Earlier this month, Oneworld carrier Finnair adopted Avios as its frequent flyer award currency, joining British Airways, Qatar Airways, Iberia, Vueling and Aer Lingus in the single rewards ecosystem, and in the process converting all its members’ Finnair Plus points to Avios points, at a 3:2 ratio.
As part of the change, this month Finnair introduced a new zone-based award chart for redemptions on its own flights, and this has now been fully adopted by Avios partner British Airways, meaning you’ll part with the same number of BA Avios points for a Finnair flight redemption as you will Finnair Avios points.
Previously, Finnair awards using BA Avios priced in accordance with BA’s partner award chart, which meant Business Class awards from Singapore to Helsinki came in at a rather uncompetitive 92,750 Avios one-way, but that’s all changed – and it’s great news.
Singapore – Helsinki Business Class is now 62,500 Avios
Here’s the new Finnair Avios award chart for one-way flights to or from Helsinki, which became effective on 9th March 2024.
Since British Airways Executive Club is now pricing all Finnair awards at these rates too, the Business Class deal between Singapore and Helsinki has now become a very nice ‘sweet spot’ indeed, at just 62,500 Avios.
That’s the same pricing applied to the carrier’s other Asia – Helsinki flights, like those to or from Bangkok, Phuket, Hong Kong and Tokyo, but the impact for Singapore travellers is the biggest, because BA’s partner chart (no longer used for Finnair awards) put the Lion City in a higher distance zone.
Finnair also applies only a modest fuel surcharge (S$21.90 on SIN-HEL), so in addition to mandatory taxes and airport fees the total redemption cost for a one-way Singapore – Helsinki trip using BA Avios is 62,500 Avios + S$87.10.
This is an incredibly attractive rate for a Singapore – Europe Business Class award redemption, and makes Finnair by far the cheapest award option from Singapore to Europe in this cabin.
Singapore Airlines charges 103,500 KrisFlyer miles for a saver award in Business Class on its Europe flights, and even wants 71,000 miles for an award seat in Premium Economy!
Here’s a few things to bear in mind about this Avios pricing, since it can seem a little complicated:
The new Finnair award pricing applies when using Finnair Avios (which most of our readers don’t have) and when using British Airways Avios (which many of our readers do have).
You can’t currently transfer your Finnair Avios 1:1 to and from British Airways Avios, until “later in the spring”, but that’s not necessary anyway to take advantage of this pricing, unless you need to pool your balances from each programme together, in order to book.
Qatar Airways Avios is not adopting the Finnair award chart pricing for Finnair flights (not yet at least), but if QR Avios are the only Avios points you have, you can transfer them free 1:1 into British Airways Avios, to take advantage of this pricing by booking via the BA portal.
Here’s how the pricing for Finnair award flights using British Airways Avios points (or Qatar Privilege Club Avios points transferred 1:1 into BA) now looks, compared to how it looked before.
For simplicity, we have quoted taxes and fees in Singapore Dollars (SGD), based on IATA consolidated exchange rates as of 28th March 2024. For non-Singapore routes, these fees will fluctuate due to exchange rate variation.
Finnair Business Class
Avios award rates
Asia – Helsinki
Route
Avios
Change
Before
Now
Singapore – Helsinki
92,750
+ S$87
62,500
+ S$87
33%
Bangkok – Helsinki
Phuket – Helsinki*
77,250
+ S$51
62,500
+ S$51
19%
Hong Kong – Helsinki
77,250
+ S$61
62,500
+ S$61
19%
Seoul – Helsinki
77,250
+ S$50
62,500
+ S$50
19%
Nagoya – Helsinki*
Osaka – Helsinki
Tokyo – Helsinki
77,250
+ S$450
62,500
+ S$450
19%
* Seasonal
For example, Bangkok or Phuket to Helsinki was previously 77,250 BA Avios, but now comes in almost 20% cheaper under the new pricing.
Despite the harmonised rate now being the same as it is for Singapore – Helsinki, some of these cities may boast better award space, if you’re willing to self-position or use a different FFP to head there first, or even plan a two-centre trip.
Here’s the Helsinki – Singapore pricing.
Finnair Business Class
Avios award rates
Helsinki – Asia
Route
Avios
Change
Before
Now
Helsinki – Singapore
92,750
+ S$48
62,500
+ S$48
33%
Helsinki – Bangkok
Helsinki – Phuket*
77,250
+ S$50
62,500
+ S$50
19%
Helsinki – Hong Kong
77,250
+ S$48
62,500
+ S$48
19%
Helsinki – Seoul
77,250
+ S$48
62,500
+ S$48
19%
Helsinki – Nagoya*
Helsinki – Osaka
Helsinki – Tokyo
77,250
+ S$321
62,500
+ S$321
19%
* Seasonal
Beware though: as you can see, one unfortunate exception to Finnair’s low fuel surcharge is on its Japan routes.
Finnair operates these flights under a joint venture business with British Airways and Japan Airlines, and because of the streamlined fare structure due to the ability for travellers to seamlessly mix-and-match flights between carriers, an identical (and horribly high) fuel surcharge is applied to services by all three airlines on these routes.
Sadly, this includes award tickets.
How it compares
Here’s how Finnair Asia – Helsinki award pricing in Business Class now compares across the main frequent flyer programmes.
Finnair Business Class redemption
Asia to Helsinki
FFP
SIN-HEL
BKK-HEL
62,500
+ S$87
62,500
+ S$51
65,000
+ S$82
60,000
+ S$46
89,000
+ S$87
63,000
+ S$51
90,000
+ S$87
90,000
+ S$51
92,750
+ S$87
77,250
+ S$51
Alaska Miles offers a competitive rate in Finnair Business Class, but those are hard to come by in Singapore without purchasing them in a sale – quite a different prospect from simply transferring your credit card points across.
Asia Miles also offers a good rate to Helsinki on Finnair in Business Class, from its shorter Bangkok zone.
What about elsewhere in Europe?
Here is the major downside of British Airways Avios and Finnair Avios: award pricing is sector-by-sector.
For example, if you want to redeem from Singapore to London via Helsinki using these programmes in Business Class, you’ll have the Helsinki – London Business Class award rate added on to the Singapore – Helsinki one, which in this case means parting with an additional 18,000 Avios.
That brings your total outlay on this itinerary in Business Class to 80,500 Avios + S$105.
While obviously not as good, it’s still not that bad!
You’ll pay significantly more to get to Europe in Business Class using KrisFlyer miles with Singapore Airlines and other Star Alliance carriers (103,500 miles), or using Asia Miles with Cathay Pacific via Hong Kong (110,000 miles).
Better-value options like Qatar Airways (75,000 miles off-peak) and Air France-KLM Flying Blue (from 70,000 miles) come with significant taxes and fees attached, upwards of S$300 per person – triple what Finnair is charging.
If you’re happy to jump off in Helsinki then plan your own Europe trip from there, the deal remains fantastic, but even an extension to other European cities on a single award ticket shouldn’t be discounted, in our opinion.
AirLounge Business Class
The good news about taking Finnair on these long-haul flights is that all of its Asia – Helsinki services now feature the Collins AirLounge product in Business Class.
Finnair was the launch customer for this innovative seat, which doesn’t recline traditionally like in most Business Class cabins, but instead is effectively a contoured padded shell, designed to allow you to position yourself at a wide variety of different angles.
In this new seating concept, you can rest your feet on the ottoman or use extendable infill panels to create a large flat surface. Pillows are provided to offer support in various seating positions.
The fully flat surface also has a mattress, duvet and pillows provided for a flat-bed experience.
Modern features also include wireless charging, Wi-Fi connectivity and a new 18-inch touchscreen in-flight entertainment system.
Universal AC, USB-A and USB-C power sockets are also fitted at each seat.
It’s certainly a unique product, and we look forward to trying it out ourselves to find out how comfortable it is on a long-haul flight.
Here’s our summary of the new seat, from its launch announcement back in 2022.
You can also refer to some recent A350 AirLounge Business Class flight reviews, for more information:
Award availability
Finnair is offering good award space on its flights between Asia and Helsinki when flights are first loaded a year in advance, as part of its award space guarantee.
Here’s how that typically looks for Singapore – Helsinki flights, 355 days in advance.
This is a great time for a couple to jump on two award seats, especially at 62,500 Avios + S$87 one-way.
However, short-term availability is also sometimes loaded too.
Over the coming days, you can secure at least four Business Class awards on the nightly Finnair flight from Singapore to Helsinki (AY132) on:
2 April (9 award seats)
3 April (6 award seats)
4 April (5 award seats)
8 April (4 award seats)
Routes like Bangkok – Helsinki also have plenty of Business Class award space on Finnair flights for two passengers from mid-January 2025, aside from sporadic space on other dates, and don’t forget the seasonal Phuket – Helsinki route from October to March.
We recommend using the British Airways Avios portal or the American Airlines site to search for award space on Finnair (and indeed on all Oneworld carriers), since we find those the easiest to use.
Credit card transfer partners
You can transfer credit card points into the British Airways Executive Club (BA Avios) or Qatar Airways Privilege Club (QR Avios) from the following banks in Singapore.
Avios credit card transfer partners in Singapore
= All miles cards for this bank
= HSBC: Only for the T1 card
There are also occasional transfer bonuses offered for transfers into the Qatar Airways Avios programme.
In the most recent example, you could score a 30% bonus when transferring Citi Miles or Citi ThankYou points into Qatar Avios.
Since QR Avios transfer 1:1 into British Airways Avios, that means if such a transfer deal was to be repeated you could use it to secure a Singapore – Helsinki flight in Business Class with Finnair for the equivalent of just 48,100 miles + S$87.
That would be only 6,000 miles more than Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer programme will charge you for a Singapore – Europe flight in Economy Class!
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Finnair has joined the Avios award ecosystem this month and the Singapore – Helsinki route gets a big benefit, with those holding points in the British Airways programme now able to tap 62,500-mile one-way Business Class awards to Europe, with minimal taxes and fees to pay.
Even those only holding Qatar Airways Avios can benefit, by transferring points free and instantly 1:1 into their British Airways Executive Club account, then redeeming via BA’s online portal.
Unfortunately, extending your trip beyond Helsinki using Avios does mean forking out additional points, but this can still be worth considering if you find award space on your preferred dates – after all 80,500 Avios from Singapore to London in Business Class is still pretty great.
This is a nice way to lock in a cheap Business Class redemption from Singapore to Europe a year in advance, with two guaranteed seats loaded on each flight, but there is also short-term availability worth checking, plus occasional awards added throughout the year too.
(Cover Photo: Finnair)
Source link : https://mainlymiles.com/2024/03/31/wow-finnair-singapore-europe-business-class-is-now-only-62500-avios-87/
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Publish date : 2024-03-31 07:00:00
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