After a restful night in ARN, I took a AY flight from ARN-HEL and arrived with plenty of time to look for some gifts at the Duty Free and explore the Finnair Premium Lounge. I have decided to skip the report on the ARN-HEL segment since this was a very short flight and my "window" seat turned out to be facing a wall instead and I couldn't take any pics of aerials or spotting.
So here is a summary of my schedule so far:
SFO-MSP on DL Y - click here
MSP-YYZ on DL Y - will not report.
YYZ- FCO on AZ J - click here
FCO-AMS on AZ J - click here
AMS-IST on TK J - click here.
IST-ATH on TK Y - click here.
ATH-CPH on A3 J - click here.
CPH-ARN on SK J - click here.
ARN-HEL on AY Y - will not report.
HEL-JFK on AY Y+ - you are here.
JFK-SFO on AA J - click here.
Finnar Premium Lounge.
I arrived at the desk and presented my boarding pass. The receptionist invited me to go to my left and enter the Premium Lounge. To the right is the Business Lounge.
At the entrance there is a sign pointing to the right for the showers and sauna.
Upon entering the lounge, you see the buffet display to your right. Tucked in a corner are the chinaware and utensils. Attendants were friendly and attentive.
First there are the hot items.
Followed by the cold ones.
Desserts.
Beverages.
O
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The left side by the entrance there is a long table with some stools opposite the buffet.
The dining area.
Interior.
Upper level.
My servings.
I then decided to take a shower and entered through a hall that connected the WC's with the shower area.
Showers.
There was no attendant, so I just grabbed one that was available. I found it to be very clean and well stocked with different toiletries. The shower had a sensor that was motion activated.
After I finished I exited the lounge and stopped briefly at the Business lounge to take a look.
Time to go to the gate and get acquainted with the Comfort Class product. AY allows their own Platinum members and other Oneworld Emerald members to choose these seats for free. Boarding was conducted in an orderly manner with designated priorities respected.
Gate.
At the end of the jetbridge there was a cart with newspapers.
The purser was at the door greeting passengers as they entered.
Cabin.
First impression was positive. The bulkhead seat was very roomy and there was a blanket, pillow, amenity kit and bottle of water on each seat. Noise cancelling headphones were in the pockets.
Lots of legroom for the bulkhead seats.
Seat controls.
FA's were making sure that nothing was placed in front of the bulkhead seats, including coats. One of them asked for my coat and stored it in the overhead bin.
The flight was full and once everyone boarded the door was closed and we taxied to the runway. i spotted an AY A350 and JL 787.
Take off.
Once we leveled off the service started. The purser gave me a personal welcome and thanked me for flying AY. She said that I could have anything to drink including a glass of champagne which was nice.
Beverage carts.
There was a choice of meals and I had the chicken. It was served with the foil on the main dish. The appetizer was some sort of root vegetable with barley. A piece of Tomme Noire , crackers, cup of water and packaged cake were also on the tray. I asked for a glass of AY's signature drink - blueberry juice.
After the meal service coffee or tea was offered.
Later on the galley was set up with drinks and there was a container with leftover cakes and cheeses.
I did not use much of the IFE. About 1.5 hr before arrival the second meal started and it consisted of a sandwich.
Arriving in JFK.
I started to have an allergy attack with frequent sneezing and had to take antihistamines once I arrived. I had access to Global Entry and was through Immigration and Custom in about 10 min.
Taxiing to the gate.
Im' not a big fan of Finnair but I have to admit that the lounge in HEL is quite nice with nice food. About the beverages, I'm not sure
"My servings."=> are you joking me? There was plenty of nice food ;-)
Too bad you didn't get to the sauna room. No photo yet on the database or on the net yet, IIRC.
"Lots of legroom for the bulkhead seats."=> it's huge.
Catering onboard is ok.
Thank you for sharing Adan
Salut Bernard.
"Im' not a big fan of Finnair but I have to admit that the lounge in HEL is quite nice with nice food."
- One has to give to Caesar what is Caesar's. ;)
"are you joking me? There was plenty of nice food ;-)"
- Restraint is an admirable quality my friend. ;) Besides I had a chance to sample a bit of everything. Maybe I am following your example and want to be as fit and handsome as you. ;)
"it's huge."
- The way I like it with plenty of room to stretch out like a cat....a fat cat. :P
i'm not convinced by AY's catering in Y. That sandwich as a second meal is poor. Then again, compared to BA on East Coast flights is another story. I guess everything is relative.
Thank you Bernard for sharing your thoughts and support.
Thanks Adan for sharing with us this nice report !
The lounge in HEL looks super nice !
That's a huge legroom that you have here !! Make the flight super comfortable
Catering looks good for Y food.
Nice picture of the A350 AY :)
Hi Sebastien.
It was indeed a comfortable fight with all that legroom. The first meal was decent but as I was telling Bernard I am not convinced by the sandwich as a second meal before arrival.
That AY Premium lounge is tops and one of the best that I have visited along with TK's CIP in IST.
I was lucky to see the A350 and 787 in HEL.
Thank you for your visit.
Thanks for this FR.
I just love the decor in the premium lounge!
AY Y+ does offer a really good value for money with the amnity kit and noise cancelling headsets.
The meals look like they've been improved a bit.
Hi Etienne.
Overall AY has a decent Y+ product and I think it is priced correctly for those that wish to pay for it. Nice to read that catering seems to have improved.
Thanks for your comments.
Striking looking lounge, ready for White Party celebs. Your food pics motivate me to strive to elevate my cooking. I made a quinoa salad, simmered the quinoa on French onion soup with baby carrots, marinated Chilean artichokes and black olives over a mixed bed of kale, chard, spinach collard greens. Paired with a 2011 CA central coast red and honey dill salmon with crispy skin.
The in-flight pictures showed a competitive product. Keep some Flonase handy for those allergy attacks. Benadryl is for rhinitis secondary to a cold virus.
Gracias por tomar el tiempo de incluirnos en tus aventuras trotamundos.
What?! You mean we are exporting artichokes??? I had no idea!
Whenever I see artichokes a the local greengrocer they're the size of a peanut!!
Outrageous!! >:(
Hi Caribel.
I'm sure you are quite a gourmand. ;) Your meal description sounded quite appetizing and tempting.
Thanks for the advice on Flonase. I will pack accordingly next time.
Siempre es un place contar con lectores como usted que aportan una valiosa opinión.
Thanks Adan !
A nice lounge at HEL with a decent food selection.
The inflight catering is so-so in my opinion... At least you got flowing alcohol. ;)
Hi Clement.
They say that alcohol can drown one's sorrow but I did not partake in the free alcohol. I had blueberry juice instead. :P
Thanks for commenting.
Great report, jetsetpanda! Finnair looks like they provide a nice Y+ product. Is the only difference though between Y and Y+ is the access to the lounge? The seats look to be the same, except for the nicer legroom.
Thank you for sharing!
Hi Matthew.
I was able to access the Premium lounge because of my Oneworld Emerald status with AA. Otherwise this cabin does not include access to lounges. i would say that the main difference between Economy Comfort and regular Economy is the additional legroom, amenity kit, noise cancelling headphone and I believe the extra bottle of water (not sure if economy receives a bottle of water too). Yes the seat and food are the same for both classes.
Thanks for visiting.
Thanks for sharing this FR
A very beautiful lounge
The hot items offer is a bit limited but the cold ones offer is rather good
A Champagne and not a sparkling wine is always nice even if the wine offe is not so good except Saint-Véran and Saint-Estèphe
"My servings."
You're not on diet lol
"AY allows their own Platinum members and other Oneworld Emerald members to choose these seats for free."
It's very generous
Great bulkhead seat
The meal doesn't look yummy, neither the sandwich
"I started to have an allergy attack with frequent sneezing and had to take antihistamines once I arrived"
I'm sorry for you :(
Trump flu ? lol
"For those that are prudish, this facility is a mixed one with access for both sexes."
I hope you're not that kind of people lol (neither am I )
BTW I though there were more than two sexes
Usually people are naked in a sauna, was it like that ?
See you soon for another report
Salut mon cher Gilbert.
"A very beautiful lounge"
- Quite unique and very distinctive I would say.
"The hot items offer is a bit limited but the cold ones offer is rather good "
- I feel that they should have included one more hot dish but overall it's very good.
"A Champagne and not a sparkling wine is always nice even if the wine offe is not so good except Saint-Véran and Saint-Estèphe"
- If you say so. I'm not a wine expert as you know. ;)
"You're not on diet lol"
- Maybe I was saving some room for the onboard meal. :P
"It's very generous"
- I wouldn't be surprised if they take this benefit away in the future. Enjoy it while it lasts.
"The meal doesn't look yummy, neither the sandwich"
- The first meal wasn't that bad. At least you didn't see salad as an appetizer. I agree about the second meal though.
"I'm sorry for you :( Trump flu ? lol"
- Maybe it's Hillary's rash. :P i think I have an adverse reaction to Y cabins. :P
"I hope you're not that kind of people lol (neither am I ) BTW I though there were more than two sexes. Usually people are naked in a sauna, was it like that ?"
- What do you think? You should know the answer to that question by now. You are right, there are more than two sexes but the changing rooms by the sauna only had two sexes represented. I know the guy who entered was naked under the towel but I don't know if there were any females there and I wasn't about to find out. ;)
Oh I'll be back sooner that you think. I have several flights coming up and one of them will be a JL F CDG-HND which i'm sure will interest you.
Au revoir et merci.
Thanks for sharing with us . The lounge is really great . I love the space that you were lucky to have sitting in a bulkhead seat : awesome !The catering looks good and fresh.
See you soon.
Hi Christophe.
The legroom for the bulkhead seat was unbelievable. Not so much for the other Y+ sets.
Thanks for your comments.
Thank you for sharing this FR with us!
Thank you for the nice pictures from the lounge, a vast amount of detail!
Nice spotting shots at HEL.
The meal doesn't look bad to me, especially for a normal Y meal. The crew seemed to be really nice on this flight which is always a huge plus.
“About 1.5 hr before arrival the second meal started and it consisted of a sandwich.”
- I like the fact that the ingredients are also written in Swedish haha.
“I started to have an allergy attack with frequent sneezing and had to take antihistamines once I arrived.”
- Oh crap! I hope it got better quickly.
Stunning aerial shots and nice spotting shots at JFK, nice catch of that QR 77W in Oneworld livery.
Thanks for sharing.
Have a good one, see you!
Hi RI 777.
"The crew seemed to be really nice on this flight which is always a huge plus."
- For the most part i find the AY crew pleasant and they always seem to be ready to provide a smile.
I like the fact that the ingredients are also written in Swedish haha."
- To avoid any surprises? ;)
"Oh crap! I hope it got better quickly."
- Thankfully it lasted only 24 hrs.
"nice catch of that QR 77W in Oneworld livery."
- I guess I was lucky.
Thanks RI 777.
Thanks for sharing this FR!
What's so Y+ about these seats other than the improved amenities and pitch? Aren't these still in 2-4-2 configuration? Looks like a weird hybrid of American Y+ and the Rest of the World Y+. Either way, the noise cancelling headphones in Y+ is a nice touch to distinguish the service. Catering looks average for an European carrier. The main looks larger and the overall presentation is decent. Packaged desserts are always so-so. Was the starter in a plastic or glass dish? The pre-arrival snack is pretty poor in terms of quantity, HEL is pretty far east in Europe even if JFK is pretty short for TATLs.
As Kevin often states, OW Emeralds always get special acknowledgements from crews across the alliance, one of the nicer features of OW.
Was this an award ticket? I never saw great HEL-JFK award space last time I was trying to concoct a OW award ticket through AA.
Hi Michael.
"What's so Y+ about these seats other than the improved amenities and pitch? Aren't these still in 2-4-2 configuration? "
- You are right. They are the same seats and configuration as the rest of Y, but they are reasonably priced if you want to pay for them (EUR 65-85 extra). Have you seen how much U.S. carriers charge on intl flights for a similar seat without the extras?
"Was the starter in a plastic or glass dish? The pre-arrival snack is pretty poor in terms of quantity, HEL is pretty far east in Europe even if JFK is pretty short for TATLs."
- It was plastic container. I agree about the small quantity of the snack. At least throw in some chips and a chocolate bar.
"Was this an award ticket?"
- No, it was actually a paid ticket ARN-SFO for USD 560 (EUR 509.35) and segments were on AY, AA and BA.
Thanks for commenting.
"Have you seen how much U.S. carriers charge on intl flights for a similar seat without the extras? "
- At that price it's very cheap. I was thinking it was priced like normal W class. That is about what UA wants on a LAX-SFO EconomyPlus seat... just pitiful.