Finnair restricts Avios flight reward bookings in business class

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One Mile at a Time is reporting that Finnair has started to block its business class availability for partner airline award redemptions beyond 60 days in advance.

This means you will no longer be able to book Avios tickets on Finnair as soon as flights are released. Other oneworld and Finnair partners face the same restrictions.

Whilst this is annoying, Finnair is not the first airline to do so. Lufthansa, SWISS and Singapore all restrict First Class availability to their top frequent flyer members up until a few weeks before departure (or, in the case of SWISS, never offer it at all).

Finnair A350

It looks like Finnair may be limiting availability for all but its top tier Platinum and Platinum Lumos members. Unfortunately there is no formal announcement of these changes that clarify the exact restrictions that have been imposed.

Economy does not appear to be affected by this change – these appear available beyond 60 days in advance.

Here is an example – Helsinki to London is available for 22nd March in Business Class:

…… but not 23rd March, or any day thereafter:

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Finnair and Finnair Plus

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

BJ says:

24 Jan24 January 18:05

OT Monese: Just tried a Co-op paypoint top up. I was told that the terminal displayed ‘card not recognised’. Anybody else?
- Steve-B says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 18:24
  
  I topped up yesterday evening with a bit of hesitation but was all OK. Latest changes are making us all paranoid 🙂
- Voltron says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 18:29
  
  Topped up today with no problems
- Peter K says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 18:30
  
  I find they need to swipe the card, not scan it, or it doesn’t work. Topped up yesterday at a COOP fine.
- Axel says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 19:05
  
  Put something else into the sale.
  
  My ccop now grab a bottle behind the counter, put it into the transaction, then refund it out before final payment.
  
  Doesn’t work with PO
  - memesweeper says:
    
    24 Jan24 January 21:46
    
    I almost always buy something when topping up.
    
    I’ve done my 5k for the month so I’m cancelling premium again and going to sit this out and watch from the sidelines … although it’s tempting to try and do another month I just can’t see the four parties here all allowing this to carry on. Someone is loosing money…
- EwanG says:
  
  25 Jan25 January 20:00
  
  I had that BJ at a Scotmid which is not on the paypoint map but does have a paypoint! I thought it was because I hadn’t used the card before so I popped out to the atm outside, changed my pin and tried again. Still no joy and have not yet tried it at any of the other branches nearby, some which you mentioned success with!
Craig says:

24 Jan24 January 18:12

I’ve been with Avro a while and moved to this tariff yesterday. All sorted it out in 10 minutes using Twitter messaging.
Fred S says:

24 Jan24 January 18:15

OT: any bonus available to upgrade from ba amex to amex bapp?
- BJ says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 18:20
  
  Some people get 6000 avios but most seem to get nothing, just your luck. A case of try and see I think, I don’t recall anybody being offered them or successfully requesting them as a condition of upgrade.
  - Polly says:
    
    24 Jan24 January 22:00
    
    Nothing on mine today. More worrying the tracker missing from the home page. I had 9.5k spend on the bacc which is supposed to be continued with my BAPP. Will check see if it appears tomorrow. Need my 241 with 2 yr expiry.
John W says:

24 Jan24 January 19:26

Thanks for this information !

I am normally on top of this – but today there is a £165 saving available

Thanks again !
Harry T says:

24 Jan24 January 21:09

OT, as bits:
Heading to Sydney on 3rd March for two weeks in Australia. We were planning to do a road trip from Sydney to Melbourne but it looks like everything we want to drive through will be on fire or a pile of ashes! Can anyone recommend some good day trips and excursions out of Melbourne? We are now thinking of flying from Sydney to Melbourne after a few days and exploring the areas around Melbourne. I know Phillip Island was mentioned previously. We want to see the best of rural and coastal Australia in that region.

Flights booked with Qantas (Avios) and the shiny new HIX is booked for Melbourne on IHG points.
- Liz says:
  
  24 Jan24 January 22:32
  
  We drove to the 12 Apostles one day – long drive and early start to do it in a day but worth it. Next day Philip Island to see the fairy penguins but you need to prebook that.
- Lyn says:
  
  25 Jan25 January 07:25
  
  Mornington Peninsula to the South – walks, tranquil bay beaches and “back” surf beaches (and a walking trail joining them), views from Arthurs Seat, kangaroos at dusk at Sea Winds, the Moonlit Sanctuary (conservation) for day and/or evening visits – koala, kangaroos, birds etc., boutique wineries, art galleries (including glass blowing), Ferry from Sorrento across the bay to Queenscliff.( the start of the Great Ocean Road).
  
  Wilsons Prom (south east beyond Phillip Island) for walking especially, more coastal scenery. Phillip Island as mentioned, a bit more touristy. The Dandenongs and Yarra Valley (more boutique wineries) east of Melbourne. The tourist information centre opposite the central Flinders St station has a lot of useful information.
  - Harry T says:
    
    25 Jan25 January 09:31
    
    Thanks, @Liz and @Lyn
    Looks like there’s plenty to do outside of the fire stricken areas!
  - Lady London says:
    
    26 Jan26 January 17:45
    
    I recall old comments that the Great Ocean Road has a high rate of accidents. Is that old / not true?
    - guesswho2000 says:
      
      29 Jan29 January 03:10
      
      I’ve driven the GOR a fair few times. The accident rate is higher than average on account of the volume of tourist traffic (there’s ‘drive on left in Australia’ signs everywhere, which aren’t the norm), but I’ve never witnessed anything. There’s a general issue here (Victoria) with overseas drivers and their inability to drive, the concentration of tourists in that area just concentrates it.
bill says:

24 Jan24 January 21:46

https://www.ft.com/content/782da316-3ea8-11ea-b232-000f4477fbca
TGLoyalty says:

24 Jan24 January 22:48

Thanks Harry nice reminder to check mine.

Looks like a npower uswitch exclusive is the best for me.

can see 3000 Avios or £30 using your fav site (I’ll be choosing this option) unless you know of any other ways to get more ?
Lady London says:

26 Jan26 January 17:48

I’ve been quite surprised it’s only £100m. Does not seem anything like large enough to rescue it.