Finnair A350-900 Premium Economy Review (Helsinki-Bangkok)

Finnair markets its Premium Economy cabin as a middle ground between Economy and its new AirLounge Business Class. The Oneworld airline only began offering Premium Economy in 2022, but it’s now available on all its long-haul planes – including the two Finnair Airbus A330s wet leased to Qantas.

On some airlines, Premium Economy is more like a “Business Lite” product with luxurious amenities closer to what you’d get in the pointy end. But, as I’ll explain in this review of Finnair’s A350 Premium Economy service from Helsinki to Bangkok, this one is closer to an “Economy Plus” experience…

Flight Details

Flight number	AY141
Route	Helsinki (HEL) – Bangkok (BKK)
Aircraft type	Airbus A350-900
Class of travel	Premium Economy
Seat number	21A
On-time performance	We arrived on time
Star rating

The route

Flight Cost

I redeemed 43,500 Finnair Plus Avios + EUR80 (~AU$138) for my one-way Premium Economy flight to Bangkok.

Currently, Finnair Plus is the only frequent flyer program that offers Finnair Premium Economy bookings using points. To access these, you could buy Finnair Avios. Or, simply transfer Amex Membership Rewards points to British Airways Club and then onwards to Finnair Plus.

From October 2025, you’ll be able to use Qantas points for Finnair Premium Economy. Qantas will increase Classic Reward prices before then, so you would need 85,000 Qantas Points + taxes and fees to book this flight from Helsinki to Bangkok when it becomes available.

Airport Experience

Finnair’s Helsinki Airport hub is modern and efficient, with plenty of self-service check-in kiosks and bag drop counters available.

There’s no priority check-in or security given to Premium Economy passengers, but the airport was quiet when I arrived mid-morning.

For flights to non-Schengen destinations, you’ll have to pass immigration in the terminal before making your way to the departure gate.

You don’t get lounge access with Premium Economy on Finnair, although thanks to my Qantas Platinum status I was able to access the Finnair Platinum Wing which Matt has covered previously. As this is not a standard inclusion with Finnair Premium Economy, this isn’t something I’ve considered in my rating of the airport experience for this review.

The airport was very quiet prior to my departure, but shops and facilities were still open. There’s plenty of power outlets and natural lighting, and even a couple of daybeds. Fast and free Wi-Fi was also available.

Helsinki Airport uses “holding pen” departure gates for some flights, similar to the airports in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Like Kuala Lumpur, there were no facilities such as toilets or even water dispensers available in the waiting area.

Finnair invites its Premium Economy passengers to board before Economy.

The Hard Product

Finnair Premium Economy on the Airbus A350 is in a 2-4-2 configuration, with either 24 or 26 seats in the cabin.

The seats have a pretty standard design for Premium Economy. They’re 18.7 inches wide and the seat pitch is 38 inches. Like on Cathay Pacific’s A350 Premium Economy, my seat felt a bit narrow.

I chose seat 21A, a bulkhead seat, as I wanted the extra space.

I did quickly try a regular seat in the row behind, and found the legroom there to be average. Another passenger I spoke to commented on the lack of space when the person in front reclined their seat.

The seat did have a calf rest and a small recline of eight inches (two more inches than Economy Class). But this was not enough to get into a “lazy-Z” position. To prop my feet up, I fashioned a footrest out of my backpack and a spare blanket.

In Premium Economy, the tray tables are stored in the armrests. There was no storage available, except for the literature pocket with the safety card.

To use the toilet, Finnair sends its Premium Economy passengers into the Economy cabin. You aren’t allowed to use the Business Class toilets in front.

Overall, I thought the seat was pretty average for Premium Economy. It’s less than an inch wider than an Economy seat, and the standard legroom is not fantastic. The bulkhead seats do have extra legroom which helps, but it doesn’t solve the fundamental issues with the seat.

Entertainment and power

For bulkhead seats, Finnair provides a fixed 16-inch entertainment screen, which you can control either via touchscreen or by remote.

This is much better than a fold-out TV, with great responsiveness and high-quality pictures.

There was a good amount of content onboard, including latest-release movies, TV shows, music and games.

There were a few TV shows which had full seasons, so you could binge-watch a show.

The moving map feature on Finnair is great, with little information tidbits about cities you fly over. You can also see what you’re flying over, thanks to the exterior cameras on the A350 (which I kept on for a lot of the flight).

Wi-Fi is also available, with a full-flight pass costing EUR19.95 (~AU$34) for anyone with a Finnair Plus account. The speeds were very good, at about 4Mb for downloads. It did block some video-streaming apps such as Youtube and Netflix (although you can still access downloaded content).

An AC power outlet and USB-A charging port were in the divider between the pair of seats.

The Soft Product

Waiting at my seat was a blanket, a neck-pillow, amenity kit, headphones and a bottle of water.

The neck pillow could attach to the headrest, to keep you from bobbing. The blanket was pretty light and scratchy though.

Inside the amenity kit was a toothbrush, earplugs and an eye mask.

Before take-off, the purser came around to inform me of the flight time and that service would begin immediately after takeoff. I think this was due to my Oneworld Emerald status, but I’m not actually sure why, as there was no mention of status in our brief conversation. The welcome was sharp and to the point – very Finnish!

Service throughout the flight was good and efficient. Flight attendants made the rounds multiple times throughout the flight with water, and responded quickly to the call buttons in the cabin.

Take-off was on time, and as promised, as soon as the seat-belt sign went off, service began.

Food and beverage service

Premium Economy passengers were first offered a warm towel and a drink. I ordered a Sprite, which came with a bag of pretzels.

The meal service followed soon after. There are no menu cards – instead, you can view the menu on the entertainment screen (apologies for the poor quality photos).

I chose the chicken dish, which came with a pea mash, carrots and a creamy sauce. Accompanying this was a pumpkin starter, a cold bread roll and a chocolate bar, all on the one tray.

The starter and main were both tasty enough, although the meal felt decidely like an Economy Class offering. It did come on proper china, but with drinks in either a paper or plastic cup.

Surprisingly, Finnair doesn’t offer sparkling nor tonic water. Their Premium Economy wine selection was either a red or white wine. If you want sparkling wine, you’ll need to pay an extra EUR12 (~AU$20) for a small bottle.

A flight attendant came around to offer tea and coffee after the meal service.

All snacks and food outside the two main meal services is buy-on-board, although drinks, including some alcoholic beverages, are complimentary in Premium Economy. I didn’t purchase any snacks, but it’s the same offering that is available to Economy Class passengers.

The breakfast service began two hours prior to landing. Scrambled eggs with a chicken sandwich was the only choice. I got an orange juice with my meal, although it could more accurately be described as orange cordial.

Eggs on airplanes are generally pretty bad in my experience, and this was no exception. The sandwich was also pretty poor. Again, the whole meal experience felt very Economy-like.

The crew came around to thank us and offer chocolates prior to landing.

Wilson McTaggart

Wilson's love of travel started from a young age, but his love for points developed after figuring out ways to travel on a gap year for less - leading naturally towards Australian Frequent Flyer! Wilson's hobbies include skiing, cricket and planning trips, both with and without points.

Wilson posts on the AFF forum as @WilsonM.