which are often useful only for shorter distance flights) don't.
How simple or complicated is AY's redemption process?...
I'm not an AY frequent flyer and I'm not even a member of its FF program, but I'm thinking about joining Finnair Plus now, because of its fixed award charts, unlike all of the other Avios airlines (and many of the OW airlines) which use distance-based award charts. Fixed awards naturally present redemption opportunities that distance-based awards (which are often useful only for shorter distance flights) don't.
How simple or complicated is AY's redemption process? Any issues to be aware of?
The redemption tables are not that favorable overall. Maybe some JAL flights might be reasonable if you don't have AA Miles. The two sweet spots I could find for North America are 75k North America to Asia on Cathay (but availability is basically non-existent right now with partners) or 50.5k to CMN on Royal Air Maroc (this is a little better then the rates on AA). Some of the rates from Europe are much more...
The redemption tables are not that favorable overall. Maybe some JAL flights might be reasonable if you don't have AA Miles. The two sweet spots I could find for North America are 75k North America to Asia on Cathay (but availability is basically non-existent right now with partners) or 50.5k to CMN on Royal Air Maroc (this is a little better then the rates on AA). Some of the rates from Europe are much more favorable overall.
Other than that, the rates for longer US domestic flights on AA and AS are competitive if you don't have points in those programs. Actually, most of the economy pricing is decent. But Business value is pretty spotty at best. It will be fun to go in and do some searches sometime this week just to confirm.
I took a look at its award chart and there're clearly some values. For example, for an award flight CTS-PVG in J, AY prices it at 24.5k Avios, while BA's price is nearly double that, AA's is 30k (and 35k using the current AS chart, but going up to 50k in its new chart).
I can’t get CTS-PVG to throw up any results on the AY website. How did you do that?
@Lucky: does it seem to you that since several OW member airlines have adopted Avios, they no longer offer award seats to AA account holders?
Second this. I see lots of QR space in biz on certain routes where AA doesn’t show availability and agents can’t see any of it. It’s a pretty frustrating change…
It would be an interesting development if additional One World airlines adopt Avios.
Basically every frequent Finnair flyer is upset about these changes. Award flights with Finnair have increased about 50% in just 12 months, Platinum status will be impossible to earn as a no-corporate flyer and so on. And to add to that, Economy (Classic) tickets to the US will now earn about 2,000 instead of 13,000 Avios per round-trip.
It's odd how the rapid decline of Finnair Plus is referred to as "net positive".