Move over, British Airways — Finnair Plus now has some excellent Avios sweet spots

23.05.2024 - 19:33 / thepointsguy.com / John F.Kennedy

Finnair Plus' loyalty program has adopted Avios as its loyalty currency, and you can now transfer Avios between Finnair Plus and British Airways Executive Club, opening up all sorts of new earning and redemption opportunities.

Finnair joins British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Qatar Airways and other airlines that use this popular loyalty currency.

While Finnair Plus has standardized some of its redemption pricing to match British Airways Executive Club (which in turn largely matches Iberia Plus and Qatar Airways Privilege Club), there are some new sweet spots to be found.

Unlike other Avios programs, which use a distance-based award chart, Finnair Plus uses a zone-based chart.

Here are some sweet spots where using Finnair Plus Avios makes sense.

One-way flights operated by Finnair from the United States to Helsinki Airport (HEL) are priced as follows:

These are the same prices that BA's Executive Club charges, though BA adds surcharges, so it will be cheaper to book Finnair-operated flights across the Atlantic through Finnair Plus than through Executive Club.

Note that a connecting flight on Finnair beyond Helsinki will be charged separately unless it is a domestic flight in Finland.

Related: Long-haul with no recline: A review of Finnair's business class on the A350-900

Domestic flights anywhere within the continental United States on American Airlines or Alaska Airlines cost 11,000 Finnair Plus Avios each way in economy class. For short flights of up to 650 miles in length, it's cheaper to use Avios through British Airways, which charges just 8,250 Avios for the same flights.

For flights of 651 to 1,151 miles in length, both programs charge 11,000 Avios.

However, a sweet spot within the Finnair program is domestic flights longer than 1,152 miles, such as from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) to Miami International Airport (MIA), or any coast-to-coast services. These routes cost just 11,000 Finnair Plus Avios, while BA will charge up to 16,000 Avios for the same flights.

Related: A review of American Airlines in first class on the Airbus A321neo from Philadelphia to San Francisco

Another notable sweet spot is flights operated by Cathay Pacific from anywhere in North America to Asia.

Although award availability in premium cabins is hard to find, British Airways Executive Club charges a steep 108,250 Avios plus 118.50 British pounds (about $151) for the long-haul journey from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) in Cathay Pacific's business class.

Meanwhile, you can book the same flight through Finnair Plus for just 75,000 Avios plus the same minimal fees, taxes and surcharges, saving you more than 30,000 Avios.

Unfortunately, premium