Finnair, Finland’s national airline, is based at Helsinki-Vantaa airport (HEL). It serves over 100 destinations in Europe, Asia and North America.

A member of the oneworld alliance, Finnair has recently adopted Avios as the currency of its Finnair Plus frequent flyer program.

Finnair does not serve Canada, but operates flights to six destinations in the USA: New York (JFK), Chicago (ORD), Los Angeles (LAX), Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW), Miami (MIA) and Seattle-Tacoma (SEA).

In France, the carrier operates a daily service between Helsinki and Paris (CDG).

At first glance, the Finnair Plus program doesn’t seem very attractive to Canadian travellers. However, award ticket possibilities are much greater than on Finnair wings alone. As a member of the oneworld alliance, the company has 15 partner carriers.

The Finnair Plus program opens a new door to redemptions in coveted cabins such as Qatar Airways’ QSuite and Japan Airlines’ First Class.

Finally, Finnair sells British Air ways flights at the same Avios price as British Airways, but with far fewer carrier fees or surcharges.

The Finnair Plus program is priced according to a fixed schedule. Prices are divided by region, with one charter for flights operated by Finnair and a different charter for each partner carrier.

For example, a flight between North America and Europe with Finnair costs 30,000 Avios in economy class and 62,500 Avios in business class.

With Japan Airlines, award seats between Japan and North America are 33,500 Avios in Economy Class, 94,250 Avios in Business Class and 125,000 Avios in First Class.

Qatar Airways flights between Qatar and North America cost 50,500 Avios in Economy Class, 130,000 Avios in Business Class and 170,000 Avios in First Class.

The charters of the other partner companies can be found here.

From tomorrow, it will be possible to link British Airways Executive Club and Finnair Plus accounts. You’ll find the procedure on this page. We will update this article when the transfer of Avios between the two programs becomes available.

For the time being, you can already create a Finnair Plus account and start exploring the possibilities of this newly accessible program for Canadians. To be continued!