Finnair Devalues American Awards
Partner redemptions for American Airlines flights have a target on their back. First, it was British Airways' devastating devaluation in July, then Qatar Airways followed suit a month later. Now, Finnair devalues American awards by quietly changing its award chart for redemptions on American without any notice. Let's take a look at the the details and see whether there is any value left to be had for us award travelers. (Sidenote: it looks like redemptions on Alaska have been spared at this time.)
Finnair Devaluation
Unlike British Airways or Qatar Airways, Finnair has a zone-based award chart for redemptions on American. This means award prices are the same regardless how long of a flight you're taking. This is great news for long-distance redemptions, like cross-country flights or flying to Hawaii.
With this in mind, here are the new rates for redeeming Finnair Avios on American:
And here is the old award chart:
The changes are limited to the first three rows of the chart, namely, flights within the US and Canada, flights from North America to the Caribbean and Mexico, flights within South American, and flights from North America to Hawaii and Central America. The rest of the chart remains unchanged.
Finnair Devaluation: The Bad
It's always sad to see the price of domestic redemptions go up. So how bad is it? This is a 50% increase in the cost of economy flights within the US and Canada. Yes, this stings.
Compared to British Airways or Qatar, Finnair can still be a better deal depending on the length of the flight. With both BA and Qatar, the shorter the flight, the lower the cost. For 16,500 Finnair Avios, you can fly to anywhere in North America (excluding Hawaii). And for 16,000 British Airways Avios, you can fly a distance of up to 1,150 miles. Anything beyond that, BA will charge you either 18,000 or 20,000 Avios.
Meanwhile, Qatar Airways charges 16,000 Avios for flights up to 3,000 miles in distance. With Qatar, you can pay 14,500 Avios for flights up to 2,000 miles long, 13,000 Avios for up to 1,150 miles, and just 9,500 Avios for flights at or below 650 miles in distance. Bottom line: this devaluation puts Qatar back at the top of the Avios food chain for booking American Airlines redemptions.
Thankfully, we can move Avios back and forth among Finnair, British Airways, and Qatar Airways. So if you had some Finnair Avios that you planned to use for an upcoming American flight, you might be better off moving those over to Qatar Airways instead.
Finnair Devaluation: The Not so Bad (and Surprisingly Good…?)
The other other changes to the award chart are quite minor. The cost of economy flights from North American to Mexico and the Caribbean and for flights within South America increased from 13,000 Avios to 15,000. This is very manageable, and flights that most folks would book less often.
The rest of the award chart remains the same. I can't recall the last time an airline made a devaluation that spared most of its award chart. This by no means takes away the sting of the changes to domestic flights within North America discussed above. But still, this is surprising.
Also, I am shocked that the cost of flights between North America and Hawaii/Central America remains the same at 15,000 Avios in economy. This means Finnair is still the cheapest option for flights to Hawaii from anywhere in North America.
Finnair Devalues American Awards: ToP Thoughts
It's disappointing to see that no-notice devaluations have become the norm for the Avios programs. Partner redemptions on American Airlines just got pummeled this year, first with devaluations from British Airways and Qatar Airways, and now from Finnair. Many parts of the award chart were spared, but this devaluation hurts the most for domestic flights on American.
What do you think of Finnair's' devaluation? Come share your thoughts in our Facebook group!
