Some links to products and partners on this website will earn an affiliate commission.

Regular readers will remember that German airline airberlin has filed for bankruptcy. Finnair is now offering elite members of airbelin’s frequent flyer scheme, topbonus, the opportunity to match their airberlin status to Finnair’s own Finnair Plus scheme. Since both carriers are members of the oneworld alliance, airberlin elites will thus continue to enjoy status benefits when flying on oneworld irrespective of what the future holds for airberlin.

What is interesting however is that this promotion is also open to those with elite status in Miles & More, the frequent flyer scheme of Lufthansa, Austrian, Swiss, etc.

You are eligible for this status match if you currently hold one of the following membership tiers:

• airberlin topbonus silver
• airberlin topbonus gold
• airberlin topbonus platinum

OR

• Miles & More Frequent Traveller
• Miles & More Senator
• Miles & More Hon Circle

If you are a topbonus silver or a Miles & More Frequent Traveller member, you will be matched instantly to Finnair Plus Silver (oneworld ruby). This gets you the following benefits on Finnair flights:

• one additional piece of luggage (max 23 kg) irrespective of cabin of travel (for comparison’s sake, you would need to be a BA Silver member, oneworld sapphire to get this from the BA Executive Club irrespective of your cabin of travel)
• access to fast track security (for comparison’s sake, you would need to be a BA Gold member, oneworld emerald to get this from the BA Executive Club irrespective of your cabin of travel)
• 50% discount on seat reservations
• 10% discount on buy-on-board skybistro purchases
• 10% more Finnair Plus points
• you may purchase a lounge voucher (25€)

In addition, you will enjoy the following benefits on all oneworld flights:

• Priority Check-in
• Access to preferred seating
• Higher wait list priority

If you hold a status level higher than topbonus silver or Miles & More Frequent Traveller, you can take part in the Finnair Plus Gold challenge. You will be matched to Finnair Plus Gold (oneworld sapphire) if you complete 23 segments or earn 40,000 status points by 31 March 2018. This is half of what is usually required for the initial qualification. Finnair Plus Gold gets you the following benefits on Finnair flights:

• Free seat selection
• Take golf or diving equipment free of charge
• Guaranteed seat availability if purchased at least 48 hours in advance (applies to fare classes Y, C, J and D only)
• 4 upgrade vouchers (short haul flights)
• 15% more Finnair Plus points
• free wifi (1 hour) on longhaul flights

In addition, you will enjoy the following benefits on all oneworld flights:

• Access to oneworld business class lounges
• Priority boarding
• Priority baggage handling

So how do I get matched?

Fill in the form on the promotion page here and then send an email to [email protected] with a photo of your topbonus or Miles & More status card and a screenshot of your account activity. Note that the promotion page is in German (see below), but Google Translate should help you out. The are is no mention of a residency requirement, so this should work for everyone with airberlin topbonus or Lufthansa Miles & More status. 

Bottom line

Although there is no option to be matched to Finnair’s top tier platinum status (oneworld emerald), this is a good opportunity for those Miles & More elites that currently have no oneworld status at all, and for airberlin frequent flyers affected by the airline’s bankruptcy.

You can take extra luggage from day 1, no matter which cabin you’re flying in, as a Finnair Silver member (oneworld ruby) and you get access to fast track security, whereas BA would require you to have at least oneworld sapphire status (BA Silver) for extra luggage and oneworld emerald (BA Gold) for fast track security.

Although you will only be matched to oneworld sapphire (which gives you lounge access) once you have completed the gold challenge, you only need to meet only half of the usual qualification requirements. It will be interesting to see which other status matches become available to airberlin elites in future, but you’ve got nothing to lose from trying this one out, especially if your status is about to expire.