Why should I consider Finnair Plus Premium Cabin Tickets

I’ve been looking for the best ways to cash out my hard-earned points and miles, and as programs change and depreciate, this can be time-consuming.

But Finnair Plus is Finnair’s loyalty program that has caught my attention lately. In May 2024, the program adopted Avios, a currency used by Aer Lingus, British Airways, Iberia and Qatar Airlines.

More than 90% of my redemption is for premium cabin tickets, so finding sweet spots or shows at the best speed is the best way to maximize my rewards.

Here are some reasons why I’m considering redeeming Finnair Plus for future premium cabins.

The ability to book air tickets earlier than most OneWorld plans

The best way to book a bonus seat, especially for premium cabins, is to book as early as possible.

This translates to know when airlines will open bonus seats, as it is possible to snap up premium seats in first or business class or miss them altogether even a few days. I usually travel with my family, so finding three tickets on the same flight was a challenge.

Here are some of OneWorld airline regular flyer plans, around the timeline for opening reward tickets.

Finnair Plus opened the awards 361 days ahead of schedule, beating commonly used programs such as the British Airways Club, American Airlines Aadvantage and Alaska Mileage Program.

It is important to note that for Partner Awards, you must consider the calendar of the airline you fly with and the calendar of the airline you booked with.

For example, when searching for Finnair Plus, you can see a 361-day reward seat, but if you want to buy a US Airlines flight, the Aadvantage program can only book 331 days in advance. So in this case you will need to wait until 331 days to go out before booking the American Airlines Awards with Finnair Plus.

I’m a big fan of the Aadvantage program and one of my favorite redemptions is the business class on JAL from the U.S. West Coast to Tokyo, which lasts 60,000 miles or first-class 80,000 miles.

When searching for business-grade rewards for JAL via Aadvantage, the calendar will stop in June; however, when searching through Finnair Plus, I can book the July 2026 awards.

Finnair reward costs are higher: 94,000 Avios vs 60,000 Aadvantage Miles. However, since it’s hard to get three tickets at times, I’m worth the extra fee. With Finnair, I will spend 282,000 Avios for my family, otherwise I will be about $8,400 and each Avios is worth 2.9 cents. According to TPG’s July 2025 valuation, Avios is worth 1.4 cents, which means that this redemption will double my value.

More premium seat reward availability (especially Finnair flights)

Getting a premium cabin reward earlier is a great benefit, but it is more useful when you consider the number of redeemable seats.

If you are new and mileage, one important aspect to remember is that an airline will always release more reward seats on its program than other partner airlines.

For example, if you want to book a business-grade award ticket on an American Airlines flight, the Aadvantage program will show you the availability of booking an American Airlines Award through the British Airways Club. Similarly, Finnair Plus offers more business-grade rewards when booking flights on Finnair.

One-way Finnair flights from the United States to Helsinki Airport (HEL) cost 62,500 Avios in business class, which is much lower than the number of people charged by British Airways.

One of the biggest restrictions on reward bookings is the limited seats per aircraft. Since getting to Europe is the expensive part, I found it easy for my family to fly directly to Helsinki in Finnair Business Class and then buy cheap cash tickets and arrive at our next destination in Europe.

Finnair Plus is a good plan if you want to travel to Europe with minimal taxes and premium cabin rewards.

According to several searches, partner airlines also appear to have released larger seats to Finnair Plus than other OneWorld plans. Cathay Pacific is notorious for its close cabin reward space for opening quality with its partners, but Finnair seems to be the exception.

In January 2026, in my search results, Cathay Pacific commercial-grade flights from Hong Kong to London appeared. However, the availability of the same flight failed to appear when searching in AADVANTAGE and Alaska Mileage Plans.

I haven’t had a commercial-grade flight on a long-haul flight, as there is very little availability for Aadvantage, but with Finnair Plus I’ll be able to check the items for that bucket list.

Related: Mobile, British Airways – Finnair Plus has some excellent Avios desserts now

Due to transferable rewards, there are many earnings for Avios

Now that we know you can book through Finnair plus bonus flights earlier than other plans, and you can use more quality cabin seats, this is the way to start leveraging it.

I tend to use my Aadvantage miles for bookings. However, since AADVANTAGE does not work with any transferable reward credit cards, it is difficult for me to make money, so I will be frugal.

Since Finnair adopted Avios as its currency, the program has been easy to access for U.S. customers. For example, you can transfer Avios to Finnair Plus from your British Airways Club account.

Fortunately, the British Airways Club has partnered with American Express membership rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Bilt Rewards, Mile and Wells Fargo Awards. You can also transfer Avios from Iberia and Qatar Airways to Finnair through British Airways.

Additionally, you can transfer points from the US Express Card to Qatar Airways Privileges Club and connect your account to the British Airways Club account. From there, you’ll see the balance of Katar Avios and can transfer Avios to Finnair Plus when logged in via British Airways.

A good way to earn transferable points is to apply Chase SapphireReserve® (See rates and fees), this is a profitable offer. New cardholders can receive a welcome bonus of 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first three months after opening, plus a $500 ChaseTravel℠Promotion Credit*.

*Promotional credit is only valid for one-time use, and if you apply promotional credit to transactions less than $500, you will lose your remaining balance.

Related: How to transfer Avios between your Aer Lingus, British Airways, Finnair, Iberia, Loganair and Qatar Airways accounts

How do I earn Avios to make it work

I’m currently earning AVIO with three credit cards in my wallet: American Express Platinum Card®,,,,, Chatong Sapphire Reserve and Citi Layer Premier® Card (See rates and fees).

My wife also has several credit cards that can be transferred to Finnair Plus (via the British Airways Club), so it makes for a greater chance of getting a premium cabin ticket.

Since I had enough chances to earn Avios with each of these cards, I didn’t have to be frustrated with my Aadvantage account, as this used to be my primary way to do premium cabin redemption for OneWorld Airlines.

Of course, with Finnair Plus, some awards are costly, but I would rather provide quality cabin tickets for my family to have a more comfortable travel experience than to miss it altogether.

Related: Credit Cards Helping to Encourage My Luxury Travel

Bottom line

The Finnair Plus program is not even within my scope, but it becomes much easier to access due to the program using Avios. Now the ability to transfer several different transferable rewards to Finnair through British Airways or other airlines that earn Avios now gives me more ways to redeem premium cabin tickets.

The biggest benefit of this program is the ability to go further with other OneWorld’s frequent flyer programs to search for reward tickets, which is convenient for those who book flights in advance. Overall, I look forward to booking hard-to-find awards, such as with Cathay Pacific and JAL.

Related: The Best Frequents Program for American Travelers