Page Contents<\/p>
- Recap on Finnair Avios<\/a><\/li>
- Finnair Plus and Its Hotel Partners<\/a><\/li>
- How To Use Finnair Points for Scandic and Sokos Hotels<\/a><\/li>
- Redeeming Your Voucher<\/a>
- The fine print<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Other Hotel Vouchers<\/a><\/li>
- Is It Worth Using Finnair Avios for Hotels?<\/a><\/li>
- How You Can Earn Finnair Avios<\/a><\/li>
- The Bottom Line<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n
Recap on Finnair Avios<\/span><\/h2>\n
Finnair Plus<\/a>, the loyalty program for Finnair, made news in 2024 by being the latest program to adopt the Avios currency.\u00a0 Avios are the frequent flier points currently used by:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Aer Lingus AerClub<\/li>\n
- British Airways<\/li>\n
- Finnair Plus<\/li>\n
- Qatar Airways<\/li>\n
- Iberia Plus<\/li>\n
- Vueling Club<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
![\"Finnair](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\")
Finnair A350 at Helsinki airport. Photo by Ryan Smith.<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Members can transfer Avios between all of these programs freely and instantly<\/a>, with the exception of Vueling. However, the move to Avios came with a large devaluation of the Finnair reward charts, hiking redemption rates, and changing from a distance-based to a revenue-based program.\u00a0 Still, Avios is a valuable currency for booking flights worldwide.<\/p>\n
Finnair Plus and Its Hotel Partners<\/span><\/h2>\n
Finnair Plus partners with several hotel brands, allowing members to earn and redeem points on stays. Some allow point transfers, such as Accor Live Limitless<\/a>, but this will give you a pretty terrible value for your Finnair Avios: less than 0.5 cents per point.\u00a0 We definitely don't recommend this redemption.<\/p>\n
However, some hotel partners allow you to redeem Avios (plus cash) for vouchers. These often provide a solid \u2014 even if niche \u2014 use of points, as first identified by Frequent Miler<\/a>. The two most notable brands, Scandic Hotels<\/a> and Sokos Hotels<\/a>, are both based in Scandinavia. The larger of the two chains, Scandic, has over 280 hotels across Scandinavia plus Germany and Poland. Sokos is a smaller hotel group, only present in Finland and Estonia with a total of 48 properties.<\/p>\n
The Bergenhus Fortress in Bergen Norway. Credit: Jeswin Thomas\/Burst<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n How To Use Finnair Points for Scandic and Sokos Hotels<\/span><\/h2>\n
To use Finnair Avios for a stay at a Scandic Hotel, log onto the Finnair Shop website<\/a> and locate the Scandic and Sokos Hotels offers.<\/p>\n
Credit: Finnair<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Select which voucher you'd like to buy: Basic or Premium. The basic voucher allows you to book a stay at many Scandic properties, with some exceptions noted, for a set rate of 68,21\u20ac (roughly $73.98) plus 2,000 Finnair Avios.\u00a0 If you plan to stay at higher-end properties, you'll need to purchase the premium voucher at a higher price: 106.87\u20ac (~$115.90) + 2,000 Avios.<\/p>\n
Terms for the Scandic Premium Voucher. Credit: Finnair<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Sokos Hotels offers a similar voucher priced at 84,41\u20ac ($91.56) + 5,000 Avios. Once the voucher is in your shopping cart, you can adjust the amount of cash and Avios you'd like to redeem after logging in. Play around with these until you find the value that works best for you.<\/p>\n
Redeeming Your Voucher<\/span><\/h2>\n
To find a Scandic hotel that you can book with a voucher, head to the Scandic Hotels website<\/a> and use the booking code VOY to search for hotels in the area you want to visit.\u00a0 Not all hotels will be available for booking with a voucher.\u00a0 Note that if you are looking to book one of the listed premium hotels, you will need to search instead with the booking code VOFINN.<\/p>\n
A search in Copenhagen using the VOY code shows multiple options. Credit: Scandic<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n To locate available Sokos hotels, visit the Sokos website<\/a> and search with the code AYPLUS20. Again, it will display the hotels available for booking with the voucher.<\/p>\n
Credit: Sokos<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Finding available hotels is pretty simple with the booking codes.\u00a0 The websites are very clear about which hotels you can be booked with the vouchers.<\/p>\n
The fine print<\/span><\/h3>\n
While it isn't as simple as booking a hotel directly with points, the voucher system is fairly straightforward. You find an eligible hotel on your dates, buy the voucher with an adjustable combination of Finnair Avios and money, and redeem the voucher through the hotel website. But of course, there are always terms and conditions. These are the important points to note:<\/p>\n
Scandic voucher terms<\/h4>\n
- \n
- The voucher can only be used at Scandic properties (not partner hotels).<\/li>\n
- You can use it for standard double room only.<\/li>\n
- Vouchers are only valid for a weekend stay (Friday to Sunday).<\/li>\n
- Vouchers are only valid for six months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Sokos voucher terms<\/h4>\n
- \n
- The voucher is valid for stays at only Sokos Hotels Original, Solo, and Break hotels.<\/li>\n
- Room reservations can't be made earlier than 60 days before the stay.<\/li>\n
- The voucher is only valid for six months.<\/li>\n
- Eligible room types vary by property.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Both Hotel brands include breakfast (except in Germany and Poland), and taxes are included in the voucher price.\u00a0 Neither program will refund any portion of expired vouchers, so you'll need to know exactly when you are using it before you buy one.\u00a0 That's concerning, as it doesn't leave a lot of flexibility for canceled trips. While Sokos vouchers are more flexible with dates, Scandic's weekend-only policy further limits the vouchers' usefulness.<\/p>\n
Other Hotel Vouchers<\/span><\/h2>\n
You can buy vouchers for several other individual hotels and smaller chains on the Finnair Shop website. Some of these also provide excellent value in the right situation, so you may want to explore these if you're visiting any Nordic countries. This lovely property, Naantali Spa and Hotel in Finland, offers vouchers for couples or families. On the date I checked, the hotel provided a 4.5\u00a2 per point redemption rate for my Avios.<\/p>\n
Credit: Naantali Spa and Hotel<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Be sure to read the fine print and check availability before making a purchase.\u00a0 Just like a points transfer, once you pull that trigger, there's no getting the points back.<\/p>\n
Is It Worth Using Finnair Avios for Hotels?<\/span><\/h2>\n
As with most point redemptions, the value can depend on many factors.\u00a0 That said, there are great opportunities here \u2014 and some duds, as well. If you click on the Scandic Hotel you're interested in booking, you'll see rooms priced for both vouchers and cash rates.\u00a0 Take this option in Copenhagen, The Scandic Palace, for example.<\/p>\n
Credit: Scandic<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Cash prices tend to hover just over $200 here. If I paid roughly $74 and 2,000 Finnair Avios for a voucher for a night, that would give me over 6 cents per point for my redemption!\u00a0 This is an excellent deal. On the other hand, plenty of rooms at other hotels hover around $100 per night, providing a much less attractive offer. This Stockholm option, costing $89 per night, would only give you 0.8 cents per point. I would steer clear of these lower-priced hotel options.<\/p>\n
Credit: Scandic<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Similarly, Sokos Hotels has some very tempting options for using your Finnair Avios. This property in Helsinki has king rooms costing $212 per night, and you can use a voucher here. This gives you a value of almost 2.5 cents per point.<\/p>\n
Credit: Sokos Hotels<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Compared to the Scandic Hotels, I found that the Sokos properties tend to give a more consistent redemption value, typically around 2\u20133 cents per point. However, Sokos' footprint is much smaller, giving you limited booking options.\u00a0 Still, under the right circumstances, one of these properties could be a great option.<\/p>\n
How You Can Earn Finnair Avios<\/span><\/h2>\n
Right now there are only three main options for collecting Avios:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Flying on Finnair or a partner airline<\/li>\n
- Transferring miles from Capital One<\/a><\/li>\n
- Transferring Avios from other programs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
From<\/div>To<\/div>Transfer Ratio<\/div>Min.Transfer<\/div>Average Time<\/div><\/div>Capital One<\/a>United States<\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div>100:100<\/div>1,000<\/div>Immediate<\/div><\/div><\/div>Accor Group (ALL - Accor Live Limitless)<\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div>2,000:1,300<\/div>-<\/div>Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div>British Airways (Club)<\/a>United States<\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div>1:1<\/div>-<\/div>Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div>IHG Hotels & Resorts (One Rewards)<\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div>10,000:2,000<\/div>-<\/div>Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div>KlarnaUnited States<\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span>Finnair Plus<\/div><\/div><\/div>1:90<\/div>-<\/div>Unknown<\/div><\/div><\/div>Mesa Homeowners<\/div>\u2794<\/span><\/div><\/div>\u2794<\/span> - Transferring Avios from other programs.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
- Other Hotel Vouchers<\/a><\/li>
- Finnair Plus and Its Hotel Partners<\/a><\/li>
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