Attractive long haul flight deals from Scandinavia from Finnair and Etihad

Finnair – a British Airways partner – is currently selling Business Class flights from Oslo to Singapore for as low as NOK 13,360 (£1,100) return.

As well as Finnair’s excellent service, this is also a way of picking up some British Airways Executive Club tier points and Avios.  You would earn 360 tier points for the return trip (40 for Oslo – Helsinki and 140 for Helsinki – Singapore, each way).

Helsinki to Singapore is an A350 route as far as I can see, which means that you would get the excellent new Finnair Business Class seat which I reviewed here.

It isn’t as lucrative for tier points as a Qatar Airways deal, so you should look at those too.  Because Scandinavia to Doha is over 2,000 miles, triggering long-haul tier points, a return Business Class flight from Scandinavia to Singapore via Doha on Qatar Airways would earn 560 BA tier points (140 + 140 + 140 + 140) return.  That is 90% of a British Airways Executive Club Silver card.

If you don’t have a credit card with 0% foreign exchange fees, your best option for paying is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers triple points – 3 per £1 – when you book flight tickets in a foreign currency.  This is because the transaction triggers the ‘double points for airline spend’ and the ‘double points for foreign spend’ bonuses.

You can find out more about Finnair’s A350 on its website here.

Have a look at Etihad too ….

Etihad is currently running its own aggressive deals out of Oslo and Stockholm.

Deals are available around the £1,100 – £1,300 mark (business class) to:

• Bangkok
• Hong Kong
• Jakarta
• Manila
• Phuket
• Seoul
• Singapore

Sydney and Melbourne are also available for around £1,800 return.

You need to travel outbound by 25th June, although there are blackout dates between 2nd-12th January and 12th-26th April.  No return flights are possible before 28th December or between 27th March and 12th April.

There is a snag though.  Etihad does NOT fly from Stockholm or Oslo to Abu Dhabi.  You cannot route Stockholm – Abu Dhabi – XXXXXX.  You will be flying Stockholm / Oslo – [somewhere in Europe] – Abu Dhabi – XXXXXX.  Let’s not forget that you need to get from the UK to Stockholm or Norway too!

You don’t earn Avios or British Airways tier points with Etihad although Etihad Guest is not a bad loyalty scheme.  You can top up your miles using American Express Membership Rewards points.  Here is my review of Etihad A380 Business and you get the same excellent seat on the Boeing 787, just without the bar.

Let’s be frank – these are excellent fares on an excellent airline but you need to love your flying to book them.  You can book via the Etihad website here.

How to maximise your miles when paying for flights (December 2024)

Some UK credit cards offer special bonuses when used for buying flights. If you spend a lot on airline tickets, using one of these cards could sharply increase the credit card points you earn.

Booking flights on any airline?

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold earns double points (2 Membership Rewards points per £1) when used to buy flights directly from an airline website.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points. These would convert to 20,000 Avios or various other airline or hotel programmes. The standard earning rate is 1 point per £1.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 14th January 2025, the sign-up bonus on ‘free for a year’ American Express Preferred Rewards Gold is increased to 30,000 Membership Rewards points. This converts into 30,000 Avios. Click here to apply.

You can apply here.

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

Buying flights on British Airways?

The British Airways Premium Plus American Express card earns double Avios (3 Avios per £1) when used at ba.com.

The card comes with a sign-up bonus of 30,000 Avios. The standard earning rate is 1.5 Avios per £1.

You do not earn bonus Avios if you pay for BA flights on the free British Airways American Express card or either of the Barclaycard Avios Mastercards.

You can apply here.

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

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

Buying flights on Virgin Atlantic?

Both the free Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard and the annual fee Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard earn double Virgin Points when used at fly.virgin.com.

This means 1.5 Virgin Points per £1 on the free card and 3 Virgin Points per £1 on the paid card.

There is a sign-up bonus of 3,000 Virgin Points on the free card and 18,000 Virgin Points on the paid card.

You can apply for either of the cards here.

Virgin Atlantic Reward Mastercard

3,000 bonus points, no fee and 1 point for every £1 you spend Read our full review

Virgin Atlantic Reward+ Mastercard

18,000 bonus points and 1.5 points for every £1 you spend Read our full review