Finnair Plus will reclassify Dubai to ‘Rest of Europe’ from 1 September 2022, bundling it with other long-haul destinations.
This will significantly increase the number of Finnair Plus points you can earn on paid fares to and from Dubai, but the number of points required for award tickets is also increasing rapidly. Tel Aviv, also in the Middle East, is still considered part of the “rest of Europe”.
You can access Finnair Plus here.
earn points
Finnair Plus members can earn significantly more points on flights to and from Dubai.
Use of points
The number of points required for Economy and Business Class awards has been tripled.
Upgrading
To upgrade using points to/from Dubai, you must use 50,000 points instead of 10,000 points.
Conclusion
The reason for Tel Aviv and Dubai being lumped together with Europe had more to do with the equipment used there (short range) than the actual distance, so this change was inevitable. Finnair also uses widebody on its flights to Dubai.
Also consider that flights from Helsinki, Copenhagen and Stockholm to Doha (new routes – not yet included in the award charts) are long haul, whereas flights between Helsinki and Dubai are considered short haul. I couldn’t get it.
Nevertheless, it would have been nice to have notified Finnair Plus members of this change in advance.