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.

Leo says:

16 Jan16 January 08:00

On topic!!! Can anyone confirm that purchased points extend the life of Hilton Points? I.e. count as activity. Rob has said so before – want to check if still the case.
- Genghis says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 08:08
  
  Yes. Alternatively, easiest way I’ve found is to do a MR transfer for a couple of hundred.
  - Leo says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 08:20
    
    Cheers. I had also thought of that so good to have it confirmed.
- Lady London says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 17:58
  
  Did for me last year.
TripRep says:

16 Jan16 January 08:04

Florida small SUV seems to be minimum of £220/week now.

Alamo quote through Virgin Travel Plus was <£420 for a fortnight, Avis ~£460.
- Lady London says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 17:58
  
  might be seasonal? lots of Americans seem to head South for the winter…
Genghis says:

16 Jan16 January 08:06

Yes
John says:

16 Jan16 January 08:14

What is the point of holding both? You get 1.25% for the fee paying one anyway
- Tom1 says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 08:57
  
  Referrals
  - Alan says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 09:57
    
    Have you done all the others? Nectar sign-up bonus is pretty decent and feels nice just paying a few pence for a full tank of fuel 🙂
Mark says:

16 Jan16 January 08:15

O/T. Just had a ‘friendly’ reminder from IHG that 1,500 points are about to expire. No idea how I got them as I don’t stay at IHG hotels but is there anything I can do with these instead of leaving them?
- marcw says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 10:03
  
  Probably on that Iberia Plus – IHG promo… you had to choose 500 Avios or 1500 IHG points. Maybe get some magazine in their shop.
- Lady London says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 18:00
  
  They have books and things that you can download apparently.
  According to your status you get a certain number per year.
  - Alan says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 18:04
    
    Yes, IIRC it’s 3 as Spire? Bit of a fiddly process and not a great selection but free I guess!
Markpeterboro says:

16 Jan16 January 08:47

O/T : if anyone is considering booking an IHG for New Year’s Eve, bookings are now open. Some reward night availability for London and Edinburgh available. Six years ago I stayed in the Crowne Plaza London City and felt very smug having the five minute walk home after watching the fireworks.
Grant says:

16 Jan16 January 08:50

On the subject of purchasing points, is the IHG bonus normally an annual event and if so what time of year is it normally run?
- Rob says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 08:56
  
  They come around very regularly, almost certainly something will appear in 4-6 weeks.
  - Grant says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 08:59
    
    Cheers Rob – I’ll hold on for a while
Doog1000 says:

16 Jan16 January 08:55

Re the SPG card, has anyone noticed a stealth devaluation on the retention offer – it usually used to be one extra SPG point for 3 months, effectively doubling the return.
Now it seems to be one extra Marriott point for 3 months, so just a 1/3 extra.
Anyone else experienced this?
- Mr. AC says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 09:28
  
  How does one get a retention offer? Call in and try to cancel?
  - Genghis says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 09:31
    
    Indeed. And ask them for one.
  - Alan says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 09:59
    
    Yep, I’ve found chat never offer anything. Mind you I’ve also found that SPG card is one of the few they’ll even make a retention offer on, most Amex cards I’ve found there’s no offer (although haven’t tried closing Plat as keep it long term).
- New Card says:
  
  16 Jan16 January 15:46
  
  I recall someone complained about this and got the extra 2 Marriott points per £1 added retrospectively on the basis that (a) the phone offer was for “double” points, i.e. 6 per £1 not 4 per £1; and (b) the Amex site refers to the bonus as 1 additional bonus “Starpoint” per £1 (i.e. 3 Marriott points). I think they also got some compensation.
  - Doog1000 says:
    
    16 Jan16 January 16:30
    
    my offer was specifically for 1 extra point which is what it had been in past years so no chance for making the case for double points
    just wondered if post merger anyone had received a double points retention offer since one marriott point is just a third of an spg point
    on BA and plat an extra point is typically offered