Finnair » Business » User reviews

SamWardill flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (19/02/2011 23:19)

Check In:
I checked in online for my flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki then on to Hong Kong departing Amsterdam on Wednesday at 1905. On arrival at Schiphol there was no queue for baggage drop so I was quickly on my way through the fast track security to airside.

Lounge:
Finnair use the Menzies lounge in the Schengen departure lounge at Schiphol. This is a pretty basic lounge with a couple of newspapers, very limited food and drink and paid wi-fi that would not allow my VPN to pass through. In contrast, the Finnair lounge at Helsinki was much more stylish and well provisioned with lots of food and drink including espresso machines (with only a caffeinated option) and pre-flight hot dining for the 2340 departure from Helsinki to Hong Kong. I didn’t take advantage of either the pre-flight dining or espresso having eaten on board the Amsterdam leg and not wanting to load up with caffeine before trying to get some shut eye.

Boarding & Departure:
The Amsterdam leg of my flight boarded and departed very smoothly. The Hong Kong leg was not quite so stress free. We ended up departing an hour late because of a technical problem. Information provided was reasonable. I decided to get some sleep whilst we waited to take off. I was glad I had not waited to eat on board.

Seat:
The seat on my A340-300 from Helsinki to Hong Kong was a lie flat type rather than a fully flat bed. I believe that Finnair have both. It was relatively comfortable for sleeping and I got a good 5 hours on this 9 & ½ hour flight plus the hour I took before we waited to depart. The lady sat next to me remarked on the economy of the amenity bag supplied. However, it had everything that I ever use (socks, eye pads & ear plugs) and I may well find the drawstring bag useful in the future (I’ve never really been able to get passionate about any airline’s amenity bag since the sad demise of the British Airways Body Shop bags).

IFE:
When I woke from my sleep with four hours to go I was disappointed to realise that the In Flight Entertainment was on a loop rather than on demand. This seemed to me a little dated. Although there was a good selection of films, there was no description of the films in any of the in pocket magazines. The headset was noise cancelling but was hard wired into the seat. This meant that the headsets were not collected and cleaned after each flight. Instead, each passenger was supplied with a self adhesive ear cover to stick on the foam ear-pad. I wasn’t convinced that this was an entirely hygienic arrangement. I watched the end of The Social Network, a film that I had seen before. I then watched another film on my laptop. When I realised that the power on my laptop would not last me the rest of the trip I attempted to use the at seat power socket. Neither the flight attendant nor I could get the power to work reliably so I had to find alternative entertainment when my power ran out.

Food:
As I did not take advantage of the main long haul flight meal I am not really able to review the food offering thoroughly. The dinner on the Amsterdam leg was of a reasonable standard. The breakfast before arriving in Hong Kong was comprehensive, however the hot breakfast was served a little luke warm.

Crew:
Cabin crew were mainly Finns with one Hong Kong attendant in the business class cabin. Service was efficient and moderately friendly. However I was not very demanding.

Arrival:
We managed to lose another 45 minutes overnight (from looking at the moving map it seemed to me that we were circling over Szechuan for some time in the middle of the night for some reason) so we arrive 1h45min late. The immigration queue took me about 20 minutes and, after I had passed through, my luggage was waiting for me on the carousel.

Summary:
I had chosen to fly Finnair over British Airways for this flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong so that I could depart an hour later, arrive an hour earlier and avoid transferring in Heathrow. I also saved about £800 albeit having to travel on an inflexible ticket. My flight from Amsterdam to Hong Kong and then Singapore to London (direct with Qantas), with a London to Amsterdam leg that I will have to use some time in the future, cost me a very reasonable £2500 in business. As it turned out, the BA flight probably arrived before we did. The Finnair long haul business class product seemed a little dated compared to BA. However, the simplicity of connecting in Helsinki won me over and I did not regret my airline choice on this occasion.

frustratedflyer flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (08/09/2010 05:42)

Business Passenger boarding started before general boarding. Staff were swift in taking my jacket and in offering a drink.

After take off food was served promptly although I skipped this. The seat is not horizontal but angled lie flat. I made it a bit more comfortable by putting a spare pillow under my feet as I did tend to slide down. The seat arm also drops to give added width.

I was seated in 1H.

I liked the seat but disliked the people who wanted to climb over my feet to the toilet rather than go through the galley.

I skipped the hot breakfast but had a nice croisannt , fruit and cereal. Bags came out quickly.

All in all a good a reasonably priced flight.

iloveONEWORLD flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (09/07/2010 19:53)

I flew AMSTERDAM-HELSINKI-HONG KONG-HELSINKI-AMSTERDAM. I really liked finnair but the way how they control problems such as a broken tv is bad.Overall, I still really like finnair business class although their bed is not 180 degrees flat horizontal. Hopefully they will insert the same business class product as swiss international airlines

Bollcat flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (01/06/2010 21:57)

As this was a connecting flight we didn't need to check in but I will talk about the transit process. We landed at 21:05 on the Finnair flight from LHR and went straight through the security check. The airport is compact and was not busy which gave it a calm & reassuring feeling. Although we had access to the Via lounge at Helsinki the area where the long haul flights departed seemed well served by seats & dining opportunities. The transfer walk took no more than 10 minutes which was a breeze & I was supping a beer in the lounge in no time at all.

Lounge - The Via lounge at Helsinki was moderately busy but there was still seating available. Free wifi was available with a voucher and was fast and easy to connect to. There were several Apple PCs to use and with a voucher given to us when entering, a hot meal from the counter. Soft drinks, beer on tap and wine was free but any other spirits or fizz needed to be paid for. Lots of snacks and salad was available as well as some decent coffee! Next to the lounge is the Via spa which you have to pay to get into (unless you have status with the Finnair rewards program) and provides a wide range of spa treatments as well as a sauna overlooking the apron! We didn't partake due to the cost & the shortish transit time we had.

Boarding - The flight was called in the lounge unobtrusively and it was a 3 minute walk to the gate. There was a separate bizz class lane which we took advantage of and we were onboard and seated quickly.

Seating - Seating on the A340 with Finnair is in a 2-2-2 setting and has an angled lie flat product. There is a new lie flat bizz class seat being rolled out by Finnair which is currently being done on their A330 aircraft. I don't know the rollout timetable for the rest of the fleet but it looks a good product. We had seats 4A & 4C which have more than enough space and the seat width is good too. Travelling together the seats allow for easy contact but if you're on your own and require some privacy then the layout of the BA seat plan & the herringbone seat plan e.g. Cathay Pacific are better. There is a dividing screen on the Finnair product but it is a token gesture. Nonetheless the shell seat is solid and when turning over it doesn't bother the person next to you and there is enough space to step over them to get to the aisle. If you like a window seat then don't be put off if you're worried about disturbing a neighbour or restrictions getting out.

There are several set positions for the seat and a free control to allow you to put it in any configuration you like. Once flat the seat is angled but is very comfortable. The pillow is generous and the 'duvet' nice and warm. Generally a lie flat product is better for sleeping than an angled lie flat product and this trip confirmed that view. That said I found this seat comfortable enough and I got to sleep easily when extended to the angled lie flat position. The cabin was a bit noisy and being a summer eastwards bound flight soon after takeoff it became light which spilled into the cabin frequently. The amenities bag was well stocked and I made use of the eye mask. It also contained a small bag to put your shoes in which was a nice touch. I prefer to sleep on my side and I found that it was comfortable to do and easy to move around in.

Entertainment - The AVOD system worked well well and the noise cancelling headphones were decent although they were 3 pin so even with an adaptor I couldn't use my own which I prefer. The movies were varied and the in-fight map was one of the newer versions.

Food & Drink - We were served champagne early (Joseph Perrier 2003) which I stuck with for most of the flight. My wife said the white & red selections were very good too. A menu was given out early and my selection was available. The quality was good and served promptly.

Service - As per their short-haul product I found the attendants to be pleasant and professional. They made frequent trips through the cabin during the long overnight flight and took care of our coats early on.

Baggage - Our luggage was checked in at Heathrow & arrived promptly at HK. Immigration took longer than normal at HK and the walk from the gate was a fair way but nice after the flight.

Conclusion - I booked this flight through the Finnair website back in January when they had a sale on & the price was extremely competitive against fellow Oneworld carriers on the route, BA & Cathay. Although I always prefer a direct flight where possible the connection at Helsinki was painless & given that the flight was approx £1000 cheaper than the Oneworld competition I would chose this option again in a heartbeat. If they can keep the fairs keen even with the introduction of the new bizz class product then Finnair have a new repeat customer on their hands.

lostantipod flew Finnair Business, on a A330-300 (Config. 1) (23/03/2010 18:37)

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JoeyHou flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (04/01/2010 20:33)

The food was great! Everything was quite good. It would have been a perfect flight if the seat was fully flat. The check - in counters in airports within europe for business class is too crowded.

asiatraveler flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (03/01/2010 01:17)

Great service with good food. I particulary like the wine selection. Acess to the snack bar during the fligt is alsow nice.

Ranerane flew Finnair Business (19/11/2008 16:24)

The seats are pleasant and food exellent.

frustratedflyer flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (17/11/2008 02:47)

In business in 1H on the way to HK. Rather too close to the toilets so if you want to be in the first row I would choose the window seats such as 1A. A good service. Food choices sometimes interesting. Reindeer on this flight! Not a flat bed but one of the better angled ones. IFE disapointing as choice of movies limited and no guide. Rather annoying that they made annoucements during the night during turbulence - please keep quiet!

SURAJPRASAD flew Finnair Business, on a A340-300 (23/09/2008 14:55)

Seat 1H. This is one in the centre bank of seats on the right. For some reason seats 1D and 1H stick out forward from the rest of row 1. so I'd choose 1A,C or 1J ,L rather than these two because you can get knocked by people walking up and down the aisle to the toilet, or by the crew. Service was very good although I wasn't impressed by the food. The seat whilst not horizontal I thought was better than similar products such as the old Sing Airlines seat.