Finnair Plus - HEL Lounge Questions

My wife and I are flying AY (J) and my niece and son are flying AY (Y) on AAward tickets. Arrive AY 6 from JFK @ 08:50, depart AY 633 to ARN @ 12:25. Both niece and son are <18. So we are both entitled to lounge access as AY (J) passengers and can each bring in one child. The question is to which lounge should we go?

We would be primarily interested in A) showers B) child play area (4-yo), and C) comfortable, not too crowded.

I assume that free Wifi is available at any of the lounges, obviously prefer to reduce the number of times through immigration/customs/security. If any of the lounges have decent food, that is also nice but not a big deal.

I think the choices are:

Non-Schengen
Finnair Lounge
Transit hall, 2nd floor, between gates 36 and 37.
Open 06:00–24:00.

Almost@home Lounge
Transit hall, 2nd floor, next to the Transfer Service Desk 3.
Open 06:30–19:30.

Schengen
Finnair Lounge
Transit hall, 2nd floor, above gates 25 and 26.
Open 06:00–24:00.

Lounge 2
Transit hall, 2nd floor, above gate 25.
Open 05:30–20:00.

Any help and thoughts appreciated!

Ike

Personally, I would prefer Finnair Lounge in the non-Schengen area (aka Via Lounge). It has showers, and the offerings (both food and drink) are better than elsewhere, although not stellar. Wifi is free everywhere in the airport.

Also @home has showers, and it might somewhat more comfortable with a small child, even though I can't remember a proper play area there (nor is there one in Via). I don't think either lounge will be too crowded during that time.

Once you are done, you can go through passport control to your flight to ARN.

I vaguely remember some play area outside Via lounge, close to gate 38?

Thanks for the replies.

Wife's priority is shower/brush teeth. I suspect that ultimately any place my son can play with a few construction vehicles and watch/play with his iPad will suit him fine. We can always run around the terminal for a while to burn off some energy. :)

The Via lounge is pretty nice, but I don't recall there being a playing area.


Maybe it could be easier to take your own entertainment for your son, it doesn't really take that much to keep a 4 year old busy. For instance a colourful iPad app will never have him bored. ;)

Have a nice trip! :)

Almost@Home has a small play corner for kids, but one kid I know prefers the play area opposite the gate 38 where the non-Schengen wing ends.

HEL for kids:
http://www.helsinki-vantaa.fi/travelling/children

OK, sounds like the Via lounge is the best bet and he can play in the playroom at Gate 38 if he wants to or just run around for a while in the terminal. The main purpose to a children's room would be to segregate him from the rest of the lounge-patrons so as not to bother them.

Thanks for the input and links!

Ike