Finnair Plus - AY Finnair Plus or BA Executive Club?

Hi,

It looks like I am going to be doing some more flying again. Mainly on Lufthansa/ Star (where I am a member already), but also on oneworld. Which FF Program on oneworld should I join, if my goal is to collect some miles on flying, but mostly from 'on the ground promotions'? I am not interested in gaining status, just miles for future reward flights. AY Finnair Plus or BA Executive Club?

I am based in Germany, but also have a US address I could use.

I know this is sort of a 'Newbie' question and the answer is probably BA Executive Club, but may be you can help me with the decision.

Many thanks,

Phil


PS: My employer is a Finnish company - that's why I am looking into Finnair Plus.

Hi,

It looks like I am going to be doing some more flying again. Mainly on Lufthansa/ Star (where I am a member already), but also on oneworld. Which FF Program on oneworld should I join, if my goal is to collect some miles on flying, but mostly from 'on the ground promotions'? I am not interested in gaining status, just miles for future reward flights. AY Finnair Plus or BA Executive Club?

I am based in Germany, but also have a US address I could use.

I know this is sort of a 'Newbie' question and the answer is probably BA Executive Club, but may be you can help me with the decision.

Many thanks,

Phil


PS: My employer is a Finnish company - that's why I am looking into Finnair Plus.

Actually, if awards are important I would go for AAdvantage :)

Here are a few data points regarding AY and BA, assuming you are not going to gain status.

- AY points expire in 3 years, unless you go for Platinum. BA points do not expire if there is activity in the account.
- BA has huge surcharges (YQ) for award tickets, especially in Y. AY surcharges are smaller, AFAIK (but not insignificant).
- AY is kilometer based, BA uses miles.
- AY hates you, If you are flying in discount economy. Most of the earnings will be in 25%-50% range (with a few strange exceptions).
- I have no idea how on the ground promotions would work, considering you are based in Germany. Chase has had pretty crazy CC offers in US for BA, though. Finnair offers a Diners Club in Finland which gives 2pts/EUR spent.

[EDIT] If you are going to gain status, then BA becomes a much better option with its 100% tier bonus.

Avoid AY at all cost, their miles are just plain worthless! AA is a good alternative, you will get much more bang for your buck with them.

+1 for avoiding Finnair at all costs, both in terms of FF program but also in terms of their inflight product, especially if flying whY.

Join AAdvantage and fly with BA, that's my 2 cents for you..if you fly in J then AY is an option on certain routes/planes for sure!

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your contribution.

I am leaning towards AA or BA, absolutely.

Kind regards

Phil

Hi all,

Many thanks for all your contribution.

I am leaning towards AA or BA, absolutely.

Kind regards

Phil

If you fly paid J/C class on longhaul the AY program is not too bad since you gain status fast.

Avoid AY at all cost, their miles are just plain worthless! AA is a good alternative, you will get much more bang for your buck with them.
There is an exception here: AY has perhaps one of the best upgrade policies if you buy a whY ticket and want to upgrade it miles. At least if you fly in 100% eco or 200% biz on AY metal. Of course if you're earning 25% of the miles, chances are you can make the miles needed for the whole J reward ticket on a program that gives 100% before you'll make what needed for an upgrade.

Y redemption is indeed terrible at AY, for anything other than last minute bookings that would be otherwise expensive. At worst a "free" AY award can cost more than a revenue ticket on a competing airline.

BTW since when has AY blocked you from checking availability online for awards that you don't have enough points for? Or do I remember completely incorrectly that before you could view availability even if you lacked the points needed?

AY only if you fly long haul in business, as many here have indicated. The quickest way to earn status would probably be with BA.

OT: Booked recently two award flights using SK points (which I thought are relatively worthless) and was very positively surprised. Two business tickets KUO-HEL-CPH-HEL-KUO for just 10000 points + 34 € per passenger. 3 legs out of 4 will be in KF prem-eco. An offer valid in June-August 2011. AY has never given out such bargains to my knowledge.