Finnair adds extra Bangkok flights, bookable with Avios

With British Airways unlikely to return to Thailand for a few years, due to a shortage of long haul aircraft and the unattractive economics of a route with modest premium traffic, you need to look elsewhere for Avios earning and redeeming options.

Qatar Airways is the obvious choice, especially if you are paying cash. Not only do you get the hugely impressive Qatar seat and service, plus earn Avios, but a return Business Class flight earns 560 British Airways Executive Club tier points. That’s 90% of the way to Silver status.

Finnair is another option. We rate the new Finnair business class which we reviewed here, and it is offered on the Bangkok route. I also took a look at Finnair’s new Premium Economy seat here.

You will also earn Avios and British Airways tier points on Finnair, although fewer than with Qatar Airways. A Business Class return from the UK would earn 80 + 140 + 140 + 80 = 440 tier points. (Qatar Airways via Doha is 140 + 140 + 140 + 140 = 560, since each leg is over 2,000 miles.)

Finnair has announced that it is adding three additional Bangkok flights per week for the winter season, starting on 29th October.

This means that the existing 11 flights per week will increase to 14, all operated with an A350. I’m not sure what Avios availability will look like, but 14 weekly flights means that there are a lot of Business Class and Premium Economy seats to fill.

Remember that you can connect via Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin as well as from Heathrow. The Finnair website is here.

Our recent review of the hugely impressive Platinum Wing at Helsinki, accessible if you are a BA Gold card holder, is here.

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How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (September 2023)

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.

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.

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.

EDIT: Applications for this card are temporarily suspended due to IT issues with the British Airways On Business SME loyalty scheme.

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.