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Finnair is the flag carrier of Finland and a member of the Oneworld alliance. In 2017, the airline flew almost 12 million passengers to over 100 European, 20 Asian and 7 North American destinations. Finnair is famous for its safety, having experienced no fatal or hull-loss accidents since 1963.
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Finnair Plus is the carrier’s frequent flyer program, letting members earn and spend points on flights, upgrades and other experiences with the airline and its partners. For everything you need to know about Finnair Plus, keep reading.
| Hubs | Helsinki |
| Alliance | Oneworld |
| Redemption Options | |
| Average Point Value |
Finnair Plus Elite Status
When you join Finnair Plus, you’ll automatically become a Basic member and your one-year tracking period begins. Move up status tiers when you collect enough tier points or take enough flights with Finnair and other Oneworld member airlines, within your 12-month tracking period.
| Status Tier | Points / Flights Required |
| BASIC | None |
| SILVER | 30,000 points / 20 flights |
| GOLD | 80,000 points / 46 flights |
| PLATINUM | 150,000 points / 76 flights |
| PLATINUM LUMO | 450,000 points / 150 Oneworld flights* |
Once you unlock a tier, you’ll have that status for the remainder of your tracking period, plus another 12 months. Status benefits include:
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | LUMO | |
| One extra bag on Finnair and Norra flights | X | X | X | X |
| One extra bag on Oneworld flights | X | X | X | |
| One set of sports equipment on Finnair flights | X | X | X |
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | LUMO | |
| Business Class check-in or Priority First Class for Oneworld | X | X | X | X |
| Security priority lane | X | X | X | X |
| Finnair Lounge | €25 or 6,000 points | + 1 guest | + 1 guest | + 1 guest |
| Oneworld First Class Lounge | + 1 guest | + 1 guest | ||
| Priority baggage handling | X | X | X | |
| Priority boarding | X | X | X |
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | LUMO | |
| Internet on intercontinental flights | 60 mins | X | X | |
| Internet on European flights | 30 mins | 30 mins | X | |
| Free drinks | X | X | ||
| Free snacks | X | |||
| Digital newspapers | X | X | ||
| Confirmed seat in Business Class for European flights | X | X | X | |
| Confirmed seat in Economy Class for intercontinental or European flights | X | X | X | |
| Business Class upgrades on intercontinental flights | 2 one-way | 4 one-way | ||
| Business Class upgrades on European flights | 4 one-way | 4 one-way | 8 one-way | |
| Family members’ travel class upgrades | X | X |
| SILVER | GOLD | PLATINUM | LUMO | |
| Tier-specific Finnair Plus customer service number | X | X | X | |
| Points don’t expire during the tracking period | X | X | ||
| Giveaway Gold card | X | X | ||
| Waiting list priority according to tier level | X | X | X | X |
| Ability to transfer, exchange or buy points | X | X | X | X |
| Increased tier point accrual on Finnair flights | +10% | +15% | +25% | +25% |
Earning Finnair Plus Points
Earn Finnair Plus Points from scheduled flights with Finnair and other Oneworld airlines. The amount of points earned for a flight depends on region and ticket type or booking class.
Oneworld airlines include:
- Royal Jordanian
- S7 Airlines
- SriLankan Airlines
- TAM Airlines
Other partner airlines include Alaska Airlines, Braathens Regional Airlines and Juneyao Air.
You can also earn points when you travel or shop with Finnair Plus partners.
- Hotels, including Booking.com, Rocketmiles, IHG and more.
- Car rentals and transportation, such as Rentalcars.com, Sixt, Hertz, Avis, Europcar and more.
- Travel with Finnair Holidays, Silversea Cruises and more.
- At Helsinki Airport, by exchanging currencies at Change Group, parking at GoParking and Lentoparkki, or shopping at Lindroos and Moomin Shop.
- Shopping fashion, business and travel at Belizia.
Earning Finnair Plus Points with American Express Membership Rewards®
One of the easiest ways to earn Finnair Plus Points as an American is by transferring your American Express Membership Rewards® points at a 5:4 ratio. Credit cards that earn Amex Membership Rewards include:
THE PLATINUM CARD® FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Platinum Card® from American Express has a special offer for 100,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $6,000 in purchases within your first 6 months.
Membership Rewards® points are some of the most valuable in the market. Redeeming these points by booking travel through American Express or by redeeming for gift cards will give you a standard 1 cent per point value. The 100k bonus points are worth $1,000 going this route.
You can potentially get more value by transferring your points to Membership Rewards travel partners. Using this strategy can get you up to an average value of 2 cents per point. Get around $2,000 in value with 100,000 points this way. Read more on this here.
With this card, earn 10X Membership Rewards Points for eligible purchases on the Card at restaurants worldwide and when you Shop Small in the U.S. (up to $25,000 in combined purchases) during your first 6 months of Card Membership
5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel on up to $500,000 on these purchases per calendar year.
The biggest drawback to this card is the $695 annual fee (see Rates & Fees, Terms Apply), which puts it in the premium class of credit cards. The card has a market because it offers premium travel benefits, such as 5X points for flights (up to $500,000 on these purchases) and eligible hotels, access to 40+ Centurion Loung and Studio locations worldwide, up to $200 airline fee credit annually, and an annual Walmart+ membership. These benefits are given as statement credits.
For frequent travelers, the added benefits make sense in terms of value and added luxury.
AMERICAN EXPRESS® GOLD CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The American Express® Gold Card has a welcome bonus for 60,000 Membership Rewards Points when you spend $4,000 within 6 months.
Membership Rewards Points have great flexibility. We value each point to be worth up to an average 2 cents per point. At this value, 60k Membership Rewards Points can be worth up to $1,200.
The Amex Gold Card has plentiful perks. You’ll get:
- Choice between Gold or Rose Gold.
- 4X points at restaurants, including takeouts and deliveries.
- 4X points at U.S. supermarkets on up to $25,000 per year in purchases (1X thereafter)
- 3X points on flights booked directly with airlines or on amextravel.com
- Up to $120 in annual dining credits (get up to $10 monthly statement credits)
- No foreign transaction fees
The annual fee is $250. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
THE BUSINESS PLATINUM CARD® FROM AMERICAN EXPRESS
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
The Business Platinum Card® from American Express has a welcome offer for 120,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $15,000 on qualifying purchases within your first 3 months of Card Membership. We value 120k points to be worth around $2,400.
This card earns 5X Membership Rewards® Points for flights booked directly with airlines or with American Express Travel. Also earn 1.5X Membership Rewards® points on eligible purchases in key business categories, as well as on purchases of $5,000 or more everywhere else. Cap applies.
Use Membership Rewards Pay with Points for all or part of a flight with your selected qualifying airline, and you can get 35% of the points back, up to 500,000 bonus points per calendar year. Also, get up to $200 in statement credits per calendar year toward baggage fees and more at one qualifying airline. You will also get up to $179 back per year on your CLEAR® membership when you use your Card.
This is a premium business card with a $595 annual fee ($695 if application is received on or after 1/13/2022). See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
AMERICAN EXPRESS® BUSINESS GOLD CARD
Terms apply to American Express benefits and offers. Enrollment may be required for select American Express benefits and offers. Visit americanexpress.com to learn more.
For a limited time, the American Express Business Gold Card has an offer for 70,000 Membership Rewards points after you spend $10,000 on eligible purchases within the first 3 months of Card Membership. The offer expires 11/10/2021.
This card earns 4 Membership Rewards points per $1 spent on 2 select categories where your business spent the most each month. These 4X points are capped at the first $150,000 in combined purchases from these 2 categories each calendar year.
Other card benefits include an Airline Bonus, where you’ll get 25% points back after you redeem points for all or part of an eligible flight booked with Amex Travel. This is capped at up to 250,000 points back per calendar year.
The annual fee is $295 for this card. See Rates & Fees, Terms Apply.
Other transfer partners include:
| REWARDS PROGRAM | TRANSFER RATIO |
| Accor Live Limitless | 1:1 |
| Hilton Honors | 5:1 |
| Radisson Rewards | 10:1 |
Redeeming Finnair Plus Points
Finnair Plus Points expire after 18 months of inactivity. To keep your account active, make sure to earn or burn points at least every year and a half.
Use your Finnair Plus Points for flights with Finnair:
- Classic award flights, starting from 10,000 points
- Any Seat reservations (combination of points and cash)
You can also redeem with partner airlines for flights to 150 countries. Partners include:
Upgrades to Business Class are also possible, from 7,500 points, to enjoy benefits like Business Class check-in, one extra bag, priority security lane and Finnair Lounge access.
Redeem your Finnair Plus Points for vouchers to access the Finnair Business Lounge at Helsinki Airport. This offer is only available when your flight departs during off-peak hours.
You can also use your points for the following travel extras:
- Seat selection
- Economy Comfort seats
- Extra baggage
- In-flight meals, shopping and WiFi
- Hotels and car rentals
- Airport transfers
- Travel agency vouchers
- Cancellation cover and travel insurance
Redeem your Finnair Plus Points for:
- Dining vouchers at Royal Restaurants, Restaurant Hugo, Restaurant Sue Ellen, Mamma Rosa, Pastis and more.
- Wellness and service vouchers for Helsinki Day Spa, HaliPuu and more.
- Entertainment, like events, movie tickets, museum cards and more.
- Shopping vouchers at Neste, MatHem, Belizia, Smartbox and more.
- Sports and leisure, such as ski cards and golfing.
- Charitable donations to UNICEF, UN Women and more.
Finnair Plus Tips & Tricks
Oneworld Round-the-World awards. These are massive, multi-stop itineraries that include two or more Oneworld airlines without Finnair, or three or more airlines with Finnair. The cost is 240,000 Finnair Plus Points in economy or 340,000 points in business.
Upgrade discounted Finnair Tickets between Finland and North America or Asia for just 50,000 points. There’s no minimum fare class required to upgrade, so if you booked a dirt cheap economy ticket, you can upgrade your flight for a fairly reasonable price.
Other good redemptions include:
| FROM | TO | CLASS | POINTS |
| Finland | N. Europe | Economy | 15,000 |
| Finland | N. Europe | Business | 25,000 |
| Finland | Europe | Economy | 30,000 |
| Finland | Dubai | Business | 50,000 |
| Finland | N. America | Economy | 90,000 |
| Finland | Asia | Economy | 90,000 |
| Finland | N. America | Business | 160,000 |
Finnar Plus Family&Friends lets you create a group with up to nine other Finnair Plus members. Pool your Finnair Plus points and transfer them to one another, free of charge.
The admin of the group can set travel goals, invite and remove members, and rename and delete the group. There can only be one admin at a time.
Bottom Line
Most United States residents won’t opt for the Finnair Plus frequent flyer program. You might consider joining if you earn American Express Membership Rewards®, Accor Live Limitless (ALL), Hilton Honors or Radisson Rewards points, and if you can make use of Finnair Plus’s bests redemptions. Otherwise, you should give this airline loyalty program a hard pass.
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