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Finnair Premium Lounge in non-Schengen area [now closed]

Old Sep 15, 2016, 3:24 am
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Last edit by: NewbieRunner
This lounge is now closed and replaced by the Finnair Premium Wing.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finnair-finnair-plus/1973050-ay-platinum-wing-now-open.html

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Finnair Premium Lounge in non-Schengen area [now closed]

Old Jun 24, 2014, 6:43 am
  #1  
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Finnair Premium Lounge in non-Schengen area [now closed]

In a country where there's around one sauna for every three people, incorporating one into the new lounge seemed a natural thing to do.

Read more... http://edition.cnn.com/2014/06/23/tr...html?hpt=hp_c5
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Old Jun 24, 2014, 11:59 am
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This was posted info was already posted in October in this thread:

Last edited by JDiver; Jun 24, 2014 at 12:29 pm Reason: deleted thread url to this thread
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Old Oct 17, 2014, 9:23 am
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Since I need some TPs and I always wanted to go to HEL, I will do so next month. Do they provide Towels and are there lockers for Hand luggage? I might go early and try the Sauna.
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Old Oct 18, 2014, 10:17 am
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Originally Posted by Herman ze German
Since I need some TPs and I always wanted to go to HEL, I will do so next month. Do they provide Towels and are there lockers for Hand luggage? I might go early and try the Sauna.
There are lockers for your valuables right next to the welcome desk. From there you will continue a longish corridor to a hall with doors to private shower cabinets in which you will find towels. You can lock the door from inside. You can strip down and wear a towel and go back to the hall (and leave your cabinet unlocked as there is no way to lock it from outside, you will leave all your clothes etc. unattended in your "private" cabinet..!) Then you will enter the small shower room from the hall. In the shower room there are two showers and a glass door opposite them that leads directly to the sauna. So people sitting in the sauna (preferrably wearing a towel) will have direct sight at least to the shower on the left. How cool is that..! The sauna has an always-on stove that has a lid that you will operate with a switch on the wall. It takes around 30 secs for the noisy lid to open. But the heat is pretty good. And after sweating you will shower in front of everyone in the sauna. And walk back to "your" shower cabinet hoping your clothes are still there. (Of course you can skip showering in the common cabinet and head directly to "your private" cabinet.)

I find the logistics very strange. I have seen several other kinds of unisex saunas and they normally have two separate shower cabinets with no visual from the sauna, one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen, after a shower one can comfortably wear the towel and enter the sauna when ready. This sauna is very strange if you ask me. It's like my private sauna at home.

Last edited by Benzin; Oct 18, 2014 at 10:18 am Reason: typos
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Old Oct 20, 2014, 7:25 am
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Thank you very much for this detailed explanation. Strange how things like leaving the clothes in an unlocked shower are not picked up those designing these things.
I don't have a problem with being naked, that's the way we do Sauna in Germany (albeit I don't live there anymore) and the Scandinavian countries (you use the towel to sit on, not to wrap yourself into it) So, I will give it a try.
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Old Oct 20, 2014, 12:56 pm
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Oh yes, another thing is that in the private shower cabinet there is of course a sink and lavatory but the toilet paper is on the opposite wall and you cannot reach it... So be prepared...

I would use a "pefletti" (single use sheet with paper on one side and plastic on the other) to sit on if available and I recall they had those in the pre-sauna shower room (and I think I used one...). And I would not wrap myself in the towel normally but that is what Finnair is wishing we do for the unisex idea I guess. As a Finn nudity is no problem for me but to keep things socially acceptable for everyone from everywhere Finnair is hoping we wrap the towel around us. But if that is the case then how come they grant us full visual from the sauna to the shower..?

Designers. Blew it. And the people who paid for this. (https://gallery.finnair.com/section/...remium_lounge/)
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Old Oct 21, 2014, 10:45 am
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Originally Posted by Benzin
Designers. Blew it. And the people who paid for this. (https://gallery.finnair.com/section/...remium_lounge/)
First image is a bit misleading, it's not allowed to take drinks to sauna compartment from the bar.
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Old Oct 21, 2014, 3:34 pm
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Yesterday 4 pm-ish there was a 30 pax long queue in front of the reception desk (no kidding, I counted!) During the afternoons, with all the Asian flights leaving within a 1 hour window things are really, really bad.
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Old Oct 21, 2014, 8:57 pm
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I flew HEL-NRT Monday last week, and there were maybe 10 people in the line. Both old lounge and Premiun were full, not fighting-for-seats full, but full. I shudder to think how the situation would be without expansion. Happy to report that Premium lounge food offerings were still at their previous, high level.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 2:36 am
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Originally Posted by SPBanker
Happy to report that Premium lounge food offerings were still at their previous, high level.
+1

Credit where credit is due!
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 3:19 am
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Agreed and happy to hear it.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 5:00 am
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Stayed in lounge last sunday afternoon from 2 pm to 5 pm. Entry with BA mobile BP in J was not very smooth. First was directed to AlmostHome, after explaining that I have a BA gold card next to the cattle hall with business class paxes and AY silvers (God forbid!), and only after showing the actual plastic and the green oval, hesitantly to premium lounge.

A recliner on the back stage was very comfortable, food and wine of good quality, and serenity remained for about one hour. After which came the rush. Had to queue to get anything to drink after that.

I would not mind further entry restrictions as suggested above + a strict enforcement of it. Sapphire card holders in only with an OW business class ticket?

OT: BA presence in the HEL check-in is very poor, only around 2 hours before their flights. Lucky to having done phone check-in and not having any luggage to check-in. I suppose AY would be handling passengers with BA-tickets flying AY-metal? And the fast track problem still persists (OT of OT: also for Lufty in Terminal 1)...

Last edited by TTL; Oct 22, 2014 at 5:06 am
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 7:18 am
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Originally Posted by TTL
I would not mind further entry restrictions as suggested above + a strict enforcement of it. Sapphire card holders in only with an OW business class ticket?

OT: BA presence in the HEL check-in is very poor, only around 2 hours before their flights. Lucky to having done phone check-in and not having any luggage to check-in. I suppose AY would be handling passengers with BA-tickets flying AY-metal? And the fast track problem still persists (OT of OT: also for Lufty in Terminal 1)...
I do not see a point of OWE + C class requirement, OWE should be enough. Finnair has also some routes with no C service for example. Even DXB is Y only.


Regarding check-in, it always depends on the metal - i.e. if flight is operated by AY, then they will do the check in, regardless on which codeshare (may it be BA, CX, AF, AB... etc) it was issued.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 8:05 am
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I've said it before...
Building a premium lounge and then allowing Plat, gold, Emerald and Sapphire access is a mistake.
Everywhere else in the oneworld-world you need a Emerald card to get into the premium lounges. Yes, they are often labled "first" but if AY had first on their flight, this lounge would be the place they let first class pax enter.

I understand that AY's problems start with capacity in the normal J lounge (and therefore wants to move larger amounts of travellers to the premium one), but this is something they only can blame themselves for.
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Old Oct 22, 2014, 8:13 am
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I'd wish AY did the math. A normal day between 17.05 and 18.05 there are 9 longhaul departures. The seating capacity in J alone on these flights is closer to 400. Add to this any travellers in Y with a silver/gold/plat/Emer/Sapph card and their guests. A very moderate guess is that that adds at least 10 travellers per flight, ie another 90 entitled pax.

Now compare this number to the combined capacity of both the non-schengen lounges: Officially 372 pax, sitting and standing.

Last edited by intuition; Oct 22, 2014 at 8:16 am Reason: Added the correct official number of concurrent guests
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