Interesting Finnair promo, points & status on sale at once
Generally when airlines (but also hotels) offer promotions in which they sell points, they never turn out to be very profitable. [...]
Finnair
Oneworld
HEL
Generally when airlines (but also hotels) offer promotions in which they sell points, they never turn out to be very profitable.
In this article:
In this complicated period, however, any excuse is good to cash in fresh money, companies, therefore, have come up with various offers: from the TAP Portugal's status match to those in which bonuses are offered against the purchase of points.
Why is this Finnair promo different?
Usually we are used to seeing offers that provide a bonus as a percentage to miles/points purchased ranging from 25% to 50%. Rarely is the bonus higher and therefore more convenient for frequent flyers to purchase.
But in this case, the Finnish company offers a bonus of up to 100%. What does it mean? That for every Finnair Plus point purchased, you will receive one free point. The loyalty program rules state that you can buy a maximum of 150k FP per year, so for 150k points purchased, you would receive a total of 300k FP.
Good news, but definitely not hair-pulling, except that Finnair's promotion, valid from today until Nov. 16, also stipulates that 25% of the points purchased will turn into status points, those that are normally only collected by flying and are (almost) never on sale.
In this case we recommend that you use any American Express card to finalize the purchase so as to earn the relevant MRs of the transaction as well.
Let's look at the promotion in detail:
Purchasing from 5,000-49,000 bonus points = you get 60% bonus points
Purchasing from 50,000-99,000 bonus points = you get 80% bonus points
Purchasing from 100,000-150,000 reward points = you get 100% bonus points
The 25% of bonus level points will be applied to the total amount of the reward point transaction. For example, if you purchase 150,000 bonus points, you will receive 150,000 bonus points and 75,000 status points.
How to maximize the bonus to achieve Emerald Oneworld status
As known Finnair participates in One World alliance, along with BA, Qatar and American Airlines and many others, this means that thanks to status points one would be within a whisker of the OneWorld Sapphire level.
Finnair Silver (oneworld Ruby) requires 30,000 status points
Finnair Gold (oneworld Sapphire) requires 80,000 status points
Finnair Platinum (oneworld Emerald) requires 150,000 status points
To obtain the Emerald level one would have to fly 76 routes over a year (or accumulate 150k status points) practically one has to live on a plane. The reward for the holder of this level is obviously commensurate, the card would give free access to British Airways first class lounges, free upgrades on American Airlines flights, and much more.
In short, compared with just under 2.000€ you can buy 150k Finnair Plus and receive as many free ones, in addition to that you would also find yourself credited within 3 days with 75k level points, just a whisker away from Gold level.
It is worth mentioning that the Finnish company has A rule that allows you to be able to convert Finnair Plus points into status points. So we could decide to "invest" 225k of the newly bought points to turn them (at a conversion rate of 3:1) into status points and find ourselves in less than 3 days having Platinum status, which in the One World alliance is precisely the Emerald level.
At the end of this rigmarole we would find ourselves with 75k award points left, which is enough to make three round-trip business class flights from Helsinki to northern Europe.
This promotion is attractive not so much because of the miles on offer, but because of the possibility of being able to earn Emerald OneWorld status with a spend of less than €2,000, rather than spending half of 2021 on a plane. If you fly British Airways often, even in super economy fares, this is the perfect investment for you. Free seat selection, access to all One World lounges around the world and even First Class lounges in London, plus a host of other privileges. We would also like to remind you that. Finnair is one of the partners of American Express you can then transfer Membership points into Finnair Plus points.
