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Get Oneworld Alliance Emerald Status (Qantas, Cathay etc) by Purchasing 200,000 Finnair Miles €2575 (~A$4065) @ Finnair Plus

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This is probably not a deal for most of us at Ozbargain as we still cannot travel freely but I feel this is a good short cut to obtain Oneworld Airline Alliance Emerald tier status with significant lower cost than flying with Qantas or British Airway.
Oneworld Emerald tier is equivalent to Qantas Platinum or Platinum One status where you can access first class lounges globally with Oneworld Airlines and many other nice perks.
It's quite simple to obtain but the cost is not cheap however you will be able to retain the Finnair Plus Platinum status for 2 years from today.
Finnair has a promotion where you get 100% bonus points as well as 25% status tier points if you buy the points before 27th Dec.
Make sure you do your own research and understand the costs involved. We might not be able to travel for extended period as Omnicron is at it's peak.
Also make sure you read through all the details on Finnair website and the steps below. Especially step 5 is important.
I have not decided to go ahead so I cannot promise this will work 100% but I believe this will get you Finnair Plus Platinum as long as you follow all the steps. If you are willing to spend AUD 4k and it is useful for you.

  1. Create a Finnair Plus account.
  2. Purchase miles on this website HERE
  3. You must purchase 200,000 mile/points and you will be awarded 100% bonus points. So total 400,000 points.
  4. The promotion also awards you 25% Tier Point bonus of total points obtained. So you will be able to get 100,000 Tier points which can get you the Finnair Plus Gold status.
  5. Now we need the Finnair Plus Platinum status but we are 50,000 Tier points short. To do so you can convert the miles/points we just purchased at 3:1 ratio. So we use 150,000 points convert to 50,000 tier points. This will give you a total of 150,000 Tier points to be eligible for Finnair Plus Platinum status.
  6. You should still have 250,000 mile points at this stage and including 150,000 Tier points. You can use the leftover points to redeem Qantas flights. I am unsure about the availability and costs involved (tax etc).
  7. Total cost to purchase 200,000 mile points is EUR 2575 which is equivalent to AUD 4065.41
  8. Finnair Plus points do not expire for 18 months. You can keep them easily buy purchasing small portion of points.

This is a very cost effective way to obtain top tier of Oneworld Emerald Status. There are quite a few good benefits and perks which you can google.
The link with Finnair Plus status and Oneworld equivalent status - https://www.finnair.com/au-en/finnair-plus/finnair-plus-memb…
The link to purchase Finnair points - https://www.finnair.com/au-en/finnair-plus/buy--transfer-or-…

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closed Comments

  • +4

    This is being discussed in Australian frequent flyer and flyer talk.

  • Interesting way to get OW Emerald.

    I've still got OW Emerald from that Qatar Airways Status Match from VA Platinum last year.

      • Still waiting to see what materialise from the status match.

      • -1

        skyteam is a low tier alliance

        star alliance > oneworld > skyteam

    • I'm secretly hoping Qatar will extend their status for another year as I haven't been able to utilise this.

      • +1

        Your hopes have been answered, just announced another year extension this morning!

        • I know I saw that. Another year is fricken awesome!

    • Expiring in 9 days though

      • Just this morning extended until Dec 2022!

        • Hahaha. I got the email also :). Pretty happy about that.
          Shame the Qcredits aren't extended.

  • +5

    I have been OWE for the last 6-7 years and it's well worth having, esp for international travel. Fancy lounges, priority check-in, boarding, extra baggage, premium call centre etc..

    Definitely a nice-to-have though and not cheap to obtain upfront, esp with limited long haul travel opportunities currently. You would easily spend $15-20K in flights to get near OWE… and however long it takes to do that. This offer seems to get you there today.

    Without having read the fingerprint myself, this seems like a very good deal at the high level, esp for 2-years of OWE status.

    But the same as purchasing points/miles with cash… unless you need them, or are about to use them… it's just locking money away that you could otherwise be using - IMO.

    Thankfully QF has extended QFF Status throughout COVID (to 2023 for me) when we're not able to travel and earn the required SC to renew.

    • +2

      This also gives you a soft landing to gold. (OW sapphire) :)

    • Thank you for your service.

  • +5

    Bear in mind these miles are not just obsolete. You will be able to redeem them for flights on Qantas. Aus-NZ might be the most realistic in the near-term, and this is equivalent of 5 return flights: https://www.finnair.com/au-en/finnair-plus/earn-and-use-finn…

  • +5

    Buying miles when they’re on sale for a premium cabin redemption that you have planned is worthwhile. But buying status that you may not even be able to use for the next two years for $4k is hardly a ‘bargain’. This is more of a discussion thread on an AFF, not here on ozBARAGIN.

  • Yeah airlines are strapped for cash and are using creative means to get $. Good deal, but I wonder if this will just be a race to the bottom for other oneworld alliance members? Maybe Qantas will offer something similar in 2022…..

  • +3

    Also I would STRONGLY SUGGEST, do your own research if it’s worthwhile. Look at redemption charts, taxes, availability (one world) etc.

  • Who’s so optimistic to fly during 2022 or even 2023 ?

    • +2

      Wasn’t there someone who was bragging about flying 1st class to Europe recently?

      • +5

        That was me :-) And I intend to look further into this deal, it's potentially quite interesting.

        • How was the trip? So envious but we just don’t want to risk it with a young one at this stage.

          • +2

            @spasto: Was great! Also managed to fly back a couple of weeks ago in Singapore business class using points acquired with this deal OzBargain FTW!

            • @z0s0: I'm booked on the QF mel-darwin-lon flight for 10jan and on to Helsinki for 6 weeks. Any idea how I can improve comfort? I'm a QC member and travel with oxygen and a nebuliser, and will cough and splutter a lot… I will be wearing a jumper that says I cough because I have cystic fibrosis so other people don't get freaked out!

              I realise this is really an AFF discussion, but heck here we are :(

              https://ibb.co/1Qb6r60

    • +1

      It will start coming down to how restrictive countries are.

      USA and UK 2022 sure no problem, you can do it now

      Japan and Philippines mayyyyyybe 2022

      China 2023 if we are lucky

    • +1

      That is why the points are so cheap. Finnair isn't optimistic.

    • -1

      Get out of under your rock. Travel to US, Europe and parts of Asia is already open

    • +4

      We can travel now, why do people think we can't?

  • +1

    Sounds a bit risky as there's no guarantee Finnair will still be with Oneworld alliance in the next 2 years?
    I have not been flying with Finnair before and not in the near future
    Those points would become useless if Finnair cannot redeem in partner airline (eg. Qantas)

    • +1

      If you are going basically anywhere in Europe flying with Finnair is ok, it's just a brief layover at Helsinki. And many times flights are cheaper through Helsinki than direct.

      As far as I know most airlines pass near Helsinki anyway when they come from Asia.

      Their Premium economy seats are quite good as well if you are a big boy like me :)

      • If you are going basically anywhere in Europe flying with Finnair is ok

        Think the problem is getting to Europe first.

        As far as I know most airlines pass near Helsinki anyway when they come from Asia.

        I'll ask for a quick kerb side drop off in Brussels on the next Singapore to London flight. You make it sound easy.

        • +1

          Lol :D

          Helsinki Airport is quite small and easy to navigate and they are actively promoting themselves a gateway to Europe :)

          From Wikipedia:

          "Finavia aims to strengthen the position of Helsinki Airport in transit passenger traffic between Europe and Asia, and to increase the number of direct connections to Europe.[9] Helsinki Airport's minimum transit time of 35 minutes is among the shortest in Europe.[10] According to Finavia's survey, as many as one in every three passengers select their flight route based on the transit airport.[11]"

          • @datafellows: Problem with Helsinki is there is nothing to the east of it.

            All major cities like London, Paris, Madrid, etc are south of it. It isn't one way traffic.

            Plus Asia people just don't see Finland as a destination. If you can fly Asia direct into London, Paris why add a transfer.

            • +4

              @netjock: Maybe if they rename it to shark-finland they'll get more Asian travellers

  • +1

    You would want to be doing a lot of flying to want to pay over $4000 just for status

    It would be tempting if I had to do lots of business travel and the company only paid for economy fares and any covid related travel issues didnt exist.

    • +1

      You would want to be doing a lot of flying to want to pay over $4000 just for status

      People pay for status all the time whether it is cars or handbags.

      • +2

        people see those things in every day life.

        I don't see many people walking down the high street flashing their platinum one Qantas cards

        • +4

          They don't? How silly. I got my status tattooed on my forehead. A bit of a pain every time you change tiers though…

          • @Shoocat: I bet the people who get their bf or gf tattooed on themselves have a good solution for the never ending rollercoaster ride

            • +1

              @MrThing: Always date people with the same name, problem solved

    • Yeah, that's a lot of first class lounge visits, extra baggage etc.

    • +4

      You get 250,000 frequent flyer points as well for the $4000 which you can use on Qantas domestic flights as well as other Oneworld airlines. If you 'value' the points at 1c/point (e.g. economy class redemptions) then it is a net cost of $1500. If you value the points higher at 2c/point (e.g. business class) then you are basically making money ;)

      • +1

        far far cheaper ways to procure 250k FF points, get a few more and get points club plus (free qantas club membership) and get basically all the perks anyway.

        At the end of the day lounge access is redundant if you always aim for business class redemptions anyway

        • +7

          Oneworld Emerald is for first class lounge access which is a different league to business class lounges in the airports globally.

          • +2

            @arctan: How many Oneworld airlines have first class lounges, save for Qantas and Cathay?

            • +1

              @JohnHowardsEyebrows: Not an expert but I am only aware of Qantas and Cathay got first class lounges. I know Qantas top tier can use Emirate first class as well but unsure about Finnair platinum.

              • @arctan: JAL has one at both haneda and narita

                American airlines and Cathay each have one at heathrow

                still not worth $4000

                BA has the concord club at Heathrow but im pretty sure thats reserved only for people travelling on a first class ticket as opposed to status

          • @arctan: sure you can use the first class lounge, but would you pay $4000 for the pleasure?

            • @MrThing: Don't forget the 250k points where you can redeem flights. As Funky Moose mentioned above you are actually ahead if you can redeem a few business class flights.

              • @arctan: But thats the thing churn and burning credit cards in Aus will get you those points and redemptions cheaper.

                you could get 250k points for close to $500 AUD in credit card fees plus you might even score points club plus for a couple hundred more

                • +4

                  @MrThing: You keep comparing qantas club with emerald status they are not the same thing

        • Unless you want to travel internationally (i.e. stay there), whereby you can use AA/BA/Iberia/LATAM facilities.

    • Not at all, you aren't just getting status, you are also getting points and upgrades that can be spent on flights domestically or internationally. It is actually very tempting. Ever since Covid when we have to fly we do business to reduce number of people near us to at least reduce the chance we will end up in quarantine or sick, using the points for business makes this ok value (not fantastic but ok) and the status is just the cherry on the top.

  • +1

    do you get access to Qantas classic rewards as soon as they're released or do they only release them to other oneworld airlines after 2 months like those below QANTAS gold?

    • Very curious about this myself.

      Does anyone know - with OW Emerald, would you get access to more Qantas Classic Reward flights than I do currently with QFF bronze?

      I’ve got a bunch of Qantas points I can’t use because there aren’t CR seats available. Ideally I’d like to use both the OW and QFF points and do a find the world trip (I know, very optimistic)

      • +1

        No you do not get preferential access to QF reward seats as a OW Emerald. It is exclusive for QF Elite members.

  • good info thanks

  • I’m also assuming status lasts for one year?

    • +3

      I copied this from AFF forum link above - The status tracking period starts the day you join and lasts for 12 months, plus you get an additional 12 months of any new status gained in that period. So if you join today (Dec 2021), you'll start at "Basic" which lasts until Dec 2022, however if you then "upgrade" your status, you will get an additional 12 months of the new status (Dec 2023).

  • good info OP

    currently overseas, looking to travel soon

  • Yes very good info to know there's an option for others to buy into emerald

  • +1

    I am looking to book MEL—> CDG business class ticket for 2022(dates flexible), anyway to take advantage of this offer to “hack” into a cheaper business class flights?

    Due to covid the flights are already cheaper! $5-$6k AUD / adult for business class return to paris, usually it runs north of 10k

    The cheaper flights i have come across are in Oneworld/Star world alliances

  • I have one HUGE question here. If you get OneWorld Emerald status, can you then link that with Qantas to get Qantas Platinum?

    Or will it not work that way?

    • Qantas was offering status matches recently - https://www.qantas.com/au/en/frequent-flyer/status-and-clubs…

      Finnair was not on the list of airlines it would match

      Dont know if Qantas subscribe to the unsolicited requests for status matching? ymmv

      • I think that was a one-time pandemic special.

        I mean, if you use these Finn-Air points to buy a domestic flight in Australia, would you still be eligible for the OneWorld Emerald benefits?

        Cause Qantas knows that I'm a measly silver with them.

        • you would be putting your finnair ff number on your booking which you would be booking via the finnair booking system, right?

          and your finnair ff account is OWE? so without paying $4000 and trying it myself I would say yes, the maths checks out.

          tbh I don't think it would matter if you booked it with cash via the qantas page, it always gives you a choice to put in frequent flyer number and the airline its with and if its a oneworld airline and you have a high status with them it would carry through.

      • Their status matching was aimed at competing airlines as opposed to partner ones. Would not think they would be willing to do for other oneworld airlines.

  • given this has been on blogs for at least 5 days time to HT at a minimum OP.

  • Silly question, if I get emerald status this way, and say me and the wife are travelling cattle class, would BOTH of us be able to get into the 1st longes, get priority boarding etc?

    • QFF Platinum is member + 2 entry into the lounge.

      Priority boarding is fine if you’re boarding all together, just show your boarding pass first.

      • +2

        Yes, but Oneworld Emerald is just +1 into the lounge and for priority benefits.

        By the way, QFF Platinum only allows two guests for domestic lounges. Still one guest for international.

        • Good to know thanks for clarifying

  • +1

    I actually came across a Qatar Melbourne to Paris return flight for 8-9k! It didn't last long, and everything else was 17-18k.

    It may of been an error through Skyscanner.

    Doesn't surprise me fares are cheaper, I have alot of Krisflyer pts I want to use but I have no idea what I can book before they expire.

    Krisflyer are being pricks about extensions, when in reality we should receive 2+ years extensions for time during Covid. It's BS, very disappointed.

    • -3

      may of been

      You ofn't heard have, "may have"?

    • Qantas is much better in this regard.

    • Speaking of Qatar, does Emerald status get you into their first class lounge?

      • Unfortunately you can't. Only their Platinum privilege member flying business is allowed to bring in two guest or flying First with them,

  • Good info 👍🏻
    If we weren’t on the brink of another international travel ‘situation’, I would be jumping on it.

  • Nice - If I weren't already sapphire, i'd certainly give it consideration.

  • Missed this deal. I hope there are similar deals elsewhere as airlines struggle for revenue…

  • Anyone would like to buy the Finnair Gold for a year (I got the Platinum deal)?

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