amrit1982

Hi there!

Im looking to do a business class mile run end of March 2023 (MAD-LHR-JFK-SFO, LAX-JFK, LHR-MAD) and had a couple of doubts:

1- My intention is to credit my Finnair Plus account - I know it would earn less than on BA/AA but I find myself using Finnair a lot to travel to Asia. Does it make sense or should I be crediting to BA/Iberia (where I have no Tier Points currently)?

2- There is an option to do fly part of the trip on Finnair (where I would earn more with Finnair Plus), but it would cut the stop in JFK (hence reducing the amount of Tier Points). Probably a bad idea but just wanted to confirm with the experts

Thanks and greetings from a newbie!

soy

You talk about Tier Points but then say you will credit to Finnair. Tier Points are specific to BA, so you will get no TP if you credit to Finnair. My guess is your goal is OW Sapphire status. I am not familiar with Finnair's program but I doubt your route will be enough to get OW Sapphire there

amrit1982

Hey @soy - thanks for the reply (and excuse the possibly silly questions - I'm just getting started with this!)

My objective is to get OWS and, if possible, OWE as soon as possible.

My flight schedule looks as follows:

1. November - MAD-HEL-DEL-HEL-MAD in Finnair Business Classic
2. January - MAD-HEL-DEL-HEL-MAD in Finnair Business Classic
3. March - MAD-LHR-JFK-SFO-LAX-PHX-LHR-MAD in BA/AA

I have 0 TP currently in my BAEC account, 0 in IB Plus account, 40k points in Finnair Plus, and 92 QPoints in QR.

Aside from the above confirmed schedule, I am likely to be taking BA/IB for any future short-haul, and probably Finnair for travel to Asia.

Based on the above, would it make sense to credit all 3 flights to Finnair to try to obtain OWS (and possibly OWE) if that is the objective?

Or would it make sense to credit flight 3 on BAEC?

Thanks!

palcsaky

Quick back of a fag packet calculation (assuming the lowest fare buckets R, I) the above would get you ~ 100 436 Finnair tier points or 1300 BA tier points, enough for OWS but 50 000 Finnair / 200 BA TPs short of OWE.
As you already have 40 000 finnair tier points you may only need further 10 000 to reach OWE provided you manage to squeeze them all into one collection year (the existing 40k AND 110k from new flights). This is something you need to be mindful of.
Likewise, if you decide to credit to BAEC make sure the TPs all go into one collection year. May be worth cancelling the existing BAEC if your balance is zero and opening new one a couple of days before your first flight.
Just to add, the first two trips alone will get you OWS regardless of whether you credit to Finnair or BAEC.

craigthemif

IB+ isn't worth the hassle.

You really should research the two different methodologies - BA / Finnair - of earning elite status and the benefits of that status. You will probably want to choose ONE main Oneworld programme and stick with it.

Any BA expert around here could add up the Tier Points - 360 x 2 for the DEL itineraries and 580 for the US trip - leaving you a bit short of the 1,500 TPs you need for BA Gold, assuming that your BA TP collection year doesn't end between November and March. No idea what you would get from Finnair Plus.

But if you are going to be flying Finnair mostly, that BA Silver / Gold status doesn't get you very many bonus Avios due to your tier. So, if you have any concern for the value of the miles you are earning, you also need to look at the different award chart options.

Also, Oneworld Emerald gets you into the exact same lounges as Oneworld Sapphire at the vast majority of airports in the world. So it might not be worth the effort.

Lots of factors to consider.