The airline becomes the second oneworld member with an Avios subscription service
There are times when you need to top up your Avios, either for a flight you need to book right now, or one that you’re aiming to book in the future. Avios Subscriptions are one way to boost your Avios balance, and to do so at a reasonable price (Although there are more cost-effective ways to get Avios).
What is Finnair offering?
You can now set up an Avios subscription with Finnair, which allows you to buy a set number of points on a monthly basis. This works in exactly the same way as the BA Avios subscription, but with some small but perhaps meaningful differences.
Why would you subscribe to Finnair and not BA?
Firstly, it’s free to transfer points each way between British Airways and Finnair. The transfer happens instantly. That means if you can find a way to earn Avios cheaper, or more easily, via Finnair then it’s worth doing it and moving them back to your BA account.
Secondly, you can have a BA and Finnair subscription at the same time, meaning double the potential to boost your balance.
A Finnair subscription will be priced in Euros. You may earn Euros, or have a Euro account somewhere, which makes it better for you to purchase them in that currency versus British Pounds.
How does an Avios subscription work?
In simple terms, it allows you to lock in a price for Avios, and pay for chunks of the points on a monthly basis (albeit with a three-month minimum). If you agree to run a subscription for a whole year then you’ll get a discounted rate and will be locked in for 12 months.
Each month the Avios will be deposited in your account, and if you don’t pay the full amount up front then a sum of money will be taken from your credit or debit card. It’s worth noting that if you have an Amex card that gives you 3 points per £ on BA spend, Avios Subscription fees will not get that higher rate, as the charge is from Avios and not BA.
What are the key differences between Finnair and BA Avios subscriptions?
- The pricing is identical between the schemes (see the table below), but the denominations are different.
- With BA you can subscribe to 20k, 50k, 100k and 200k Avios
- With Finnair you can subscribe to 24k, 48k, 120k and 240k Avios
- Both schemes have a minimum three-month term.
- Both schemes discount the annual plans by giving you 12 months of Avios for the price of 10. This is equivalent to a 16.66% discount.
- For the annual plans, both schemes will take the full amount up-front, even though the Finnair page confusingly refers to a monthly price.
- The BA subscription allows you to buy up to 200,000 Avios per year, whereas the Finnair model has a higher limit of 240,000
- The points you earn from a subscription do not impact the limits on you buying points in a one-off transaction. For BA, you can buy up to 200k points individually AND 200k points via a subscription. For Finnair, you can buy up to 200k points individually, AND 240k from a subscription.
Comparing the Avios pricing to BA
I’ve shared the pricing for both BA and Finnair in the table below, and you’ll notice that they have different subscription levels. This may be useful for you if you need a specific number of points, like 120,000, and you don’t want to pay for the BA 200k subscription.
| Avios Amount | BA Subscription Price | Finnair Subscription Price1 |
|---|---|---|
| 20,000/year | £259 | NA |
| 24,000/year | NA | €360 / £302 |
| 48,000/year | NA | €629 / £528 |
| 50,000/year | £549 | NA |
| 100,000/year | £1,049 | NA |
| 120,000/mo | NA | €1,476 / £1,239 |
| 200,000/year | £1,989 | NA |
| 240,000/mo | NA | €2,808 / £2,358 |
- Pricing for both BA and Finnair is based on the Pay Yearly and Save ↩︎
How does the price per Avios point compare?
Typically, you would value an Avios at 1p when you redeem them, meaning that any price below that is a cost saving. In reality, Avios points are difficult to value, as cash prices for flights change, and there’s also the value attached to doing something amazing (like flying in First Class).
Finnair subscriptions are exactly the same price as BA subscriptions, on a per-point basis. Although they have different tiers, the pricing starts at 1.3p per point for the lowest subscription point for each airline. It drops to 0.11p per Avios on the next tier, and the two top tiers offer Avios at 1p per point.
| Subscription Level | BA £/point | Finnair £/point |
|---|---|---|
| 20k BA / 24k Finnair | £0.013 | £0.013 |
| 50k BA / 48k Finnair | £0.011 | £0.011 |
| 100k BA / 120k Finnair | £0.01 | £0.01 |
| 200k BA / 240k Finnair | £0.01 | £0.01 |
Should you earn Avios through a subscription?
If you want to build up a pile of Avios points and you don’t mind waiting then it’s a viable option. If you need Avios points today for a flight then a subscription won’t help you.
I have previously had a subscription to BA, and it was to make sure our Avios were topped up for our next flight. We knew that we’d be using a lot of points on our next redemption, so I wanted to start a subscription to make sure our balance kept building up. I appreciated the reasonable (but not the lowest) price per point.
How to start your Finnair Avios subscription
The Finnair Avios subscription page isn’t obvious when you login. It’s far easier to head to the Finnair Avios Shop directly.
If you do want to meander through their site, simply login, click your name in the top right and select “My Finnair Plus”. Select the “Finnair Shop” button halfway down the page on the right-hand side, then click “Subscribe To Avios” in the menu, which is the final item. You will need to be logged in to move forward in the process, but if you’ve just logged into your Finnair account, just click the login button in the menu and it’ll pick that up.
