Finnair devalues points and raises fees and surcharges for award tickets
Points depreciation is the companion of every points traveler. Sooner or later it comes to all [...]
The devaluation of points is the companion of each traveler with the points. Sooner or later it comes to all loyalty programs, sooner or later it hits all mileage accumulators, and there is nothing one can do but take note of it and go again. If you are new to this world, I'm sorry but the golden years you have lost them, but it is useless to think about the past also because we are interested in future trips.
The Finnair write-down
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Today we have already put a news of the Finnish carrier, and it is not good news when a premium carrier adopts the rules and approaches typical of low-cost carriers.
On the bright side, if we want to see the glass half full, that Finnair gave early warning since the changes will be triggered next June 15 and the devaluation could have been much more severe, but it is a meager consolation.
We have always said that at the European level the Helsinki-based company was the one that applied the minor surcharges to award tickets, things stay that way, but tickets still become more expensive.
Points increase to redeem award tickets
The fateful date is June 15, from that day Finnair Plus will increase the cost of award tickets.
Above is the old award table, and the increases are substantial especially on long haul. For example, for a round-trip ticket from Milan to Helsinki you go from 20 to 30 thousand avios points.
While For a Milan/Bangkok business ticket you go from 160k to 190k points.
Increasing surcharges to redeem award tickets
Making the devaluation of points even more salacious is the concomitant increase in surcharges that will be applied to award tickets. Finnair still remains cheap if we think about what award tickets cost with certain companies, but it's still not good news.
Again, the new surcharges will take effect on June 15, 2023. A round-trip business class ticket from Italy to Bangkok in addition to 190k avios points will also cost €280 in taxes (€120 each way for intercontinental and €20 each way for the approach flight from Italy). Still a few, but almost more than double the current table.
Increasing costs for upgrades with points
Increase everything and they couldn't help but increase the cost of class upgrades as well. The increase is 5,000 points to go up one class and 10,000 to make the double jump from economy to business. Smaller increases on short/medium haul flights, but that's not what we points travelers care about.
