Early last month, Finnair adopted Avios as its loyalty currency. We covered the story here.

You CANNOT yet move Avios back and forth between Finnair Plus and British Airways Executive Club, but this should be possible from late May / June.

This doesn’t stop you redeeming Avios for Finnair flights, of course.

You have ALWAYS been able to redeem Avios for Finnair flights on ba.com because both airlines are members of the oneworld airline alliance.

What has changed is that BA and Finnair have agreed to charge exactly the same for Avios flights on Finnair. In many cases this has led to a decent reduction in the cost of flights.

Finnair is more useful than you might think. Helsinki is ‘on the way’ to Asia from much of Europe, meaning that a connection there is not a lot slower than flying direct. (It is slower than it was, however, due to the ban on using Russian airspace.)

Finnair has NO ‘carrier surcharges’ on many of its long haul flights. This makes them exceptionally good value if you want to avoid taxes and charges.

There are some exceptions. To North America, Finnair is part of the BA / AA / Iberia / Aer Lingus joint venture. To Japan, Finnair is part of the BA / Japan Airlines joint venture. Finnair is obliged to charge higher surcharges on these routes under the terms of the joint venture agreement. Surcharges are also higher to Shanghai, possibly due to the China Southern codeshare deal.

For other long haul routes, you’re laughing.

Finnair now has guaranteed award availability

Finnair now guarantees a minimum number of award seats for Avios redemption on each flight. This should make it significantly easier to redeem Avios on Finnair.

Finnair is offering:

4-6 award seats on shorthaul European flights (two in Business where it exists, four in Economy)
8 award seats on long haul flights (two in Business, two in Premium Economy and four in Economy)

These should be bookable via ba.com so there is no need to wait until you are able to transfer Avios into Finnair Plus.

What do Avios redemptions cost on Finnair?

Here is the new reward chart. Remember that the same chart applies whether you book on finnair.com or ba.com.

Note that there are no peak / off-peak prices.

These are one way prices from Helsinki. Connections are charged separately except for ‘Northern Europe’ – I discuss this below.

Where are the best redemption routes for low taxes?

Here is a list of Finnair long haul routes from Helsinki. Pricing is for Business Class, return, flights.

Finnair also flies to Doha from Stockholm and Copenhagen. Taxes are even lower than the number shown below, and getting to those cities should be cheaper than getting to Helsinki.

I have highlighted those where the taxes and charges are under £100 return.

Destination	Avios (Business, return)	Taxes & charges
Bangkok	125,000	£59
Chicago	125,000	£526
Dallas	125,000	£526
Delhi	110,000	£55
Doha	110,000	£72
Dubai	110,000	£69
Hong Kong	125,000	£77
Los Angeles	125,000	£526
Miami	125,000	£526
Nagoya	125,000	£381
New York	125,000	£526
Osaka	125,000	£382
Phuket	125,000	£59
Seattle	125,000	£526
Seoul	125,000	£57
Shanghai	125,000	£286
Singapore	125,000	£79
Tokyo	125,000	£382

Where are the biggest savings over direct British Airways flights?

Our list of Avios pricing by route when flying on British Airways from London is here.

Here are the routes with the biggest overall Avios and cash savings compared with a PEAK British Airways Club World return flight from London:

Bangkok

BA – 220,000 Avios + £550
Finnair – 125,000 Avios + £59

Delhi

BA – 200,000 Avios + £450
Finnair – 110,000 Avios + £55

Doha

BA – 180,000 Avios + £350
Finnair – 110,000 Avios + £72

Dubai

BA – 180,000 Avios + £350
Finnair – 110,000 Avios + £69

Hong Kong

BA – 220,000 Avios + £550
Finnair – 125,000 Avios + £77

Singapore

BA – 240,000 Avios + £600
Finnair – 125,000 Avios + £79

British Airways does not fly to Nagoya, Osaka, Phuket or Seoul.

I cannot stress enough how good value Singapore is. Even if you have a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher, you should save it for another trip and pay full Avios to go with Finnair.

Of course, don’t forget ….

There are snags, of course:

you need to get to Helsinki, which will cost you in cash or Avios (BA has dropped it but Finnair flies from Heathrow, Manchester, Edinburgh and Dublin, various low cost carriers also fly it)

if your flight to Helsinki is on a separate ticket, you will need to build in a big gap to ensure you don’t miss your connection – but Finnair will through-check your luggage if both flights are with them (according to the comments below)

if your flight to Helsinki is on the same ticket, you get protection from a missed connection but will also have to pay long-haul UK Air Passenger Duty

you can’t use a British Airways American Express 2-4-1 companion voucher or Barclays upgrade voucher on Finnair

Avios bookings made on the Finnair Plus website allow a free connection in ‘Northern Europe’. This is defined as Bodø, Copenhagen, Gdansk, Gothenburg, Oslo, Riga, Stockholm, Tallinn, Trondheim, Vilnius, Visby, Warsaw and all flights within Finland.

This would allow you to book, say, Copenhagen to Helsinki to Singapore for the same cost as Helsinki to Singapore. This will benefit some people as Helsinki is a longer and pricier flight from the UK than many cities on the list above. You can’t book this until transfers into Finnair Plus are allowed – you won’t get a free connection if you book at ba.com.

What’s the new Finnair Business Class seat like?

The new Finnair ‘no recline’ seat is now on virtually all routes. I won’t go into it again but you can read my review here. Rhys is off to Nagoya soon to test it on a long haul route. Image above.

Conclusion

Finnair offers exceptional value for a solo traveller or a couple without a BA Amex voucher on long haul business class flights to much of Asia, the Middle East and Delhi.

You have to factor in a transfer in Helsinki, but it’s a great city for a 24 hour stopover (if you want one, image above), the redeveloped airport is lovely and the lounges in the non-Schengen area are excellent – if you are British Airways Gold you can visit the Platinum Wing which we reviewed here, and have a sauna whilst you wait.