Finnair currently has a great Business Class sale on flights from Bangkok, Thailand to Europe. You can fly Finnair’s A350 Business Class from Bangkok to Helsinki, with onward connections to a choice of European cities including Berlin and Prague, from just $2,120 return.
Business Class flights are available for around this price from Bangkok to Berlin, Prague, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Budapest, Warsaw, Krakow, Billund, Gothenburg and Hamburg. Open-jaws are allowed, meaning you could fly into one of these cities and then return from a different airport.
Here are some examples of fares that we found:
Finnair has two daily flights between Bangkok and Helsinki. One of these flights is operated by an Airbus A330; the other with an Airbus A350. Both of these aircraft have lie-flat Business Class seats but the A350 is a newer and more modern plane. For the intra-Europe connections, you can expect a Euro-Business experience on a Finnair A321 or A320.
These Finnair Business sale fares from Bangkok to Europe are available for departures between 6 May and 24 September 2019. There is a maximum stay at the destination of one month, and all travel must be completed by 30 September 2019. The cheap fares are only available on flights between Monday and Thursday. These prices are available until Monday 7 January 2019, or until sold out.
It is possible to add a Helsinki stopover for free in one direction, provided the stopover is not longer than 5 days.
As Finnair is a Oneworld member airline, you can of course earn Qantas points and status credits! You’ll earn 120 status credits for each Finnair flight between Bangkok and Helsinki. Flights between Helsinki and Prague or Amsterdam will earn 60 status credits, while Helsinki to Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen or Oslo earns 40 status credits. The short hop from Helsinki to Stockholm will rake in a measly 20 status credits in Finnair Business Class.
As an example, a round-trip booking from Bangkok to Amsterdam would earn you 360 Qantas status credits (and a handy 15,000 Qantas points).
How Australians can take advantage of this Finnair sale
As regular Australian Frequent Flyer readers will be aware, it is generally much cheaper to purchase Business Class tickets originating in Asia than in Australia. If you’re planning a trip to Europe, you can take advantage of the lower prices out of Thailand by buying a separate return ticket from Australia to Bangkok to connect with the Finnair flights. Even if you book a cheap Economy ticket from Australia to Thailand, you’ll be flying in Business Class for more than half of the trip while spending well under $3,000 in total! You could even redeem points between Australia and Thailand, and spend even less money.
As you’ll be flying on separate tickets between Australia-Thailand and Thailand-Europe, ensure that you allow enough time between flights to collect your luggage, clear customs and check in for the next flight in Bangkok. Make sure you allow enough time for possible delays to the inbound flight, and consider stopping overnight in Bangkok. (Of course, you could also choose to stop over for several days and turn your Bangkok stopover into a mini-holiday!)
You don’t actually have to be in Thailand to book one of these airfares. You can book on the Finnair website, or with an online travel agent such as Expedia. You’ll probably pay in Thai Baht, but there is no requirement to physically be in Thailand.
Fly all the way back to Australia
With this particular fare, it’s also possible to fly all the way back to Australia on the return journey. You’d still have to make your own way to Bangkok at the start of the trip. But you can end the trip in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Perth. (Connections are also possible to Adelaide and other Australian cities.)
The cost for this can be as low as $3,700, flying Business Class the whole way. The flight from Asia back to Australia can be on Qantas or Cathay Pacific. Here’s an example of a fare that is available:
Join the discussion on the Australian Frequent Flyer forum: AY (Finnair) BKK-AMS Business 51565 THB (~2150 AUD) return
