Hello to you!
In the past few months I have been travelling frequently, however decided not to report on most of my trips as they were flights I've reported on quite frequently in the past and had nothing new to write about them, however today's trip I decided that it was reporting about.
While I have reported on Finnair and on this specific flight before, the difference now is that I decided to upgrade to a premium economy seat for a total of 65 euro. The price is a bit steep as the only difference is that you will get a bit more legroom and have a comfier seat, while the service remains the same, however I deemed it worth it as the economy cabin had only 2 seats left, which were very unfavourable in my point of view (Middle seats at the wrong locations). (Mind you that Premium Economy on Longhaul flights does offer more than standard Economy).
As my country celebrated King's day the previous day, I kind of assumed that Schiphol may be very busy with tons of Dutch passengers looking for a short holiday and many travellers heading homebound after celebrating that day in our country. Driving to the airport kind of confirmed that already as there was a huge line of cars waiting to drop off their passengers. While normally I would be lining up there, I decided to skip that line and head over the short term parking (and pay the fee) as it would be way more convenient for me and my wife.
Short term parking isn't particularly the friendliest to your wallet as it costs about 2.50 euro for the first 15 minutes you will park here, however it's location in comparison to the terminal is superb.
Eventually found my way to Finnair's check-in counter to drop my luggage off at one of the counters that was currently staffed with zero to no waiting times. Due to my Privium's membership I was allowed to use their priority lane, however my biggest complaint would be that staff here didn't really abide by that and actually handled two passengers from economy firt prior to handling me in the priority lane for some odd reason. It wasn't the biggest issue though as it literally took five minutes to clear all formalities and for my luggage to be on the way, however it could aggrevate some passengers who actually paid for this service if it's busier.
Security to my surprise was a breeze and I walked to one of the stations with no one in line. I think the entire security process took no longer than two minutes.
With about an 40 minutes or so to spend before boarding would be initiated, I decided to pay a visit to the Privium's ExpressLounge located in the D-Pier, which I gained access to through my Privium's membership. This lounge doesn't have the best food or drink offering, yet it is quite pleasant and never overcrowded as you could only gain access to it by paying 40 EUR (not worth it) or via their Membership which do have some tremendous perks.
A few shots of their food offering.
Once again the food and drink offering is marginal ranging from a few sandwiches to snacks and a tiny selection of alcoholic beverages and soft drinks, however the biggest asset of this lounge on beautiful days is that they have an outside terrace where one could enjoy the sun while spotting planes.
Unfortunately the best seat on the terrace was already taken by another passenger before I reached the lounge, however it does give you a decent view of half of the apron with the most interesting planes parked on the other side, so you do not miss out a lot.
About 20 minutes later, the Air Europe Boeing 787-9 (EC-OEM) was being pushed back for it's flight to Madrid as UX 1098.
Boarding was scheduled to start around 11.15 am for our flight to Helsinki and that was my que to leave for our gate with just a short 5-10 minute walk to our boarding gate D79.
Spotting our bird in the distance.
While boarding was already in progress, I decided to head down to the gate, which by now was already overcrowded, uncomfortable and quite warm and it is fair to say that the d-pier is one of my least favourite piers (other than the sheep's den of H-Pier) of Amsterdam as this pier is meant to be universal as it could handle both Schengen and Non-Schengen departures by ceiling off certain passages.
The problem by doing so is that you end up with a large group of passengers trying to cramp themselves into a space that has no means to handle that sheer number of passengers….. It's already tight with a 737 or A320, imagine an A330, so my suggestion is to wait in the upper area where it's a bit more breathable.
Let's not dwell too much on the complaining as this is more an issue of Amsterdam to solve rather than Finnair. The gate does give you a great view of the aircraft.
OH-LTU, an 14.5 year old Airbus A330-300, is going to bring us over to Helsinki. This specific bird was newly delivered to Finnair in November 2010 and is configured with 279 seats (C28 W21 Y230) and is powered by 2 General Electric CF6 engines.
Boarding went quite quickly and upon embarking the aircraft were greeted by two very cheerful and friendly flight attendants and quickly made it to my premium economy seat.
The picture below is from when I disembarked as there was no chance to capture it when boarding.
The premium economy cabin isn't particular large with just 3 rows in a 2-3-2 configuration, though I could say that seat 23A or 23L are probably the best seats of this cabin in alignment with your window. Seats 21A & 21L offer you the best legroom, however your IFE is quite far from your seat as it is installed on the wall in front of you.
The seat itself is equiped with an important coathook, which is a feature that is slowly disappearing and has a Panasonic's eX3 IFE System.
Legroom is generous and no issue at all, however storage is limited as you only have two compartments that are both of hard plastic, so you are going to struggle to store anything that is quite large and non flexible. The storage where you can find the literature cald is only able to hold a tiny notebook or any literature that isn't overly thick.
The tiny compartment above the literature where you could also find a usb plug. The cover of that compartment is also not able to store any drink as a tray as it is angled.
Furthermore the premium economy seats are equiped with a larger headrest than the one on economy and I must admit that I kind of love those headrests as they were very pleasant and comfortable as they were sturdy in a position and adjustable to your preferences.
And the view from my seat was not too shabby either with plenty of coverage of the ground, yet a wonderful view of the wing itself and the engine.
Furthermore you could find an safety card of the correct aircraft and some crappy earphones. Those earphones you will find on the majority of airports and are barely usable as they do not produce a comfortable sound. Finnair has a decent selection of movies/series, so if you really want to use their IFE system for that, I highly suggest to bring your own.
The aircraft is also equipped with an individual air vent, which is a huge bonus to me as often the cabin is much warmer than I prefer :).
I'm surprised to see that Finnair has installed some camera's on their A330. Can't say that I've seen this feature on an A330 (older versions, not neo) before, though it only gives you a forward facing camera. The downward camera was black when we were in air.
Fourteen minutes past our scheduled departure we were finally pushing back for our flight to Helsinki. The captain announced previously that we would be further delayed as we were assigned to the infamous Runway 18L, which takes another 20 minutes or so to taxi to.
About 35 minutes or so past our scheduled departure we were finally lining up for our departure when an Embraer of KLM Cityhopper jumped the line and departured ahead of us.
With a delay of 36 minutes, we were finally rolling for our departure to colder temperatures.
A better view of the legroom you are getting with some better light. (I'm about 1.83m tall (6'')).
About 20 minutes into the flight, the flight attendants came out of the galley to start their buy on board service (blueberry juice, water, coffee and tea are complimentary). As I had a long day ahead of me and didn't fancy any sandwiches at the airport, I decided to pre-order a meal for once and decided to opt for the premium combi (12.90 EUR), which consisted of the following items.
- Cold smoked reindeer and Brie cheese in sourdough bread
- A cup of coffee or tea
- Berry Smoothie
- Chocolate
Pre-ordered meals were handed out before the actual BoB service and by the time the very friendly and smiley flight attendant came to my row, she asked whether I would like another complimentary drink, which I declined.
The contents of the bag minus the chocolate, which was still in the bag :), though the chocolate bar was a Karl Fazer Milk Chocolate Bar
While I generally am not fan of sandwiches in the air, I must admit that I quite enjoyed this particular sandwich. The brie and rosemary spread definitely complimented the smoked reindeer meat.
Once the passenger next to me decided to pay a visit to the lavatory, I took a chance to explore my and her seat a bit further to not disturb her with my photos.
You could find your table for example in the arm rest on your left side, while the seat also does have a leg rest like you can see with my neighbour's seat, however it doesn't look like the most comfortable one.
Further more by pushing both two buttons you are able to recline your seat and the leg rest.
It didn't really come to my mind and probably overlooked it so often, but you can also find a personal reading light in the left corner of your seat behind your headrest.
Well the sun is gone….
Clean up was engaged by the flight attendants about an hour to destination and decided to have a small nap. Woke up by the time we were already in approach to Runway 22R.
With a smooth touchdown at 15.31 pm. By now we were also informed that disembarkation was going to happen through the back of the plane as our plane was parked at a non-schengen gate.
As we were disembarking via the back of the plane, I also could give you a view of what standard economy looks like. The seats are a bit narrower and this cabin is in a 2-4-2 lay-out. The headrest itself is also slightly different and definitely a tad smaller. Less legroom and a bit of a boring colour pattern, though it is pleasing for the eyes.
The only issue I have with disembarkation via the back is that the highest paying customer (J Class) has to wait the longest to disembark the aircraft, while in my opinion you should treat them with the best service and let them disembark first, which of course is a bit of an issue if done via the back….
One last look of the aircraft that brought us over before we were being shipped off by bus.
OH-LWM, An Airbus A350-900 that arrived about 30 minutes ahead of us from Bangkok as AY 142. A flight that was my first memory of Finnair about five to six years ago and being readied for a pushback to a remote stand as it isn't going to fly today anymore.
Not much went on and it took another 15 to 20 minutes or so for my luggage to appear on the belt before leaving the airport to head over to Tampere.
Thanks for stopping by!
Lufthansa's A330s also have onboard cameras.