Finnair AY Debuts New Livery, Amenities and Menus

[nonpop]

For those of you flying Finnair, they are making some changes later in the year.
Finnair Debuts New Livery, Amenities and Menus | Global Traveler

I'm continuing to increase my Finnair flying as I want all those QF SCs even for my intra-EU flying where.
And IMHO I find them to be reasonable value out of Asia.

 

[RooFlyer]

Interesting, thanks. I have some QF/AY code shares coming up in August & September, so will see if they are up to scratch!

I agree on usefulness of AY to get to Europe if you aren't that keen on the Dubai connection (for whatever reason), or just chasing value. For my 2 trips coming up, got some fantastic fares MEL-HEL via SIN in one case and HKG in the other, including the Mel-Asia leg on QF; plus you get a free round trip from Helsinki to anywhere in Europe!

 

[samh004]

Food looks lovely, I like the design on the fuselage but it's so radically different to their tail.

 

[nonpop]

Interesting, thanks. I have some QF/AY code shares coming up in August & September, so will see if they are up to scratch!

I agree on usefulness of AY to get to Europe ...

I find that I often get a very short connection. The first time I got a 40 min connection from an international to intra-EU flight and I was sure it would all go wrong. Nope, worked perfectly. So subject to a plane 'failing to proceed' then in general short connects work well and it means I avoid LHR. And AY comes down to good bang for buck.

For me EK is not a OW carrier so as such I'm avoiding them where there are alternatives. But if they are the only way to somewhere, then that will never stop me.

 

[jedinite]

I did the QF/AY code shares last year. MEL - HKG - HEL - CPH and back OSL - HEL - SIN - MEL

Was QF metal to HKG then Finnair from there.

Did the whole trip in J , booked it pretty cheap via jetabroad online. Came in just under $6000 return pp.
Having flown J before on a QF A380, and enjoyed the totally lie flat beds, the only thing i noticed was the finnair beds are the older style flat, but not horizontal, slight angle to them. Not a big deal, still managed to get a good amount of sleep.
I do prefer to transfer through SIN, rather than HGK (We didn't even get a gate on this QF flight upon landing at HGK- we were bussed off from the tarmac.)

Service and food wise, I actually prefer Finnair. Sure their plane interiors don't look as flash or modern as most airlines, but they are clean and in perfect working order - something i constantly find i cannot say about QF (the number of broken seats, tvs, etc!)

Connection time was tight at HEL as we were going onto CPH. On the return we did OSL to HEL. Both times we transferred seamlessly. We were , as usual, worried about our bags making it through 3 airports , but each time we checked our bags in at the start of the journey, and turned up at the end. (something I have not been able to say about EVERY BA flight I've taken)

The Finnair lounge at HEL is quite funky, modern, and great choice of food when we were there .The recliner chairs up on the balcony looking out over the airport were great.

Priority boarding for J class worked well, meant no queuing needed, just walked on past the Y class queue.

Cabin staff were amazing, just the right level of attentiveness.
Tried a couple of different seats - found we preferred row 1, as the tv is in the arm rest, and hence closer, and can be angled to perfection, rather than the other rows, where the tv is in the back of the seat in front. My travelling companion did say the light from the galley area at times was noticeable, but not annoying. Hence I took the aisle seat for the rest of the journeys, and it didn't bother me at all (*im one of those crazy people that sleep with the tv on though!)

Overall I couldn't fault them. If they started to fly A380's they would be my only choice for travel to europe. Great value for money.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks jedinite. Of course its no longer a QF A380 to/from HKG or SIN, but the much less lovely A330s with their MKI skybeds.

 

[mannej]

Thanks jedinite. Of course its no longer a QF A380 to/from HKG or SIN, but the much less lovely A330s with their MKI skybeds.

Really, must of missed QF pulling the 380 from HKG?

 

[pauly7]

Thanks jedinite. Of course its no longer a QF A380 to/from HKG or SIN, but the much less lovely A330s with their MKI skybeds.

Funny must have dreamt I flew the A380 to HKG last week

 

[RooFlyer]

Really, must of missed QF pulling the 380 from HKG?

Sorry, still there QF 127/128 from/to Sydney. Bit of a mix for other Australian ports.

 

[Pollywaffle]

I opened the link and seeing the picture of the plane, my first thought was that it looks like a Marimekko design...and so it is.

 

[mannej]

Sorry, still there QF 127/128 from/to Sydney. Bit of a mix for other Australian ports.

They removed the 330 from PER...

A 330 is better than no 330;-)

 

[MelUser]

I think Finnair is going to be a real winner from QF's decision to fly via Dubai. Faced between the choice of paying exhorbitant J and F fares on QF and EK, Finnair offers a real economical alternative.

I have found their J meal service to be more like a first class service. An on appertizer served with the drink, then entree, main and desert and unlike QF who plonk the salad down at the start, Finnair brings the salad with the main course.

They are in the process of chaging all seats to complete 180 flabed. I have flights with them next month via BKK outbound and returning via HKG inbound.

One complaint is connections - ever since QF changed schedules to leave Aus early in the day there can be long waits but coming back there are only 2 hours in HKG before getting on a CX flight back to MEL. In fact it is a plus on the way back - leave continental europe thursday during the day and arrive in MEL the next day at 9:45pm.

 

[BadgerBoi]

Can't believe my luck finding this thread - I've been looking at a J BKK to CDG fare with AY, but the 50 minute connection time at HEL has had me worried. Anybody got any comments on AY873 (HEL-CDG) which looks to be an A321 on the day I'm thinking of traveling?

I've heard mixed reports about Finnair, but having read this thread I think that I'll go with them.

 

[SYD]

Can't believe my luck finding this thread - I've been looking at a J BKK to CDG fare with AY, but the 50 minute connection time at HEL has had me worried. Anybody got any comments on AY873 (HEL-CDG) which looks to be an A321 on the day I'm thinking of traveling?

I've heard mixed reports about Finnair, but having read this thread I think that I'll go with them.

Whilst not CDG, I flew SYD-SIN-HEL-AMS (and back from LHR) in AY J late last year. Transfer was a breeze. It was literally 10mins from air bridge in HEL to AY lounge - including passing through immigration!

Intra Euro business flights in A32x are ok.

MH now have better one stop deals on OW to major Euro ports (LHR, CDG, AMS, FRA) but secondary ports on AY would be my pick if significantly cheaper than QF code share via DXB.

 

[nonpop]

Can't believe my luck finding this thread - I've been looking at a J BKK to CDG fare with AY, but the 50 minute connection time at HEL has had me worried. Anybody got any comments on AY873 (HEL-CDG) which looks to be an A321 on the day I'm thinking of traveling?

I've heard mixed reports about Finnair, but having read this thread I think that I'll go with them.

Below is all my personal experience and YMMV.

I've done this route many times. The 50 min connection is easy. You will have time to spare (provided the plane doesn't have a mechanical issue delay).
What I have come to realise with AY is that their short connections is what they are promoting as one of the differences (especially compared to LHR).
The A330 from BKK to HEL has flat beds. And if you travel solo there is a single seat which has a lot of room (see Trip Report for pic).
Service is cool but efficient and there never seemed to be an issue if we asked for anything.
The entertainment selection was 'lite' on compared to QF. The food was excellent and some of the best we've had. No Cafe style breakfast, but rather the full kit which is our personal preference.

Tip: When they give you the amenity bag (brown paper eco thing) ask for a toothbrush. I've ended up grabbing a few along the way as I really like then as they can store the toothpaste inside it:

Here is a pic of the toothbrush (sorry about my obsession with this, it's a personal quirk)

Pic1
View attachment 15736


The A321 from HEL to CDG in J is not actually 'real' J. It is economy seating with the middle seat (3 aisle 3) left unsold. For short hops we don't have an issue with this. The food once again was excellent.

Here is a trip report I did of the other way round from CDG to BKK via HEL.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....d-trip-photos/mini-tr-cdg-helx-bkk-46274.html

For laughs I also tried out Royal Jordanian (RJ) from BKK to CDG.
In short, it was an excellent alternative and one I would use again subject to price and flight times.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....d-trip-photos/mini-tr-bkk-xamm-cdg-46913.html

And finally, if you need an airport hotel at BKK consider the Novotel.
Here is a post from another member where I was able to add some pics and commentary as i happened to be there at the time when they were asking questions.
The nice part about this hotel ... easy and free 2 min shuttle from BKK and your check in time starts when you actually check ie if you check in at 9pm you do not need to check out until 8:59pm the following day.
http://www.australianfrequentflyer....vernight-bkk-airport-novotel-louis-46155.html

Happy travels. Hope this helped. Oh and collecting the SCs and points (on both AY & RJ) helps with that all important WP status.

 

[RooFlyer]

Thanks nonpop. I'm doing the SIN-HEL sector in August, which I think is the non-horizontal bed product; returning HEL-HKG, in September. Ever done these sectors?

The HEL-HKG one in Sept I think should crack the new menus.

 

[BadgerBoi]

Many thanks both Syd and nonpop, I'm even more sold on the idea of Finnair now. I'm a big fan of MH, flew them SYD-CDG and return last year just before the A380s were introduced and at this stage they are my second option (also before they joined Oneworld so I didn't get any points). I have no status with QF (well not quite true, I'm a proud NB) so I might actually hit Silver if I play my cards right with this trip.

But, I'd like to try Finnair for the experience - my idea is to fly one way to Paris with Finnair in J via BKK and get a First return with another airline. Of course since I came up with that idea the dollar has started a slow fall against the euro so it that may not work out for me.

The 16 hour stop in BKK is appealing, thanks for the tip on the Novotel, will certainly check that out.

The plane sounds good - I'll be travelling over solo but returning with my partner, the single seat sounds like a dream come true

Syd, thanks for the reassurance with the transfer at HEL, that really was the thing that worried me the most.

nonpop, I look forward to reading your trip reports as soon as my boss steps out of the office

Again, I'm very grateful to you both for your help.

 

[nonpop]

Thanks nonpop. I'm doing the SIN-HEL sector in August, which I think is the non-horizontal bed product; returning HEL-HKG, in September. Ever done these sectors?

The HEL-HKG one in Sept I think should crack the new menus.

Yes have done these. These were not flats.
The A340 to HKG is due to have lie flats fitted next year from memory. But for now it is not. The best bird is the A330 they use to BKK IMHO. Having said that, again for the coin, I tolerate the angled seat but I wish they would upgrade them quickly.

I have a HKG to MXP and return FCO to HKG (both via HEL) booked for later in the year myself as it was at such an attractive price I couldn't pass it up.

 

[markis10]

I wish AY would bring back Asian connection flights, fond memories of three days of status runs flying ex BKK to SIN and HKG, even if it was in a MD11. Great service and food/drink!

 

[SYD]

Intra Euro business flights in A32x are ok.

J Breakfast HEL-AMS last Nov.

The Lunch and Dinner options on Euro flights have been ok. Although their latest menu is "international" themed. I miss the hosties saying: "Today we have elk or reindeer" (true story).

My first AY experience was HKG - HEL about 5yrs ago. At 7am we were offered a pre-departure glass of bubbles. I asked if it was too early? She replied, "It is never too early for Champagne".