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Moomba · Aug 4, 09, 1:19 pm

The Photos

I spent a couple of days wandering around HEL, mostly stalking the streets as I find this a great way to explore a city. Bad planning left me with not enough time to go to a couple of places on my list which is a shame. Well at least I have an excuse to visit again now.

I caught the 3.80 Euro return boat trip to the fortress of Suomenlinna which is an island about a 10 minute boat ride out of the market square area. This fortress was built after many a year of invasion from the sea and at one stage housed 8000 people. After wandering around there for a couple of hours I headed back to the mainland to do some more pedestrian activity.

I also took one of the touristy boat trips around the islands off the coast and was witness to some very typical Nordic sites. That being of quaint houses dotted amongst the trees with a sauna built on the waters edge. Perfect for those sweat and dunk parties. One colleague of mine told me of a custom his Finnish friends have is to go into the sauna and then come out go for a dunk and then eat a prawn. Repeat until worn out or run out of prawns. Odd people these Finns.

I will let the pictures do most of the talking as usual.

Now on to the flight. I was able to check out late from my hotel and catch a
15:20 bus to the airport from the railway station. Once there I located the BA check-in desk and approached the waiting agent at the Business Class desk.

She printed a boarding pass and said did I have a coupon, is this a paper ticket. I said it was an e-ticket and she said no problem she would ring ticketing and find out. She rang and then realised that she needed to ring AY as it was on their code share that the flight was booked.
I said I have a copy of the itinerary with the ticket number on it and pulled it from my bag. She was on the phone to AY when I handed it over. She looked at the itin and said ‘Round the World’ and smiled. I said yes and smiled back.

She finally got the number and entered it into the system and was able to re-print the boarding pass without the request for coupon printed on it. She said this sometimes happens when people change the flights but the ticket number sometimes doesn’t get entered against the flight.
Anyway all sorted and I was on my way to security.

There is no priority line but the normal line was moving quite quickly despite the fact that the check-in desks for AY econ and fast bag drop were enormous.

Once through security I was able to head straight down to the 31 gate area where the agent told me the Finnair lounge was. I did have to stop part way to clear emigrations which have counters just prior to gates 30-33.
The wait there was longer than the security queue but still nothing substantial.

I went on into the lounge and was welcomed inside by the agent. The lounge has limited spirits, wines, coffee, tea, cold drinks, breads, salads, cheese, nuts and corn chips.
The lounge was quite full but I was able to secure a seat without getting too cosy with any other passengers. There were computer stations and music listening stations in the lounge along with the normal seating.

I left the lounge just before the boarding started and I joined the queue as there was no priority boarding. It was quite a strange setup as you got through the passport and BP check and then are held in a little pen until they open another set of doors which leads down to the aircraft. Anyway these doors opened moments after I walked into the pen and I was on my way toward the BA operated aircraft.

Flight AY5909 (BA799) LHR-HEL Seat 3F
Aircraft: 757
Departure time: 17:55

Once on board I sat myself down and put my coat on the seat next to me and waited for boarding to complete.

By the time doors closed there were 8 in the J cabin. The captain announced a flight time of 2 hours and 35 minutes. The crew announcements included several messages warning people that this flight was going to Terminal 3 at LHR and not Terminal 5.

I heard the CSD ask the family of three sitting in the last row what they would like for their meal as he wouldn’t want them to miss out. Not sure if that is because they were Gold card holders or celebrity or what.

We pushed back at 17:55 and taxied out to the runway where the 757 started running at 18:05.

The CSD on the flight did not budge until after the seat belt sign was switched off and then disappeared down the back. Finally a drink was offered 20 minutes after the seat belt sign was switched off. There was no offer of nibbles to go with the drink as it seems BA in its desire to reach the bottom faster have stopped this part of the ‘service’.

I ordered some of the Pommery champagne of course.

The meal service finally began after my drink was well and truly empty. The CSD again favoured the last row and served them first. He then went to the front of the cabin and served the rest of us peons. There was a choice of ‘chicken salad’ or ‘salmon pasta’. I opted for the salmon pasta which came with a plate of cheese and a teaspoon or two of dessert in a DO&CO plastic pot. The salmon pasta was in fact an oriental noodle stir fry with a mild chili sauce with grilled salmon on top.

After he had finished serving the cabin he came around with the bread basket and then asked if I wanted another drink.

Toward the end of the meal he came around with coffee and tea. In a moment of madness I temporarily forgot that BA provides the vilest coffee in the known world.
Oh well everything else about this flight was shyte so why not the coffee too.

After the tray was cleared away the CSD disappeared and was either down the back, in the cockpit or reading his paper in the forward galley. I don’t know why people rave so much about BA service as so far this trip it has been somewhat lacking.

So it looks like we are going to have another bash BA time of it here on the old Moomba TR. Well all I can say is they bring it on themselves.

After a dry hour or so it was time to prepare for landing at which point I also realised another missing service element. No Hot Towel not even a How one!

We landed at 18:40 and taxied to our stand at the end of the T1 pier. Here we were offloaded from door 2, yes some econ got off first. But that didn’t matter as it was a lovely bus gate and we all piled on a bus until there was no breathing space left. On to the terminal building where in their wisdom they had the bus gates situated another 1/2 a kilometre from immigrations.

Thankfully IRIS was working and I was through in no time and wandering out through customs. I collected my duty free purchase from the Hotel Information desk in the arrivals hall and headed on down to the HEX.

A 7 minute wait then a tube and bus journey, thanks to engineering works on the tube had me home in appropriate dishevelled style after a less than perfect BA experience.

I have two more BA flights, both in First, to come on this trip. I do hope they can redeem their reputation in my eyes. As it stands I would think twice about throwing any more money at BA, especially on the European sectors.

Yes HIDDY I was grumpy when I finished this flight.

The Photos

Aug 4, 09, 1:19 pm	#64
Moomba Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: London, UK Programs: AA 1MM - EXP, BA Silver, BD Silver, SPG Plat, Hilton Silver Posts: 3,954	Part 8 HEL - LHR The Photos I spent a couple of days wandering around HEL, mostly stalking the streets as I find this a great way to explore a city. Bad planning left me with not enough time to go to a couple of places on my list which is a shame. Well at least I have an excuse to visit again now. I caught the 3.80 Euro return boat trip to the fortress of Suomenlinna which is an island about a 10 minute boat ride out of the market square area. This fortress was built after many a year of invasion from the sea and at one stage housed 8000 people. After wandering around there for a couple of hours I headed back to the mainland to do some more pedestrian activity. I also took one of the touristy boat trips around the islands off the coast and was witness to some very typical Nordic sites. That being of quaint houses dotted amongst the trees with a sauna built on the waters edge. Perfect for those sweat and dunk parties. One colleague of mine told me of a custom his Finnish friends have is to go into the sauna and then come out go for a dunk and then eat a prawn. Repeat until worn out or run out of prawns. Odd people these Finns. I will let the pictures do most of the talking as usual. Now on to the flight. I was able to check out late from my hotel and catch a 15:20 bus to the airport from the railway station. Once there I located the BA check-in desk and approached the waiting agent at the Business Class desk. She printed a boarding pass and said did I have a coupon, is this a paper ticket. I said it was an e-ticket and she said no problem she would ring ticketing and find out. She rang and then realised that she needed to ring AY as it was on their code share that the flight was booked. I said I have a copy of the itinerary with the ticket number on it and pulled it from my bag. She was on the phone to AY when I handed it over. She looked at the itin and said ‘Round the World’ and smiled. I said yes and smiled back. She finally got the number and entered it into the system and was able to re-print the boarding pass without the request for coupon printed on it. She said this sometimes happens when people change the flights but the ticket number sometimes doesn’t get entered against the flight. Anyway all sorted and I was on my way to security. There is no priority line but the normal line was moving quite quickly despite the fact that the check-in desks for AY econ and fast bag drop were enormous. Once through security I was able to head straight down to the 31 gate area where the agent told me the Finnair lounge was. I did have to stop part way to clear emigrations which have counters just prior to gates 30-33. The wait there was longer than the security queue but still nothing substantial. I went on into the lounge and was welcomed inside by the agent. The lounge has limited spirits, wines, coffee, tea, cold drinks, breads, salads, cheese, nuts and corn chips. The lounge was quite full but I was able to secure a seat without getting too cosy with any other passengers. There were computer stations and music listening stations in the lounge along with the normal seating. I left the lounge just before the boarding started and I joined the queue as there was no priority boarding. It was quite a strange setup as you got through the passport and BP check and then are held in a little pen until they open another set of doors which leads down to the aircraft. Anyway these doors opened moments after I walked into the pen and I was on my way toward the BA operated aircraft. Flight AY5909 (BA799) LHR-HEL Seat 3F Aircraft: 757 Departure time: 17:55 Once on board I sat myself down and put my coat on the seat next to me and waited for boarding to complete. By the time doors closed there were 8 in the J cabin. The captain announced a flight time of 2 hours and 35 minutes. The crew announcements included several messages warning people that this flight was going to Terminal 3 at LHR and not Terminal 5. I heard the CSD ask the family of three sitting in the last row what they would like for their meal as he wouldn’t want them to miss out. Not sure if that is because they were Gold card holders or celebrity or what. We pushed back at 17:55 and taxied out to the runway where the 757 started running at 18:05. The CSD on the flight did not budge until after the seat belt sign was switched off and then disappeared down the back. Finally a drink was offered 20 minutes after the seat belt sign was switched off. There was no offer of nibbles to go with the drink as it seems BA in its desire to reach the bottom faster have stopped this part of the ‘service’. I ordered some of the Pommery champagne of course. The meal service finally began after my drink was well and truly empty. The CSD again favoured the last row and served them first. He then went to the front of the cabin and served the rest of us peons. There was a choice of ‘chicken salad’ or ‘salmon pasta’. I opted for the salmon pasta which came with a plate of cheese and a teaspoon or two of dessert in a DO&CO plastic pot. The salmon pasta was in fact an oriental noodle stir fry with a mild chili sauce with grilled salmon on top. After he had finished serving the cabin he came around with the bread basket and then asked if I wanted another drink. Toward the end of the meal he came around with coffee and tea. In a moment of madness I temporarily forgot that BA provides the vilest coffee in the known world. Oh well everything else about this flight was shyte so why not the coffee too. After the tray was cleared away the CSD disappeared and was either down the back, in the cockpit or reading his paper in the forward galley. I don’t know why people rave so much about BA service as so far this trip it has been somewhat lacking. So it looks like we are going to have another bash BA time of it here on the old Moomba TR. Well all I can say is they bring it on themselves. After a dry hour or so it was time to prepare for landing at which point I also realised another missing service element. No Hot Towel not even a How one! We landed at 18:40 and taxied to our stand at the end of the T1 pier. Here we were offloaded from door 2, yes some econ got off first. But that didn’t matter as it was a lovely bus gate and we all piled on a bus until there was no breathing space left. On to the terminal building where in their wisdom they had the bus gates situated another 1/2 a kilometre from immigrations. Thankfully IRIS was working and I was through in no time and wandering out through customs. I collected my duty free purchase from the Hotel Information desk in the arrivals hall and headed on down to the HEX. A 7 minute wait then a tube and bus journey, thanks to engineering works on the tube had me home in appropriate dishevelled style after a less than perfect BA experience. I have two more BA flights, both in First, to come on this trip. I do hope they can redeem their reputation in my eyes. As it stands I would think twice about throwing any more money at BA, especially on the European sectors. Yes HIDDY I was grumpy when I finished this flight. The Photos __________________ Will we burn in heaven like we do down here? My latest TR - Definitely Addicted: Updated Oct 10th SQ First Last edited by Moomba; Aug 4, 09 at 3:05 pm.