Aggressive British Airways business class fares from Finland to the US

HfP reader Ziggy, who runs Vacation Smarter, alerted me via his site to some aggressive business class fares that British Airways is offering from Helsinki to the West Coast of the US for Summer 2015.

If you are looking to maximise your British Airways tier points, starting a trip in Helsinki has an added benefit.  It is one of the few British Airways European routes that offers 80 tier points each-way in Club Europe as opposed to the standard 40.

A standard Helsinki – London – Los Angeles trip in Club Europe / Club World would therefore earn 440 tier points return (80 + 140 x 2).

If you can force a suitable routing with a change of plane somewhere in the US, you can increase that considerably.  Helsinki to London to New York to Los Angeles, for example, would earn 80 + 140 + 140 * 2 = 720 tier points.  This only works if the internal US flight is over 2,000 miles, otherwise you will receive just 40 tier points for the 2nd flight.

You can increase that even more:

If you can force a routing that puts you onto the London City flights to New York, instead of the Heathrow flights, you will earn 210 tier points each way for that leg.  (As a marketing tool, BA treats the London City flights as First Class – even though they are sold as Club World – and so you get 210 tier points each way.)

Secondly, any internal business class flights on a two-class plane in the US will (if booked on aa.com, does ba.com also do this?) book into a First Class ticket bucket instead of what BA sees as a business class ticket bucket.

In theory, you could actually earn:

Helsinki to London – 80 tier points

London to New York on the London City flights – 210 tier points

New York to Los Angeles on AA – 210 tier points

x 2 for a return trip – 500

Total – 1,000 tier points

The prices for July and August come out at around €1,775 from Helsinki to Los Angeles or San Francisco, so roughly £1,400.  You can test out pricing via ba.com but also look at aa.com as you may get different routing options.  No stopovers are allowed on the way.

If you are looking for a trip to the East Coast, Helsinki to Boston in Club World for Summer 2015 is €1,500, so £1,185.  That is a great price for Club World.

You are, of course, locking in a ticket now for a long time in the future.  For a lot of people this will not be sensible or realistic.  I would not recommend booking one of the more complex itineraries without learning more about the various ticketing and routing options – the best place to start is the Flyertalk thread on maximising British Airways tier points.  I do not hold myself up to be an expert on this aspect of the Executive Club.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 26th September 2024, sign up for FREE Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and you will receive a sign-up bonus of 10,000 Avios. This is double the usual bonus! You only need to spend £1,000 within 90 days. Our full review is here. Click here to apply.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

There is also a British Airways American Express card for small businesses:

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Platinum is increased to up to 80,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 80,000 Avios. You will receive 8 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 22nd October 2024, the bonus on American Express Business Gold is increased to up to 40,000 Membership Rewards points, worth 40,000 Avios. You will receive 4 points per £1 spent for the first three months, on up to £10,000 of spending. The card is FREE for your first year. Click here to read our full card review. Click here to apply.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.