I like it when airlines offer you the chance to upgrade with cash in Manage Booking. It’s something I have availed of on and off for years, even when I have no money. I can usually be sweetened into handing over my hard earned pennies to fly in business class – “Only €89 extra to upgrade?! I’ll do it!”.

My next trip abroad is due in October, and with 80% of Irish adults planned to be vaccinated by the end of June, I should actually make it. That break away is to Helsinki with Finnair.

Waiting For An Upgrade Offer

Finnair sometimes offer upgrades from economy class to business class on their European flights. In fact, I did take advantage of one of these for a trip that ended up being cancelled due to the pandemic.

I’m curious to see if I get an offer on the current flight. Even though I made my flight booking a couple of months ago, there is no sign of anything yet, so I will just have to be patient. Curiously, pre-ordering meals is also unavailable, but then again, pandemic.


There are several reasons I’d like to see an upgrade offer. First, I’m very curious what the amount will be on a Dublin to Helsinki service. I’ve seen the London price, so I’d like to compare the two. Considering the aircraft used is an Embraer where all the seats are the same, one would hope it would be somewhat less.

Another reason is that I haven’t flown Finnair business class since 2007, when I flew on one of their MD-11s from Singapore to Helsinki via Bangkok. It’s high time I check them out again.

Overall Thoughts

Perhaps Finnair are not offering upgrades yet because they’re not sure if they will end up flying. No use taking more money off someone if they will have to give it back due to Ireland continuing to be closed.

All signs are pointing to some kind of flying being allowed this year, though each country seems to have different rules and restrictions, so navigating that will be a bit of a minefield.

Have you booked any flights for this year? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.

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Featured image via AirlinesFleet.com.