NEWS & OFFERS: New Avios only flight, Extra Helsinki flights added and UK to US from £1,499 business class with BA TPs/Avios

New Avios only flight

British Airways has announced on its website that it has released seats for another Avios-only flight. For those who aren’t travelling with children you will probably be annoyed that it is yet again within the school holidays. The new Avios-Only flights are for Easter 2025, with all seats exclusively available for Executive Club Members.

There is a choice of two destinations. The first is short haul with Faro for the Algarve in Portugal with return flights from £1 plus 24,500 Avios in economy. I have stayed at the The Pine Cliffs Luxury Collection by Marriott, Conrad Algarve and the Anantara Algarve if you are considering this option.

There is also a long haul alternative with Abu Dhabi with return flights in economy from £100 plus 55,000 Avios. I often prefer Abu Dhabi to Dubai as it has a lot of the advantages of Dubai but is generally, quieter, cheaper and more cultural with the Louvre as one example. In Abu Dhabi I have stayed at the Rosewood, Jumeirah and  Shangri-La hotels.

You can find all the terms and conditions on the offer page here.

Aer Lingus business class offers from £1,499

Aer Lingus has launched special offers on Business Class for its transatlantic non-stop routes from Manchester. You can fly Business Class to North America from £1,499 return, and destinations include Barbados, Orlando, and New York. Both New York and Orlando are available for £1,499. 

I recently flew business class with Aer Lingus to the US to Denver (one of their new destinations) and I was impressed. The food, service, and amenities have definitely improved a lot since I last flew them, and for me, they are now an airline I would be happy to fly long haul with. You can now earn Avios and Tier points on Aer Lingus flights. 

The offers are available for booking until 29 July 2024. 

To check prices and book, you can go to the official offer page here. 

Finnair adds more Helsinki flights

If you want to take advantage of some of the better fares from Helsinki or simply visit the beautiful city itself, Finnair are adding more flights so Avios availability should increase.

From 27 October 2024, the Finnish airline will add two extra daily flights to its Heathrow to Helsinki route, offering customers better connections across the Nordics, Baltics, and beyond to Asia.

The new flights mark a 50% increase in the airline’s capacity between London and Helsinki, with the route now operating up to six times per day in each direction, up from four times daily this summer. The new flights will continue until at least the end of summer timetables in 2025. 

The additional services will depart Heathrow each day at 09:55 and 13:10, arriving in Helsinki at 14:45 and 18:00, respectively.

On the return, the new flights will depart Helsinki at 10:55 and 21:25, arriving in the British capital at 12:10 and 22:40 respectively.

The new flights will be on Finnair’s short-haul fleet of Airbus A320s and A321s, however some of the other daily rotattions feature widebody A350s and A330s with lie-flat Business Class seats and inflight entertainment. You can read reviews of what to expect with Finnair in business class here.

Return flights from London to Helsinki starting from £174 in Economy Class and £545 in Business Class, including taxes and charges.