Bits: SWISS sale, Star Alliance HEx upgrade, use Avios for Lapland!

News in brief:

Decent SWISS sale out of Italy

SWISS business class and, in particular, first class has an excellent reputation.  I was one of the last people to redeem for Swiss First – here is my review – before they changed the rules and restricted to it Miles & More Gold and HON members.

Fares are available to pretty much everywhere except the US.  Bangkok, Delhi, Bombay, Hong Kong, Jo’burg, São Paulo, Singapore etc are included.

Two people must travel together.  You can fly from any Italian airport served by SWISS and open jaw tickets work, so you can fly back to a different Italian city if you want.

A typical return fare is €1,299 per person from Italy to Bangkok in Business.  First Class is an impressive, given the quality of the SWISS product, €2,500 per person.  Other destinations are a little higher but not much.  Johannesburg looks especially good at this level.

You must buy by 22nd May and fly before 28th February 2018.  Remember that you need to search for a price for two people on the SWISS website here.

Free Heathrow Express upgrade for Star Alliance Gold

I haven’t mentioned this for ages, so I wanted to remind you that if you have Star Gold status via any of the frequent flyer schemes in the Star Alliance, you can still claim a free First Class upgrade on Heathrow Express.

The link with the offers is here.

Note that in theory you must be travelling on a full-fare Standard Class ticket.  In reality, it seems that most train stuff neither know or care if you took advantage of a discount promotion when buying.

Finnair launching UK services to Lapland

If you’ve ever had a secret wish to visit Lapland, Finnair can make your dream come true this winter.  Even better, you can use Avios to make it happen.  This is an opportunity to try winter activities such as ice fishing, seeing the Northern Lights, skiing, husky safaris and reindeer sleigh rides.

The airline has announced a new route between London Gatwick and Kittilä.  This is in addition to the previously announced Gatwick to Ivalo service.

Flights will operate weekly between 12th December and 20th March.

An economy return to Kittilä will cost 20,000 Avios plus £96 tax – this feels a little pricey so do compare cash prices.  Business class is not available.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (January 2021)

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

There are two official British Airways American Express cards:

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

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

If you have a small business, we especially recommend Capital On Cap’s Visa card which comes with a generous bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)