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Womp womp! This is phantom award space–award space that shows up on a search engine but cannot be booked.
Check out this calendar instead that I made on Award Nexus. It shows award space from New York to Helsinki in April 2016 in Business Class, while excluding British Airways flights and their nasty fuel surcharges. Note that there is zero direct space on the JFK-HEL or HEL-JFK Finnair flights. All the space is on American Airlines across the pond, connecting to Finnair space intra-Europe.
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There is fantastic flat bed Business Class award space for two passengers in Spring 2016 on transatlantic Finnair flights. You can book the space for 50,000 American Airlines miles per person per direction.
For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® offers 75,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $7,500 in the first three months. That means you’ll have 82,500 American Airlines miles after meeting the spending requirement. That’s enough miles (80k) for a roundtrip from the United States to Europe with one direction in Business Class.
Included in the $450 annual fee, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® offers Admirals Club lounge membership, meaning you can access over 90 American Airlines Clubs in airports around the world whenever you’re flying–even if you’re not flying on American. Plus you can bring in any two guests for free OR your spouse and all children under 18 for free on each visit.
Finnair Product
Finnair’s transatlantic flights feature fully flat beds.
The cabin layout has staggered seats, so your feet go in a cubby under the armrest of the seat in front of you.
I’ve flown a similar product on Austrian Airlines (review), and it is NOT my favorite Business Class product, but it is definitely good enough to get a great sleep.
Finnair Routes and Connections
Finnair has three routes to the United States from Helsinki.
Notice that all three American cities served are American Airlines hubs. Almost no matter where you live, you can connect to Miami, Chicago, or New York with one flight. Here are American’s flights to/from JFK:
Finnair has an extensive European route network, so even if you want to skip Helsinki, the award space in this post can be very useful for visiting anywhere in Europe. Finnair’s flights to/from Helsinki:
The award space in this post is for March through May 2016. I was in Helsinki in June 2015, and it was not very warm, so I can imagine March through May is cooler still.
Overall I definitely recommend a trip to Helsinki and its neighboring islands, which are just short ferry rides away. It’s a lovely and fun city with an interesting blend of Swedish and Russian influences.
If you’re going to Helsinki or the Baltics, check out this post about Ferry and Bus Information for Baltic Europe.
Award Space and Booking
I found amazing award space in Business Class for two passengers from New York to Helsinki and vice versa in March through May 2016. I also found good award space from Miami to Helsinki and vice versa in March 2016. Those calendars are shown below. If you don’t live in those cities, hook up award space to those cities through segment-by-segment searching.
New York
All the days in light blue have Business Class award space for two people. Check out JFK-HEL in March 2016.
Even May 2016 has great Business Class space in both directions that abruptly ends May 25.
There is also ample economy award space on the New York to Helsinki flight in both directions. Don’t forget that October 15 to May 15 each year, the American Airlines off peak economy award price is 20,000 miles each way. May 16 to October 14, the price is 30,000 miles each way.
Miami
Miami is a winter seasonal route. Its award space is great in March 2016, and ends March 26 in both directions.
You can book this award right on aa.com.
Purchase your ticket with your Citi Prestige® Card, since it comes with a $250 Air Travel Credit every calendar year that will cover the award taxes on this ticket. If you haven’t used the credit yet, buy this fare with your Prestige, and you will receive an offsetting credit on your next statement: a completely free ticket!
Even if you’ve already used your $250 credit for this year, the card offers 3x on all airfare purchases.
Bottom Line
Jump on the great economy and flat Bed Business Class award space between the United States and Europe on Finnair flights with your American Airlines miles.
For a limited time, the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ MasterCard® offers 75,000 bonus American Airlines miles after spending $7,500 in the first three months. That means you’ll have 82,500 American Airlines miles after meeting the spending requirement. That’s enough miles (70k or 80k) for a roundtrip from the United States to Europe with one direction in Business Class.
Just getting started in the world of points and miles? The Chase Sapphire Preferred is the best card for you to start with.
With a bonus of 60,000 points after $4,000 spend in the first 3 months, 5x points on travel booked through the Chase Travel℠ and 3x points on restaurants, streaming services, and online groceries (excluding Target, Walmart, and wholesale clubs), this card truly cannot be beat for getting started!
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It seems to be phantom space. Did you try clicking through?
Agreed. I tried to book the Miami- Helsinki route for March 2016 on aa.com. It lets you select the dates and actual flights but then when you hit continue it gives you an error that the flight you selected is no longer available.
It seems to be phantom space. Did you try clicking through?
Agreed. I tried to book the Miami- Helsinki route for March 2016 on aa.com. It lets you select the dates and actual flights but then when you hit continue it gives you an error that the flight you selected is no longer available.
[…] a lot of Finnair award space shows up on aa.com, but it is nearly all phantom award space […]
[…] a lot of Finnair award space shows up on aa.com, but it is nearly all phantom award space […]