Finnair operating VTL flights; fly to/from Europe with 70,000 miles and minimal fees

Singapore is introducing Vaccinated Travel Lane (VTL) with Finland from 29 November 2021 and this opens up a good-value mile-redemption opportunity!

Key points to note

• Singapore’s VTL arrangement with Finland starts from 29 Nov 2021.
• As confirmed on Finnair’s social media, all flights to Singapore (AY131) will be VTL flights. However, it is advisable to wait for official confirmation on ICA’s website. UPDATE 18 Nov 2021: Finnair has reconfirmed that all flights to Singapore from 29 Nov 2021 to 26 Mar 2022 will be VTL flights. UPDATE 19 Nov 2021: ICA has confirmed that Finnair will operate VTL flights.
• You can fly to other VTL countries in Europe (via Helsinki) to travel quarantine-free.
• There will be 4 flights per week from 6 Dec 2021.
• Finnair will operate Airbus A350-900 with good Business Class seats (see below).
• Redeem just 70,000 Cathay Pacific Asia Miles + about S$20 fees for one-way Business Class flights to/from most cities in Europe (except for some cities in Portugal and Spain).
• There are more than 1 award seat available on most dates in the coming months.

The seat

Finnair’s A350-900 Business Class seats are arranged in a reverse-herringbone 1-2-1 configuration. These Business Class seats are similar to what’s being offered by Japan Airlines and Cathay Pacific and are great in bed mode.

Bottom line

This is a great opportunity to redeem miles during a period of “revenge travel” at good value without having to worry about Saver availability and waitlisting.

H/T: Mainly Miles