part 1 Virgin Atlantic Club House & Virgin Atlantic JFK-LHR
part 2 Air France LHR-CDG
part 3 Air France CDG-VIE
part 4 Le Meriden Vienna
part 5 KLM VIE-AMS
part 6 KLM AMS-HEL
part 7 Helsinki
part 8 Finnair HEL-CDG
part 9 Paris Sheraton CDG
part 10 Paris, France
part 11 Air France CDG-LHR
part 12 Virgin Clubhouse LHR & Virgin Atlantic LHR-JFK
After an awesome stay in somewhat warm Helsinki it was time to head to Paris.
The day before I tried checking in online but to no avail, I would have to check in at the airport.
My flight was at 9:25am and since I had to check in at the airport I decided to leave 10 mins earlier then I had planned. My friend drove me to the airport at 7:50am and we arrived at the terminal at 8:10am, not bad run to the airport.
I headed to the kiosk to try and check in, and sure enough it was not possible either. I headed over to the priority check-in and waited a few moments to be ushered over. There seemed to be a problem with my ticket and they needed the Air France Booking number, which lucky for me, I made sure I had all the booking codes for each airline, otherwise I would have been screwed with only have Delta's booking code. (Trip booked through Delta Airlines)
Once it was settled, I headed to the Business class security which was efficiently fast and polite.
Check-in
I headed up stairs to the lounge, which for Finnair Business class is the Aspire Lounge. Now only after heading to the gate did I notice I was not in fact at the Aspire lounge Gate 27 or was, I am not sure. The lounge I went to was the one I used last time I flew to Helsinki. Right next door was the Finnair lounge but I don't think Business class passengers can use that lounge, since it was not suggested to me. Perhaps but I really didn't have enough time to try.
Airport
Boarding Pass
Helsinki airport
Finnair
Entrance Finnair lounge
I entered the lounge and handed over my boarding pass and was welcomed in to the lounge. The lounge is very basic and the offerings quite poor for breakfast, I think the last time I was in the lounge they had so much more on offer. A little disappointed with this lounge.
Lounge
lounge seats
Other lounge
Breakfast
Finnair
Lounge
tarmac
at 8:55am I decided to leave the lounge and head to the gate which was already boarding. I waited till pretty much everyone was on board before I decided to get on, also because I wanted to stay connected to the free wifi as long as possible. How things have changed in my life, now that I have to be connected 24/7! argh.
As I boarded I was greeted by senior flight attendants in Finnish to which I replied in Finnish. There was only myself and a couple in Business class. Plenty of room. The cabin seemed new and quite refreshing compared to KLM and Air France. Promptly the flight attendant offered to hang my coat and asked if I would like a newspaper.
At one point while waiting to depart, I cough choked a little and right away I was asked in Finnish/English if I wanted water and since I spoke back in Finnish from there on they spoke only finnish to me. Water in hand I was already quite pleases with the friendliness the desire to serve.
We finished boarding early and the doors were closed ahead of schedule, thought we had to wait till the bags were loaded which took an extra few minutes. We departed on time.
A quick taxi to the outer runway, we were number 1 for take off. Finnair has a camera on the wheel which is great for take off! A we climbed within a few minutes the seatbelt sign was turned off , front curtain closed and the crew began preparing for service.
Breakfast was offered on this flight and my favorite... mini bottle of CHAMPAGNE, real champagne in a GLASS! The champagne was quite lovely and I did have a 3 bottles on this flight thought the first one was mixed with orange juice (mimosa) so that doesn't count lol
champagne Finnair
Breakfast Finnair
Breakfast was ok, though the eggs were a little bland and the spinach was little mushy. Though I was perfectly happy with the roll/croissant and the champagne. Once breakfast concluded I was always checked upon discreetly if there was anything that I needed.
Champagne in hand, I decided to watch a movie on my laptop since there really isn't much on offer on the screen above.
Seat
Finnair - tv monitor
Landing in France
Overall Finnair Business class European flight is far more superior than KLM or Air France.
3 hours later we landed at Charles Du Gaulle airport Terminal 2D. First off the aircraft I headed to the Sheraton Hotel CDG which only took 5-8min walk to the center of the airport.