How to Combine Avios with Finnair At Minimal Cost

Avios are one of the most common frequent flyer miles, and I believe every bank worldwide that offers transferable points can transfer to an Avios program. If you’re new to Avios, I’ll go over a quick reminder in the article, but in one of our early episodes of Miles Ahead we dove deep into the Avios program, and I’d recommend listening to that if you’re new to maximizing loyalty programs. 

Combining points into one Avios account is possibly one of the hardest, and potentially most expensive things to do in the points and miles world. But Finnair makes it a lot cheaper, and a little easier if you know what you’re doing. I’d almost consider this post required reading for anyone at an intermediate phase of their points journey.

Here’s how you can combine Avios with Finnair at a minimal cost.

A Quick Avios Refresh

For anyone at an intermediate or advanced level of their points knowledge, you can skip this section, but for those less than 12 months into their journey, or if you don’t think about points on a weekly basis, have a quick refresh here.

Avios are an enigma in the frequent flyer world, as they’re the exception to the rule almost every airline has: you can’t transfer miles between airlines. In the Avios world, you can! For example, British Airways points can easily become Qatar Airways, Iberia Airlines, or Finnair points, which is the exact opposite of every other alliance. 

Said another way, you can’t trade your Air Canada points for United points, Air India points, or Lufthansa points, even though they’re all part of the Star Alliance. 

Avios airlines break this mold, but it’s important to realize that not every oneworld airline is an Avios airline. The Avios airlines include British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia Airlines, Finnair, Aer Lingus, Vueling, and Logan Air. Thus, you can transfer your Avios between these partnered loyalty programs.

Even stranger, each Avios airline has its own award chart for the other Avios airlines, creating many sweet spots that many flyers will never know about because they’re buried deep in the program terms and conditions. But you read Frugal Flyer, so you will know about them and use the sweet spots to their maximum potential!

Why Combine Avios When the British Airways Household Account Exists?

This is a valid question, and for anyone who doesn’t know, British Airways has a handy family-sharing function, which is useful only if you’re booking awards on BritishAirways.com. 

However, as I mentioned in the previous section, the beauty of Avios lies in transferring to a different Avios airline to book sweetspots for fewer Avios than you would with British Airways. Some examples include:

• Use Iberia Avios for expanded Iberia Business Class availability under 60,000 Avios and minimal taxes off-peak between North America and Madrid or Barcelona
• Use Qatar Avios to book Q Suites through Doha at saver rates and carry on to Asia in First Class for ~110,000 Avios
• Use Finnair Avios to fly American Airlines business class transcontinental in lie-flat seats for only 27,000 Avios and $6 USD
• Use Aer Lingus Avios to fly in economy from Toronto or the US East Coast to Dublin for only 15,000 Avios
• Use Finnair Avios to fly between North America and Helsinki in business class for only 62,500 Avios and under $300 CAD in taxes and fees

By transferring your miles into one Avios account, you don’t have to make separate bookings for two travelers, and you can also make better use of a small transferable points balance rather than use it for a smaller redemption. Also, having your Avios in one “players” account gives you ultimate flexibility, rather than being forced to redeem through British Airways, which likely won’t have the same partner availability as the home airline itself. 

For example, I’ve seen Qatar flights available to redeem on the British Airways website before, but there’s much more availability when searching on Qatar Airways’ website, not to mention the expensive “Flexi” fares, which can still be a great deal if you’re on a specific timeline and have miles to spare or transfer from your bank during a transfer bonus promotion.

How to Combine Avios into One Account With Finnair

Before Finnair entered the fold, there was only one very expensive way to do this: through British Airways, and for clarity, it still exists! I just wouldn’t recommend it. 

British Airways charges $50 USD for up to 60,000 Avios transferred to another account, which isn’t bad on the surface, but considering many business class awards cost 75,000+ Avios, you’re looking at an extra $100 USD in fees to redeem your points. Ouch.

Enter Finnair, which allows you to transfer an unlimited amount of Avios for only 10 Euros! The catch is you must have a Finnair account that’s at least 90 days old, and most people only run into this solution when they’ve found an award flight that likely won’t be available in 90 days.

I’ve mentioned this in a few different articles, but most recently in a specific piece about aging loyalty accounts that everyone should read. TLDR of that article: once you know points and miles maximization is a hobby you enjoy, everyone in your “circle of travel influence” needs to open a Finnair account, and open a few other ones as well. 

As I once heard another blogger say:

“Some people collect LEGO, comic books, or stamps, and then look at them at home; we collect points & miles and then travel the world”

This is absolutely a hobby, but we have (in my opinion) more fun than collectors of other things!

Step-by-Step Guide to Linking Accounts & Combining Avios with Finnair

For max clarity, both people in the household will need Finnair accounts that are 90 days old, but most of the work is done by the person with fewer Avios, or who doesn’t want to deal with travel updates.

The first thing you’ll need to do is link your British Airways account with your Finnair account, and your Finnair account must be at least 30 days old to do this. You can start that process here.

Once that’s done, you can head to Avios.com, where you’ll be asked where you’d like to transfer your British Airways Avios to, and of course it’s Finnair. As a reminder, your Finnair account will need to be 90 days old to utilize this feature, and there is no cost when it comes to moving Avios amongst partner programs.

The last part is to choose how many Avios you want to send over from your British Airways account to Finnair. This part is all completely free, but don’t store any extra Avios in Finnair, as they expire in only 18 months, versus an expiry timeline of 36 months when Avios are stored in a British Airways account.

Next, you’ll head to Finnair’s transfer tool, which I’ve linked here. Simply put in the account number where you’d like the Avios to go, pay 10 euros, and in all my experience, the Avios transfer instantly!

From there, you can head back to Avios.com and log in to the account to which you transferred points, and send them to whichever partnered Avios program where they’re required. It’s quite a seamless process.

My Experience With Transferring & Combining Finnair Avios – Tips & Tricks

Trading Points with Friends & Family

As I’ve become more public about my love of this hobby, I’ve officially become the “travel guy” in my work and family life. This has created unique opportunities to help family or friends who didn’t think it was possible to travel to a reunion, or to help a friend travel in a lie-flat seat when that option never even crossed their mind. 

Sometimes they don’t have the miles required to book the lowest price, and if the deal is good enough, I’ll use my own points to book them, and they sign up for a card using my referral link, or transfer some miles to me through a program they do have. Since almost everyone has British Airways Avios, or can easily get them from RBC Avion points and American Express Membership Rewards, it’s become my de facto “IOU” currency. And this Finnair transfer trick has made it cheaper and easier to get paid back for my goodwill.

For example, my aunt wanted to meet up with my mom in Italy for a vacation together, and Air France wanted 200,000 points for a business class seat, but shockingly, SAS had the seat available for only 78,000 points and much less in taxes and fees. If you’ve been following the blog for a while, you’ll know I completed the SAS Million Mile Challenge at the end of 2024, so I had plenty of SAS miles sitting around. Just like that, she got to experience her first lie-flat seat, and I felt great that I could give her that experience.

A few months later, I was short 15,000 Avios for a redemption, and she was able to transfer those points using Finnair for only 10 euros to “pay me back” for her business class experience. Having a 90-day-old Finnair account for everyone in your family or trusted friend circle lets you pull off moves like this, which I personally find some of the most fun I have with miles and points. Surprise-and-delight service from a stranger at a luxury hotel is great, but being able to surprise and delight your own family is priceless, Mastercard^®.

Avoid my Avios Snafu

One thing to watch for: if the person “paying you back” doesn’t have a 90-day-old Finnair account, and you choose the more expensive option through British Airways, you’re likely to hit a roadblock. 

Transfers from other accounts without the same last name, or even sometimes with the same last name, trigger a 10-day hold for fraud prevention. You won’t be able to send those points from British Airways to any other airline. By the time that’s lifted, your award seats will likely be gone, so only pay that increased fee of $50 USD per 60,000 Avios if you’re redeeming an award directly on the British Airways website. 

Conclusion

Avios is a funny currency, and comes with a steep learning curve, but when you get the hang of it, it’s powerful. I think Avios will be relevant for many, many years, simply because it is so complex it’s unlikely to suffer the fate of North American “simplified” programs that become dynamically priced to death.

Learning this Avios trick will give you ultimate flexibility with your points, make them easier to use, and help you redeem them more successfully within the Avios ecosystem.