Aloha can be confusing for some folks, as it’s used as either a greeting or a farewell. In Finnair’s case, it definitely means goodbye.
Without any notice that I know of, the airline has raised its award prices for Alaska Air flights between Hawai’i and the West Coast/Midwest by ~45%, and by a whopping 110% between Hawai’i and the US East Coast. In addition, awards within the US and Canada have increased by ~60%.
Over the last couple of years, the various Avios programs have been waging a consistent campaign against American Airlines and Alaska Air awards within North America. One shining exception was Finnair, which still offered incredible value on flights to Alaska.
No more.
As a reference point, here’s the Finnair Alaska chart as it previously existed:
While the first class pricing was relatively lackluster, the economy pricing was exceptional for longer flights. 11k from anywhere in the US and Canada to anywhere else in the US or Canada? 13,500 for flights from anywhere in the US to Hawai’i? Incredible.
Effectively, Finnair was the cheapest way to book Alaska flights over 1,400 miles. Better than Japan Airlines, AA, or even Alaska itself.
Finnair has now released a new award chart for Alaska, incorporating Hawaiian Airlines, including international flights, and also adding pricing for premium economy redemptions:
On the bright side, flights between the US and Mexico have remained the same: 12,500 miles one-way. Given how much Alaska has expanded its route network to Mexico, that’s good news for West Coasters and still a great deal.
However, that’s where the good news stops. Flights between Hawai’i and the US “non-East Coast have gone up almost 45%, from 13,500 Avios each way to 19,500. Flights from Hawai’i to the East Coast are now a whopping 28,500 Avios each way, an increase of ~110% and more expensive than flying all the way to Japan, New Zealand, or Australia!
That 11,000-mile US and Canada deal? Now it’s all the way up to 17,500 Avios each way, an increase of almost 60%.
First Class awards have dropped in price by a couple of thousand miles, but that’s cold comfort compared to what’s happened to the rest of the US/Canada award chart.
Luckily, Finnair’s award chart for flights on American Airlines is unchanged and still offers solid value, with Hawai’i flights at 15k Avios each way, the best remaining oneworld option to the islands as of writing. In addition, long-haul US/Canada flights can still be a great option at 16,500 Avios one-way.
Here’s Finnair’s AA award chart for reference:
Quick Thoughts
Bummer. Finnair went from being far and away the best way to book mid- and long-haul Alaska awards to being another also-ran. While the AA chart thankfully survives in its current form, it does make me a little nervous that we’ll soon see Finnair’s shoe drop on those as well.
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You gotta love how so many loyalty programs are bending backwards so much to create and illusion that they have “fixed” award prices (instead of accepting it’s going dynamic pricing) by creating thousands of sub award charts for specific situations…
First Hyatt, now Finnair….. perhaps Alaska next?
Ohh wait a minute, I forgot they are the pioneers of this logic….
never knew about this sweet spot. for the small points premium, would deal with them rather then Turkish for flying to Hawaii.
Thank you for writing about this Tim, I was unaware of Finn Avios usefulness.
I never trusted those Fins.
Avios increasingly useless for the Americas. Occasionally some value for Europe or Asia in a few zones if point to point or you want a stopover