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It’s now possible to redeem Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles for Finnair flights! This new redemption option makes it possible to book some Finnair Business Class flights at significant discounts.
Although Finnair does not fly to Australia, you can fly Finnair from destinations across Asia to Helsinki… or onward to destinations across Europe and North America. Plus, you can get a free stopover in Helsinki when flying Finnair on any Mileage Plan award.
Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles can be bought online. The full price is USD29.56 (~$41) per thousand, but you can currently earn up to 50% bonus Alaska Airlines miles until 4 October 2018.
Mileage Plan award chart for Finnair flights
You can redeem Mileage Plan miles on the Alaska Airlines website for any Finnair flights between destinations outlined in the award chart below. The number of miles required is as follows:
| From | To | Economy Class | Business Class |
| Europe | Europe | 12,500 | 20,000 |
| Europe | Middle East | 22,500 | 40,000 |
| Europe | India | 25,000 | 45,000 |
| Europe | Asia | 32,500 | 60,000 |
| Europe | North America | 30,000 | 70,000 |
| North America | Middle East | 40,000 | 105,000 |
| North America | India | 42,500 | 110,000 |
| North America | Asia | 50,000 | 125,000 |
Finnair’s only destinations in the “Middle East” zone are Dubai and Tel Aviv. The “India” zone is just Delhi.
Finnair’s main hub is in Helsinki, Finland. Unless your origination or destination is Helsinki, you’ll almost always need to connect through that airport. The good news is that free stopovers in Helsinki are allowed when booking Finnair flights with Alaska Airlines miles!
Let’s look at some examples of valuable Alaska Airlines redemptions with Finnair…
Asia to Europe
It costs 60,000 Alaskan miles to fly Business Class from any of Finnair’s destinations across Asia to anywhere in Europe. Those 60,000 miles would cost USD1,182.50 (~$1,648) if purchased during a 50% bonus promotion. If you were to pay for the same flights in Business class, you could expect to pay around double this cost.
Finnair flies to almost all major airports in Europe. In Asia, Finnair serves destinations including Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul, Singapore and many cities across China and Japan.
Here is an example of a Business Class award ticket from Hong Kong to Barcelona that we found on the Alaska Airlines website:
If you wanted to fly all the way from Australia to Europe using Mileage Plan miles, you could combine this with a Cathay Pacific award flight from Australia to Hong Kong. However, note that Cathay Pacific award availability is limited when using Alaska Airlines miles. Also note that it would not be possible to book Cathay Pacific award flights on the same ticket as Finnair flights.
Europe to Europe
Intra-Europe redemptions can be good value, especially for longer flights. The “Europe” zone is quite large, so there are some sweet spots to be found. For example, even Iceland is part of this zone. Here’s an example of a one-way award from Reykjavik to Lisbon, with a free stopover in Helsinki:
When buying miles with a 50% bonus, you’d be paying $550 for 20,000 Mileage Plan miles. That’s enough miles to fly Business Class between any two European cities, with a stop in Helsinki. You would also need to pay any taxes applicable when redeeming the miles, but there are no fuel surcharges when redeeming Mileage Plan miles for Finnair flights. For intra-Europe travel, buying Alaskan miles almost always works out significantly cheaper than paying for the same flights in Business – especially for longer flights.
On Finnair Business class flights within Europe, the airline operates a standard Euro-Business product. This setup basically means you get an Economy seat with a blocked middle seat. But you do receive Business class meals and service, as well as other niceties on the ground like lounge access. An exception is one daily Helsinki-London flight which uses an Airbus A350-900 with lie-flat Business seats.
Adding a Helsinki stopover
Want to book a round-trip from anywhere in Europe to Helsinki? Instead of making a return booking, book a one-way trip with a stopover in Helsinki. This will price as a one-way award, as long as your destination airport is different to your origin airport. Here’s an example where we fly out of Madrid and continue to Barcelona after a stopover in Helsinki:
How to add a stopover on Alaska Airlines award tickets
To book a one-way award with a stopover, you would need to select “All search options” on the Alaska Airlines home page:
Then, tick the “Use miles” box and select “Multi-city” under “Flight type & travellers”. Input the two sectors to and from Helsinki individually under “Departing flight”. Leave the “Returning flight” field blank.
If there is award availability, flight options will appear on the next page. Check the dates and class of travel for each leg.
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: Alaska Airlines adds Finnair
