In 2023, the Finnair Plus program adopted Avios as its rewards currency. I’d consider this to be a positive development, given the ability to transfer Avios between the various “flavors” of the rewards, with programs like British Airways Executive Club and Qatar Airways Privilege Club.
When Finnair adopted Avios as its rewards currency, the airline also introduced an award seat guarantee, whereby the oneworld carrier guarantees a certain number of award seats per flight when the schedule first opens. The thing is, many people have been frustrated and disappointed by this feature, because they don’t actually see the award seats when the schedule opens.
Well, there’s a trick to unlocking this award space, so I wanted to cover that in this post.
In this post:
Details of Finnair’s award seat guarantee
As anyone who has ever tried to redeem miles can attest to, finding saver level award availability can be difficult at times. That’s why it’s always great when an airline guarantees a certain number of award seats.
Along those lines, Finnair has an award seat guarantee, promising anywhere from six to eight award seats per flight:
- On short haul flights, Finnair promises at least six award seats, comprised of two in business class and four in economy
- On long haul flights, Finnair promises at least eight award seats, comprised of two in business class, two in premium economy, and four in economy
To be clear, this applies when booking through Finnair Plus, and that guarantee doesn’t exist when booking through partner frequent flyer programs, like Alaska Mileage Plan and American AAdvantage (though they may sometimes have access to award space as well). There are some additional exclusions to be aware of:
- The award seat guarantee doesn’t apply on flights to and from Doha
- The award seat guarantee doesn’t apply on flights that aren’t to and from Helsinki
- The award seat guarantee doesn’t apply on flights where tour operators have reserved the majority of seats
Historically Finnair hasn’t been great about making award seats available, so I’d consider this guarantee to be a great perk, since you at least know that you’ll get access to a decent amount of space when the schedule opens. Given the limited fees for redemptions on Finnair, this is also a great use of Avios. I’m also generally a fan of Finnair’s long haul business class, as it’s a quirky product, due to the no-recline seat.
The secret to Finnair’s award seat guarantee
I’ve seen a lot of people mention how Finnair’s award seat guarantee doesn’t actually seem to exist. And indeed, I can see how people reach that conclusion.
If you go to Finnair’s website in the United States and search for two business class award seats between New York and Helsinki as far out as the schedule goes, you might not actually see any award availability. I did exactly that search with flexible dates, and got a message saying that there are no seats available.
This is where the trick comes into play. If you switch the country of the website to Finland (even if you keep English as the language), you should suddenly see that award space.
I did exactly the same search again…
…and as you can see below, every date had two business class award seats available (each seat costs 62,500 Avios, which is where the cost of 125,000 Avios comes from).
So yeah, to use Finnair’s award seat guarantee, you have to use the Finland version of Finnair’s website.
Now, I can’t actually tell you why this quirk exists. I’m not sure if it’s intentional or if it’s a tech glitch. Regardless, it’s good for those who are in the know, since it makes award availability easier to find. And just to be totally clear, you’re not violating any rules by visiting the Finland version of the Finnair website, as you’re not claiming to live there, or anything.
Bottom line
Finnair has an award seat guarantee, whereby the airline promises at least two business class award seats on virtually all flights (along with a certain number of seats in other cabins).
The catch is that you’ll often only find this award availability when accessing the Finland version of Finnair’s website. So if you don’t see availability when the schedule opens, just change the website location to Finland, and you should have much better luck.
Have you taken advantage of Finnair’s award seat guarantee?
I would imagine that, unless one flies to/from Scandinavia frequently, Avios on Finnair aren't the easiest Avios to earn. Can you transfer BA Avios to Finnair, as you can with Iberia and Qatar?
Isn't this discrimination a form of racism?
Critical Race Theory?
Well, this article was great for those who have Avios. For us AA miles hoarders it is sad, because now there will be even less AY award seat availability for us.
Thanks for this post. Just locked in two seats from JFK-HEL for next summer. Not many seats in the schedule with good departure dates, but this worked out perfectly for once.
Headsup (as alluded to in another comment of mine) that destinations like ORD and SEA Finnair are seasonal only and the definition of "season" shifts _after_ they announce the schedule. Chicago, for example, had its season reduced by two months, from October to August, _after_ they had sold tickets.
Getting your award ticket changed when Finnair cancels flights is possible, of course, but let's just say that Finnair's customer service via chat and phone...
Headsup (as alluded to in another comment of mine) that destinations like ORD and SEA Finnair are seasonal only and the definition of "season" shifts _after_ they announce the schedule. Chicago, for example, had its season reduced by two months, from October to August, _after_ they had sold tickets.
Getting your award ticket changed when Finnair cancels flights is possible, of course, but let's just say that Finnair's customer service via chat and phone is not the most, umm, responsive. Of course if you have status with them, you can WhatsApp them or get a special phone number.
But for normal folks, you're sitting waiting 30-45 minutes for anyone to pick up on chat and _several_ times the chat does not even let you wait. It literally says, "[T]he queue is so long that we cannot estimate how long a wait you have." And then it literally kicks you out and ends the chat session.
The whole point here is to say that if you're going to use this wonderful availability to book award flights at end of calendar (i.e. 355 days out), pick a location that will _not_ be likely to be cancelled or reduced: LAX, DFW, and JFK. It is less likely that Finnair would reduce schedules and cancel flights to these locations and, thus, less likely you'll need to try and get someone to change your award flight after you've booked it.
I suppose MIA would be okay too but for most folks I imagine flying to Miami to fly to northern Europe is severely out of the way.
Finnair keeping rewards Finnish... If only I had known previously...
*twitch eyes*
Perkele...!
You and other bloggers are doing a disservice with the continual “transfer Avios among programs”. It’s a bunch of BS and the ability to transfer is an advertised ability but fails for most every time.
Finnair just devalued some of their short haul awards. Flights within North America (continental USA and Canada), North America–the Caribbean and Mexico, and Flights within South America. Pretty criminal to no-notice devalue right after the transfer bonuses.
Virgin -- every seat -- dynamic pricing.
Lol Ben, you ousted my trick. Used this earlier this year to book my tickets.
Thanks Ben, had the same issue and a stack of Avios at Finnair.
Thanks Ben, definitely looking forward to flying with them soon.
Although I will say JFK availability seems to be a lot better than other US airports. The West Coast in particular is slim pickings right now: you can barely find one business class seat from SEA or LAX and certainly not two together.
I might be willing to sit in premium economy from US East Coast to Helsinki. I'm not surprised, though, that those West Coast destinations exhaust their allotment of business awards quickly. LAX-HEL is 10+ hours flight time and then you add on the inevitable 45 minutes "sit in your seat while everyone else boards and the plane waits to taxi."
The issue with Seattle is that Finnair runs such a short Summer schedule up...
I might be willing to sit in premium economy from US East Coast to Helsinki. I'm not surprised, though, that those West Coast destinations exhaust their allotment of business awards quickly. LAX-HEL is 10+ hours flight time and then you add on the inevitable 45 minutes "sit in your seat while everyone else boards and the plane waits to taxi."
The issue with Seattle is that Finnair runs such a short Summer schedule up there: May-August. Plus for the past three years they've announced longer seasons and then cancelled months' worth of flights (same with Chicago, which saw its end date shift from October to August). When they cancel weeks and weeks of flights the remaining ones get booked pretty quickly.
Too bad, because that SEA-HEL flight is nice and barely 8 hours' time in the air. I was lucky to fit my vacation into their schedule this past Summer... but not everyone can accommodate the airlines' whims.
Thanks Chris, that was a helpful reply! Yeah, the time difference between SEA vs LAX is definitely noticeable on transatlantic flights and I do have a slight preference for SEA for that reason. But… like you say, that window of opportunity for flights is pretty limited.