Finnair Plus - Finnair Plus 20 years campaigns

I did not see a thread for these FB offers yet:

Use the services of 20 of Finnair Plus partners and earn 20,000 award points (http://www.finnair.fi/Events/event.jsp?id=20_partners_ENG)

Fly to 20 Finnair destinations and earn 100,000 award points (http://www.finnair.fi/Events/event.jsp?id=20_destinations_ENG)

Right now the registration links seem to be missing though although registration should be open until 31 May 2012. Will check with Finnair Plus customer service why the registration is not working.

Seems to me that they've gone out of their way in figuring out offers that as few people as possible will take advantage of. 20 partners? 20 destinations? Come on.

Seems to me that they've gone out of their way in figuring out offers that as few people as possible will take advantage of. 20 partners? 20 destinations? Come on.

Exactly my first thought as well. Very few people go to 20 different destinations by plane within one calendar year and even less can/will do so with Finnair. Strange way to celebrate 20 years when only a really small fraction of the members can realistically join the party..

Besides the missing link, I can't access my account either. (system error)

Weak!

Exactly my first thought as well. Very few people go to 20 different destinations by plane within one calendar year and even less can/will do so with Finnair. Strange way to celebrate 20 years when only a really small fraction of the members can realistically join the party..

20 different destinations is hard even for HEL based members. Many heavy FFs have travel patterns where they fly to couple of destinations very often but 20 different destinations requires some leisure extra flights. Based on my travel I can easily reach 10-15 destinations but 20 is a stretch. So far this year I have done 7.

20 partners is more attainable but again you have to be Finland based and eat and sleep in different locations.

20 partners is more attainable but again you have to be Finland based and eat and sleep in different locations.

Not mentioning, that if you have 19 partners, you get zilch. A serious campaign would be "1000p/partner, up to 20.000p"

It's outright ridiculous, that the 20 destinations campaign is open since 1/Jan, but on after the 1st quarter there is (still?) no registration link.

This all make me just shrug and murmur "could I care less?"

20 different destinations requires some leisure extra flights.

I suspect that's what they're trying to encourage. I note that it's not only final destinations though, but anywhere you fly through (from the rules OUL–HEL–BKK–HEL–OUL gives you three destinations), so taking advantage of some strange routings could help.

But not actually having a registration link is a much bigger problem. If our new ambassadors are going to be talking directly to AY more often, perhaps they could persuade them to make this promotion apply to all AY+ members, rather than only people who've explicitly registered for it (or, if not, at least include flights taken earlier in the year).

Not mentioning, that if you have 19 partners, you get zilch. A serious campaign would be "1000p/partner, up to 20.000p"

It's outright ridiculous, that the 20 destinations campaign is open since 1/Jan, but on after the 1st quarter there is (still?) no registration link.

This all make me just shrug and murmur "could I care less?"

The link was there before, as I have registered for the 20 destinations campaign. IT cock-up?

But yeah, 20 AY destinations is so out of reach for most people that I don't see the campaign having much effect on most anyone's actual behaviour. (Last year I had ten AY destinations.)

Well, I like this kind of challenge, but even for an "unnormal" person like me I can't see how it could be done. Last year I did 4 AY destinations.
Sure, I could alter my japanese destination, that could add 2. (at a hefty pricetag, as KIX and NGO are much more expensive).
I could go the odd route to HKG via BKK, and add 1.
I could alter starting-point even if that would be really inconvenient (swedish airports are not inter-connected, need to take train or fly via ARN). And most of the "AY-flights" are flybe anyway, so at most I could add 2 by this.

So that is a total of 9. What is left? HEL is a very bad connection point for euro-destinations from sweden/denmark. Most destinations are not even sold from here, and those that do sell, have layovers of 8-12 hours in HEL. Destinations that do have reasonable connections come with pricetags like 3250€ in econ. I am not kidding.

So there is 18 finnish destinations left... Assuming there are 11 of those not serviced by flybe, I'll guess I could do weekends in finland. 11 weekends... Well, I love Finland, but not that much. I guess it is just not for me.

And what finally kills the deal is: The reward is 100k award points. I have no use of award points. I can't upgrade (no F class) and use them on reward flights is more expensive than buying a low econ fare...

And you would have to credit all those flights to the AY programme. If flying low-eco, it most likely pays off to credit to AAdvantage and forget this campaign even if you, for some reason, happened to go to 20 different destinations.

The partner offer seems doable at least for members based in Helsinki, it's more a question of is it worth the trouble...

Let's say there might be five participating shops and restaurants in the Helsinki area where I could want to buy something during the year - maybe up to another five if I consider potential gift items or indulging a bit. That's a total of ten partners or less, still at least halfway to go... Didn't check all details, but some ideas:

There are a few offers that could earn points without actually spending much or any money:

take out all the credit cards you can get and don't have yet (if they count as partners), or earn points on cards you have (again if that counts)
invest 500€ in Tapiola funds and sell them afterwards (the 3500 points you can earn from this should help offset fees that selling probably incurs)
purchase 500€ worth of some currency that you're going to need, at Forex


That's something between 10 and 15 total so far. Other easy options to get a few more:

visit HEL, pay for a day's parking and have lunch at the airport (that's two)
maybe some Plus partner shops at the airport while you're there
buy the cheapest item you can find in participating mail order shops (there are some for less than 10€ including shipping - a silly thing to do if you don't need the stuff, but you're essentially purchasing 20000 points if those are the last partners missing from 20)


For partners still missing after that, you could consider spending instead of collecting points:

there are quite a few where you can buy a voucher or a gift card with a combination of money and points (starting at 1000 points, which seems to give about a 3€ discount off the cash price, or sometimes more)
buy an item from the Sony music store for 500 points
four charities accept donations starting at 1000 points (and a further two require a higher minimum)


That should add up to 20 without wasting too much money, and possibly spending a few thousand points to cover what you can't get otherwise (by which you're essentially just renewing those points if they were about to expire and you didn't have other uses for them - in fact it would be sensible to spend even up to 20000 points to get 20000 and so push the expiration date forward).

The question remains, is 20000 points really worth doing all that. If it were 50000 points for the partner offer and 200000 for the flights then maybe; with the actual offers I'm not so sure.

If I were passionate about golf, collecting the partner offer would be much easier as there seemed to be quite a few of those. The strangest I saw was Kultaranta Resort which gives 10000 points if you hit a hole-in-one. I wonder how they would verify that, or do they just take your word for it - I mean nobody would cheat at the game to get frequent flyer points now would they? :rolleyes:

(And yes I had a slightly boring day at work today)

20 different destinations is hard even for HEL based members. Many heavy FFs have travel patterns where they fly to couple of destinations very often but 20 different destinations requires some leisure extra flights. Based on my travel I can easily reach 10-15 destinations but 20 is a stretch. So far this year I have done 7.



I wonder if ARN and BMX are two destinations??
Different airport codes, same destination code, located in different municipalities...

I am fairly new at the AY game but really does not seem worth the work for the points awarded... Asothershave said status miles migt make it more attractive but reallywhat does 20,000AY points get you? Or even 100,000?

Maybe our recently announced new Excellencies could try to take this up with AY+ and have them match the points with tier points or add a few zeros to the points? :)

Otherwise this campaign isn't even worth trying for, the ROI is far too low. :td:

If I were passionate about golf, collecting the partner offer would be much easier as there seemed to be quite a few of those. The strangest I saw was Kultaranta Resort which gives 10000 points if you hit a hole-in-one. I wonder how they would verify that, or do they just take your word for it - I mean nobody would cheat at the game to get frequent flyer points now would they? :rolleyes:


I imagine to collect the points you need verification from the caddie master. And this means that there is the obligatory round of drinks at the club house... Not very cheap points. Of course, some credit cards offer insurance for this.

For my spending pattern this offer seems doable, though. Hilton counts as a partner, as does Sokos Hotels. Several golf courses. Cigars from Havanna Aitta (works, have tested it, even if I usually get the smokies from tax free). Several good restaurants in Helsinki.

I am fairly new at the AY game but really does not seem worth the work for the points awarded... Asothershave said status miles migt make it more attractive but reallywhat does 20,000AY points get you? Or even 100,000?

20000 doesn't do much, but I like to keep enough points on my account for the possible upgrade (the only thing AY+ points are really needed for, as you can't pay for upgrades in cash and can't purchase points directly). 20000 isn't much even for that, but for me it helps as I don't really credit flights to AY+ any more.

I think I'll register and keep the list of partners in mind for things I might buy or do anyway, and toward the end of the year see how many I have and decide if it's worth collecting the rest.

Maybe our recently announced new Excellencies could try to take this up with AY+ and have them match the points with tier points or add a few zeros to the points? :)

Otherwise this campaign isn't even worth trying for, the ROI is far too low. :td:

One point to remember is that either myself or SPBanker has no direct relationship/link to Finnair Plus at the moment. The idea is that the international FT Team approaches the airlines directly and we then see how things could possbily develep. Just wanted to make this clear to everyone and set the expectation level right :)

For my spending pattern this offer seems doable, though. Hilton counts as a partner, as does Sokos Hotels. Several golf courses. Cigars from Havanna Aitta (works, have tested it, even if I usually get the smokies from tax free). Several good restaurants in Helsinki.

Note though that Sokos Hotels is only one partner and only counts once even if you stay at several hotels. Probably the same with Hilton.

With that and other restrictions (I think it said flights "and services" by Finnair and other airlines don't count, but which services does that mean exactly?), I wonder how the Plus member is supposed to keep track of how many of the 20 does he have. Will the account statement have some indicator to tell whether a transaction is eligible? Will transactions from one partner (even if sold under different brand names) always show the same text, or do you have to guess or know which of them count as one partner only?

Also good to note that any specials at the sokos hotels dont qualify for point ie asiakasomistaja price is not valid... most of their prices are such...

I also asked AY (though still waiting for a awnser in their facebook pages) if I get the AY diners and the AY Mastercard if that would count as two partners but still no reply...

their customer service and FB team are really slow in replying...

20 year celebration does not give anything to AY's loyal customers who do not fly on a very regular basis and even for them the offers are ridiculous. One more reason to give up AY+ and credit points to other OW airlines.

20 year celebration does not give anything to AY's loyal customers who do not fly on a very regular basis and even for them the offers are ridiculous. One more reason to give up AY+ and credit points to other OW airlines.

You surely mean AY-?

So, how are people faring re: Finnair Plus 20th Anniversary promos?

As H1/12 is now over, I checked my AY+ account to find that I had had eight destinations: HEL, JFK, VAA, SVO, PEK, VIE, TLL, NRT. For July-September I have booked so far (not counting the aforementioned) CDG, OUL and CPH. Later in the year there will be PVG, ARN and FRA. That's fourteen AY destinations. Depending on the schedules, I might decide to fly to LED instead of taking the train, so that would make it 15.

I count myself as a fairly frequent flyer, but there seems to be no way I can make 20 destinations. I would be curious to know how many people actually reach this threshold.

Indeed a very difficult one. Landing in (take-offs doesn't count) 20 unique destinations, flying on AY metal and AY-ticket.

I have three actual; HKG, HEL, GOT

(Done in january, and by then I had re-qualified until mid 2013, less incentive to fly AY after that)

If I had kept flying AY on routes op by AY and that made sense I could have added CPH, ICN, NRT

And if really desperate add PRG (not very natural to fly CPH-HEL-PRG).

75000+ BIS km, and only 3 valid destinations... Not a promotion for me :o

With that and other restrictions (I think it said flights "and services" by Finnair and other airlines don't count, but which services does that mean exactly?), I wonder how the Plus member is supposed to keep track of how many of the 20 does he have. Will the account statement have some indicator to tell whether a transaction is eligible? Will transactions from one partner (even if sold under different brand names) always show the same text, or do you have to guess or know which of them count as one partner only?

At the end of October (or thereabouts) I got an email from AY+ telling me that I had points from 14 AY+ partners, and needed only six more for 20,000 points.

At the end of October (or thereabouts) I got an email from AY+ telling me that I had points from 14 AY+ partners, and needed only six more for 20,000 points.

Did you pre-register for the promotion, or did they send the mail "un-solicited"? (IIRC this promo doesn't need registration until the end of year?)

Did you pre-register for the promotion, or did they send the mail "un-solicited"? (IIRC this promo doesn't need registration until the end of year?)

I did register.

At the end of October (or thereabouts) I got an email from AY+ telling me that I had points from 14 AY+ partners, and needed only six more for 20,000 points.

I got the same email :) getting harder to find the remaining 6 :)

No email for me, but then again with 19 to go, so I wasn't expecting any cheer-me-on :p
(I was expecting some communications asking "where are you?" since I have extremely low activity this year.)

I guess this is as good a place as any to note that one can now use AY+ points for Marriott nights (https://pointshop.finnair.com/product_info.php?cPath=552_3_565_586&products_id=975&language=en). 34,000 points per night in the Americas, 48,000 in Europe, 76,000 elsewhere. Perhaps not the optimal use of points, but... Unfortunately no chance to get AY+ points from Marriott stays.

Just to follow up on this one...

I did as I had planned - made a note of the Plus partners list, and made sure to present my card when using their services.

Result: Points from three partners haven't posted after two or three months, and a fourth I'm still waiting after a somewhat shorter time. Without those I don't have half of the required 20, so there's not much sense in chasing the rest, even though there would have been a few easy ones.

I had kept all receipts, and made a habit of paying with the Finnair Plus Diners card to make possible problems easier to sort out. So I called Finnair and asked what I should do. Answer: I can contact each Plus partner and ask them to re-process the points. After they do, and if that takes longer than end of the year, I can then request if Finnair Plus would make a special exception and still accept them for the campaign.

I'm probably not their target customer (though I did try to follow the promo), but for me it turned out rather useless. :td:

Follow up:

Got 20k points for partners credited yesterday, still waiting for 100kp to be credited though. :)