Bits: double Finnair Avios and tier points, 10% off Qatar Airways, Priority Pass global pre-booking

News in brief:

Finnair launches a ‘double Avios and double tier points’ sale

Finnair has launched an interesting sale, but only for a few days.

For Finnair flights booked by 28th August, for travel until 23rd August 2026, you will receive double Avios and double tier points.

This could be interesting if you are planning a long haul trip to Asia, which is where Finnair’s long haul network is strongest.

The deal applies to flights which are Finnair marketed (ie have a Finnair flight number) AND are operated by Finnair or Norra. Finnair codeshares on, say, British Airways aircraft do not count.

All ticket types and all travel classes are included.

You obviously need to credit your flight to a Finnair Plus account to take advantage.

Getting status on Finnair is a simple affair. If you have no status, you earn 6 tier points and 6 Avios per €1 spent, net of taxes and charges.

Finnair Gold (equivalent to BA Silver) requires 45,000 tier points. Platinum, equivalent to BA Gold, requires 80,000 tier points.

Here’s the interesting bit. You can earn up to 7,500 tier points by converting Avios at the ratio of 3 to 1. This means that Finnair Gold only requires you to earn 37,500 tier points from flying.

As a no-status member you would receive 12 tier points per €1 (net of taxes and charges) so a business class flight costing €3,125 + taxes and charges would be enough for Finnair Gold, which is equivalent to Silver in The British Airways Club.

This is because:

• €3,125 x 6 tier points per €1 x 2 during this promotion = 37,500 tier points

• Convert 22,500 Avios into tier points at 3:1 = 7,500 tier points

• TOTAL: 45,000 tier points, which is enough for Finnair Gold

(Retaining status is even easier, because once you are Gold or Platinum you can get up to HALF of the tier points you need by converting Avios.)

If you are interested in this, spend some time on the Finnair website looking at how you earn status and the small print for the double tier points offer.

Save 10% on Qatar Airways flights

To celebrate its 9th win as Skytrax’s ‘World’s Best Airline’, Qatar Airways has launched a 10% discount code.

You need to move quickly as it is only valid to 23rd August.

Flights must be taken between 1st September 2025 and 30th June 2026.

The 10% discount is only on the base fare, so it will be a lot lower on economy tickets where taxes and charges are a high proportion of the total fare. For business class it will be closer to 10% off the headline price.

The good news is that the discount is valid from all European departure points, so you can start somewhere cheaper than the United Kingdom if you wish.

The bad news is that the discount varies by fare sub-class, so read the terms and conditions first.

If you are not already a member of Qatar Airways Privilege Club, you will also receive up to 9,000 bonus Avios on your first flight.

Full details and the promo code you need can be found on this page of the Qatar Airways website.

Priority Pass offering global lounge pre-booking

Priority Pass, the airport lounge club operator, has been offering pre-booking at many of its UK lounges for the last couple of years.

If you have The Platinum Card from American Express, you now receive credits each year for free pre-booking at selected UK lounges, as we covered here.

Priority Pass has been quietly rolling out pre-booking to other parts of the world. To be honest, outside of the United States, this is usually not necessary. However the reservation fee may be worth paying for peace of mind.

This page of the Priority Pass website shows the global list of lounges which can be pre-booked.

As well as the UK, it covers Argentina, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Dominica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, Japan, Mexico, Panama, El Salvador, Peru, Puerto Rico, the UAE and the US.

You cannot use your free credits from The Platinum Card to book these lounges. You are restricted to the UK lounges listed here.

Thanks to Swiss Tony for flagging in our forum.