Finnair has just announced a rather lucrative deal. For a limited time, you can buy Finnair Avios with a 50% discount. “But Finnair doesn’t even fly to Australia,” I hear you say. That’s irrelevant, my friends. Since Finnair is now part of the Avios loyalty programme, you can easily transfer your points to British Airways or Qatar Airways. For example, a Qatar Airways saver fare (if you can find it) from Australia to Europe would cost you 90,000 Avios. Under this promotion, that works out to roughly $1,500 to fly Qatar Airways in business class. Pretty good!
In this post:
Finnair Promotion Details
Buy at least 5,000 Avios or more to get a discount. The discount structure is tiered as follows:
- Buy 5,000–19,000 Avios and get a 35% discount
- Buy 20,000–49,000 Avios and get a 40% discount
- Buy 50,000–74,000 Avios and get a 45% discount
- Buy 75,000–200,000 Avios and get a 50% discount
To buy the full amount of 200,000 Avios, you will spend €2,100, which is €289 cheaper than the best possible British Airways Avios subscription (one of the best deals on the market).
Tip: most credit cards will attract a 3% surcharge, instead use something like the fee free debit card from Ubank (which currently comes with a $30 sign up bonus)
When Does It End?
Transactions must be completed between 6 November (00:00:01 UTC+2) and 20 November 2024 (23:59:59 UTC+2) to earn the Avios discount.
How Many Points Can I Buy?
Finnair Plus members can purchase for themselves or as a gift a maximum of 200,000 Avios in the calendar year. The combined maximum amount of Avios that a member can buy or receive is 200,000 Avios per calendar year.
Any Other Reasons to Buy?
Obviously, Finnair is part of the oneworld alliance, so you can spend your points on any oneworld partner airline (such as Qantas).
Summing Up
This is a pretty compelling offer! Personally, I will probably buy some points, but I’ll wait and see what other airlines will launch for Black Friday in the coming days. As always, I don’t recommend buying points speculatively unless you have use for them in the immediate future. You can buy Finnair Avios here.
How much would the taxes and charges be though? 1500 dollars plus ? To get from Perth to dublin. Still looks like a very good deal
Around AU$512
It’s only a deal if you can find the VERY limited seats at 90k.
Only useful if you’re really flexible to fly around whenever you want, at the last minute, or plan a trip 12 months out – otherwise you’re wasting your money and better off paying for seats and avoiding stuffing about with points.
Hi, I am about to book a flight with Qatar from Europe to Australia and just came across this offer. Can I use the miles that I transfer to Qatar for any flight or only for the Saver fare that you mentioned on top?
You can use them for flex awards as well, just keep in mind that those are usually double the price of a saver award but have more availability. And yes, you can use your Finnair Avios and pool them to Qatar via British Airways.
How can i transfer the points to Qatar if my main membership is Qatar Airways.
Hi Khalid, you simply transfer them to BA first via linking your accounts: https://www.finnair.com/au-en/finnair-plus/buy–transfer-or-exchange-avios/transfer-avios-between-finnair-and-british-airways
BA and Qatar have a link as well which pools both accounts so after you transfer to BA, link your BA account with QR and then you can book on the QR website. You can do so here; https://exchange.shopping.ba.com/partner/qatar
Hi Immanuel,
Is it cheaper to book awards on BA Avios instead of Qatar Airways when actually flying on QR?
It will be for a flight from the Middle Easy to Asia, then Asia to Europe. Thanks
Hey Mo, prices are all aligned these days so it should be the same. If you’re QR Platinum (gold as well i think), you do get a discount so it pays to book that way. You can also access more rewards at double the price via QR. Check both and compare before booking.