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Finnair launches flights to Sapporo, bookable on Avios

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Finnair, a British Airways partner in the oneworld alliance, will launch flights to Sapporo in Japan this Winter.  It becomes the first European airline to fly to the city since KLM dropped the route back in 2002.

The service will only operate for a short period between 15th December and 27th March 2020.  Flights will depart from Helsinki on Thursdays and Sundays.

Finnair Schengen lounge

Sapporo will be the 5th Finnair destination in Japan following Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka.  The direct route from the UK to Japan takes you over Scandinavia which is why the flight time from Helsinki to Sapporo is only 8hr 55 min.

Booked with Avios, Economy seats are 50,000 points + £254.  Business Class is 150,000 Avios + £362.

Finnair appears to have released two Economy and two Business Class seats per flight, and availability was good when I looked yesterday.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

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 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 card

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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

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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.

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

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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.

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

Category

Finnair and Finnair Plus

Comments (154)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • r* says:
    16 Jan16 January 11:42

    Do hilton definitely status match ihg plat to diamond?

    • Crafty says:
      16 Jan16 January 14:44

      Yes

      • Lady London says:
        16 Jan16 January 18:06

        Is that a straight match without any further requirements, or is every match from Hilton now a status match challenge i.e. Might Hilton match immediately, but require x nights in y period in order to keep the match?

        When do Hilton years end? is it calendar, or anniversary?

        • Graham Walsh says:
          16 Jan16 January 22:39

          It is a Diamond Challenge (when I did from Spire Elite). I got mine in Oct 18 until March 2020.

  • M says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:04

    Yes, I have both types in my account with no issues…

  • M says:
    16 Jan16 January 12:09

    Good one! I’ve just applied for a BAPP sup card and the 3K Avios are already in my Amex account.
    That was quick! 🙂

  • Ben says:
    16 Jan16 January 13:01

    O/T following on from my question yesterday about booking return 241 flights. I called the USA line at 11.40 and was on hold throughout. I ended up booking as one ways in the end. I called this morning and was told off🙄 by the agent for doing this! She said I should call at 10pm just before they close. I tried explaining about the 12am release but she wasn’t having it!

    In the end, she ended up combining my two bookings and refunding my Avios although I’m paying about £20 in extra tax at the moment. I probably will need to call back, because I’m not very confident that it will all go through properly!

    Incidentally, these were seats back from Dubai, and it was amazing how quickly all the seats including economy went. It really is a case of fastest finger first!

  • AndyGWP says:
    16 Jan16 January 14:03

    OT – currently not an IHG ambassador member… can I book a room using the ambassador weekend certificate ‘now’ (for a stay in August), and then sign up to the ambassador programme a few days before I go?

    I’ve tried to do it, and on the final reservation page (before I ‘confirm’) it says “turn up with ID and your certificate”

    The first night is registering at $180 but it’s trying to charge me another $210 for the second night (which may be normal and it just gets deducted on check-in perhaps?)

    • Genghis says:
      16 Jan16 January 14:06

      Yes – you just need the certificate at time of staying.
      For pricing, all you’ll pay is the price of the first night + taxes for that night. Yes, it shows the full two nights + tax for some reason.

      • Genghis says:
        16 Jan16 January 14:08

        On timing to sign up, you’d have to wait and see how eDelivery of AMB certificates works in practice (coming soon…)

      • AndyGWP says:
        16 Jan16 January 14:09

        Fantastic! Cheers 🙂

        Am I correct in thinking its not a physical certificate as such, and it shows up immediately on my account (I think I remember seeing issues on here (historically) about the certificate taking months to arrive)

        • AndyGWP says:
          16 Jan16 January 14:10

          Ha – brill – thanks again… you’ve even managed to answered my question before I asked it 🙂

        • Alex W says:
          16 Jan16 January 22:04

          AndyGWP remember to check the price of the room nearer the time of the stay, in case it goes down. AMB rates should be refundable.
          I forgot to do this once and the price was literally halved, meaning I completely wasted my certificate!

      • Alan says:
        16 Jan16 January 15:30

        I guess they’re covering themselves if you turn up without the cert then that’s what you’ll pay!

    • Alan says:
      16 Jan16 January 15:29

      Yep, as long as you’ve got voucher at hotel you’re fine – may have gone to electronic delivery by the time you arrive. 2nd night free doesn’t show up but will be applied by hotel. If there’s a per night city tax you still have to pay it.

  • jonathan brown says:
    16 Jan16 January 14:49

    Can you really buy 320k Hilton Points (well really 160k)?

    My acc says you buy 80k max per year (so160k in total with 100% bonus)

    • Rob says:
      16 Jan16 January 16:23

      I think some people have got a higher target. I will amend it though.

    • Qwerty Bertie says:
      16 Jan16 January 21:02

      I believe there were two offers running concurrently until, if memory serves, 16th December. Now there is just this one, i.e. get 100% extra when buying as diamond. The other offer, which I had but I don’t know if all had, was a temporary doubling of the annual limit. I could have bought 320k for $1.6k, whereas now the limit is 160k for $0.8k.

  • Alex Sm says:
    16 Jan16 January 14:57

    Amazing that they are flying direct now to Sapporo. Our winter trip there (via Tokyo and on extremely cheap Avios domestic redemption with JAL) in 2016 was teh best skiing holiday ever. A combination of weather, skiing, food and accommodation experience is completely unique. Highly recommended!!!

    • Scallder says:
      16 Jan16 January 15:25

      It’s definitely on my list to go for snowboarding – however with a 1 year old, I feel it might be some way off yet. Everyone I know who has been there has said how insanely good it is for the snow itself, but good to know all the other bits around it are good too.

      Alex – did you manage to use points for the stay? If so, where did you stay and would you recommend that hotel?

      • E says:
        16 Jan16 January 16:59

        We went to Niseko twice so Sapporo will make that trip much easier than looping via Tokyo like we did. Visited both times in February. But only one trip had great snow. Other trip the mountain was like a solid block of ice and impossible to get any edges into. Loads of injuries around us that year including me who partially tore my ACL. Stayed at the Hilton on points both times which was a good return on our points.

  • Ben says:
    16 Jan16 January 15:38

    OT. I have the Amex Plat. Does anyone know if I were to add a supp card, would the Amex Travel offer be there or has it all been used up now? (I understand there was a max number of people)

    • Alan says:
      16 Jan16 January 15:41

      Not sure if they’re still adding it or not, I think the only way you’d know would be to try it out. Even if you don’t geg it you’ll have the additional card for the future!

      • Tom H says:
        16 Jan16 January 16:19

        Added it my supp yesterday

        • Tom H says:
          16 Jan16 January 16:20

          On a similar thread, I tried to book some flights today which failed ticket it multiple times. Amex travel said they could do it over the phone but not online. However I want to trigger the 200/600 offer. Anyone had experience of claiming it back?

        • Paul says:
          16 Jan16 January 16:22

          The offer never seems to go. Maybe there isn’t 14,000 card holders in the UK.

        • thehornets says:
          17 Jan17 January 07:19

          I cannot see it on my new Plat and live chat is adamant that the offer is fully subscribed.

          I’d be interested to know if anyone can actually still see it as an available offer. I.e. somebody who has not already opted in.

        • thehornets says:
          17 Jan17 January 07:20

          Oopa, just realised that my post from last night DID actually post and this is a repeat. Sorry.

    • thehornets says:
      16 Jan16 January 19:46

      Re: the 200/600 offer. I’ve just been told by online chat that “there is cap of 40,000 card members on this offer which has already been fulfilled. The offer is no longer available for new enrollments”

      I would be interested to know if anybody can still enroll or if they are fobbing me off.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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