Finnair Plus - Should I sign up to Plus or a different OW FFP?

My travel looks to be the following when it comes to OW (I have been *G for many years and still need to keep status there as well):

1. Finnair: 1-2 returns in biz between Europe and SIN each year. 1-2 identical flights in econ with infants each year, so pooling all miles will be a major advantage.
2. BA: 1 return within Europe. Possibly 1 return between Canada and Europe.
3. Possibly one SIN-SYD return on BA or Qantas.
4. Absolutely no flights on any other OW carriers.

I have only been looking at BAEC and PLUS at the moment, are there any others I should consider, taking into account that I will NOT be using any other metal (apart from maybe QF)?

And if only BAEC and PLUS should be taken into account, which one would you go for if you were in my shoes so to speak? Main thing for me is status advantages (baggage, check-in and lounges), fair mileage-earning and burning possibilities, and pooling family miles so as not to waste those gained on family tickets.

I can only speak about AY+, but other will fill in, I guess.

After one C return trip SIN-Europe you will get silver status, after the second you will be close to Gold. The Y flights will do very little for you in terms of status points (unless you buy full price Y) but you surely will reach gold on 2 C r/t and 1 deep discount Y r/t. I reckon you will not qualify for platinum in any case.

Percs that can be of interest:
Silver will allow you 1PC luggage extra on AY. Also lounge access for AY lounges regardless of ticket.

Gold will allow 1PC extra and "special" luggage (ski or golf kit) free of charge. Also 4 intra europe OR one long haul upgrade free of charge. Will also give you lounge access to any OW C lounge for you and 1 guest.

AY will let you upgrade your family (max 3 pax) from Y to C (if you are in C) for points, in my opinion quite cheaply too.

There is no pooling of points in AY+, all accounts are personal, but with the option of transferring points between accounts for a fee.

Both BA and AY will honour each others status members AFAIK, so you should choose the program that gives you the best percs. As for Qantas, many QF flights are codeshare with BA, so I don't see any need to evaluate QF program.

I think one question you should ask yourself is, how would you like to use the miles? If for upgrades, then you should join the FFP of the airline you intend to fly, as OW programs generally don't let you upgrade on a different airline's metal (the BA/IB/AA joint venture being an exception). If you would mainly want to redeem award tickets, that leaves you more choice between programs.

I'm only familiar with BAEC and AY+, below are some things you should consider:

- With your flying pattern you should be able to reach and maintain AY+ Gold (OW Sapphire) on years you make two biz returns to Europe, but it would be a long shot when you make only one. AY+ has very generous earnings for AY business class flights, but economy earns almost nothing. AY+ Silver (OW Ruby) is not worth very much.

- On BAEC your biggest issue would be having four BA flights each membership year (required for status). Given that, the flights you list would probably earn enough tier points for BAEC Silver (OW Sapphire), depending on the travel class for Europe/Canada/Sydney and whether you live in Europe or Singapore (different tier thresholds). BAEC does not have a tier corresponding to OW Ruby.

- You can't pool AY+ points, though you can transfer them between family members for a flat (20€?) fee. You can pool BA miles through the BAEC household account.

- AY+ tends to have better availability for points upgrades, and you can upgrade even the cheapest economy tickets, so you might be able to do the family trips in business once in a while. On BAEC you can't upgrade from discount economy, but you do have the possibility to book in World Traveller Plus and upgrade from there, which can be very good value for the money and miles spent (if you can find availability).

- BA doesn't let you upgrade flights booked through a travel agent, I haven't heard that AY would have any similar restriction.

- AY+ points expire in three years, but with your flights you would probably earn enough to redeem something before that, so it may not be a problem for you. (BA miles also expire but only if you don't have any activity on your account.)

If I were you, I would also consider if flying some of your SIN-Eur trips on BA would be an option. Doing so would add several hours to your total travel time, and transfers at LHR are rather more stressful than at HEL, but BA's business class seating is much better in my opinion (AY may catch up when they get new business cabins installed on all aircraft, before that it's unpredictable). That would give you the required four flights each year, good miles earnings (+100% after you get status), and possibility for the occasional upgrade to First (or also WT+ to biz).

Note, though, that BAEC is undergoing some changes this autumn. So far there have been no announcements related to the tier levels or thresholds, but there have been speculations that some might be coming.

Many thanks guys, you've certainly given me a lot to think about.

1. One area that requires further clarification is the family-mileage-transfer option. I actually don't mind paying the 20 Euros and think it's a better idea than pooling miles and then taking a small chunk out of each account for redemptions. But I would like to know their policy on how far they take the family concept. Since they haven't defined this on their site, can I assume that call-centre support staff will also not have a definite answer on this?

It would help if for instance you could transfer points from your brother/sister but not your brother-in-law for instance. This way I could transfer the points to my wife at least.

2. Is it allowed to use one's miles to upgrade someone else's ticket (not flight award, just upgrade)?

3. Interesting point about better award availability on AY, but some unique offers like being able to upgrade from Y+ to C on BA. As mentioned, BA does have a problem with upgrades though, and one can only wonder if the current increase in mileage-earnings in Y will not make things even worse. Award inventory to SIN is practically impossible to find I've heard...

4. How high are taxes/fees on award tickets? Since you can upgrade from the lowest of Y fares (a definite advantage over BAEC, and even more so over SQ's KrisFlyer), does it make sense to generally buy discount economy instead of paying taxes/fees on awards, and then using less miles to do an upgrade?

5. I'm curious how exactly could you check to see if upgrades would be available on both legs of a journey (and if they would be available for more than 1 pax) before booking a discount economy ticket(s) (which naturally would be non-changeable or only allow date changes at a steep fee)?

6. How would upgrades work for a redemption from say SIN to WAW (via HEL). Each leg separately, so 55k+7.5k each way? Or 55k from SIN to anywhere in Europe? If each leg separately then could I just upgrade the SIN-HEL part of a ticket?

Same for awards, 223k return from SIN to anywhere in Europe or only to HEL?

7. One thing I really like is that once I get enough miles for Silver, I instantly switch status but my membership year stays the same, so I will continue to have Silver for the remainder of my current membership year plus the next year. So with just this return journey in biz I will have Silver guaranteed for close to 2 years.

With BAEC I take it this is only the case when requalifying (no membership year change), but when changing status levels the membership year is instantly readjusted.

8. How good are the "any seat awards"? Diamond Club has some great "miles&cash" offers, is it similar here or is this function not worth it?

9. Does the "points bonus" for being Silver or higher count towards status points like in Miles&More, or only award points?

Sorry for all the questions, guys, but when making a decision I would really like to stick to the FFP in the long run and not jump around. :)

There are a few things pulling me towards BAEC too:

a) Additional free luggage. From what I've read, BA status will get extra luggage on AY, but Plus status will not get extra luggage on BA. Is this so?

b) On a OW scale, BA Silver = AY Gold, so proper lounge access can be achieved more easily with BA. And BA Gold I assume gets you into the First Class lounges regardless of class of travel.

I assume that AY Silver does not allow you to invite a guest (even if you are both flying AY on the same flight)?

On a side note, I find it interesting that when crediting points from other OW carriers, you can get only 125% (instead of 200%) for biz... but yet 100% for full Y fare. :)

Many thanks guys, you've certainly given me a lot to think about.

2. Is it allowed to use one's miles to upgrade someone else's ticket (not flight award, just upgrade)?

3. Interesting point about better award availability on AY, but some unique offers like being able to upgrade from Y+ to C on BA. As mentioned, BA does have a problem with upgrades though, and one can only wonder if the current increase in mileage-earnings in Y will not make things even worse. Award inventory to SIN is practically impossible to find I've heard...

8. How good are the "any seat awards"? Diamond Club has some great "miles&cash" offers, is it similar here or is this function not worth it?

9. Does the "points bonus" for being Silver or higher count towards status points like in Miles&More, or only award points?

There are a few things pulling me towards BAEC too:

a) Additional free luggage. From what I've read, BA status will get extra luggage on AY, but Plus status will not get extra luggage on BA. Is this so?

I assume that AY Silver does not allow you to invite a guest (even if you are both flying AY on the same flight)?


2. Yes, well in my experience it has always been a familymember upgrading me ;) but yes I believe it's possible

3. AY's award inventory is pretty good, at least with upgrades, always gotten an upgrade with pts. when requested. But for LH upgrades, BA has better value IMO, return upgrade to JFK J-F = 25 000 pts with BA, but Y-J with AY it is 100 000.

8. The flight redemptions are quite crazy, in term of point-price anyways and I think you'd be better off with the upgrades.

9. I was surprised when I found out myself, but it applies to Tier Points aswell as Awards Points.

a) I believe that AY takes OW status into consideration better than BA in general.

And Silver is no guest, but you can bring all the under 18's you can find with you ;o

Some of the questions I'll have to leave to someone else, as I've moved to BAEC myself and don't have that good current knowledge on AY+ any more... in your case I'd seriously consider AY+ due to your planned AY biz mileage though.

- Definition of family: you can call them and ask, but as it's not clearly stated in their written T&C, I wouldn't count on it for any important plans.

- You can redeem for "a close relative or a person belonging to the same household". For children, also check out the "Junior Plus" membership - basically 50% off awards, I don't know if there's a catch like lower earnings or having to transfer the points to the Jr account first

- I've only redeemed domestic flights and long-haul upgrades on AY+, I don't recall paying any significant taxes on either

- You can't check AY+ award availability online. Also, by the rules you must first buy the ticket and then apply an upgrade award which is not guaranteed - I reckon you could do it in one phone call and confirm availability first, but this is a definite minus for AY+.

- You're correct that AY+ Silver does not allow guesting (it also doesn't give access to lounges not operated by AY). However children do not count as guests in AY lounges as far as I know.

- Regarding earnings: yes, AY+ is geared heavily toward AY business customers, other tickets don't earn nearly as much. On the other hand BAEC status members earn +100% base mileage for all BA flights, I think most FFPs are designed to give some such advantage over other airlines in the same alliance.

Also, two further things to note (might be the deciding factor for you, depending on how much you value status vs. awards):

- On AY+ you can buy status with award points if you fall short of the threshold. It's not a particularly good deal, you'll easily waste the equivalent of a long-haul upgrade or two, but could be an important option to have seeing that you might not always qualify for Gold. You can't buy status on BAEC.

- On the other hand you can't purchase award points on AY+ if you're short of what you need (unlike BAEC and many others)

Some answers, regarding AY:

1. I think one need to test and see what they will accept. On the site there are different definitions of family. As for transferring points they list only household-members but for upgrading for points they mention "relatives orhousehold-members" as the definition, which will cover even the most loosely family ties.

2. AY lets you upgrade "yourself, family or household-members" for your points.

3. I can't compare, but I have never been denied upgrading on AY. I usually order the upgrade well in advance, though.
Sometimes, AY sends out personal text messages a few hours before boarding saying "reply to this text if you want to upgrade for points on your next flight". I have used this service too, works like a charm.

4. I have actually never used points for award, so I am not sure, but I think surcharges are pretty high. In my mind, buying deep discount Y and upgrading for points is a very good option (but there is the slight risk of not getting the upgrade).

5. I don't think there is an official way for a regular customer (without direct access to a travel agent system) to see availability? I think I have read somewhere on FT about someone who found AY availability through some other airlines booking system, try to search for that.
I see your dilemma in this question and have felt it too. Once I called AY customer service to ask for availability and they said "yes". I hung up, bought the cheap ticket, and called back 5 minutes later to do the upgrade. But still, it is a gamble.

6. Yes, leg for leg. (I usually use my free upgrades and they are leg for leg. I assume the same goes for points.) So you can choose to only upgrade the long haul leg, I have done that.

7. Yes, AY does not alter the membership year or reset your points mid year. You will get your silver card (with expiry date in your case close to 2 years ahead) and can continue to collect for gold. You will get the 10% points bonus from that day. This makes it easier to raise your status in a short amount of time. You will only need another 45k points from silver to gold (40k from silver + 45,5k x 1,1 yields 90k, Gold) and you have the time until the end of your first membership year to collect that.

8. Have never bought a anyseat, but they look very expensive! I think they are aimed for a traveller who don't have enough points for anything else...

9. Yes, for AY the points-bonus (silver 10%, gold 15%, plat 25%) adds on top of both status- and award-points. BAEC have higher bonus for status holder but they only adds to award miles.


b) not sure that is true? I reckon you will either earn BA silver or AY gold with the flights listed?
BA silver = AY gold, both are OW sapphire that gives OW business class lounge access, with one guest.
AY silver will give AY lounge access, but no guest. BA blue will not give any lounge access.

(BA gold = AY plat = OW emerald, First class lounge)




And your sidenote: Yes, there was a big "renovation" of almost every FQTVprogram in 2008-2009, with adjustments on both earning and spending points. AY did lower the earnings in deep discount Y to as low as 0,25x flown kilometres but kept (as the only airline?) C class earnings at 2x. As you say, for those airlines that lowered earnings in C to 1,25x, it is quite silly compare to 1x in full price Y.
AY decision to keep C earnings at 2x is one reason (among several) that keeps me flying AY.

HELflyers suggestion that you need to evaluate how you will be using your points is good advice.
I'd also suggest that you research timetables and flying times (since you have a pretty good idea about your future flying pattern). As you most often will do a transfer, consider the risks of delays and ease of transfer at each hub. If this is important to you, I think HEL is a much better hub than LHR.

I hope you find your perfect program, happy flying!

One side note on Junior Plus. The points won't expire until the member is over 18 ( not sure if the 3 years validity begins then or if all points earned before one is 15 years old expire on one's 18th birthday).

AY is good for earning points for hotel stays. Many hotel chains (not all) give you 500 points per night and not per stay. This is nice because e.g. Priority club or Hilton honours have frequent double points campaigns.

BA is stingy with AY flights and vice versa. You get 200% points when flying AY C class but only 125 % when flying BA C when collecting AY points. So try to fly as much on the company whose FF you posess.

One side note on Junior Plus. The points won't expire until the member is over 18 ( not sure if the 3 years validity begins then or if all points earned before one is 15 years old expire on one's 18th birthday).

AY is good for earning points for hotel stays. Many hotel chains (not all) give you 500 points per night and not per stay. This is nice because e.g. Priority club or Hilton honours have frequent double points campaigns.

BA is stingy with AY flights and vice versa. You get 200% points when flying AY C class but only 125 % when flying BA C when collecting AY points. So try to fly as much on the company whose FF you posess.

I think that the validity period begins when you turn 18, because basically all your points would vanish when you'd turn 18.

I left AY+ and joined BAEC, because as I do fly a fair bit on my own, I like getting lounge access and other benefits, which as an AY+ Junior I cannot achieve at the moment (No status for Juniors, whatsup with that?)... And most of my LH flights are on BA anyways, so the BA Silver&Gold 100% Miles boost for those flights is welcome!

And what I like about the BAEC programme in addition is that your miles don't expire if you keep your account active.

At least a few years back when I checked, ex-Junior miles started "gathering age" when the member turned 18, so nothing expired before one turned 23 (that was back when the miles expired in 5 years, so I guess now it would be 21).

Also in my experience, at least if you are on the same reservation, AY couldn't care less who you upgrade with your miles, or at least they've never asked me to explain my relationship to the person being upgraded (even with a different last name). On the contrary, they have asked me if I also want to upgrade other people on the same reservation, when booking an upgrade just for myself.

Of course that is not what the rules say, so you can not officially be sure and they can change the policy, but I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I don't know if they act different if you ask them to upgrade a person on a flight you are not traveling with yourself.

If you fly in AY low economy with you family, I'd also consider crediting those flights to AAdvantage, as the 25% earning on AY or BAEC is next to useless (AA still gives you 100%). Depending where you connect from, your family might even qualify for AA Gold with 2 xxx-HEL-SIN-HEL-xxx trips a year.

b) not sure that is true? I reckon you will either earn BA silver or AY gold with the flights listed?

Not an easy comparison to make...

With two SIN-WAW J returns a year, you'll easily qualify for Sapphire on either program (assuming you fly AY if you choose AY+, and that you have at least four BA flights that year if BAEC).

With one SIN-WAW in J and two in discount economy:

On BAEC, you're at 480 tier points (320 for the J return, 80 each for discount Y). You could reach Silver (600) e.g. with one return in short-haul J (80) and one long-haul discount Y (60), or with one long-haul in any other class than discount Y.

On AY+, you're at about 58000 points with Gold tier bonus included, still a long way to go to the required 90000. If my quick math is correct, that's going to take at least three SIN-SYD or Europe-Canada returns in full-fare Y or two in non-AY J. Very difficult to get there with short-haul, regardless of airline and travel class.

However if you can reach 70000 on AY+ (should be possible with the OP's flights), you can get the rest by spending 60000 award points. As Gold gives you vouchers for either four one-way short-haul upgrades or one long-haul, this would be worth doing if you would otherwise use points for a SIN-HEL upgrade (55000 one-way). If you really wanted to, you could even keep Gold with just one SIN-HEL return on AY J and no other OW flying that year, but then it would cost 135000 points...

And, of course, you could still have AY+ Silver if you fail to qualify for Gold - however little that is worth, it's still better than no status which is where you would be on BAEC.

- Regarding upgrading, I understand that there is usually plenty of availability but that technically you cannot guarantee that an upgrade will be possible until you purchase the Y ticket and give it a go. Having said that, if for some reason you cannot do an upgrade over the phone, but you are certain that biz will not be full, are you guaranteed to push the upgrade through closer to the departure date or even at the airport? I guess what I'm tryint to say is can the plane take off with empty biz seats (barring those who get lost in duty-free and whose baggage is offloaded at the last minute) even though you have been trying to get an upgrade on that flight even during check-in?

- Lounges: this is a tricky one because the site says that you can only enter Finnair lounges as Silver, but when you go to the Finnair lounge directory they seem to list "S" next to many lounges that are not directly operated by Finnair. For instance the Cathay Pacific BC lounge at Heathrow lists "S", as do the QF/BA lounge and Skyview one in Singapore. Two contract lounges in Warsaw also list "S". I cannot find Sydney on the list, but it seems that the definition of a "Finnair lounge" has been extended somewhat.

- Baggage: as a *A person I am finding it so hard to accept no common baggage benefits. And what's even more baffling is how AY will give BA S/G members extra luggage, but BA will not reciprocate the favour to AY status-holders.

- Purchasing miles: since Finnair does not sell miles like BA and many other airlines do, I now see where the Any Seat award comes in - it basically functions as purchasing the miles required to complete an award booking. No use for upgrades though…

- Finnair Junior Plus: looks very interesting, especially in terms of mileage validity. Earn rates are normal, but spend rates are 50%. Even though this seems to apply strictly to flight awards and not upgrades, it is still a very good deal (I only wonder if there are any restrictions to it applying to biz awards?). Another thing I found interesting is this: Points may also be charged to the Finnair Plus account of another family member. So I take it another family member can purchase an award for a kid at 50% miles using his own (regular) Plus account.

- Burning miles: I have to give it to AY for making it seem like upgrading is a fairly straightforward procedure without throwing bananas at your feet every step of the way. The only issue I have is that with AY I am limited when it comes to redemption destinations, so I'm pretty much looking at SIN. With BA I could stretch that to SYD and YVR as well, the downside being that SIN is almost impossible to redeem on (and SYD might be similar). How ironic... ;)

- AA: I see the point about crediting some economy fares that normally give 25% to AA instead - where they will get 100%. The question is, how decent are the burn rates combined with award inventory? A chart on their site shows a 1-way biz award at 52,500 miles (Europe-Asia2), which doesn't sound bad at all, as long as the availability is there.

- Status threshold levels: HELflyer, if I was to go with BA I would naturally use an address in continental Europe. As you mentioned though, my upcoming journey would only generate 320 tier points, so I would still need a MR to get to BAEC Silver.

"- Regarding upgrading, I understand that there is usually plenty of availability but that technically you cannot guarantee that an upgrade will be possible until you purchase the Y ticket and give it a go. Having said that, if for some reason you cannot do an upgrade over the phone, but you are certain that biz will not be full, are you guaranteed to push the upgrade through closer to the departure date or even at the airport? I guess what I'm tryint to say is can the plane take off with empty biz seats (barring those who get lost in duty-free and whose baggage is offloaded at the last minute) even though you have been trying to get an upgrade on that flight even during check-in?"

There is no such guarantee, but I don't know why the company would not upgrade you if there is availability. I have been denied upgrade on points exactly once (JFK-HEL after New Year, i.e. Russians' big holiday), and I saw with my own eyes that the biz cabin was full. Otherwise, never any problems.

"- Lounges: this is a tricky one because the site says that you can only enter Finnair lounges as Silver, but when you go to the Finnair lounge directory they seem to list "S" next to many lounges that are not directly operated by Finnair. For instance the Cathay Pacific BC lounge at Heathrow lists "S", as do the QF/BA lounge and Skyview one in Singapore. Two contract lounges in Warsaw also list "S". I cannot find Sydney on the list, but it seems that the definition of a "Finnair lounge" has been extended somewhat."

I think they just mean lounges operated by Finnair or by someone else in places where Finnair flies. So, if you are AY Silver, you get access to the Traveler's Lounge in Hong Kong, if you are flying AY. And therefore, no lounges in Sydney for Silvers, as AY doesn't fly there.

"- Finnair Junior Plus: looks very interesting, especially in terms of mileage validity. Earn rates are normal, but spend rates are 50%. Even though this seems to apply strictly to flight awards and not upgrades, it is still a very good deal (I only wonder if there are any restrictions to it applying to biz awards?). Another thing I found interesting is this: Points may also be charged to the Finnair Plus account of another family member. So I take it another family member can purchase an award for a kid at 50% miles using his own (regular) Plus account."

Yes, I have often done this.

"- Finnair Junior Plus: looks very interesting, especially in terms of mileage validity. Earn rates are normal, but spend rates are 50%. Even though this seems to apply strictly to flight awards and not upgrades, it is still a very good deal (I only wonder if there are any restrictions to it applying to biz awards?). Another thing I found interesting is this: Points may also be charged to the Finnair Plus account of another family member. So I take it another family member can purchase an award for a kid at 50% miles using his own (regular) Plus account."

Yes, I have often done this.

About Junior+, I read something on the AY website that it's 50% until the age of 12, as I'm 15 and last year i upgraded return HEL-JFK-HEL with my own points and it cost 90 000 points, so still a 10% discount

About Junior+, I read something on the AY website that it's 50% until the age of 12, as I'm 15 and last year i upgraded return HEL-JFK-HEL with my own points and it cost 90 000 points, so still a 10% discount

No. AFAIR, there is no such thing as Junior+ upgrade, so children need as many points as adults for that. For award flights there is 50% discount until the child turns 18. But it can be used for those 12 and under only when they are traveling with an adult.

No. AFAIR, there is no such thing as Junior+ upgrade, so children need as many points as adults for that. For award flights there is 50% discount until the child turns 18. But it can be used for those 12 and under only when they are traveling with an adult.

I stand corrected :)

- Lounges: this is a tricky one because the site says that you can only enter Finnair lounges as Silver, but when you go to the Finnair lounge directory they seem to list "S" next to many lounges that are not directly operated by Finnair.

Interesting, I hadn't known that. Checking the lounge listing, it seems that Finnair indeed has lounge arrangements for Silver card holders in most (or all?) of its destinations. That would be through individual agreements with their partners, and only valid when you're departing on an AY flight (oneworld has no such recognition for the Ruby tier), but a good benefit anyway. I wonder if they have the same rule of allowing accompanied children in as with the actual AY lounges?

- Baggage: as a *A person I am finding it so hard to accept no common baggage benefits. And what's even more baffling is how AY will give BA S/G members extra luggage, but BA will not reciprocate the favour to AY status-holders.

Yes, OW is much less uniform in tier benefits than *A, unfortunately... I think OW only requires that status pax have lounge access, priority check-in and boarding and some preferential treatment for overbooking and such, the member airlines can set other rules as they wish.

- Status threshold levels: HELflyer, if I was to go with BA I would naturally use an address in continental Europe. As you mentioned though, my upcoming journey would only generate 320 tier points, so I would still need a MR to get to BAEC Silver.

Well that makes BAEC very much worth considering, in my opinion... After those 320 you would be Silver with just one economy return, which you were planning to fly anyway - if (and this is the big if) you can fly one of those on BA, or can find some other way to get the required 4 BA flights. On years you fly more you would have a good chance of reaching Gold, which would then guarantee you status for two years.

That is of course assuming that BAEC's tier system or thresholds don't change. If you can postpone your decision until the rest of the BAEC changes have been announced (and retro credit flights if needed), you would be in a better position to choose.

If you want to be able to upgrade on SIN-HEL though, that doesn't leave you much to choose from.

The rest of the questoins I'll have to defer to others...

I wonder if they have the same rule of allowing accompanied children in as with the actual AY lounges?

That is a very good question indeed. Judging by the wording used on the web site, I would bet on all lounges listed in "All Finnair lounges" allowing kids in without any issues.

In *A you will find that LH *G members can bring all their kids into lounges in Germany but other *G status-holders cannot. For them, even an infant without a seat (who will obviously not be consuming their expensive drinks) has to be counted as a "guest" of someone.

Yes, OW is much less uniform in tier benefits than *A, unfortunately... I think OW only requires that status pax have lounge access, priority check-in and boarding and some preferential treatment for overbooking and such, the member airlines can set other rules as they wish.

I can understand no common rule on extra pieces of luggage, just not the fact that one airline will acknowledge another alliance carrier's status pax but not vice versa. IMO with no common OW policy... partner airlines would be extremely strict in reciprocating any baggage bonuses given to pax.

Well that makes BAEC very much worth considering, in my opinion... After those 320 you would be Silver with just one economy return, which you were planning to fly anyway - if (and this is the big if) you can fly one of those on BA, or can find some other way to get the required 4 BA flights. On years you fly more you would have a good chance of reaching Gold, which would then guarantee you status for two years.

Forgot about the 2-year thing which is worth keeping in mind ("soft landing" - does Plus do that too?), but I have decided to go with Finnair Plus for the near future. :) 4 BA flights each year might happen, then again I don't want to be doing MRs because of this. And with redemption to SIN being a problem with BA (a rather big one I must add), I'd rather narrow down my list of possible destinations but at least have SIN as a feasible option.

I completed my Finnair J booking (actually I got the "I" tariff) in the last few hours and have included my Plus number. Only thing I forgot to do was select my seats (I thought this feature would be more prominently displayed at a later phase, or at least still allowed once my booking was finalised). Is there any way I can do that now?

AY is good for earning points for hotel stays. Many hotel chains (not all) give you 500 points per night and not per stay. This is nice because e.g. Priority club or Hilton honours have frequent double points campaigns.

Are there any good deals at present for hotel stays at any of the global chains with miles awarded per night (and not limited to specific destinations, but just a general promo)?

Are there any good deals at present for hotel stays at any of the global chains with miles awarded per night (and not limited to specific destinations, but just a general promo)?

There is almost always some offers available on Priority club, but I could not find anything on the web now. It may be that many of them are targeted, because I know I have currently signed up several simultanious offers. Just sign up and see what happens.


I completed my Finnair J booking (actually I got the "I" tariff) in the last few hours and have included my Plus number. Only thing I forgot to do was select my seats (I thought this feature would be more prominently displayed at a later phase, or at least till allowed once my booking was finalised). Is there any way I can do that now?

You can change your seat as many times you like whether economy or business class, long-haul or short-haul by clicking "Manage my booking". It doesn't even matter where ever you have bought the ticket.

Are there any good deals at present for hotel stays at any of the global chains with miles awarded per night (and not limited to specific destinations, but just a general promo)?

Hilton HHonors' Q3 promo is double miles for all stays. (If you have chosen air miles as your double dip option. Unfortunately for Finnair only fixed miles are available.) Mind you, you only get 500+500 miles, but it is better than nothing, of course.

You can change your seat as many times you like whether economy or business class, long-haul or short-haul by clicking "Manage my booking". It doesn't even matter where ever you have bought the ticket.

All is good now. I couldn't do it under "manage my booking" yesterday, but today all the options have appeared. Maybe it's because they only reserved a small amount on my CC yesterday, with the entire payment taken this morning and the eticket email to me today as well.

I picked a seat in the mini C cabin on the A340, hope that's a good choice. :)

Forgot about the 2-year thing which is worth keeping in mind ("soft landing" - does Plus do that too?), but I have decided to go with Finnair Plus for the near future. :)

No soft landing as far as I know - but that's just based on what's on the web pages, I've never been anywhere close to Platinum myself. I think BAEC's soft landing is not an officially stated policy either, just something they regularly do.

If you reach Gold and have enough points, BTW, spending them to buy yourself into Plat would be worth considering - as Plat gives you vouchers for three long-haul upgrades, which alone are worth 165000 points if you can spend them on SIN-HEL, and the rest of the benefits are nice too.

I think you made a good decision given your planned J earnings. The major drawback of expiring points (if you're not Platinum) would not be a big issue in your case either, as you can always gift them to the Junior if you have to. :)

...
hours and have included my Plus number. Only thing I forgot to do was select my seats (I thought this feature would be more prominently displayed at a later phase, or at least still allowed once my booking was finalised). Is there any way I can do that now?

:D I too forget this ALL the time, even though I am a seasoned AY-flyer...

Dear Mr TTL,

Over the last few weeks you’ll have received several emails about changes we are making to the Executive Club and how we are creating a global programme and a more rewarding Club for our Members.

A change to European tier thresholds.
When we introduced lower tier thresholds for Europe it was to make it easier for our European Members, who mainly fly shorthaul, to earn Silver or Gold status.

Since then we have introduced a number of changes to the Club that make it easier for Members to earn Tier Points and status. You now earn Tier Points on all British Airways flights, even when you fly discount economy. And there are now more opportunities than ever to earn Tier Points when flying with our oneworld® partners.

We want all our Members around the world to enjoy the same opportunities and benefits of being in the Club and on 1 March 2012 we will be aligning our tier thresholds, so that they are the same for all our Members.

The new Tier Point thresholds for Europe will therefore be:

Gold – 1,500 Tier Points (including 4 British Airways flights)
Silver – 600 Tier Points (including 4 British Airways flights), or 50 eligible flights

Whilst we are increasing the number of Tier Points needed for Silver or Gold status, we are making additional changes that will help you earn status within the Club.

A new way to accumulate Tier Points over the year.
Instead of resetting your Tier Points to zero when you reach a new tier, from 16 November, you’ll keep them until the end of your 12 month membership period. As a result, your Tier Point balance can grow more quickly.

Earn more Tier Points when flying longhaul.
We are also increasing the number of Tier Points you earn when you fly longhaul with us and our oneworld® partners. From 16 November, you will earn an increased number of Tier Points when you fly on any of our longhaul routes in all travel classes, including Discounted Economy.

Introducing Bronze – our new tier.
We’re also introducing a new tier – Bronze. Positioned between Blue and Silver, Bronze is designed to reward Members who don’t fly with us as regularly. Members will enjoy extra recognition and benefits such as Business Class check in and advance seat selection. To earn Bronze status, Members will need to earn 300 Tier Points (including 2 British Airways flights) or take 25 eligible flights in one membership year.

Continued Silver or Gold status.
Finally, as a way of recognising your continued loyalty to British Airways, and to help make the transition to our new higher tier thresholds easier, we are offering you the chance to retain your status.

If you are a Silver or Gold member on 1 March 2012 you will be able to renew at the existing Tier Point threshold (400/800 respectively) for the next two membership years. However, in order to move up a tier after the 1 March 2012, you will need to do so at the new thresholds of 600/1500 Tier Points.

I’ll be in touch again soon to welcome you to our new, revitalised Club.

Membership No.
XXXXXXXX

Tier Points
XXXX

BA Miles
XXX,XXX

From November 2011

Avios points
XXX,XXX

Warm regards,

James Hillier
Executive Club Manager

A good thing that after much deliberation I ended up booking LHR-NRT on VS and not BA. At 400 TP I'd have made BA Silver within a year, with 600TP, no chance.