Booking Class in Finnair.com
 

First time ever trying to book AY and on the screen it shows:

DEPARTURE
Hong Kong - Helsinki
Fri 26 February 2010
AY068 R
09:40 - 14:40
Economy cabin
Helsinki - Madrid
Fri 26 February 2010
AY3681 R
17:00 - 20:25
Economy cabin

Is the "R" after flt no. the booking class?

Thanks a lot!

Yes, "R" is the booking class.

On a side note: Have AY changed thier numbering recently? Or who is operating this route? Isn't AY3xxx used for flights operated on behalf of AY?

On a second side note: It seems that AA have removed the limitation on earning miles on AY Leisure flights (AY1xxx & AY2xxx)

It used to be - but this flight is AY mainline. They recently introduced four-digit flight numbers for some European flights - for those flights that overnight at their destination instead of an immediate turn around. MAD is one of these, as are the late night flights to places like CDG and LHR. The change seems to be effective with the winter schedule 2009-10.

This is very interesting. Could someone confirm this, ie has someone actually got AA miles credited for an AY leisure flight?

This makes flying HEL-LPA quite lucrative as you get 2920 mi one-way + bonuses. ^

I contacted AA about this and got an answer similar to this

Thank you for your interest in AAdvantage and Finnair. All oneworld operated flights operated by Finnair are eligble for accrual. For more information look at aa.com.

On aa.com the following is mentioned. I don't see any exclusion at all.

Now the question is if Finnair consider leisure flights as not being oneworld flights and how the system figures this out.

AY's scheduled and leisure traffic units are being merged, not sure how they will make it work in practise though...

Can anyone confirm whether the R in this example really is the booking class? I am trying to make a booking and have the same R showing, but AA.com (AA is who I am trying to credit miles to) shows R on Finnair as Full Fare Economy earning 1.5 points per mile... and the ticket I am trying to book is definately NOT full fare economy.

Does anyone know if there are any fare classes on Finnair which don't earn miles on AA?

Thanks

Does anyone know if Finnair leisure flights indeed earn AA miles. Based on current rules and the discussion above, it certainly appears so.

Also, does anyone know when they will be releasing their leisure schedule for the summer. I am trying to go from anywhere in Greece to Helsinki in August, but don't see those flights showing up yet. I know they have historically done at least 2-3 destinations in Greece each summer.

Greece still is the Number One summer holiday destination for Finns so Finnair's tour operator Aurinkomatkat-Suntours has a wide selection of destinations next summer. You can buy just flights but from HEL only, I think. And the flight prices tend to be rather high, except the last minute deals. The flights are tailored for package holidays so AY leisure flights FROM Greece will be hard to find.

Their destinations in Greece this summer:

Crete
Kos
Lefkas
Limnos
Lefkas
Parga
Santorini
Skiathos & Skopelos
Zakinthos
(+Island Hopping)

Finnair's Aurinkomatkat-Suntours beach holidays summer 2011 (sorry in Finnish only):
http://www.aurinkomatkat.fi/rantalomat

I flew AY leisure last Summer and did not get any AA miles even after repeated requests. I wonder if this has changed for 2011.

Any information of this? Can I credit AY leisure flights to AA?

Leisure flights (AY1xxx) earns exactly 0 on AY. highly doubt they will earn better on AA...

Actually you do collect AY points from leisure flights as well! And probably better earnings than buying a cheap W class ticket to a regular flight.


From www.finnair.fi:

"You can earn points on your package holiday if the flights are operated by Finnair and the flight number is AY1001–2999. Your holiday may be organised by a third party, such as Suntours, with a charter flight from Finnair.

Other charter flights (e.g. AY7000-series special order flights) are not eligible for point accrual.

Please show your Finnair Plus card at check-in in Finland. A return leisure flight will accrue your tracking period flight total by one. Earned points are for both ways despite only one way being marked in the point information.

European and Mediterranean destinations: if your holiday takes place in Continental Europe or one of the Mediterranean destinations (such as Rhodes and Mallorca), you will earn 2,000 points for the return trip.

Canary Islands, North Africa and Middle East: if you're heading to the Canary Islands, North Africa or Middle East on your holiday, you will earn 3,000 points for the return trip.

North America, South America and the Far East:if your destination is in North America, South America or the Far East (e.g. Thailand), you will receive 4,000 points for the return trip."

Ah, I was totally off there. It is AY7xxx that does not earn. Sorry!

[Sarcasm] I really love this points system where you need to know not only the distance and the booking class but also the flight number before you can figure out how many points you will earn [/Sarcasm]