With Finnair’s new route from Melbourne to Helsinki available for booking with points, here are some of the best ways to secure your seat, especially in the flagship A350 Business Class.

In a surprising move, Finnair will launch new flights to Melbourne in October 2026, flying onwards from Bangkok. Qantas Frequent Flyer members might be able to access more reward seats with low carrier charges.

Amex Membership Reward points will be more expensive to use after 15 December 2025, if you want to transfer them to international airline partners. Here’s where you could transfer them now.

Even if you don’t have a Qantas credit card, you may still be able to book Qantas flights.

Whether you’re using cash or redeeming with points, you can’t go wrong with booking Finnair’s Airbus A350 on the short-haul journey from London to Helsinki.

Qatar Airways Privilege Club offers some great sweet spots, including a popular flat-rate Business reward between Australia and Europe for 90,000 Avios. You can now also book reward seats on Garuda to Bali from 16,000 Avios.

A Qatar Airways Business reward seat between Australia and Europe is now around $200 more expensive when booked with Avios – but Velocity rewards are unaffected.

While the added carrier charges on reward seat bookings can be unpleasantly high, there are some airlines and programs that offer great-value options. Here’s a few of them.

A hop in British Airways’ ‘Euro Traveller’ Economy cabin is as basic as it gets. But the experience is markedly smoother with oneworld Emerald-equivalent status such as Qantas Platinum.