Good Avios-earning Finnair deals to Asia (Bangkok £1,189) from London and Manchester
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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.
How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 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.
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
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
25,000 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.
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold
Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review
The Platinum Card from American Express
40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a 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, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.
SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.
Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa
Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review
You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.
British Airways Accelerating Business American Express
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
40,000 points sign-up bonus 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.
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