Decent Finnair sale to Thailand, Asia, India …. earns British Airways tier points and Avios

Finnair is a British Airways partner, courtesy of its membership of the oneworld airline alliance. This means that you will earn Avios and British Airways tier points on Finnair flights.

The new Finnair long-haul sale is therefore worth a look.

You can see full details here.

Some of the business deals look very attractive. Delhi is just £1,299 return, Phuket and Krabi are £1,299 and there are a few Chinese destinations from £1,199.

Economy tickets start from £419 to Chongqing.

You need to book by January 15th. You can depart from either Manchester or London to Helsinki and then onwards.

These are the dates where the sale prices are available for business class:

Bangkok, 6 January – 30 June, £1499

Chongqing, 7 January – 21 June, £1199

Delhi, 1 January – 31 October, £1299

Xi’an, 29 March – 21 June, £1199

Phuket, 11 January – 28 March, £1299

Krabi, 13 January – 28 March, £1299

Seoul, 7 January – 31 March, £1499

Hong Kong, 7 January – 31 May, £1799 (although cheaper to fly to Xi’an and redeem Avios for a Dragonair connection)

Tokyo, now – 30 September, £1999

You need to stay a Saturday night to get these fares. Full terms and conditions are on their offers page here.

Note that, unless Finnair has updated its IT recently, you cannot put in a British Airways Executive Club number at the time of booking – it needs to be added later via their ‘Manage My Booking’ function.

If your flight is scheduled to be on the new A330 aircraft then you will get the new fully flat beds in business class. On the A340 routes it is hit and miss, unfortunately.  Of the routes above, I think only Tokyo, Seoul and (until the end of the Winter timetable in late March) Hong Kong will almost guarantee you the new seat and you are always at risk of a last minute change of aircraft.

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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.