Bits: Groupon / Priority Pass deal, Finnair formalises A350 on Heathrow to Helsinki

News in brief:

Groupon offering 50% off a Priority Pass

If you have been thinking of purchasing a Priority Pass airport lounge access card, Groupon is running a deal at the moment.  You will find it here.

It is a little fiddly.  You pay Groupon £6 for a voucher.  The voucher entitles you to:

• 50% discount on Standard Membership (usually £69, pay £15 per visit)
• 50% discount on Standard Membership with first visit included (not advertised online!)
• 25% discount on Standard Plus Membership with ten visits included (usually £159)

The discount is clearly not 50% since you are also paying £6 for the voucher.  You will make a saving, however.  This is one way of keeping hold of a Priority Pass if you are cancelling your American Express Platinum charge card, which comes with two free Priority Pass cards.  None of the cash versions are actually as good as the Amex version, oddly, which gives unlimited free visits for the cardholder and a guest.

The Groupon link is here.

Finnair to fly the A350 from London to Helsinki

Regular readers will know that I flew Finnair’s new A350 in Business Class earlier in the year.   Finnair is the first European airline to fly this plane and it was testing out new aircraft on the short hop to London.

You can read my Finnair A350 review here.

Finnair has now decided to roster an A350 permanently on the London to Helsinki route.  This is primarily for cargo purposes and is part of a new cargo venture that the airline has launched with British Airways.  A350 or other long haul Finnair aircraft have been flying into Heathrow for some time already but it was never formally promoted.  The dates, times and aircraft type (ie A350) are now firm.

An A350 will operate on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday from 5th October.  It will fly the 10.20 from Heathrow, arriving at 15.15.  The return is less convenient, departing Helsinki at 08.00 and landing in London at 09.10.

You can now redeem your Avios points for a fully flat bed in business class between London and Helsinki!  It is 30,000 points per person.  If you were inspired by our recent trip to Tallinn in Estonia, via Helsinki, this is a good chance to give it a try.

You even get free wi-fi in business class and, according to the press release I saw, in economy class if you show your British Airways Silver or Gold card or similar oneworld card.

The downside of redeeming Avios on Finnair to Helsinki is that you don’t get the £50 Reward Flight Saver taxes cap.  You will have to pay the full taxes of £126.  Given that you will get a flat bed on a new A350, however, it is well worth the extra.

It is also worth checking out cash prices on finnair.com – you would earn Avios and BA tier points for the trip and, with the extra capacity offered by the A350, prices may soften a bit.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (October 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:

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.