{"id":134634,"date":"2023-11-13T12:00:30","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T12:00:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/?p=134634"},"modified":"2026-04-08T13:50:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T13:50:40","slug":"finnair-minimum-guaranteed-award-seats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/airlines\/finnair-minimum-guaranteed-award-seats\/","title":{"rendered":"Finnair Introduces Minimum Guaranteed Award Seats. Book Transatlantic Business Class From 57,500 Miles."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Finnair announced the introduction of a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.finnair.com\/gb-en\/finnair-plus\/earn-and-use-finnair-plus-points\/use-points-on-finnair-award-flights\" rel=\"noopener\">guaranteed minimum number of award seats<\/a> on all its flights. This guarantee is already in effect. However, the guaranteed minimum number of award seats is only for flights departing on February 1, 2024 and beyond.<\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Finnair_Minimum_Award_Guarantee_Overview\">Finnair Minimum Award Guarantee Overview<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The number of award seats will vary depending on the route as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Short flights within Europe will have at least:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>4 economy<\/strong> awards.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2 business class<\/strong> awards.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Long-haul flights to Asia, North America & Dubai will have at least the following:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>4 economy<\/strong> seats.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2 premium economy<\/strong> seats.<\/li>\n<li><strong>2 business class<\/strong> seats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>However, that said, the minimum award guarantee does have some exclusions as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>It does not apply to flights between Helsinki and Doha.<\/li>\n<li>Flights where tour operators have reserved most of the seats are excluded.<\/li>\n<li>Any flights that do not arrive or depart from Helsinki airport.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span id=\"How_Is_Finnair_Award_Space_Looking\">How Is Finnair Award Space Looking?<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>While it is excellent that Finnair is releasing more award space, booking through Finnair can be problematic due to the minimal number of transfer partners. You can only <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/credit-cards\/capital-one-rewards\/capital-one-transfer-partners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">transfer Capital One miles to Finnair<\/a> &#8212; along with a couple of hotel programs &#8212; which limits the ability to build a substantial Finnair points balance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"transfer-times\"><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-head tt-from\">From<\/div><div class=\"tt-head tt-to\">To<\/div><div class=\"tt-head tt-ratio\">Transfer Ratio<\/div><div class=\"tt-head tt-mintransfer\">Min.Transfer<\/div><div class=\"tt-head tt-avg\">Average Time<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div><a href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/credit-cards\/capital-one-rewards\/capital-one-transfer-partners\/?cid=transfer-times-transfer&mid=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Capital One<\/a><div class=\"tt-from-region\">United States<\/div><\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow tt-arrow--region\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">100:100<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">1,000<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-immediate\">Immediate<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Accor Group (ALL - Accor Live Limitless)<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">2,000:1,300<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div><a href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/airlines\/british-airways-club\/british-airways-partners\/?cid=transfer-times-transfer&mid=web\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">British Airways (Club)<\/a><div class=\"tt-from-region\">United States<\/div><\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow tt-arrow--region\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">1:1<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>IHG Hotels & Resorts (One Rewards)<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">10,000:2,000<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Klarna<div class=\"tt-from-region\">United States<\/div><\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow tt-arrow--region\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">1:90<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Mesa Homeowners<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\"><div class=\"tt-bonus\"><a href=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/news\/mesa-homeowners-card-shuts-down\/\">Mesa ended all point transfers effective December 12, 2025<\/a>.<\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Revolut (RevPoints)<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">1:1<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">-<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Rove<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">100:100<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">2,000<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-row\"><div class=\"tt-body tt-from\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><div>Shangri-La (Circle)<\/div><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-to\"><div class=\"tt-body-wrap\"><span class=\"tt-arrow\">\u2794<\/span><div>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-ratio\">500:500<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-mintransfer\">1,000<\/div><div class=\"tt-body tt-avg\"><div class=\"tt-avg-unknown\">Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<p>Thankfully, you aren't limited to booking through Finnair. Finnair is already making plenty of award space available to its Oneworld alliance partners. Space is readily available throughout next year during both peak and off-peak seasons.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, we checked reward space between New York (JFK) and Helsinki (HEL) on April 18, 2024. We found plenty of space on British Airways' website, with six seats in economy and two in business class:<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"750\/533\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-134641 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-300x213.png\" alt=\"Finnair availability from JFK to HEL on April 18, 2024, with British Airways\" width=\"750\" height=\"533\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-300x213.png 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-1024x727.png 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-768x545.png 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA.png 1080w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, British Airways passes along tons of taxes and fees on this award. This Finnair business class award flight prices out at 77,250 Avios plus \u00a3809.30 (~$944) in taxes and fees.<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"750\/404\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-134642 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-Price-300x161.png\" alt=\"Finnair pricing from JFK to HEL on April 18, 2024, with British Airways\" width=\"750\" height=\"404\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-Price-300x161.png 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-Price-768x413.png 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-BA-Price.png 944w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>As savvy award travelers know, a better booking option is almost always available. Indeed, when booking the same award for the same flight through American Airlines AAdvantage, the same business class seat prices at 57,500 AAdvantage miles plus $5.60 in taxes and fees. That is a considerable saving compared to the British Airways price.<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"750\/488\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-134643 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-AA-300x195.png\" alt=\"Finnair availability from JFK to HEL on April 18, 2024, with American \" width=\"750\" height=\"488\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-AA-300x195.png 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-AA-768x499.png 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-JFK-to-HEL-W-AA.png 932w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>One thing to note, however, is that AA is showing substantially less Finnair award space than British Airways. Only time will tell whether this will be the norm or is a one-off. Our guess is that Finnair will likely provide Avios partners with more space than non-Avios partners as <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/airlines\/finnair-plus-program-changes-avios\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Finnair adopts the Avios currency<\/a>\u00a0and other <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/british-airways-club\/award-seats-blocked-non-avios-partners\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Avios programs limit award availability to non-Avios partners<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>While not every date is available through AAdvantage, there's already a noticeable increase in the number of dates with Finnair business class bookable between New York (JFK) and Helsinki (HEL).<\/p>\n<p><img data-aspectratio=\"600\/495\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-135239 lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-business-class-JFK-HEL-award-calendar-300x248.png\" alt=\"Screenshot showing AAdvantage award calendar showing many dates bookable in Finnair business class\" width=\"600\" height=\"495\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-business-class-JFK-HEL-award-calendar-300x248.png 300w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-business-class-JFK-HEL-award-calendar-1024x845.png 1024w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-business-class-JFK-HEL-award-calendar-768x634.png 768w, https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/Finnair-business-class-JFK-HEL-award-calendar.png 1197w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span id=\"Our_Take\">Our Take<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It is excellent news anytime a program add more award space, giving you more option to leverage your miles. The deal is even sweeter because <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/news\/airlines\/finnair-plus-program-changes-avios\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Finnair will adopt Avios in 2024<\/a>. This should mean it is much easier to boost your mileage balance if you want to book directly with Finnair since you should be able to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"\/airlines\/how-to-transfer-avios-between-accounts\/\" rel=\"noopener\">transfer Avios between programs<\/a> at no cost. Alternatively, the increased space should also make booking awards with non-Avios partners like American even easier.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ftoc\"><div id=\"toc_container\" class=\"toc_light_blue no_bullets\"><p class=\"toc_title\">Page Contents<\/p><ul class=\"toc_list\"><li><a href=\"#Finnair_Minimum_Award_Guarantee_Overview\">Finnair Minimum Award Guarantee Overview<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#How_Is_Finnair_Award_Space_Looking\">How Is Finnair Award Space Looking?<\/a><\/li><li><a href=\"#Our_Take\">Our Take<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Finnair has announced that it will introduce a guaranteed minimum number of awards on most of its flights to and from Helsinki. This guarantee has already taken effect for flights starting from February 1, 2024, and we are already seeing some solid award availability. But you&#8217;ll want to be careful about which loyalty program you use to book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":134636,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":false,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"","_twitter_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type":"","_pinterest_share_type":"","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"","_medium_share_type":"","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[12751],"coauthors":[36383],"class_list":["post-134634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-finnair-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134634"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":256042,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134634\/revisions\/256042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134634"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=134634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}