Strategically buying points for premium travel can be a great value. Finnair Plus has just launched its newest promotion on purchased Avios, offering up to 50% bonus. This is pretty average as far as promotions from the program go, and it definitely has the potential to represent a good value, with a specific use in mind.
Promotion on purchased Finnair Plus Avios
Finnair Plus is offering a limited time bonus on purchased Avios. If you purchase Finnair Plus Avios between September 21 and October 5, 2026, you can receive the following deal:
- Buy 7,000-24,000 Avios, receive a 30% bonus
- Buy 25,000-54,000 Avios, receive a 35% bonus
- Buy 55,000-89,000 Avios, receive a 40% bonus
- Buy 90,000-200,000 Avios, receive a 50% bonus
Now, here’s where it gets interesting — Finnair lets you select the currency in which you want to buy Avios (you can find the option to switch currencies at the top of the screen), and the price differs:
- If paying in JPY, Finnair ordinarily charges 3.33 JPY per Avios (2.11 cents in USD)
- If paying in USD, Finnair ordinarily charges 0.0217 USD per Avios (2.17 cents in USD)
- If paying in EUR, Finnair ordinarily charges 0.021 EUR per Avios (2.41 cents in USD)
So based on current exchange rates, you’re best off paying in JPY, followed by USD, followed by EUR. If you maxed out the promotion with a 50% bonus and paid in JPY, the best deal you could get would be to pay $4,229 for 300,000 Avios (including 100,000 bonus Avios), which comes out to 1.41 cents per Avios (in USD).
Note that this offer is only available to Finnair Plus members who have a minimum balance of 100 Avios in their account (though those Avios can be transferred from another “flavor” of the currency).
Which credit card should you buy Finnair Plus Avios with?
Finnair Plus Avios purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
Since the purchase of Finnair Avios can potentially be billed in a foreign currency, there is one other great option. The Atmos™ Rewards Summit Visa Infinite® Credit Card (learn more) offers 3x points on foreign purchases, so that’s a fantastic card for this kind of purchase.
Is buying Finnair Plus Avios worth it?
What should you expect from Finnair Plus award pricing, and the best ways to redeem to Finnair Plus Avios?
Below you can find the one-way Finnair Plus award redemptions rates for travel on Finnair.
Awards also have surcharges, though they’re at least mild. If you have a connecting itinerary, you’ll only be charged the surcharge correlated to the most expensive segment flown.
When your award booking includes a connecting flight, Avios are charged separately for each flight, except for flights within Finland and Northern Europe. For example, a Frankfurt to Helsinki to New York business class award would cost you 82,500 Avios (20,000 Avios plus 62,500 Avios). One awesome thing is that Finnair Plus has an award seat guarantee, meaning there’s pretty consistently award availability when booking far in advance.
Finnair Plus also allows redemptions on partner airlines, though the pricing isn’t particularly attractive, for the most part. The more important thing to keep in mind is that it’s possible to transfer Avios between the various “flavors” of the currency.
Therefore this promotion is also an opportunity to earn Avios that you can transfer 1:1 to programs like Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Club, Iberia Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, etc. That opens up more redemption opportunities.
Bottom line
Finnair Plus has launched a promotion on purchased Avios. With this, you can receive up to a 50% bonus when purchasing Avios, which is an opportunity to buy them for 1.41 cents each (in USD, when paying in JPY).
This isn’t some amazing deal that everyone should take advantage of, but with a short term use in mind, I think many people could find this to be valuable. In particular, keep in mind that this is an opportunity to earn rewards with other “flavors” of Avios, thanks to the 1:1 transfer options.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this promo on Finnair Plus Avios?
the price for 85K is not 1.3cpp. Math
"If you maxed out the promotion with a 50% bonus and paid in JPY, the best deal you could get would be to pay $4,229 for 300,000 Avios (including 100,000 bonus Avios), which comes out to 1.41 cents per Avios (in USD)."
The operative phrase being if you maxed out the promotion. At 85k you are not maxing out the promotion.
That’s a decent offering. Thanks for the tip about the exchange rates.
Whether you buy or not will depend on where you are based and which routes you are targeting.
If based in Oceania could be worthwhile as qantas keeps dumping award space on some routes, and close in when Y is expensive would be advantageous to have avios. However the cancellation fees make avios less attractive than AS miles. Just wonder how...
That’s a decent offering. Thanks for the tip about the exchange rates.
Whether you buy or not will depend on where you are based and which routes you are targeting.
If based in Oceania could be worthwhile as qantas keeps dumping award space on some routes, and close in when Y is expensive would be advantageous to have avios. However the cancellation fees make avios less attractive than AS miles. Just wonder how long AS will not charge change/xl fees. Also the surcharges on BA avios are higher than AS.
Also a little on the hefty side having to buy 85k avios to get the highest discount.
That’s a decent offering. Thanks for the tip about the exchange rates.
Whether you buy or not will depend on where you are based and which routes you are targeting.
If based in Oceania could be worthwhile as qantas keeps dumping award space on some routes, and close in when Y is expensive would be advantageous to have avios. However the cancellation fees make avios less attractive than AS miles. Just wonder how...
That’s a decent offering. Thanks for the tip about the exchange rates.
Whether you buy or not will depend on where you are based and which routes you are targeting.
If based in Oceania could be worthwhile as qantas keeps dumping award space on some routes, and close in when Y is expensive would be advantageous to have avios. However the cancellation fees make avios less attractive than AS miles. Just wonder how long AS will not charge change/xl fees. Also the surcharges on BA avios are higher than AS.
Also a little on the hefty side having to buy 85k avios to get the highest discount.
There's some reason that the 1.3 cpp is only if you purchase a full 200K points. It must be a stepped bonus.
Not if I need to buy 85k to trigger that price.
Beware... if you trust Finnair, but they let you down... you might get stuck... in HEL!
Hahahahahaha, ugh. Idiot.
Teehee.
I do hear that Hel (the one near Gdansk) is lovely though.
Actually, Trondheim Airport in Norway is located in Hell. The first train stop from the airport to the city is at that station and it has the famous sign 'Hell - Gods Expedition'.
I remember that Finnair had a Flight AY666 to HEL, though.
Would the Atmos card trigger a 3X bonus if denominated in Euro or is points.com always process in the US regardless of currency?