In the old world, Finnair offered itself as a clever alternative for flights to the Far East and tailored its Finnair Plus program accordingly.

Due to the loss of the ability to use Russian airspace – one of the EU sanctions to avoid financially supporting Russia’s war machine – Finnair has significantly reduced its Asian network and is now focusing more on the Southern route, both in collaboration with its partner Qatar Airways and with its new flights via Bangkok to Melbourne. At the same time, the company is continuously expanding its flights to North America and Europe.

For Finnair Plus members who may no longer see the same value in the program as before with the attractive reward prices to the Far East, at least there is the consolation that with the introduction of the Avios currency, points can now be transferred to other programs using Avios as currency for free.

However, Finnair is not alone with these problems, as shown by a new promotion from its partner Japan Airlines: Their JMB Mileage members in Japan receive (after registration by January 31) double miles on all flights from Tokyo to Helsinki until July 31, with no limit on the number of flights.