NeoZ

Hi All!

I hope this message finds you well.

I am thinking of changing from Marco Polo to Finnair. Currently, I am MPC Gold (OW Sapphire).

What attracts me to Finnair is they credit points based on distance travelled in kilometers. If we take Finnair flights, we can get bonus tier points based on tier. I always take Cathay flights and based on the OW award chart, I always get 100%. I heard that if FFP credit points based on distance travelled, it is a good FFP. Can someone elaborate on this?

I travel 3-4 times HKG-LHR in economy with Cathay, and I pay the standard economy fare. Since I always travel during peak seasons, the price of AY business is 450 euros more than CX economy. I feel it may be a good deal to have OW status if I take AY Business and reach Gold or even Platinum.

When you talk to Finnair, are they nice and generous? Does Finnair have a good back-up office?

Just in case you did't collect enough points for tier retention, are they willing to offer you grace periods or just waive it if you are just missing a few points? Any negotiation? Will they offer you tier retention or upgrade if you collect 95% of the points, just like Cathay?

I am a bit confused about lounges at HEL. If I am going to LHR, should I go to the Schengen side or the non-Schengen side lounge? If I land at HEL and want to have a shower which one should I go? Are the lounges always crowded?

Many thanks!
Best Wishes, Neo

AY1337

> I heard that if FFP credit points based on distance travelled, it is a good FFP. Can someone elaborate on this?
This probably refers to the American system of dollars used vs. distance traveled, which means that people buying expensive full fare business class flights get easier status and it's more difficult to grind it with lots of flying (..cheap) - whether it's good or bad depends on what kind of frequent flyer you are.

> I am a bit confused about lounges at HEL. If I am going to LHR, should I go to the Schengen side or the non-Schengen side lounge? If I land at HEL and want to have a shower which one should I go? Are the lounges always crowded?
You'll go to the non-Schengen side as LHR is outside of the Schengen zone. If you land from outside of Schengen (from HKG?) and are going to LHR you'll never go to Schengen side anyway. The lounges are crowded at peak times, otherwise it's relatively quiet.

Jainzar

If you are going to fail by less than 50% of the required tier points, then you can simply exchange award points to tier points at a rate of 3:1 (plus a 10€ handling fee). So you can e.g. exchange 15k award points into 5k tier points.

If you fail minimally (e.g. by less than 2k points for Platinum) at requalification, then you can ask them to requalify you manually.

WilcoRoger

450€ extra for AY C over CX Y is very good deal.

4x HKG-HEL-LHR will take you to AY Plat (OWE) - base earning is 16k+4k each direction + status multipliers, if applicable. Flying longhaul in business is a surefire way to reach Emerald status on AY. Emeralds earn 225% on AY coded business class flights.

If at the end of your qualification year (not calendar year) you fall short of tier renewal, you can exchange some of your reward points to tier ponts at the rate of 3:1. No grace period.

NeoZ

Hi All,
Thanks for the reply.

Are the award points of good use when redeeming Cathay flights? Sorry, I'm new to the game.

Should I redeem Finnair flights by using my award points? Alternatively, which airline should I redeem?

Many thanks!

Best Wishes, Neo

deissi

The best value for award points is upgrades (50k for a longhaul upgrade). Alternatively, AY awards are ok value (although for long hauls you need to pay like 250-300 € taxes and fuel surcharge). CX awards are terrible value. You can also look at oneworld awards, but that's already a bit more complicated .

Superrman

As @WilcoRoger pointed out, flying AY C (I-class ideally for discount) with 200% + tier bonus earning is the best way to earn status in AY+. Value tickets (100% + tier bonus) in Economy class are also good, but of course that means sitting in the back of the bus. 4 return long-hauls in C or 8 return long-hauls in Value should give you Platinum/OWE.

Best value from award points comes from upgrading AY flights. (alternatively, exchanging points in order to qualify to next tier, if that tier is Platinum/OWE with lots of extra upgrade vouchers, F lounge etc)

NeoZ

Thanks Superrman

Just to confirm: if I have a gold status and would like to become Platinum, I should exchange my award points to tier points?

Roughly how much euro = 1 tier point? And how much euro = 1 award point?

Many thanks, Neo

BlueNordicSky

250% actually, the 25% is a multiplier. A platinum flying HKG-HEL-LHR-HEL-HKG in J will earn 50k.

Superrman

That depends on your amount of flights honestly. But if you are not flying more in that qualifying period and you are within range of a new tier by exchanging points then it can be worth it. Points are exchanged at a rate of 3 award points = 1 tier point, so you are definitely losing out on point upgrades and awards by doing this (and instead gaining status benefits like upgrade vouchers, lounge etc.)

As for value of each point, it really depends

One example is 50k award points = long haul upgrade, which might be sold for around 300-500€ in cash. A European r/t award ticket in Economy is 30k. To TLV, DXB or AGP this might be a good deal. For a trip to TXL? Not so much. In other cases like buying lounge access or something from Finnair Shop, award points generally have much less value.

As gold member based in Nordics, I get 20700 points (tier and award) for a r/t to Asia in Value booking class, where I would consider a price below 500€ to be good value, so I operate with this kind of mental math when trying to get good value for my money. But then you suddenly buy a short-haul ticket for 150-200€++ giving a few thousand points and this mental math doesn't really work anymore. Or a Joint Venture fare to NA/Japan with minimal earnings. Or a non-AY flight in a bad booking class. There's a lot of variables!

Another way of thinking about it is the option to directly buy award points. Right now, 50000 award points cost 643€. Not something I have ever considered doing, but there are times (especially with sales) where this could be a good use of your money.

Hope my post was useful, even if my conclusion boils down to "it depends".

Take a look at this thread as well maybe: Value of Finnair Plus points?

zxcv1

If you fly CX and collect the points for AY+ I would consider anything above 40 TP/EUR to be good value. Look for CX off-season LH. After you reach AY+ tiers you might want to consider AY ticketing as only those flights will give you the tier bonuses.

99% of things you can spend your award points on are very bad deals. The only acceptable or good deals, in my opinion, are conversion into TP for tier upgrades, and J upgrades. Typically things are at least 3 times more expensive if paid using points compared to simple euros, but in the end it all depends on your particular preferences. If you have zero use for the points, then any lounge access etc. is a "good" deal, but I would guess one always has better uses for the points if one keeps on travelling.

NeoZ

Hi All,

Though this question is a bit straight-forward.

Any bad things about Finnair+? How about the positives?

Thanks, Neo

Ed Size

The new award and upgrade policy is a little tricky, booking award flights on other OW airlines can be also a little complicated. You easily get and keep the Emerald status by flying LH in J.

AY+ is a pretty good program if mainly flying on AY, since the service for Platinums is still pretty good and you can collect a lot of points if flying J - also still upgrades to J are possible from the lowest priced Y ticket.

NeoZ

Hi zxcv1

Do you mean anything above 40 MPC club points is worth to credit points for AY+?

(1) A silly question. If I book in business, what upgrades do I have if I use award points?

(2) If I redeem flights, will I get reward and tier points?

(3) If I have to re-check-in my luggage at HEL, do I have to go through security check (i.e. checking laptops, liquids) before you enter the border?

Many thanks, Neo

Courmisch

1) You can't upgrade from Business on Finnair since they have no First class. I suppose you might be able to buy extra bag allowance with the points but... ?
2) No, no and also no qualifying segments. That's one of the reasons why many here, including myself, consider that business upgrades are better use of the award points than award flights.