Avis du vol entre Helsinki et Dallas/Fort Worth en classe Premium Eco avec Finnair

Introduction

Welcome to the fifth part of this series of flight reviews!

After a wonderful time exploring Finland, and getting to see the beautiful and mesmerising Northern Lights for several nights, it was time to head back home to San Diego. 

In this review, we'll be flying back to the U.S. on a day flight in Finnair's A350 Premium Economy cabin.

Routing

Getting to the Airport

Getting to the airport from the Helsinki city centre is very simple. We caught the direct airport train from the beautiful Helsinki central train station, just a few blocks from our hotel. 

Trains are clean, fast, and efficient. There are only 2 stops between the Helsinki station and the Vantaa-airport station. 

As with most signage around Helsinki, information screens in the train are in Finnish, Swedish, and English. Having been part of the Swedish Kingdom for centuries, a significant portion of the Finnish population today are still native Swedish speakers. 

It's just a quick half hour to arrive at the airport from the city centre. 

Check-in & Lounge

From the airport train station, we made our way up to the departures level. 

Helsinki's Vantaa airport is beautiful and modern on the outside and inside. 

The Priority check-in area is located towards the rear of the check-in lobby to the right. 

Note that a Premium Economy ticket does not grant priority check-in or boarding on its own; we had access with our oneworld status. 

The wait for check-in took a little longer than expected, despite very few passengers ahead of us, as staff were having some printer issue. We'd checked in on the app 24h ahead; however, we had some baggage to drop off. Fortunately, the issue was resolved in a timely manner and we were on our way in about 15 minutes.  

A dedicated Priority security checkpoint is located just to the right of the Priority check-in area. It was very quick and efficient as there was no need to remove electronics, and we didn't have any liquids, so we just breezed right through. I wish every airport was this easy!

Once through security, we were in the now-familiar Schengen zone

Flights to the U.S. are obviously in the non-Schengen departure zone, which requires going through passport control, like in most European airports. 

Once again, super quick and efficient, especially through the EU passport lanes. 

There's a duty free shop as you enter the non-Schengen zone, similar to most other large European airports. 

We made our way to the Finnair Lounge, which was quite easy to find. 

A very friendly agent welcomed us at the entrance.

First impressions of the lounge were very good. Chic and modern Nordic decor with lots of light and space. 

It was pleasantly quiet, with very few people in the lounge. There were tons of different seating areas in the large space. 

We had no issues finding a quiet area to sit. We were happy to see that there was a small children's play area with fun Moomin lamps, small child-sized furniture, and a kids' activity chest which included books, toys, and colouring materials. 

There's a large restaurant section central to most sections of the lounge, where the buffet is located. It was also very quiet with very few passengers, much like the rest of the lounge. 

There is a large selection of wines, liquors, beers, and soft drinks available. Unlike the Schengen lounge, there was real Champagne here in the non-Schengen lounge. 

As well as a nice selection of fresh food, including several hot dishes. 

While there are self-serve drink stations, there is also a staffed bar. 

More seating on the opposite side of the restaurant section. 

I didn't get anything to eat as we'd had a large breakfast at the hotel that morning and lunch would be served on the flight shortly after departure. 

Boarding

Not being terribly familiar with Helsinki airport, we left the lounge about 10 minutes before boarding time. It turned out to be plenty of time as the gate wasn't very far from the lounge.

On the way we passed by some cool spaces in a central atrium with time and weather information projected in light on the walls…

And beautiful moving images of the Northern Lights.

The gate area was mostly quiet, with just a few eager souls poised to be the first to pounce in to the priority lane once boarding begins 🏃‍♂️💨

It turned out that there was absolutely no point for the well-positioned-shiny-status-holders to try to be the first in the priority boarding lane because Finnair boarded the flight in a Ryanair-esque style. That is to say, once boarding was called for groups 1 and 2, we did not actually board the aircraft after having boarding passes scanned, but rather, we were all directed to another waiting area just behind the podiums. Where we sat, and sat, and sat some more… 

The section closest to the actual boarding door was reserved for Groups 1 and 2.

On the bright side, we had great views of our beautiful aircraft from the "premium holding pen" 

Our aircraft, registered OH-LWA, was actually the first A350 to be delivered to Finnair, back in October 2015. 

Naturally, the important shiny-status-holders persisted in their positioning strategy to be closest to the actual boarding door. So much so, that as the space filled up, they were blocking access to the waiting area for all other boarding groups who had been scanned through, which caused quite a back up at the boarding podiums. Realising the blockage was completely avoidable, one of the gate agents came back to politely-but-firmly admonish the fancy-self-important crowd to kindly move out of the way 🤣

I wasn't exaggerating when I said this was a very Ryanair-esque boarding experience !

The waiting continued…at this point we'd been "boarded" into the holding pen for about 30 minutes.

The cattle were finally released from the holding pen a few minutes later! 

We went with the flow, joining the Group 1 and 2 boarding stampede…how very Texan! A propos for our destination!

This aircraft currently sports an "Official Airline of Santa Claus" special sticker; however, it was not yet there at the end of October 2024, when we flew. 

We were welcomed by very friendly cabin crew, some of whom were preparing the pre-departure drinks for the Business cabin. 

Once again missed out on buying an upgrade to try this beautiful Business seat as the cabin was again completely full by the time we checked in. As we'd bought our tickets through American Airlines on an AA codeshare, we were unable to buy an upgrade prior to the airport on the day of departure. Now knowing this, I'll make sure to buy tickets through Finnair directly next time and hopefully have better luck!

Finnair's Premium Economy product is very nice and will be perfectly comfortable for this day flight across the Atlantic. There are three rows of seats laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration, typical of Premium Economy on A350s. 

For this return flight we'd selected seats in the bulkhead row to try something different. Normally seats in the first row can be reserved for an additional fee over standard seating; however, all seat assignments were complimentary for us thanks to our oneworld Emerald and Sapphire status. 

It's a very smart looking cabin. The seats' modern aesthetic is unique to Finnair, as far as I know. 

Seats in Premium Economy are 18.7" wide with a 38" pitch—pretty industry standard for this cabin class. However, the very efficient and intelligent design of the seats makes it feel more spacious, than most other Premium Economy cabins with similar dimensions, at least with respect to leg space.

As mentioned in the previous review, while the recline angle is decent, the seats are designed to slide forward within the seat pan when reclining and therefore don't encroach much on the space of those in the row behind. This is in sharp contrast to British Airways' Premium Economy seats, with which I'm most familiar. While BA's seats offer a generous recline, you end up practically in the lap of the passenger behind when fully reclined. I'll never forget having scalding hot coffee spilt in my lap after the passenger in front of me on a BA flight slammed back their seat, hitting my tray table. That would never happen on Finnair. 

Similar to Domestic First class/Short-haul Business, there is a wide double armrest between seats that includes a small drink table. 

A blanket, neck pillow, noise-cancelling headset, small amenity kit, and a bottle of water were pre-placed at each seat in the cabin. I really liked the concept of the neck pillow on the outbound night flight and appreciated the level of comfort and support it afforded over a standard airplane pillow. 

Universal 110v power outlets and USB ports are located in front of the central armrest along with headphone jacks. 

Unlike in other rows, there is a remote for the entertainment system in the front row as the screen is a little far compared to non-bulkhead rows. 

Which means there's plenty of legroom in the first row.

Having the screens on the bulkhead wall rather than in the armrests preserves seat width for the front row; however, it does mean the screens are just out of reach when seatbelts are fastened. 

The Flight

The flight was running a bit late with the late start to boarding, but it wrapped up rather quickly for a close-to-on-time departure. The jet bridge was pulled just a few minutes behind schedule. 

The Premium Economy cabin ended up going out with just 2 empty seats. 

The app was showing about a 15 minute arrival delay. Not too bad. 

We pushed back about 10 minutes behind schedule. 

The safety video played as the aircraft taxied to the departure runway.

Love the tail camera on the Finnair A350s!

Nice autumn colours around the airport. 

Takeoff

Blue sky above the cloud layer and a beautiful A350 winglet

Wi-Fi is available above 10,000 ft.

Prices are reasonably in line with what other oneworld carriers charge…except for AA, who notoriously charge an arm and a leg for slow Wi-Fi on long-hauls. 

There are also several free services accessible through the Wi-Fi portal, including a selection of magazines and e-Books.

There's also a little aviation game. 

There's plenty of content on the in-flight entertainment system, of course. The system is simple, intuitive, and fast.

There's also lots of information about the flight experience on the IFE, including seats, food and beverage menus. 

The meals are upgraded compared to the Economy cabin; however, it is a bit surprising to see only 2 options for the main meal, and only 1 option for the pre-arrival meal. 

The many beverage options

The meal service begins with a hot towel, which is a nice premium touch, not particularly common in Premium Economy. 

There is a proper aperitif service prior to meals being served. I went for the Northern Blush cocktail again, which I'd discovered on the outbound flight and enjoyed. 

My son's pre-ordered child meal was served first. It was a perfect amount of food for a 5-year-old. 

Who doesn't love Swedish (Finnish) meatballs!

For my meal I chose the chicken option accompanied by a French rosé wine.

Chicken breast served with roasted potatoes,
rhubarb compote, marinated fennel, and yoghurt sauce

It was tasty, but nothing terribly exciting. 

Here's a look at the beef option. 

Beef with red wine and lingonberry sauce
potato gratin and carrots

Desert was just a milk chocolate bar

Cabin crew offered chocolates with the tea and coffee service after the meal. 

I generally like flying Premium Economy to avoid the crunch in Economy when Business class fares are too high, but one thing that can be annoying about this cabin it that there are usually no lavatories nearby.

On this particular configuration, Premium Economy passengers have to go back to the middle of the Economy cabin to use the lavs. 

There are lavs in the Premium Economy cabin on the configuration with a smaller Business class section, however. 

So off we go to the Economy section. The 3-3-3 configuration A350s is more spacious than 3-3-3 on narrower 787s, but still looks a bit cramped. 

Cabin crew made regular water runs down the aisles throughout the rest of the flight, which was appreciated. 

About an hour out from DFW, a pop up message on the IFE screen announced the upcoming pre-arrival meal service. 

As on the outbound flight, only the first main meal is upgraded. The second service appears to be the same as in Economy. 

The Child meal was a simple chicken and rice dish. Fine…but not terribly exciting for a 5-year old kid. 

As mentioned earlier, there were no options for those who didn't order a special meal. 

Nasi Goreng with rice and vegetables

It was fine, but again felt out of place in Premium Economy, especially served in a cardboard box. It's still nice to have a hot meal for the second service, however, even if it is just the one course. 

Some information was shown on the screens as we neared the destination. 

Arrival

Despite the late start out of Helsinki, we would be arriving at the gate about a half hour ahead of schedule. 

All these widebodies on a remote stand almost looks like a oneworld alliance ad. 

Spotted a Comlux 787 on the taxi to the gate, a business charter airline I'd never heard of before. 

We arrived at the gate about a half hour ahead of schedule. We had to be towed in due to the tight space on the corner gate.

Last view of our bulkhead seats on deplaning. 

Immigration was super fast, as usual with Global Entry. And even bags were delivered rather quickly. Even though we were connecting on to San Diego, baggage from international destinations arriving in the U.S. don't automatically transfer as all passengers are required to clear U.S. customs with baggage in hand. 

Unfortunately for us, there was a problem with the oversized baggage belt and we were waiting for a carseat! It took almost an hour for the car seat to be found and brought up to us by hand! Thank goodness we had several hours between flights!

My poor kid was exhausted from all the waiting, especially since it was nighttime in Europe with the time difference. 

Finally after clearing customs, we were able to drop our checked bags off at the connecting flights belt. 

International-to-Domestic flight connections within the U.S. are never a pleasant experience, but having to wait an hour for a car seat made it worse. And I can't really complain since we breeze through immigration and customs formalities with Global entry.

In the end, American Airlines ended up losing our bags! Oh the irony…all that effort for nothing! More about that in the next and final instalment in this series.