Hdfc has many transfer partners, and most of them are useful. There are three interesting airline partners which have the same miles currency, Avios. These airline partners are British Airways, Qatar Airways & Finnair. The British Airways & Qatar Airways transfer ratio is the same, whereas the Finnair ratio is different and better. This creates an avios arbitrage opportunity to get 100% more Avios from HDFC Bank. Here’s our guide to getting more Avios from HDFC Reward Points while transferring.
What is Avios?
Avios is a miles currency. The Avios is nothing but an airmiles of the airlines. It works in similar ways. That means you can redeem them for an award flight with it or use them for an upgrade. There are five Airlines that use Avios as miles currency.
List of Airlines that uses Avios:
- British Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Finnair
- Ibera
- Aer Lingus
How does Avios works?
You earn Avios while paying for flights and airline add-ons. These Avios will keep lying with the airline from which you earned them. However, as Avios is used by multiple airlines, you can transfer Avios between them.
So, a miles currency that is transferrable brings new opportunities as Airlines for some partner airlines have different award charts.
How to get more Avios from HDFC Reward Points?
Last year, Accor was a great way to get more Avios from HDFC Bank, as it used to have a 1:1 transfer ratio. Then, you could use Iberia, with which Accor had a 1:1 ratio, giving you 100% more Avios than transferring directly to British Airways at a 2:1 ratio. You can easily transfer Avios between Iberia and British Airways if your account is more than 90 days old. However, Accor was devalued, and a 2:1 transfer ratio was made applicable starting 16th Jan 2024.
After that, in March 2024, Finnair adopted Avios as a miles currency, allowing you to earn 100% more Avios. Recently, Qatar Airways also became a transfer partner of HDFC Bank, however, with a 2:1 ratio.
Here is the transfer ratio of three airlines with HDFC Bank (Infinia/Dinners Black):
- British Airways: 2:1 (3:1 for Regalia Gold)
- Qatar Airways: 2:1 (3:1 for Regalia Gold)
- Finnair: 1:1 (2:1 for Regalia Gold)
So, to get 100% more Avios, don’t transfer Avios to British Airways or Qatar Airways from HDFC Bank. Use Finnair, so you will get 50 more Avios on every 100 HDFC Bank Points transfer, giving you 100 Avios for 100 HDFC Bank points. If you have regalia gold, then you will get 50 Avios for every 100 HDFC Bank points instead of 33 Avios, giving you 50% more Avios.
Then, you can easily, quickly, and at no cost transfer from Finnair to British Airways. This post details the process of transferring Avios between airlines.
Does it work?
Yes, it works. Recently, I transferred HDFC points to Finnair and then to a British Airways account, using them to book Malaysia Airlines Business Class via Qatar Airways.
Can we see the change in the transfer ratio to Finnair??
Not in the near future. At present, Finnair is selling its Avios at a different cost than British Airways and Qatar Airways. Also, if huge transfers of HDFC points are made to Finnair, the ratio can be lowered. However, it is expected that HDFC will give one month’s notice of such a change, as it did when it lowered the ratio of Accor, Lifemiles, and Turkish Airlines.
Bottomline
Now you can get more Avios from HDFC Reward Points. As Avios is the miles currency of multiple airlines, there is an opportunity to explore their Partners. Finnair is one such partner. You can get Avios in a 100:100 ratio against 100:50, a 100% increase. That’s great. If you have regalia gold, you will have 50% more avios.
