Award Alert: Hundreds of 62,500 miles Singapore – Europe Business seats on Finnair

Back in March this year, we reported on the new cheapest Business Class award redemption option between Singapore and Europe, with a re-pricing of British Airways Avios award rates on Finnair flights unlocking an incredible 62,500 miles one-way rate, with minimal taxes and fees to pay.

While this award rate only gets you to or from Helsinki, which may not be everyone’s ideal place to start or end a Europe trip, the value simply can’t be beaten, coming in even cheaper than a KrisFlyer award in Premium Economy.

It’s also a great opportunity to try out Finnair’s new innovative ‘AirLounge’ Business Class product at a very competitive rate.

There was a snag when the new BA pricing was first announced though – Finnair’s Business Class award space on the Singapore route had more or less dried up, except for a few short-term seats and those added a year in advance.

Good news: There are now over 500 Business Class awards loaded on this daily flight over the next 12 months. This includes the option to jump on generous guaranteed award space a year ahead of travel, allowing you to secure up to eight Business Class redemption spots on a single flight – perfect for large families or groups travelling together.

New Finnair Avios pricing

As we reported in March this year, Finnair’s adoption of Avios as its rewards currency has opened up a fantastic 62,500 Avios rate in Business Class between Singapore and Helsinki, using either the British Airways or Finnair programmes.

Here’s how the options look, against some other Oneworld frequent flyer options on this route.

Finnair Singapore Helsinki Award Pricing
FFP	SIN HEL	HEL SIN
	62,500 + S$87	62,500 + S$48
	62,500 + S$241	62,500 + S$201
	75,000 + S$82	75,000 + S$43
	89,000 + S$93	89,000 + S$51
	90,000 + S$88	90,000 + S$48
	92,750 + S$65	92,750 + S$26

First up: why is Finnair charging more than British Airways for the same award seat?

That’s because the airline imposes a fuel surcharge and a carrier award fee in addition to the mandatory taxes and fees payable for the booking (from Singapore to Helsinki, for example, the two combined come to an extra S$175.90 per passenger).

BA, on the other hand, only passes on Finnair’s relatively low fuel surcharge of S$22 on this route in addition to mandatory taxes and fees – no carrier award fee in sight.

There’s no sense in paying the higher Finnair cash pricing, since you can now move your Avios 1:1 between Finnair and British Airways, then book the exact same seat at the 62,500 Avios + S$87 rate via that portal.

On another note, if it’s only Qatar Airways Avios you’re holding there’s definitely no sense in paying the steep 92,750 Avios award rate on this route, since you can sign up free for a British Airways account, link the two together, then transfer from Qatar Avios 1:1 into BA Avios, in the same way.

Qatar Privilege Club currently has a ‘Buy Avios’ promotion running with up to 50% bonus miles available, allowing you to lock in one of these Singapore – Helsinki awards in Business Class for as little as S$1,375 including taxes, by purchasing the miles then transferring them to BA to lock in the redemption.

Finnair’s Singapore schedule

Before we take a look at the new raft of award space on offer, here’s a reminder of the airline’s schedule for daily Singapore – Helsinki flights.

Singapore ⇄ Helsinki
31st March 2024 – 26th October 2024

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	AY132 A350-900 AirLounge
SIN 21:45		HEL 06:15*
Duration: 13:30
	AY131 A350-900 AirLounge
HEL 00:25		SIN 18:35
Duration: 13:10

* Next day

Timings change slightly for the upcoming winter season, from late October 2024 through to late March 2025.

Singapore ⇄ Helsinki
27th October 2024 – 29th March 2025

			Days
			M	T	W	T	F	S	S
	AY132 A350-900 AirLounge
SIN 22:05		HEL 05:45*
Duration: 13:40
	AY131 A350-900 AirLounge
HEL 23:55		SIN 18:30*
Duration: 12:35

* Next day

Award space by date

Here’s how the Business Class award space on this daily flight looks, as of 10th June 2024.

Finnair
Business Class award space
Singapore ⇄ Helsinki
June 2024 – December 2024

Date (2024)	AY132 SIN-HEL	AY131 HEL-SIN
10 Jun	1
12 Jun		7
13 Jun		3
15 Jun		1
25 Jun		1
5 Jul	3	2
6 Jul	1
8 Jul	6
9 Jul	1
10 Jul	1
27 Jul	3
20 Aug		3
21 Aug		1
24 Aug		1
31 Aug		3
30 Sep	1
6 Oct	1
7 Oct	3
8 Oct	3
9 Oct	2
13 Oct	1
15 Oct	2
20 Oct		2
24 Oct	4
25 Oct	2
26 Oct	2
28 Oct	4
31 Oct	2
3 Nov	3
5 Nov	3
6 Nov	1
8 Nov	2
9 Nov	3
10 Nov	5
11 Nov	5
12 Nov	4
16 Nov	1
18 Nov		1
20 Nov	2
21 Nov		2
24 Nov		2
25 Nov		5
26 Nov		4
28 Nov		5
29 Nov		2
30 Nov		3

Finnair
Business Class award space
Singapore ⇄ Helsinki
January 2025 – June 2025

Date (2025)	AY132 SIN-HEL	AY131 HEL-SIN
12 Jan	2
22 Jan	1
1 Feb		1
2 Feb	2
3 Feb		4
4 Feb	3	2
5 Feb	2
6 Feb	4
7 Feb		2
8 Feb	4	4
9 Feb	3
10 Feb	2
11 Feb	6
12 Feb	4
14 Feb	4
15 Feb	1	1
16 Feb	1	3
17 Feb	4
19 Feb	3
20 Feb	4
21 Feb		1
22 Feb	1
28 Feb		2
1 Mar		3
2 Mar	2
3 Mar		2
5 Mar	2	2
6 Mar		4
7 Mar		2
8 Mar		4
10 Mar		5
13 Mar		5
14 Mar		6
15 Mar		1
16 Mar	1	6
20 Mar		3
22 Mar		1
23 Mar	2
24 Mar		4
26 Mar	4	2
27 Mar	4
28 Mar		2
29 Mar		4
31 Mar		2
1 Apr		5
3 Apr	1
8 Apr		5
9 Apr		6
10 Apr		6
15 Apr		2
19 Apr		1
22 Apr		4
23 Apr		5
24 Apr		4
29 Apr		1
30 Apr		4
2 May		8
3 May		4
5 May	1	3
6 May		6
7 May	1	8
8 May		6
10 May		4
11 May		8
12 May		8
13 May		4
14 May		8
15 May		6
16 May	1	4
17 May		4
19 May		1
20 May		4
21 May		8
22 May		6
23 May		2
24 May	6
25 May	5
27 May	3
28 May	6	8
29 May	3	6
30 May		1

In total, over 500 Business Class award seats are available on this route over the next 12 months, a far cry from what we were seeing back in March.

Do remember that the ‘snapshot’ award space shown above is just that – availability will come and so do be sure to check regularly for your preferred dates, even if there is nothing loaded currently.

Finnair does add award space later.

For example, from Helsinki to Singapore on 12th June 2024 there were no Business Class awards loaded yesterday. Today, there are seven!

Extra award space 355-360 days in advance

Finnair guarantees that a minimum number of award seats will be made available on its flights when they are first loaded into the reservation system, a year in advance.

There’s a catch though, and it’s an important one.

As you may be aware, different airlines and frequent flyer programmes first release their award seats around a year in advance, but not at exactly the same timing as each another, even within the Avios ‘ecosystem’.

Finnair releases new award space (and commercial space) on its flights 360 days in advance of the departure date, but here’s when the various FFPs are able to offer those seats to their members:

• Alaska Airlines: 330 days in advance
• British Airways: 354 days in advance
• Finnair: 360 days in advance
• Qatar Airways: 360 days in advance
• Qantas: 359 days in advance
• Asia Miles: 360 days in advance

We really want to be redeeming British Airways Avios for these Finnair flights, since those come in at the most competitive rate of 62,500 miles each way and around S$50-90 in taxes.

However, Finnair Plus loads up its award space five days sooner than British Airways, at 360 days prior to departure, as opposed to 354 days.

That means in order to jump on these 62,500 Avios awards as soon as they are released, giving you the opportunity to potentially score up to eight seats on the same flight for this great rate, you can only do so via Finnair Plus, meaning you will pay higher taxes and fees.

By the time BA Avios members get their hands on these seats six days later, they have not only been available for Finnair Plus members to redeem for all that time, but also for Qatar Airways Avios members and other FFPs like Asia Miles.

That means much of the generous guaranteed award space Finnair loads up 360 days before departure, including at least two Business Class seats on each flight, might have already been snapped up by the T-354 days mark.

Here’s how the 355-360 days award availability currently looks for the 31st May 2025 to 5th June 2025 period, based on availability located on 10th June 2024.

Finnair Plus
Business Class award space
Singapore ⇄ Helsinki
355-360 days in advance

Date (2025)	AY132 SIN-HEL	AY131 HEL-SIN
31 May	8	4
1 Jun		6
2 Jun	5	6
3 Jun	4	4
4 Jun	8	6
5 Jun	6	8

As you can see, Finnair is being far more generous than it promises to be, with up to eight awards loaded per flight from the get-go in both directions.

At 8am Singapore Time each day, new availability is added for the +360 days date.

Once again, you can’t access these awards via the BA Avios portal so far in advance.

It’s free to sign up to the Finnair Plus programme, and since 20th May 2024 you can transfer your British Airways Avios 1:1 to and from Finnair Plus Avios for free, instantly, as often as you like, provided you have linked your accounts.

This then begs the question, is it worth paying more cash to lock in your award via Finnair Plus for flights with sufficient award space in the 355-360 day window, for the same competitive Avios rate, but with S$150 additional fees to pay in each direction?

Well it depends how badly you want or need the award ticket. In our opinion, since this award rate for Business Class between Singapore and Europe is so competitive, the additional fees aren’t actually a deal breaker.

It might be a price worth paying to avoid the risk of those seats being snapped up by Finnair Plus members or other FFP members before British Airways can offer them with lower fees.

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

Bank

There are no direct transfer options from Singapore credit cards to Finnair Plus Avios, but this is now easily achieved with a subsequent 1:1 transfer from BA Avios, or from Qatar Avios (via BA Avios).

The Qatar Airways Avios programme sometimes offers transfer bonuses which you should definitely watch out for.

In the most recent example, you could score a 30% bonus when transferring Citi Miles, Citi ThankYou points or HSBC 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 one of these 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!

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:

• Suitesmile: HEL-SIN (April 2022)
• Turning Left for Less: HEL-SIN (May 2022)

Other Asia – Europe Finnair AirLounge routes

Don’t forget that it’s not just Finnair’s daily Singapore – Helsinki service that offers AirLounge Business Class between Asia and Europe at this competitive 62,500 Avios rate.

Finnair also operates AirLounge Business Class between the following cities and Helsinki, sometimes more than once per day:

• Bangkok
• Hong Kong
• Nagoya*
• Osaka
• Phuket*
• Seoul
• Tokyo

* Seasonal

Many of these cities offer better award space than the non-stop Singapore flights do, and while we’d love to see a Kuala Lumpur alternative, getting to and from Bangkok or Phuket to pick up award space at such a good rate certainly isn’t out of the question.

For example, there’s plenty of space for 62,500 Avios plus minimal taxes on Finnair’s flight from Helsinki to Bangkok this afternoon (10th June 2024).

In the opposite direction from Bangkok to Helsinki tomorrow morning, there’s space for the same 62,500 Avios rate tomorrow morning (11th June 2024).

It’s not just short-term redemptions that can offer more space either. For example, there is only one Business Class award from Singapore to Helsinki on Finnair for the entire month of September 2024, but there are 17 from Bangkok to Helsinki.

Singapore – Helsinki flights certainly offer the best value, given their length and for most of our readers removing the need to take an intra-Asia positioning flight, but do check other cities in the region if your preferred dates have no availability.

Fly to or from other European cities for 80,500 Avios

One major downside of Avios points is that award pricing is sector-by-sector.

For example, if you want to redeem from Singapore to London via Helsinki using Avios 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 the itinerary shown above in Business Class to 80,500 Avios + S$105, which incidentally features the AirLounge Business Class all the way on both flights (A350-A350).

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).

In fact, SIA charges 71,000 KrisFlyer miles for a Singapore – Europe flight in Premium Economy!

Better-value Business Class 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 via the BA portal.

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.

Finnair now offers the cheapest Business Class award redemption between Singapore and Europe at just 62,500 miles each way, but when the new rates first came into effect earlier this year there was one snag – nearly no awards were actually available to book!

That’s been at least partly fixed – with the nordic carrier suddenly showing some generosity on the route, offering over 500 award seats in this cabin over the next 12 months.

All you’ll need is an Avios balance in British Airways, Finnair or Qatar Airways to benefit, though for the latter two having a BA account is also essential as you’ll need to transfer the Avios across there to access the best award pricing, with the lowest taxes and fees.

For guaranteed award space 355 to 360 days in advance, which Finnair is loading generously on this city pair, you’ll need to transfer your Avios free into your Finnair Plus account to take advantage, and pay higher taxes, but that by no means makes the 62,500 Avios award poor value.

(Cover Photo: Finnair)