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.

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.

How to earn Avios points from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards. Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways BA Amex American Express card

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways BA Premium Plus American Express Amex credit card

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

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:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

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:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

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

(Want to earn more Avios? Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)

Category

Finnair and Finnair Plus

This article is closed to new posts. Discussion continues in the HfP Forums.

FlyUpTop says:

16 Jan16 January 20:11

Anyone know how long VA point transfers to Hilton are taking at the moment to credit?
Si**o says:

16 Jan16 January 20:22

OT//

Booked 2 First Class (oneway) tickets to the US this morning to secure the seats using my 2-4-1.

I’m awaiting for 20k Amex MR points to transfer to my BA account, Am I right to believe take it I can add the return at any point in the future It doesn’t need to be in the 24hr period? (As long as they are still there?)

Tried to call and ask BA this morning and the guy I had wouldn’t even entertain the idea and wouldn’t let me book a oneway (so I booked online).
- Anna says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 20:50
  
  Numerous people on this site have added return segments on a 2 4 1 booking by phone after booking the outbound when the required return seats were released, the only potential issue being that the seats might be taken by someone else before the booking can be made.
- Stu N says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 20:55
  
  I’ve had no problems adding a return after booking outbound when released at T-355 and waiting for the return date to become available. Significance of 24h is that this is the window you can amend a booking free of charge; after that you might be charged a change fee of £35pp.
  
  For info I did an Amex to BAEC transfer last week and points took 48 hours to hit my BAEC account; initiated late morning on Monday and the points were there Wednesday morning.
  - GRIMZ says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 21:06
    
    i have a return to book for a Lloyds voucher booking when (if) the return becomes available. Anyone know if its BA or Avios i should call?
    - BJ says:
      
      16 Jan16 January 21:11
      
      Avios, be sure to use the nonpremium version of their number.
  - Si**o says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 21:10
    
    Thanks great! Thanks! Requested the points yesterday evening, hopefully tomorrow!
    - GRIMZ says:
      
      16 Jan16 January 22:22
      
      Whats the non premium number?
rams1981 says:

16 Jan16 January 21:02

Curve pay model free for first 6 months for Amex beta users. Not bad
- Jim says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 22:01
  
  https://www.curve.app/cards ? I see no mention of Amex ?
  - AlexI says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 22:20
    
    Seems to be just for those currently taking part in the beta testing of using Amex via Curve. The latest email from Curve says that they will soon be rolling the new subscription service (which I assume will include Amex) out to everyone in the coming weeks but does not give a definite date.
- Graham Walsh says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 22:42
  
  Got the email as on the beta. Interesting. Still not sure it’s worth it.
  - MD says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 23:32
    
    Interesting, thanks. I’m in the beta but haven’t got an email about this yet. For me the key will be if they raise the overall annual and monthly usage limits. Your link doesn’t mention a higher limit for the metal subscription, but surely….?
- Genghis says:
  
  17 Jan17 January 00:39
  
  Seems a poor package tbh when compared to alternatives. I think I’ll be going down to blue once 6 months are up.
  - Optimus Prime says:
    
    17 Jan17 January 06:10
    
    I think the subscription is too expensive when compared to Revolut: £9.99 v £6.99
  - Graham Walsh says:
    
    17 Jan17 January 08:23
    
    Think I’ll be doing the same. Reminder in diary.
Anna B says:

17 Jan17 January 00:30

Terrible prices from AVIS via VFC. Double the price on the AVIS website. And then even better applying their new year discount. Paid £220 (pay on collection) instead of quoted £450 (pay now) for a five day mid range rental in May.
- Anna B says:
  
  17 Jan17 January 00:44
  
  Meant to say HALF the price not double…
Anna B says:

17 Jan17 January 01:24

Thanks for that. Saved me $99! I was about to buy a new membership so as to carry over two outstanding visits from my old membership so that’s really helpful as I don’t have other lounge membership at present. DragonPass people assured me they can transfer over visits to new cards.