How to use Avios on new Finnair’s new long-haul flights from Sweden

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Finnair has decided to capitalise on the retrenchment of SAS by launching long haul routes from Stockholm Arlanda airport.

From October it will fly from Stockholm Arlanda to:

Miami
Bangkok
Phuket

Finnair launches new long haul routes from Sweden

Finnair is planning to base three Airbus A350 aircraft in Stockholm.

Miami will start on 23rd October as a twice weekly service, moving to 3x weekly from 29th November.

Bangkok will launch on 22nd October at 5x weekly, going daily on 28th November. Phuket will follow on 24th October as a weekly service, moving to twice weekly from 30th December.

As Finnair is a member of the oneworld alliance, you can redeem Avios on Finnair flights. Your British Airways status benefits will also be respected. Cash tickets will earn Avios and British Airways Executive Club tier points.

Economy availability was showing for Avios on ba.com yesterday although an error message came up when I tried to book:

Finnair starting long haul flights from Sweden

Annoyingly, Finnair only shows Business Class reward availability within 60 days of departure so none will be visible yet unless the policy has changed.

Finnair has a very decent business class product which is a substantial step up on British Airways Club World. Our review of Finnair business class on their A350 fleet is here.

Our broader article on how to redeem Avios on Finnair is here and includes the pricing chart for Avios partner rewards.

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

British Airways and Avios, Finnair and Finnair Plus

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

BJ says:

11 Jul11 July 07:30

The Finnair flight from Arlanda to Bangkok is probably slipping into the higher zone thus losing one of the major advantages of going via Helsinki.
- Michael C says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 09:45
  
  Yes, I thought that, BJ: plus the “60 days” would mean you’d need a plan B reserved just in case!
- ADS says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 10:42
  
  Since BA won’t price it, I had a look using AA site for one way economy redemption
  
  HEL – BKK 35k + £14.40
  ARN – BKK 35k + £50
  - marcw says:
    
    11 Jul11 July 11:49
    
    BAEC charge a hefty surcharge when flying on Finnair with Avios.
    - marcw says:
      
      11 Jul11 July 13:20
      
      Well, on the positive side, BAEC neither IbPlus add surcharges on Finnair Flights to, at least, Thailand (they DO to Japan, for instance, do not know about other LH destinations by AY).
    - xcalx says:
      
      11 Jul11 July 15:13
      
      No it’s £14.40 booking economy plus 26k ish avios
      - xcalx says:
        
        11 Jul11 July 15:15
        
        Where is my delete button. Just saw your reply
- ADS says:
  
  12 Jul12 July 14:12
  
  BA is pricing a single from BKK to ARN on Finnair (still not pricing ex ARN)
  
  It’s coming out exactly the same as BKK to HEL – 16,750 avios + £91.80
Worzel says:

11 Jul11 July 10:32

Now that “Bits” are back, I reckon the chat thread should be scrapped……..
- r* says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 11:26
  
  I dont.
  
  However, the good news is theres a helpful work around if you dont like the chat thread. Each day, if you see a post that says ‘chat thread’, if you dont click on it, it will be like its not there! HTH! 🙂
  - bafan says:
    
    11 Jul11 July 14:06
    
    If I could like posts I would 🤣.
- Mike says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 12:59
  
  Worzel – I disagree, I love the chat thread
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    11 Jul11 July 15:26
    
    likewise, keeps the content threads relatively on-topic.
    - riku says:
      
      11 Jul11 July 15:41
      
      i really like the chat thread also. I don’t have to ignore the old “OT no bits” posts anymore and since I never look at the chat thread I just see on-topic posts.
- ChrisC says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 15:42
  
  It still won’t stop people posting the stuff they post in ‘chat’ in the ‘bits’ thread though!
  - mr_jetlag says:
    
    11 Jul11 July 16:19
    
    OT as Bits – I agree 😉
Richie says:

11 Jul11 July 16:54

Is connecting at ARN/HEL from LHR to BKK fairly straightforward because it’s non-schengen to non-schengen?
- ChrisC says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 18:04
  
  Proper airside connection with bags already checked through or will you have bags to collect and recheck?
  
  If the former then you remain airside and follow the connections signs
  
  There is a video for this on the HEL website. Probbaly something similar for ARN as well
- John says:
  
  11 Jul11 July 20:15
  
  HEL is easy, Finnair used to sell something like 40 minute connections before (even for needing to pass the Schengen border).
  
  ARN depends on the terminals. There is supposedly an airside bus which you can summon, but the one time I wanted to try it I couldn’t find any staff around. As we were in the EU then, it was easier to just enter and exit Schengen. Anyway I’ve never seen any queues at the non-EU desks in ARN (also true for HEL).