Buy Finnair Plus Avios with up to a 40% Discount (Through March 30)
Like many airlines, Finnair Plus puts on occasional promotions during which Avios are sold with a bonus or a discount. Whenever these sales pop up, it’s a good idea to take stock of what’s at stake and see if you can work it in your favour.
This time, you can buy Finnair Plus Avios with up to a 40% discount, making this one of the better deals we’ve seen from the program – and there’s even a trick to getting the lowest price possible.
If you have your eyes on some aspirational oneworld flight redemptions or a flight to Northern Europe, a sale like this could be a strategic move to score travel in premium cabins while stretching your points budget further.
Buy Finnair Plus Avios with up to a 40% Discount
Finnair Plus has launched its newest promotion on purchased Avios, offering a tiered discount structure with a maximum of 40% off. The size of the discount you’ll receive depends on how many Avios you purchase:
- 5,000–19,000 Avios: 25% discount
- 20,000–49,000 Avios: 30% discount
- 50,000–84,000 Avios: 35% discount
- 85,000–200,000 Avios: 40% discount
The promotion runs through March 30, 2026. At the maximum 40% discount, Finnair Plus Avios work out to approximately 1.3 cents USD each – which is among the better per-point prices we’ve seen from this program.
Note: Unlike some previous Finnair Plus promotions, this current offer does not include a Tier Points bonus.
We value Finnair Plus Avios at 2 cents per point (CAD), so buying at a discount offers meaningful upside – especially if you have a specific high-value redemption in mind.
Remember, you can transfer Avios into your Finnair Plus account from your British Airways Club account, so it shouldn’t be too hard to meet any minimum account balance requirements to access this sale.
How to Transfer Avios Between Accounts
Read moreWith Finnair Plus, you can purchase a maximum of 200,000 Avios each calendar year, excluding any bonus points. If you were to max out this offer at the highest discount tier, you’d be acquiring a substantial Avios balance at a compelling price point.
The Trick to Getting the Lowest Price
Finnair’s purchase portal defaults to EUR pricing, where the base rate is 2.1 cents per Avios (≈ 2.42 cents USD). However, if you switch the payment currency to USD, the base rate drops to 2.17 cents per Avios – meaning the discounted price at the 40% tier works out to approximately 1.3 cents USD per Avios, which is the best rate available in this promotion.
Which Credit Card Should You Use to Buy Avios?
Finnair Plus processes Avios purchases through Points.com, which means these transactions won’t earn travel category bonuses on credit cards like the American Express Platinum Card.
Therefore, your best strategy here is to use:
- A card with a strong baseline earning rate
- For Canadian cards, this means the Business Platinum Card from American Express (1.25 Membership Rewards points per dollar spent) or the RBC® Avion Visa Infinite Privilege† (1.25 RBC Avion points per dollar spent)
- In the United States, consider the Capital One Venture X Rewards Card (2 Capital One Miles per dollar spent)
- A card which you’re working on a minimum spending requirement
- Check out our picks for Canada’s Best Credit Card Offers, updated monthly
- A card with no foreign transaction fees, since purchases will be in a foreign currency
- Scotiabank’s suite of Scene+ credit cards are best for this purpose, including the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Card, the Scotiabank Gold American Express Card, the Scotiabank Platinum American Express Card, or the Scotiabank Passport Visa Infinite Privilege Card
Great Credit Cards for Buying Avios
Welcome bonus: 130,000 Membership Rewards points
Annual fee: $799
First-year value
$1,914
Welcome bonus: 60,000 Scene+ points
Annual fee: $150
First-year value
$850
Welcome bonus: 100,000 Avion points
Annual fee: $399
First-year value
$826
Welcome bonus: 80,000 Scene+ points
Annual fee: $399
First-year value
$601
Welcome bonus: 45,000 Scene+ points
Annual fee: $120
First-year value
$525
Welcome bonus: 80,000 Scene+ points
Annual fee: $599
First-year value
$451
As a reminder, Points.com is registered in Canada, and you’ll be obligated to pay GST/HST if you have a Canadian billing address. If at all possible, you should aim to use a foreign billing address to avoid the added costs, which erode the value from the sale.
When Does It Make Sense to Buy Finnair Plus Avios?
Speculatively buying points without a redemption in mind is almost never a good idea, since loyalty programs could implement changes at any time. However, buying points during sales can also deliver exceptionally strong value, especially when you compare it to paying cash for the same flights.
When Should You Buy Points?
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Guaranteed Award Availability with Finnair
Finnair guarantees a minimum amount of award seats that are released on all of its short- and long-haul flights.
For flights to and from North America, you’re guaranteed to find at least four award seats available in economy, and at least two award seats available in premium economy and business class on Finnair-operated flights at the following rates:
- Economy: 30,000 Avios
- Premium economy: 43,500 Avios
- Business class: 62,500 Avios
If you value predictability, then you can depend on there being at least two business class award seats on every Finnair flight.
Plus, those award-flight prices are excellent, especially when you consider that the taxes and fees on Finnair flights are also quite reasonable.
Premium flights are almost always the best deal when it comes to award redemptions. Purchasing enough Finnair Plus Avios for a round-trip booking in business class to Europe (125,000 Avios) at the 40% discount rate would represent significant savings compared to paying cash for the equivalent itinerary.
As a reminder, Finnair operates flights between Helsinki and Toronto, New York, Chicago, Miami, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Seattle (in North America).
If you don’t live in or near any of these cities, consider booking a positioning flight to get yourself to one of them once you have a Finnair-operated flight locked in.
Positioning Flights: What You Need to Know
Read moreSweet Spot Redemptions on Partner Airlines
Finnair Plus offers members access to oneworld airlines, as well as non-affiliated partners. Each partner airline is subject to its own award chart, which can be found on the Finnair website.
If you’ve located award availability on a oneworld or partner airline, you’ll be happy to know that Finnair Plus doesn’t levy a hefty amount of taxes and fees for award bookings in premium cabins. Plus, award pricing is quite reasonable, and in many cases, it’s better than what you can find for the same flights booked via The British Airways Club.
If you can find “Saver” award availability on flights with American Airlines, you might do well with Finnair Plus – especially if you have your sights set on the Caribbean and Mexico.
I booked a one-way flight from Vancouver to Cancun via Dallas for just 25,000 Avios plus a few hundred dollars in taxes and fees, which is an absolute bargain.
While it’s exceedingly rare, if you come across Cathay Pacific business class award availability, the pricing with Finnair Avios is excellent. You’d pay just 85,000 Finnair Plus Avios for a flight from Vancouver or Toronto to Hong Kong.
In fact, if you’ve found award availability with oneworld airlines but it doesn’t show up on the Finnair Plus website, I’d encourage you to call in and see if they can price it out. You may well be pleasantly surprised with the results.
Padding Your Other Avios Balances
Outside of the aforementioned excellent applications of Finnair Plus Avios, you can consider using a sale like this to pad your overall Avios balance.
One of the unique aspects of Avios is that it’s a points currency used by multiple programs. In addition to Finnair Plus, Aer Lingus AerClub, The British Airways Club, Iberia Plus, and Qatar Airways Privilege Club use Avios, too.
Each program has its own set of sweet spots, and if you can find award availability for a flight in one of the other programs, you can buy Finnair Plus Avios during this sale and convert them into other “flavours” of Avios from within the ecosystem.
Depending on the program you’re moving Avios to or from, there are some strings attached to this, but it’s worth looking into.
How to Transfer Avios Between Accounts
Read moreOther Ways to Earn Avios
Before jumping on this promotion, consider these more cost-effective methods to build your Avios balance.
Canadian Credit Card Options
American Express Membership Rewards transfer to The British Airways Club at a 1:1 ratio, occasionally with transfer bonuses up to 30%. Consider these cards as great pathways to a tidy sum of British Airways Avios:
RBC Credit Cards for Earning Avios
Welcome bonus: 60,000 Avios
Annual fee: $165
First-year value
$1,135
Welcome bonus: 100,000 Avion points
Annual fee: $399
First-year value
$826
Conclusion
Finnair Plus is currently offering up to a 40% discount on purchased Avios – one of the better buy-miles promotions we’ve seen from this program, with Avios coming in at approximately 1.3 cents USD each at the best rate.
As we’ve explored in this article, there are certainly some great redemption opportunities available, and plenty of ways to turn your purchased points into outsized value with the right strategy. Whether you’re targeting guaranteed business class seats on Finnair to Europe, sweet spot redemptions on American Airlines, or topping up your broader Avios balance for use across the ecosystem, this sale is worth a close look.
If you’re interested in taking advantage, don’t delay – the promotion runs through March 30, 2026, so lock in your purchase before it expires.
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