Finnair Plus - Overnight Connection / HEL Advice / coach seat

Greetings:

Tomorrow I am flying JFK-HEL-DEL (in coach - have some sympathy, please :D).

I have an 11 hour connection in HEL and on the return a 22 hour overnight connection. I was recently speaking with a friend who is flying JAL and has an overnight connection in NRT. There, she said JAL is putting them up in a rather nice hotel. Can anyone comment on whether AY offers similar arrangements for overnight connections? I am planning on burning some SPG at the Kamp on a C+P, but just wondering.

Given the amount of time I'll have in HEL and that it's not the warmest right now, can anyone offer suggestions of things to do for a day? Right now, my tentative agenda includes:

- AY shuttle to city center
- Kiasma museum
- Maybe a swim hall
- Eating (suggestions welcome)
- Ride the tourist tram (saving this for the return)
- Drink at a rooftop hotel bar (meeting a friend I met on my last AY flt!)

Lastly, can anyone offer seat recommendations for coach on a a330 and a343? I cannot figure out the exit row on the 343 since seat guru shows it to be row 41, but row 41 doesn't even show up on the AY seat map. Any suggestions for getting out of coach??? :eek:

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Cheers.

Greetings:

Tomorrow I am flying JFK-HEL-DEL (in coach - have some sympathy, please :D).

I have an 11 hour connection in HEL and on the return a 22 hour overnight connection. I was recently speaking with a friend who is flying JAL and has an overnight connection in NRT. There, she said JAL is putting them up in a rather nice hotel. Can anyone comment on whether AY offers similar arrangements for overnight connections? I am planning on burning some SPG at the Kamp on a C+P, but just wondering.

Given the amount of time I'll have in HEL and that it's not the warmest right now, can anyone offer suggestions of things to do for a day? Right now, my tentative agenda includes:

- AY shuttle to city center
- Kiasma museum
- Maybe a swim hall
- Eating (suggestions welcome)
- Ride the tourist tram (saving this for the return)
- Drink at a rooftop hotel bar (meeting a friend I met on my last AY flt!)

Lastly, can anyone offer seat recommendations for coach on a a330 and a343? I cannot figure out the exit row on the 343 since seat guru shows it to be row 41, but row 41 doesn't even show up on the AY seat map. Any suggestions for getting out of coach??? :eek:

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Cheers.

Onfo, AY doesn't offer you a hotel for an overnight. If you can swing Kämp with points, great. The hotel is quite good and centrally located. (Well, I have never stayed there, but used the conference, restaurant etc. facilities quite a bit.)

You are right, it is not the warmest time of the year currently, but your list looks pretty good even for this time of the year.

What kind of restaurant are you looking for? Traditional Finnish = tourist-oriented? Modern Scandinavian?

There are a couple of great places e.g. for fish and game. Restaurant Fishmarket does not get points for an imaginative name, but the food is very good, http://www.palacekamp.fi/in_english/restaurants/fishmarket/. Sundmans Krog is more down to earth version of Sundmans, which has one Michelin star, http://www.sundmans.fi/en. Restaurant Olo is newer, also very good, http://www.olo-restaurant.com/home.html. Perhaps you already know this, but Helsinki is not the cheapest city in Europe. Not even the second-cheapest. Prepare to pay quite a bit, especially if you like a glass of wine or two with your dinner. Not quite as bad as Oslo, but...

As for row 41, are you traveling on AY ticket? You should see it, and you should also see that you have to pay to get these seats. Changes of upgrade slim, unless plane overbooked and even then AY/OW elites have priority.

...
Lastly, can anyone offer seat recommendations for coach on a a330 and a343? I cannot figure out the exit row on the 343 since seat guru shows it to be row 41, but row 41 doesn't even show up on the AY seat map. Any suggestions for getting out of coach??? :eek:

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

Cheers.

There are several configuration of AY 330s and 340s. Seatguru doesn't show them all. Here are detailed seatmaps:
http://www.finnair.com/INT/GB/flights/fleet

Sorry to say, but if you are in coach you are unlikely to get out of there. Op-ups are extremely rare. There is no upgrade-path either. Only way up is for AY+ members with upgrade-for-points (these are on the other hand very easy to get)

If you are staying at Kämp hotel you could have a walk along street called Korkeavuorenkatu and visit the Design Museum (www.designmuseum.fi/en/).

After museum visit, I suggest you to have a dinner at restaurant Juuri (http://www.juuri.fi/en/), which is right next door. It is a bistro style restaurant serving small Finnish appetizers and more traditional main courses. One of my favourite restaurants when I want to have a relaxed, casual dinner. You can reserve a table online.

Sadly you're on your own when it comes to overnight accommodations in HEL. But, for me, that is the beauty of flying AY since it breaks a rather long trip from Asia to JFK. Buy a 24-hour ticket from the airport (Bus #615), use it for unlimited rides on trams, buses and metros in HEL and on the return trip to the airport the following day. Kamp is walking distance from central station where Bus #615 originates/terminates.

As for swimming, if you don't have any hang ups about seeing other naked people in the changing room and showers, then there are several world class public pools in HEL. One of them (Makelanrinne) is on the #615 bus route. Be warned that board shorts are not allowed in the pools.

P.S. Be sure to take #615 bus to the airport no later than noon on the day you leave for JFK. Since you would already have your boarding pass, you have plenty of time to clear security and passport control.

There are several configuration of AY 330s and 340s. Seatguru doesn't show them all. Here are detailed seatmaps:
http://www.finnair.com/INT/GB/flights/fleet



Thanks for the info - next time I'll opt for using some points for J :(. It looks like I am on this plane: http://www.finnair.com/go/Images/fleet/seat-map-A340-300-OH-LQF-LQG.pdf

Seat 42A looks like a bulkhead. Does anyone have experience with this? Any idea whether this seat has extra leg room? The photo is unlike any exit row I've seen.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

An alternative close to the airport:

The Spa at the airport is closed, but there is a large shopping mall called Jumbo linked to the Flamingo Spa, not far from the airport. The mall and the spa complex with all kind of entertaiments is a comfortable place to kill time, if you don't have time for the city center for some reason.

http://www.jumbo.fi/from_airport_to_jumbo

http://www.flamingospa.fi/index.php/English/Etusivu/flamingo-spa.html

Thank you all for the advice. However, my outbound flight was canceled because of technical issues - the flight didn't come in from HEL.

I called for rebooking, and, after walking them through available BA/AA flights I found on Kayak, was able to get rebooked through London. Success.

Thank you all for the advice. However, my outbound flight was canceled because of technical issues - the flight didn't come in from HEL.

I called for rebooking, and, after walking them through available BA/AA flights I found on Kayak, was able to get rebooked through London. Success.

Bummer... on BA, I recommend sitting in the last row. You can recline your seat and not feel guilty and meals are served from the back to the front.