Finnair Offers Frequent Flyers Upgrades Via Text Messages

Airlines Travel Technology October 15, 2009 Staff

Finnair is offering its Finnair Plus frequent flyers a new text-message upgrade service which provides them with opportunities to upgrade to business class via...

Finnair is offering its Finnair Plus frequent flyers a new text-message upgrade service which provides them with opportunities to upgrade to business class via cellphone text messages.

The service works like this: 24 hours before the departure of a Finnair scheduled flight, the airline will send its Finnair Plus frequent flyers traveling in economy on that flight an offer via a mobile-phone text message to upgrade their travel class if business-class seats are available.

“The new service is an easy and simple way to use accumulated Finnair Plus points or a travel class upgrade award,” says Anna Korpi, who is responsible for Finnair Plus marketing. “Like check-in text messages, the messages should be answered with one letter, in this case ‘U’, as in ‘upgrade’.”

Finnair's long-haul fleet includes five Airbus A340-300s, as well as Airbus A330-300s and McDonnell Douglas MD-11s. The MD-11s are soon to be replaced by additional A330-300s

Customers’ chances of receiving such a message depend, among other things, on the booking class of the tickets they bought. Before sending the message to a customer, Finnair also checks that the customer has sufficient Finnair Plus points, or enough mileage points that are soon to expire, or an available travel class upgrade award, to be able to redeem the seat. The service is personal and flight-specific.

The new service will initially apply to scheduled flights departing from Helsinki, but Finnair says that in the future seats will also be offered on flights departing from other locations. The upgrade flights will accumulate Finnair Plus points according to the original booking class and it will deduct flightly fewer mileage points than normal for the travel-class upgrade.

When travelling in business class, Finnair’s customers can use its business-class check-in desks to complete check-in formalities or leave baggage if they have already checked in beforehand. Business-class passengers can take more baggage along with them than Finnair’s economy-class passengers and can also make use of its airport-lounge services.