Good Avios-earning Finnair deals to Asia (Bangkok £1,189) from London and Manchester

Finnish airline Finnair has launched some excellent sale deals out of London and Manchester on its routes to Asia.

Finnair, of course, is a partner with British Airways in the oneworld alliance.  Like the Qatar Airways deals I flagged yesterday, these Finnair flights will earn you Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points – as well as saving you substantial sums over taking a BA flight!

Finnair is the first European airline to launch the new Airbus A350.  As you can see on their promotional website here, it comes with an attractive 1-2-1 business class layout, pictured below, which is a definite cut above Club World.

For some reason, details of this sale are not on the Finnair website although they have been circulated to travel agents.  The fares are bookable on finnair.com – the exact fare rules may vary by route but for Bangkok:

You must book by September 21st

Only valid on Finnair and Flybe codeshares (eg Manchester to Helsinki)

Book at least 3 days before travel

Must stay away over a Saturday night (flying back on Saturday seems OK)

No maximum stay

No stopovers allowed

No changes and no refunds

Travel must be completed by December 18th

Here are sample business class prices, which I had to find by trial and error on finnair.com.  Remember that you can fly from Heathrow or Manchester with a plane change in Helsinki.

Bangkok – £1,189

Beijing – £1,099

Chongqing – £1,099

Delhi – £1,297

Saigon – £1,433

Seoul – £1,396

Shanghai – £1,789

Singapore – £1,765

Xi’an – £1,099

Other destinations did not seem to be reduced.

In terms of British Airways tier points, these routes would earn 80 + 140 + 140 + 80 = 440 tier points return.

In terms of getting the A350, you can see full details here.  Between now and the end of this offer on December 18th, the launch dates are:

Shanghai – 26th October

Beijing – 21st November

Bangkok – 4th December

I think that all of the A330 aircraft have now been refitted with a more traditional fully flat business class seat which is perfectly fine but not as modern as the A350.  There are still a few A340 aircraft in the fleet which are running with sloping business class seats and these are best avoided – these planes are off to the scrap heap soon as more A350 arrive.

If you’re interested in these deals, head over to finnair.com and have a search.  Handily, the site has a ‘+/- 3 days’ search function which allows you to easily spot the days with these sale fares.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2025)

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.

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

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

Get 5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

30,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

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.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on the ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card is increased from 20,000 Membership Rewards points to 30,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (30,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 27th May 2025, the sign-up bonus on American Express Platinum is increased from 50,000 Membership Rewards points to a huge 80,000 points. Points convert 1:1 into Avios (80,000 Avios!) and many other programmes. Some people may see even higher personalised offers. Click here to apply.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 30,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

80,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

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, and the standard card is FREE. Capital on Tap cards also have no FX fees.

Capital on Tap Visa

NO annual fee, NO FX fees and points worth 1 Avios per £1 Read our full review

Capital on Tap Pro Visa

10,500 points (=10,500 Avios) plus good benefits Read our full review

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

British Airways American Express Accelerating Business

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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.

American Express Business Platinum

50,000 points when you sign-up and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

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