In Finland as well as in Spain or Hungary the silver and gold tresholds would, in theory, be even easier to meet than in "non-OW"-countries. In Finland, I can tell, the domestic full fare flights and tier point qualifying flights to anywhere using AY are so well priced, that the partner airline points in general do not come for free (and appear slowly in the statement). Then there are bargains by BA on routes especially TATL where there is much competition. Instead of a direct flight HEL-JFK (especially in business class) it would be an easy and clever decision to spend a few more hours onboard the BA metal - like sunrisegirl made the point.