Finnair offering a status match to SAS EuroBonus members

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• BJ says:

  22 Sep22 September 05:30

  Some of those short Scandinavian flights might be operated by NORRA and presumably wouldn’t count if it is strictly Finnair only. On my previous bookings Finnair did distinguish between ‘operated by NORRA’ and ‘operated by Finnsir’ but both carry Finnair codes, and I’d be surprised if NORRA wasn’t included.

  • riku says:

    22 Sep22 September 05:39

    Considering they sometimes change the aircraft from Finnair -> Norra, I think Norra would be included. I recently booked HEL-OSL and at booking time it was a Finnair A320 and two months later it had changed to a Norra E90 but flight number was the same.

  • AJA says:

    22 Sep22 September 08:23

    Do you know if a Finnair flight operated by Norra earns TP and Avios with BAEC if it has an AY flight number?

    • Robert Brooks says:

      22 Sep22 September 12:36

      I took a flight Helsinki – Tallinn with Norra under AY flight code (booked as LHR-TLL via HEL), and earned aIvo’s and TP from both legs. To be honest, as long as it’s an AY flight number, the operator shouldn’t matter.

      • Nick says:

        22 Sep22 September 12:57

        Norra is finnair’s equivalent to IB’s Air Nostrum and EI’s Emerald, and for all intents and purposes counts as their own flight.

    • BJ says:

      22 Sep22 September 13:52

      Yes, it’ll be fine as long as it has an AY number. I have always creduted to Alaska NO though … rich pickings.

    • Mr. AC says:

      22 Sep22 September 15:29

      When I investigated this some years ago the call center said no, but in practice TPs and Avios were awarded.

      • BJ says:

        22 Sep22 September 20:12

        BA call centre is clueless about Norra for the most part., have to guide most if tge agenrs on how to book them, they need to get the IT fixed.

• ACK says:

  22 Sep22 September 07:52

  I matched SAS status from BA silver, which is expiring end of this year and I’d soft land to bronze. I however successfully applied for a paternity extension which is for another year. Given the change in tier point collection year, I have a suspicion that my paternity extension will only be until April. In which case I might benefit from booking (but perhaps never flying) a finnar flight to retain my silver until Dec 2025.

• Mattia says:

  22 Sep22 September 08:33

  Why are you saying that “can’t be a UK to Helsinki one either”? I can’t see why from the T&Cs.
  Also, there is no requirement to actually “fly” the booking, so can I book two cheap internal flights and don’t fly them? (I’m based in London)

  • Rob says:

    22 Sep22 September 08:57

    Because only short haul flights to/from Sweden, Norway and Denmark count.

    You are correct on the last point but the rules say your match is cancelled if the flights are cancelled. I agree it doesn’t say what happens if you just don’t turn up.

    • Ziggy says:

      22 Sep22 September 10:48

      Perhaps booking two unrelated one way flights would be the safest thing to do if one has no plans to fly? Booking a return and not showing up for your outbound flight would almost certainly get your inbound flight cancelled.

      • Rob says:

        22 Sep22 September 11:00

        Agreed.

      • BJ says:

        22 Sep22 September 14:01

        Except if there is any manual intervention (probably unlikely) they will obviously smell a rat if a non-Scandinavian resident fails to show for two intraScamdinavian flights within the promotional period, particularly if the passenger has zero history with them.

  • John G says:

    22 Sep22 September 09:54

    Just remember the very cheapest AY fares don’t count. You’d be looking at around £150 for a ARN-HEL return for an eligible flight. Might be better to pay RJ $150 for their match.

    • Luke says:

      22 Sep22 September 12:51

      Why do you say cheapest fares aren’t include? The Finnair website says economy light fares are okay — are these not the cheapest ?

      • John G says:

        22 Sep22 September 15:14

        No. The cheapest economy flights in Europe are “super light” and not eligible.

• DMW says:

  22 Sep22 September 11:57

  What sense do you have about whether the BAH double tier point offer will be extended again?

  • Rob says:

    22 Sep22 September 12:40

    BA wants to move towards status based on spend (with a top up via BA Amex spend to give non-bankers some hope of still hitting Silver, although Gold is unlikely) of which the move to fixed membership years is part – so definitely no guarantee of an extension.

    • Nick says:

      22 Sep22 September 13:01

      Arguably a change to the earning mechanism would mean the holidays offer is more not less likely to continue, given that it will all of a sudden cost them significantly less.

      That said, anyone who needs TPs to maintain status would be well advised to book VERY soon.

    • BJ says:

      22 Sep22 September 14:03

      You forgot politicians.

    • LittleNick says:

      22 Sep22 September 15:50

      What is their motivation for doing this? It’s very upsetting for me as a non-banker

      • Rob says:

        22 Sep22 September 15:59

        The number of people spending £10,000 on a fully flex return business class flight to New York remains well down on 2019 and BA needs to win them all over, at the expense of everyone else.

        I suspect 2 fully flex business class tickets to New York may be enough for Gold (ie £20k spend) which would bring a small number of very lucrative people across from Virgin, United, Delta etc. Two fully flex J to NYC doesn’t even get you Silver at present.

        You saw the direction of travel from the ‘earn Avios based on spend’ move with a fully flex to NYC now earning almost 100,000 Avios for a Gold member.

        • LittleNick says:

          22 Sep22 September 16:17

          Ahh ok, took me a second read to understand the logic, but I gather then it is primarily about freeing up the lounges from status members so that the people buying fully flex tickets to wherever have a better lounge experience. Of course I’d rather BA increase lounge capacity by opening another lounge in 5B/5C but I suppose BA would rather not lol!
          Thanks for the explanation

        • Rob says:

          22 Sep22 September 16:52

          No, it’s about bribing people who companies spend £10,000 on fully flex tickets to fly on BA so they can get a Gold card to benefit them on their personal travel.

          Remember that at present someone could spend £50,000 per year on 5 x fully flex flights to New York in Club and still not get Gold, whereas you could get Gold for under £3,000 via a smart tier point run.

        • LittleNick says:

          22 Sep22 September 19:06

          Ok makes sense, but surely the easy answer is to just award more TPs for those flexible fare buckets instead of I class earning the same as J class.

        • BJ says:

          22 Sep22 September 20:21

          What’s the carrot though? Individuals/companies willing to drop £25k on 2x full flex J seats are not likely going to be swayed much by TP and status benefits.

        • Rob says:

          22 Sep22 September 22:13

          Totally incorrect. As someone who spent 17 years in banking I can tell you that I swayed multiple trips to specific carriers for my own personal benefit.

          If you end up only needed to switch two annual bank-funded £10k trips to NYC to BA to get Gold then you would be sorted for First Wing and Galleries First for all your short haul and personal travel plus a guaranteed (pretty much) Row 1 seat for all short haul CE trips. It could not be more attractive.

          Most people do probably 5:1 short-haul to long-haul trips. You cannot pay for First Wing and Galleries First on short haul. You need a Gold card.

        • PH says:

          23 Sep23 September 00:44

          Likely an anomaly but I spend £10K+ with BA per year exclusively on CW redemptions (totalling fees/charges, part pay with cash and topping up Avios balance) and my recognition extends to getting downgraded to Y the one time I fly in W and having to pay £100+ per seat to avoid bad seats in the old CW config… doubt anything would change under the new approach though… this is the price to pay for flexibility..

        • BJ says:

          23 Sep23 September 06:46

          Interesting @Rob, earning that kind of money I would have thought vast majority would just choose fares with the perks they wanted, and fly the most convenient airline/schedule. You can keep row 1, worst seats on most planes IMO but I guess it’s different if you’re 180cm+.

        • Rob says:

          23 Sep23 September 08:28

          We’re not talking about people spending their own money, we are talking about people spending their employers money.

          Row 1 is also literally the only row where you are guaranteed your meal choice!

• James says:

  22 Sep22 September 17:14

  BA Holidays are trying to charge us full price for our newborn who will only be 4 months old at the time we’re looking to go on holiday – is that normal? Surely not.

• Mr. AC says:

  26 Sep26 September 13:49

  Rob, I’m trying to book via BA Holidays but the discount is not getting applied. I checked the website – no discernible trace of the offer. I called BA – they tell me they’re not aware of this offer. Is there a link somewhere?

  • Rob says:

    26 Sep26 September 14:09

    ? Article says ‘offer ends Tuesday’ and today is Thursday 🙂

    • Mr. AC says:

      26 Sep26 September 14:30

      Ah, that explains it…

      Sorry, it was published on Sunday Sep 22 and the article said “by next Tuesday” and I interpreted it as Tuesday Oct 1 and not Sep 24.

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