Finnair Plus will get ”fantastic new improvements”
Jun 23, 2018, 10:40 pm
#511
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Plat Lumo, SK Gold
Posts: 954
At least there seems to be a small delay on giving the vouchers to everyone becoming Gold. I became Gold at the beginning of this month and received the vouchers on the 3rd. Just yesterday Mrs. r2d2 changed award points to become Gold. Her status was updated immediately but she hasn't received the vouchers yet.
Jun 24, 2018, 12:54 am
#512
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,171
Thanks for posting - very interesting.
I wonder why they've separated the perk allocation from the tier upgrade. Now people get "fake gold" instantly and then have to wait for a background maintenance sweep to get the real gold and the perks? It is great that account upgrades are instant (I assume free seat allocation and other online perks are also instant) but I see no reason to leave the vouchers out of the equation.
.
Junior has been "fake gold" for a week now, but maybe servers also gets a few days off for midsummer / juhannus
About the points expiry, it is starting to look like a bug to me. On the account it says numerous times/places that points do not expire, but the list of "expiring points" has been populated after becoming gold.
The dates and points batches has nothing to do with how/when points were earned. So that caught my attention. 16128 is just a too even number (only upper bits of a 16 bit word) and twice in a row is not random - there was a programmer behind this :-D
I wonder why they've separated the perk allocation from the tier upgrade. Now people get "fake gold" instantly and then have to wait for a background maintenance sweep to get the real gold and the perks? It is great that account upgrades are instant (I assume free seat allocation and other online perks are also instant) but I see no reason to leave the vouchers out of the equation.
.
Junior has been "fake gold" for a week now, but maybe servers also gets a few days off for midsummer / juhannus
About the points expiry, it is starting to look like a bug to me. On the account it says numerous times/places that points do not expire, but the list of "expiring points" has been populated after becoming gold.
The dates and points batches has nothing to do with how/when points were earned. So that caught my attention. 16128 is just a too even number (only upper bits of a 16 bit word) and twice in a row is not random - there was a programmer behind this :-D
Jun 24, 2018, 4:44 am
#513
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Plat Lumo, SK Gold
Posts: 954
Aug 9, 2018, 4:19 am
#514
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: HEL
Programs: AY, SK, TK
Posts: 7,595
Looking again to avail of the new awards changes for positive, but no-no it seems that redemption is even more difficult. Nothing desirable during holidays or times or places where you could think of "sweet spots", such as Dubai... so sweet no sweet
Aug 9, 2018, 4:23 am
#515
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, TK Elite, BT VIP, AA, BA, SK, DL, NT, WB + hotels
Posts: 8,745
I'm not so sure I agree. Booked LPA, spending Christmas and New Year's there. 30k miles + €26. No waitlisting needed.
A revenue ticket would have cost €657, and with some flexibility, €517. Quite good value of points. ^
A revenue ticket would have cost €657, and with some flexibility, €517. Quite good value of points. ^
Aug 9, 2018, 4:50 am
#516
Join Date: Jun 2015
Programs: AY+, SK EB
Posts: 2,958
I requested flights for the holiday season with inbound immediately confirmed and outbound cleared within of 4 hours. For me it was 70€ + 31k points vs 400€. ^
Aug 9, 2018, 5:02 am
#517
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 938
IME, since the program change in June they have reduced award ticket availability, however for an AY Plat they always release seats (award travel or upgrade) shortly after requesting.
Aug 9, 2018, 5:28 am
#518
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: try to stay home
Programs: AY, M&M, BAEC ...and don t care of status anymore
Posts: 2,041
I would second that, till the date I made a different experience. But quite general they clear seat if you go direction Asia, direction America I never got seat yet (on AY metal). I could get awards but on AB back in the days, even if the AY flight to ORD on the same dates looked pretty empty.
Aug 9, 2018, 3:05 pm
#519
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, GC Jade
Posts: 102
Well, one needs to plan early...I booked HEL-DXB-HEL in C on the A359 for six people for the Feb school holiday week. For kids 30k + 44€ each as this was in May before the changes. And obviously for adults booked right after the change to get the new cheaper points rate
IME, since the program change in June they have reduced award ticket availability, however for an AY Plat they always release seats (award travel or upgrade) shortly after requesting.
IME, since the program change in June they have reduced award ticket availability, however for an AY Plat they always release seats (award travel or upgrade) shortly after requesting.
The rationale of this system is completely beyond me, though. Why would you build an application to check the "availability" of award flights, if that "availability" has absolutely nothing to do with whether awards are actually available? Maybe an FTer with more insights into how airlines operate can explain?
Aug 9, 2018, 5:22 pm
#520
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,171
Havent seen any explanation for this "strategy" beyond a bug.
Aug 10, 2018, 12:01 am
#521
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Vantaa, Finland
Programs: AY Lumo, FB Gold
Posts: 1,667
The rationale of this system is completely beyond me, though. Why would you build an application to check the "availability" of award flights, if that "availability" has absolutely nothing to do with whether awards are actually available? Maybe an FTer with more insights into how airlines operate can explain?
Aug 10, 2018, 12:35 am
#522
Join Date: Oct 2008
Programs: AY Plat Lumo+LTG, FI Gold, DL Silver, BA, SK, AX Plat, Priority Pass, Marriott Ambassador & others
Posts: 634
Aug 10, 2018, 1:08 am
#523
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: HEL
Programs: AY Platinum, Hilton Gold, Marriott Gold, GC Jade
Posts: 102
Aug 10, 2018, 1:21 am
#524
Moderator, Finnair
Join Date: May 2011
Location: MMX (CPH)
Programs: Eurobonus Diamond, QR Gold, AY+ Platinum, A3*G, Nordic Choice Lifetime Platinum, SJ Prio Black
Posts: 14,171
From what CS reps says when you call in and is placed in waitlist I think there now is an automated system, but it used to be manually monitored.
Staff used to say "I will talk/send message/nudge the other department and see if they can release a seat". Now they say things like "I'll put you on waitlist and let's see what the machine does - oh dear, you are already cleared off of the wait list, I'll send you the reissued ticket".
Staff used to say "I will talk/send message/nudge the other department and see if they can release a seat". Now they say things like "I'll put you on waitlist and let's see what the machine does - oh dear, you are already cleared off of the wait list, I'll send you the reissued ticket".
Aug 10, 2018, 3:05 am
#525
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: HEL
Programs: AY+ Platinum
Posts: 422
Staff used to say "I will talk/send message/nudge the other department and see if they can release a seat". Now they say things like "I'll put you on waitlist and let's see what the machine does - oh dear, you are already cleared off of the wait list, I'll send you the reissued ticket".
- I made an update request on about T- 20 days and got waitlisted
- On T - 15 days I got an update on email that my request is still pending and that they'll check availability again on T - 5 days
- On T - 10 days I got a new upgraded ticket. Checking the seat map on finnair.com showed that about half of the A350's J seats were taken.
It seems to me that it is an automated process but the email has some misleading information.