-
Finnair is currently (4-18 Sept) running a promotion to buy points at a 100% discount. As recently announced, they are also adopting Avios from next year. The conversion rate will be 3:2 (Finnair points into Avios). It is easy to see that this points sale gives the opportunity to effectively buy future Avios at a cost that is lower than the BA official subscription rate.
This opportunity was briefly mentioned in a recent daily chat thread but I thought it deserved its own post given the potential…
The maths if fairly simple: If you buy between 100-200k points you get a 100% bonus. At the top end, the cost of buying 200k points is Eur 2,575, equivalent to c. £2,200 (at the current exchange rate of approx 1.17). You get 400k Finnair points with the 100% bonus. These will convert to 266,667 Avios in ‘early 2024’. Thus you get to buy Avios at the headline rate above, 0.825p each.
This is a lot cheaper than BA’s own subscription prices for Avios and about in-line with the effective 0.8p rate that you pay for the 18k Avios you get a year via the Barclays Premier Account route.
See full info at https://www.finnair.com/gb-en/finnair-plus/buy–transfer-or-exchange-points
So, will any HfPers be taking this offer up? I have to admit that I’m tempted!
One thing to consider would be are these transferable to BAEC? I’m not sure they are.
Also you wouldn’t be able to use a 2-4-1 if that’s important to you if they are in your AY account.
So you could end up with sone orphan avios on a AY account you might not be able to utilise.
That’s a very risky trade in my view. You could see a significant devaluation of Avios between now and ‘early 2024’ or indeed the whole deal could collapse. That price is in line with the miles booster, which I would be far happier supporting as the points hit immediately – albeit in smaller lots.
That’s a very risky trade in my view. You could see a significant devaluation of Avios between now and ‘early 2024’ or indeed the whole deal could collapse. That price is in line with the miles booster, which I would be far happier supporting as the points hit immediately – albeit in smaller lots.
It WAS in line with Miles Booster whilst the 10% bonus was running, but that is now over.
One thing to consider would be are these transferable to BAEC? I’m not sure they are.
Also you wouldn’t be able to use a 2-4-1 if that’s important to you if they are in your AY account.
So you could end up with sone orphan avios on a AY account you might not be able to utilise.
Finnair have announced they’ll be using Avios as their currency from early next year, so I’d imagine these will then be transferable between linked accounts in the same way that Qatar, Iberia et al work.
If not then Finnair have also announced that they’re keeping their own fare redemptions at current levels (albeit they’ve devalued some routes recently) and as I have status and hence upgrade vouchers to burn with them that scenario – unlikely though it is- would still not be the end of the world to me but clearly others need to weigh up the pros and cons.
I just wanted to bring the opportunity to the attention of the wide community as it’s a if people are already in the market to purchase Avios it’s a competitive rate. The time elapsing til the Avios conversion is a factor but you are
Locked in for a full year under the BA ‘drip feed’ sub model anyway…It’s already confirmed they will tranfer to BA.
It’s already confirmed they will tranfer to BA.
Thanks for clarifying Rob – I do think that in the circumstances there is an arbitrage opportunity here for people who have a use for largish quantities of Avios (of which I am one!)
That’s a very risky trade in my view. You could see a significant devaluation of Avios between now and ‘early 2024’ or indeed the whole deal could collapse. That price is in line with the miles booster, which I would be far happier supporting as the points hit immediately – albeit in smaller lots.
If you’re looking at signing up to BA’s current subscription model then at the top ‘Adventurer’ end you’re paying £1,985 upfront for 200,000 Avios. That’s a cost of 0.9945p each for Avios that are drip fed to you monthly over the next year.
I don’t think the risks mentioned apply any less to the BA subs scenario and the Finnair route gets you Avios 17% cheaper, assuming you use a fee free currency card to pay.
Thanks for clarifying Rob – I do think that in the circumstances there is an arbitrage opportunity here for people who have a use for largish quantities of Avios (of which I am one!)
I don’t think many would see it as a sensible arbitrage trade if you have to warehouse the risk for an undisclosed length of time, with no guarantee over the underlying value or when the desired liquidation outcome will be realised.
@Rob perhaps you need to start tokenising this stuff and allowing us to borrow from one another at a pre-determined rate of interest. I mean it’ll all end in tears but so long as you’re not the last one out the door….“Finnair is currently (4-18 Sept) running a promotion to buy points at a 100% discount.”
I think most of us would get *very* excited if the discount was actually 100% 😁
“Finnair is currently (4-18 Sept) running a promotion to buy points at a 100% discount.”
I think most of us would get *very* excited if the discount was actually 100% 😁
Haha – good spot Peter! Of course that should read ‘with a 100% bonus’ but you’re right – the 100% discount would be better 😀
It’s already confirmed they will tranfer to BA.
That’s good to know.
Do you know if this going to be like the QR transfer where accounts can be linked or the like complicated system to move pointe between BA and IB?
(And snipped)
I just wanted to bring the opportunity to the attention of the wide community as it’s a if people are already in the market to purchase Avios it’s a competitive rate.
I hope you didn’t think I was criticising you for bringing this to peoples attention because I absolutely wasn’t doing that but wanted to post a “buyer be aware” advisory in case they weren’t transferable to BA.
Don’t want @Rob to get a slew of emails or posts saying “I bought a load of avios from Finnair and can’t use use them”!
There’s an article tomorrow and it will be fully caveated!
D’oh! I just bought 38,856 avios for £357.48 (at 0.9200p each tonight) via Balance Boost.
Will read Rob’s article tomorrow and possibly cancel this purchase and cancel my BA avios subscription for next year, when it renews in three months time – if in fact I can just buy a lump sum now cheaper than the BA sub! No brainer?
When the BA subscription renews, would it be £1789 that I subscribed for or the new rate of £1989?
I like the sound of 0.825p compared to my current sub rate of 0.89p or the new rate of 0.995p!
D’oh! I just bought 38,856 avios for £357.48 (at 0.9200p each tonight) via Balance Boost.
Will read Rob’s article tomorrow and possibly cancel this purchase and cancel my BA avios subscription for next year, when it renews in three months time – if in fact I can just buy a lump sum now cheaper than the BA sub! No brainer?
When the BA subscription renews, would it be £1789 that I subscribed for or the new rate of £1989?
I like the sound of 0.825p compared to my current sub rate of 0.89p or the new rate of 0.995p!
You can ‘buy’ 25,000 avios per household per year for 0.24ppa via Sainsbury’s Over 50s life cover if somebody in the household is 50+. If resident of said households are in your BAEC HHA then they are directly available, if not then the 25,000 avios can be transferred to a member of the HHA for £15. If there are no over 50s then it is still possible to purchase roughly the same amount of avios per household per year for under 0.5ppa. The precise number of avios and the cost varies depending on the promotion being run and the premium you pay.
Dear BJ — Thanks for the info on Sainsbury’s Over 50s life cover! I have never seen that before!Great to know about it — thank you.
Thanks Bj. As someone who has recently moved into this age bracket, I will look into this. Maybe there are some advantages to being in the old gits club.
D’oh! I just bought 38,856 avios for £357.48 (at 0.9200p each tonight) via Balance Boost.
Will read Rob’s article tomorrow and possibly cancel this purchase and cancel my BA avios subscription for next year, when it renews in three months time – if in fact I can just buy a lump sum now cheaper than the BA sub! No brainer?
When the BA subscription renews, would it be £1789 that I subscribed for or the new rate of £1989?
I like the sound of 0.825p compared to my current sub rate of 0.89p or the new rate of 0.995p!
I was interviewed by Avios as part of a marketing exercise recently and I asked about the renewal price and verbally she said the price would remain the same as long as the plan remains continuous. They sent this quote:
“Why is my subscription price different to what’s on the home page?
We change subscription prices from time to time, so the price displayed on the home page can be different from the price you pay. Your active subscription price is displayed in ‘My Subscription’ area and it’s the price accepted at the start of your subscription. You’ll pay this price for as long as your subscription plan remains active. If you choose to cancel and resubscribe, new prices will apply.”Indy
Very interesting @Indy500 – if this is the case then anyone with a favourable legacy price subscription will want to think carefully before cancelling it…
D’oh! I just bought 38,856 avios for £357.48 (at 0.9200p each tonight) via Balance Boost.
Will read Rob’s article tomorrow and possibly cancel this purchase and cancel my BA avios subscription for next year, when it renews in three months time – if in fact I can just buy a lump sum now cheaper than the BA sub! No brainer?
When the BA subscription renews, would it be £1789 that I subscribed for or the new rate of £1989?
I like the sound of 0.825p compared to my current sub rate of 0.89p or the new rate of 0.995p!
I was interviewed by Avios as part of a marketing exercise recently and I asked about the renewal price and verbally she said the price would remain the same as long as the plan remains continuous. They sent this quote:
“Why is my subscription price different to what’s on the home page?
We change subscription prices from time to time, so the price displayed on the home page can be different from the price you pay. Your active subscription price is displayed in ‘My Subscription’ area and it’s the price accepted at the start of your subscription. You’ll pay this price for as long as your subscription plan remains active. If you choose to cancel and resubscribe, new prices will apply.”Indy
The strange think about the para you have quoted above is that it comes from the FAQs, but the actual terms don’t say anything either way. The idea that the price is fixed forever if you keep your subscription active seems inherently unlikely, but we will see.
The strange think about the para you have quoted above is that it comes from the FAQs, but the actual terms don’t say anything either way. The idea that the price is fixed forever if you keep your subscription active seems inherently unlikely, but we will see.
Yep have to agree would be hard to believe it would remain the same but if it does I will be very reluctant to cancel.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Popular articles this week:
