Finnair launches a new flight sale

Finnair has launched a new sale, with the long haul offers covering four eastbound long-haul routes.

I will ignore the European sale which believes that £546 return in short-haul Business Class to Helsinki constitutes a bargain. £582 to Tallinn has a little more value if you are looking for British Airways tier points due to the extra flights, netting you 240 tier points in total – 80 + 40 + 40 + 80.

(EDIT: Comments below suggest that if you book Business Class to Tallinn, the connection only credits as Economy to BAEC so you’d get 80 + 20 + 20 + 80 tier points. This is not confirmed though.)

The four long-haul routes which are discounted are:

• Hong Kong – £1,684
• Seoul – £1,707
• Mumbai – £1,380
• Doha – £2,048 (less of a deal)

These prices are for travel starting in the UK via Helsinki. You would earn 440 British Airways tier points return in Business Class (80 + 140 + 140 + 80).

You need to book by 2nd February. Travel dates are

• Hong Kong: 1st February – 15th June 2023
• Seoul: 9th February – 31st May 2023
• Mumbai: 1st March – 15th June 2023
• Doha: 1st March – 15th June 2023

You can play around with dates on the Finnair website here.

Our review of the new Finnair business class seat, which both Rhys and I rate, is here although this is not yet operating on all routes. A photo is above.

If you have a British Airways Gold card, you will also be able to try the high-end Platinum Wing lounge at Helsinki Airport, which includes its own sauna!

The best credit card to pay with, assuming you are billed in £, is American Express Preferred Rewards Gold which offers double points – 2 per £1 – for airline spend.

If you collect Finnair Plus points, here is our guide to earning them from UK credit cards.

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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:

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.

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.

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.

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.

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