Gothenburgian

Are you guys midgets or what? The cost in cabin space of these seats to Finnair must be enormous. For me at least putting my 196 cm's and 120 kg's into even the old business seats is a godsend (even more so since i usually fly to/from Japan) compared to sitting (i would report sick to my company if they forced me) in the economy seats. Cannot compare "economy premium" to finnair business.

I guess Finnair could put twice as many passengers at leas in J class if it was converted to economy. Ok, there is also more staff in J. Meals have been simplified and the galley is almost empty but when i ask for something the FA are always quick to pick outwhat i want.

Last time from Osaka they happily gave me my third ice cream. And the ice cream is Hägen-Dasz, not some cheap stuff. Also i find the wine list impressive and they don't save when they fill up. Another item i like is the speed of the service, they get the drinks out, then the food with no hassles, and if a passenger asks for something extra they always call for a colleague close to the galley to pick it up immediately.

Also during the flight there are plenty of refill walks in the aisles (not like when i flew LH business NRT-FRA in 2007 and they closed the curtains to the galley immediately after serving and the FA's looked decidely pissed when i opened and told them to refill my coffee).

Then i like Vantaa, a reasonably compact airport (unlike Schipol) where you don't have to walk for miles) and usually has enough sitting space (in non-Schengen). Ok, so the Schengen lounge is a joke, much worse than even GOT.

Many comments here are about the food. I guess this was the wrong item to save on but all in all i find Finnair stil has a very good offer. Plus they fly a shorter route than other airlines to Japanand China (yes, unfair to the Germans and Dutch but this is the reality).

intuition

Well, that is kind of what I said, isn't it?
Some travellers will find J to be of outstanding value just from a larger seat, and thus will find the 1600€ offers good value for money. To me, this is the comfort class concept;"Offer larger seats to the econ pax, who will feel they can indulge themselves once in a while with this luxury".

As a product strategy that might be just fine; Reduce the quality of the product to be able to move it into a lower price segment and attract new business.

The J-to-Y space-ratio is around 1:2,46 so the sub-600€ sales on Y longhaul indicates a 1400€ *) floor for l/h J. To me it looks like they are stripping away any J-related cost to be able to reach this level. And for a while they can probably live on the reputation and the "skytrash" 4* rating, but sooner or later people might find out that cheap isn't the same as good value for money.

As for FA's; yes they need to staff 4 FA's in J cabin during takeoff and landing, since regulations says there must be one FA per door. (That will not change even if they fly a one-class A340.)
In the air though, they have operated the J cabin with 2 FAs many times. The new dinner concept is, IMO, made to streamline operations to make it possible to run a low quality "comfort" cabin.




*) And if you are flying ex GOT, there is no way you are looking at those prices. You are paying ≥2600€ for that large seat

Gothenburgian

I agree, the GOT-HEL ticket is, at €1200 like it seems, a bit expensive.... And my company's corporate rate is even worse. Using a designated agency might be good to help infrequent flyers but it doesn't seem to save money.

Which places are the cheapest to fly from if you want to go to Japan or China from Europe using AY? If the price drops from €2600+ to €1400 it might pay off to book GOT-<any place in EU> as an extra.

For the rest i think we both agree on most things, just different valautions on how much these items mean to us. At least it is usually possible to ask for more cheese and dessert after dinner service since then they have leftovers... Would be more irritating if they simply threw everything away.

Talking of something else than food, what i would really like to see is on-board internet. Since i always fly on business in business class, internet (like SAS had a few years ago) would really pay off even at €100 on the long leg. A sound proof hood to fold over the J seat (if technically feasible) is another thing i would like. Even answering a few emails would be worth it. Plus the ability to participate in telco's using Skype.

Internet access at Vantaa is another thing AY needs to improve, last time in Schengen lounge i lost count on the number of times my VPN reconnected.

And talking value for money, the short route time to east Asia is really something i value.

intuition

Without giving away too much of the fare-game, you are right on track.
If you join this (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finna...ki-meetup.html) you might learn more.
As for ex-GOT, TK has had some great fares (some of them mistakes, some regular). OSL can be a good option too for TK, sometimes even CPH. If you like transfer at HEL you will hate TK's hub IST. Let's just say it is different

Sorry, drifting OT here...

nordic

Since when has Finnair dropped dessert and Fazer chocolates and replaced them with Godiva chocolates in s/h J?

intuition

I'd say as a part of the Marimekko enhancement. As for my travels, there was no Godiva in march. There was in june.

SPBanker

Yeah, I seem to remember Fazer being there in May, but on June 6 on board AY51 I got this.

intuition

Onboard AY69 june 5

intuition

mosburger

That cook duo, AFAIK, has only designed new menus for longhaul J? Shorthaul meals are going to stay in the depressing state they are in now?

NoWindowSeat

I couldn't succesfully link a picture to this but just wanted to comment on the breakfast this morning in Euro J (~3hr flight) ..one of the most tasteless airplane meals ever, a disgrace for J. Not a single sign of anything even remotely meat related on the plate..2 hash browns with small egg thing and some spinach..yogurth and some fruits...outside the yogurth nothing had any taste whatsoever..

Also not very good crew on the flight, lazy older FAs and to finish in style they let the whY pax to run into the J toilet in masses, must have been 25-30 pax as it was constant flow..

Hoping for a better crew tonight.

LoungeEnthusiast

This doesn't sound good. I had a pretty decent J breakfast on board CDG-HEL the other week, with sausage and omelette... So hopefully the offerings you got do not represent a permanent change.

SPBanker

On June 20th I flew HEL-FCO with the family in Y. Decided to celebrate the beginning of vacation with two champagnes. When I tried to pay, the FA just smiled and said 'It's OK'. The people around me had to pay.

Yes, it was AY781, i.e. the morning flight, but IMO it is never too early for champagne.

intuition

I got some kind of confirmation that they do indeed ask food preference based on status, purser said something like "as you are our platinum member..." when discussing food.


On the down side I can report that the hot towels have been replace with paper towels. Paper as in the kind that try to imitate fabric, decent quality as such, but still paper. They try to heat it (as in pouring hot water on them) but it seems to be more difficult than before. I got one that was only partly wet.

Still only one fork for the complete meal. Apparently people don't mind or don't complain enough.
For the breakfast I was blessed with a tea spoon, handed out separately (becuse it is still not a part of the pre packed utensil set), so now I just need to remember to stir the coffee before eating the yoghurt.

intuition

The paper towel mentioned above must have been a operational mishap or such. Later flight had normal towels, so I jumped to conclusion too quickly.