It’s been more than a year since Alaska Airlines announced partnership with Finnair, but it hadn’t been possible to redeem Mileage Plan miles on Finnair-operated flights…until now.
Alaska Mileage Plan members finally can redeem their miles on partner Finnair at the following rates (for one-way flights):
Europe to United States (including Alaska and Hawaii), Mexico and Canada:
- 30,000 miles in economy class
- 70,000 miles in business class
Europe to Europe:
- 12,500 miles in economy class
- 20,000 miles in business class
Contiguous United States and Alaska to Middle East:
- 40,000 miles in economy class
- 105,000 miles in business class
Contiguous United States and Alaska to India and South Asia:
- 42,500 miles in economy class
- 110,000 miles in business class
Contiguous United States and Alaska to Asia:
- 32,500 miles in economy class
- 125,000 mils in business class
When you look at these redemption rates, some might seem to be on par (i.e. redemptions between the U.S. and Europe), but others seem to be on the higher end to you. And you’re not wrong.
For example, you can book a one-way business-class flight between the U.S. and Asia on Cathay Pacific for 50,000 Mileage Plan miles, which is significantly lower than 125,000 miles when booked on Finnair. However Alaska allows stopovers on one-way flights, so you can stop in Helsinki, Finland, on the way to Asia for that rate.
Feel free to search for available space with either Alaska Airlines itself or American Airlines if AA’s search engine is more familiar to you.
In the U.S., Finnair flies year round to New York City (JFK) only. The carrier also provides seasonal service to San Francisco, Miami and Chicago.
Since Alaska cut ties with Air France/KLM and Delta Air Lines, Mileage Plan members haven’t had many options for redeeming their miles to Europe, besides British Airways, which charges high taxes, and Icelandair and Condor, which both lack in coverage. For this reason, Finnair redemptions are a welcome addition to the program.
