MEL-Moscow: maxing SC earn

[Isochronous]

Am looking at booking MEL-HKG return JASAs in May. Then flying on to Moscow - options are CX or AY (Finnair). CX has the advantage of being a direct flight but is A$500 more expensive. It also goes to Domodevo whilst AY uses SVO. I have a few questions:

1) How many SCs would I earn on AY flying HKG-HEL-SVO in J compared to CX J HKG-DME?
2) Both CX and AY use A340s on this route, is the CX J cabin/service worth the extra $500?
3) Is flying to SVO a problem? I read somewhere else on this forum that DME traffic is terrible, is SVO any better/quicker?

 

[Isochronous]

Also is there any limitation on what booking classes on Finnair earn QFF SCs/points? Expedia is quoting me a much cheaper price for Business than the Finnair website direct.

 

[serfty]

You'll have no issue with Business class. In fact,Finnair is actually pretty good for earning SC's in the economy fare brackets as well, since most earn something.

You'll need to check the QFF Airline Earning Table:

[TABLE="class: grid"]
[TR]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Finnair (AY)[/TD]
[TD]ARWZ[/TD]
[TD]Discount Economy[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 3"]0.25[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 5"] -[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]GLMNOPQSTV[/TD]
[TD]Discount Economy[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 3"]0.5[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 5"] -[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]BHKY[/TD]
[TD]Economy[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 3"]1[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 5"] -[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD]CDIJ[/TD]
[TD]Business[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 3"]1[/TD]
[TD="colspan: 5"]25%[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD][/TD]
[TD="colspan: 10"]Status Credits are earned on all eligible booking classes.
Excluded: Points and Status Credits are not earned on Codeshare Flights operated by airlines other than oneworld[SUP]®[/SUP] alliance airlines.[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]