Strategically buying points for premium travel can be a great value. Finnair Plus has just launched its newest promotion on purchased Avios, offering up to a 50% bonus. This is pretty average as far as promotions from the program go, and there’s even a trick to getting the lowest price possible.
Finnair Plus is offering a bonus on purchased Avios, with an early bird offer available (so you’ll get the best price if you book ASAP). If you purchase Finnair Plus Avios between May 18 and May 22, 2026, you can receive the following deal:
- Buy 5,000-19,000 Avios, receive a 30% bonus
- Buy 20,000-49,000 Avios, receive a 35% bonus
- Buy 50,000-79,000 Avios, receive a 40% bonus
- Buy 80,000-200,000 Avios, receive a 50% bonus
Meanwhile if you purchase Finnair Plus Avios between May 23 and June 1, 2026, you can receive the following deal:
- Buy 5,000-19,000 Avios, receive a 25% bonus
- Buy 20,000-49,000 Avios, receive a 30% bonus
- Buy 50,000-79,000 Avios, receive a 35% bonus
- Buy 80,000-200,000 Avios, receive a 40% bonus
Now, here’s where it gets interesting — Finnair lets you select the currency in which you want to buy Avios (you can find the option to switch currencies at the top of the screen), and the price differs:
- If paying in USD, Finnair ordinarily charges 2.17 cents per Avios
- If paying in EUR, Finnair ordinarily charges 2.1 cents per Avios (2.45 cents in USD)
So based on current exchange rates, you’re better off buying in USD rather than EUR. If you maxed out the promotion with a 50% bonus, the best deal you could get would be to pay $4,340 for 300,000 Avios (including 100,000 bonus Avios), which comes out to 1.45 cents per Avios (in USD).
Note that this offer is only available to Finnair Plus members who have a minimum balance of 100 Avios in their account (though those Avios can be transferred from another “flavor” of the currency).
Which credit card should you buy Finnair Plus Avios with?
Finnair Plus Avios purchases are processed by points.com, meaning they don’t count as an airfare purchase for the purposes of credit card spending. Therefore I’d recommend using a card on which you’re trying to reach minimum spending, or otherwise, a credit card that maximizes your return on everyday spending.
Is buying Finnair Plus Avios worth it?
What should you expect from Finnair Plus award pricing, and the best ways to redeem to Finnair Plus Avios?
Below you can find the one-way Finnair Plus award redemptions rates for travel on Finnair.
Awards also have surcharges, though they’re at least mild. If you have a connecting itinerary, you’ll only be charged the surcharge correlated to the most expensive segment flown.
When your award booking includes a connecting flight, Avios are charged separately for each flight, except for flights within Finland and Northern Europe. For example, a Frankfurt to Helsinki to New York business class award would cost you 82,500 Avios (20,000 Avios plus 62,500 Avios). One awesome thing is that Finnair Plus has an award seat guarantee, meaning there’s pretty consistently award availability when booking far in advance.
Finnair Plus also allows redemptions on partner airlines, though the pricing isn’t particularly attractive, for the most part. The more important thing to keep in mind is that it’s possible to transfer Avios between the various “flavors” of the currency.
Therefore this promotion is also an opportunity to earn Avios that you can transfer 1:1 to programs like Aer Lingus AerClub, British Airways Club, Iberia Club, Qatar Airways Privilege Club, etc. That opens up more redemption opportunities.
Bottom line
Finnair Plus has launched a promotion on purchased Avios. With this, you can receive up to a 50% bonus when purchasing Avios, which is an opportunity to buy them for 1.45 cents each (in USD).
This isn’t some amazing deal that everyone should take advantage of, but with a short term use in mind, I think many people could find this to be valuable. In particular, keep in mind that this is an opportunity to earn rewards with other “flavors” of Avios, thanks to the 1:1 transfer options.
Does anyone plan on taking advantage of this promo on Finnair Plus Avios?