Using Finnair Avios to Book Scandic Hotels at Amazing Value

Using your airline points or miles to reduce hotel costs is often a terrible deal, and 99% of opportunities will result in less-than-ideal value for your points, which is why we always recommend against doing so.

However, using Finnair Avios to cut costs on your next Scandic Hotels stay is the 1% exception I’ve found where your airline miles can be worth an incredible amount, even though you won’t have a completely free stay. 

A Limited High-Value Hotel Redemption Opportunity within Northern Europe

It’s worth stating off the bat that this redemption opportunity is quite niche, so unless you’re planning a trip to Scandinavia or select locations in Poland and Germany, it won’t be applicable.

However, I find most of the enthusiasts in the award travel community to be flexible about where they travel, and the “thrill of the deal” is absolutely a reason to visit. This deal falls squarely in the latter camp, at least for me. 

If you fall into one of those two groups, you can view all of the location options available for this redemption on Scandic Hotels’ website.

The basis of the deal also may not appeal to everyone as it’s not a completely free stay, but rather a discounted “free night voucher” that only requires 500 Finnair Avios to unlock. If you’d rather listen to the details, you can jump to timestamp 22:57 in episode 44 of our Miles Ahead Podcast.

How to Use the Scandic Hotels Voucher System with Finnair Avios

Scandic has two different coupon codes, one for each category of hotel, you can use to search to see which hotels are available during the dates of your stay. You do not need to have a voucher to search for availability. The voucher codes are as follows:

• Searching for the “Basic Vouchers” which cost 75 Euros and 500 Avios, you’ll use code VOY
• Searching for the “Premium Vouchers” which cost 115 Euros and 500 Avios, you’ll use code VOFINN

If you find something you like, it’s important to check the cash value for that stay, as Scandic hotels can occasionally be very inexpensive, but remember that the certificate rate includes breakfast, so be sure to factor that in when comparing rates. 

If it looks like a good deal, you can go ahead and confirm your reservation, then purchase a certificate from Finnair Shop here. You may see different pricing when shopping for the certificates, but at checkout you can adjust the number of Avios you want to use, and the best value is always 500 Avios. 

When I purchased my certificates, they came fairly quickly to my email, and I downloaded them to use in person.

Interestingly, the purchases were coded as general merchandise on my American Express Platinum Card (US), so I wasn’t able to earn 5x on airline purchases as I had hoped. You’re best off using a card with the best travel protections, as I’m pretty sure hotel protections would be active for this stay considering it’s paid for mostly with cash, but consult your insurance booklet before assuming. 

The One Scandic Hotels Voucher Restriction To Be Aware Of

The most important thing to know about this deal is that the vouchers expire 6 months after purchase. Let me put that in larger writing…

The vouchers expire 6 months after purchase.

Now that we’re clear on that, there’s more complexity: you don’t redeem your voucher until you’re physically at the hotel, but you can book the special voucher rate online, even if you don’t have one.

So, taking into consideration the 6-month expiration, the booking process is to reserve a room using the special discount code, then at any point before your stay, redeem Avios for a voucher to show when you check into the hotel.

In that way, these free nights are a bit risky, because unlike booking with points, you have very little flexibility. If your plans change, you better hope that your free night is still valid for when you want to travel; otherwise, you’re out that cost. It’s not quite a non-refundable booking, but I would err on the side of caution and purchase certificates 2-3 months before you’re planning to travel. 

There’s also a risk that Finnair and Scandic end this partnership before you have an opportunity to purchase your free night, but I would put that scenario in the less-likely-to-happen bucket.

My Example of Amazing Value When Redeeming Finnair Avios for a Scandic Hotels Stay

There were so many examples, it was hard to choose my favorite! Ultimately, I did cook the books a bit here to show what’s possible, as I found a city center hotel on a Friday night during peak season in Oslo. I wanted to find a night available at the very swanky Grand Hotel Oslo, but I didn’t invest enough time searching. Perhaps when I’m planning my own trip to Oslo, I’ll try and make that work, but rooms regularly break 300 Euro per night. 

What I want to highlight here is the Scandic Victoria Oslo in late August, which has a comparable cash rate of 226 Euros per night, and is available for redemption with a free night certificate.

You’ll see that the only room type available is the standard room, but the rate does include breakfast. Considering the cost of the certificate (75 Euro and 500 Avios), this means an absolutely astonishing value of 30 cents per point. Remember, that’s in Euro cents! So converting to CAD, you’re receiving a 44 cent per point redemption! 

Usually when we see insane value like that, it’s for inflated-cost products like First and Business class airline seats, but this redemption is quite different, as I’ve paid 250 Euro/night for a room before without batting an eye. 

The reality is that this example is cherry-picked, and my actual redemptions made for my Nordic trip to Bergen and Copenhagen resulted in a value of about 10 cents per Avios, which is still nothing to bat an eye at. However, you’ll have to make your own risk assessment if you’re willing to gamble on a cancellation to save $50-60 CAD per night for most redemptions. 

Conclusion

Airline points being useful for hotel stays is a rare occurrence, but this Scandic and Finnair partnership is the outlier in a world of exceptions. You do need to be fairly certain you’re going to travel within 6 months after you purchase, but I’d argue the risk is worth the reward here.

If you find yourself planning a trip to this part of the world, it’s definitely worth considering if this high-value redemption is worth indulging in.