OW RTW Part II: AY LHR-HEL-CPH
Jun 6, 2003, 1:45 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
OW RTW Part II: AY LHR-HEL-CPH
Hi all,
Here is the second posting of my continuous trip report!
I stayed at the London Hilton Metropole for two evenings using my HH points. I was not impressed with this hotel and glad that I did not pay real money for this stay. The hotel room was small, even though I was upgraded to an executive floor. The location was great though – although the website was a bit misguiding on how you can walk from the Paddington station to the hotel within five minutes – it was a long walk especially with bags. If I know that Edgeware Road station was right next to the hotel, I will take the tube a bit further. Well, thankfully, I had two roller bags… not too bad! The hotel staffs were also not so friendly and I was disappointed, but I could not get rooms for the Paddington station Hilton, which will definitely be nicer.
June 5, 2003
AY 832 LHR-HEL Lv1020 Arr1515
Airbus A321-200 OH-LZE
Time to head back to Heathrow – I took the Heathrow Express again, which was easy to use. Then I headed to terminal one and as expected, BA handled the ground handling for Finnair and Aer Lingus – EI used to have its own staff, but is now all BA. The BA agent was efficient and got the works done – she seemed a bit stressed out – well, nothing to complaint, but nothing to praise as well! There is no priority tag, which is true to all BA flights. Maybe I should ask next time. Security was friendly and efficient, unlike TSA. I went to the Servisair lounge, which was shared by Iceland Air and a few other airlines and priority pass holders. I decided to give this lounge a try because I have been to the Terrace before. Well the lounge is a bit smaller than BA, but is spacious, especially with only our flights departing shortly. There was a full bar and some prepackage snacks and some fruits. I took a seat and read some magazines. Gate today was 17 and our flight was obviously late, but there was no announcement. The BA agent simply apologized briefly when boarding began at 10:19am. Well then there was no priority boarding at all. So everyone lined up and I decided to wait till last minute to board. No point to get pushed around.
These new Airbus planes were nice and had the convertible C class cabin. Avoid the bulkhead row, if possible. I had 1C, which was fine especially there was no closet in front of the aisle seats. Newspapers were placed on the jetway and J class was not offered any papers separately like BA and OS. But the flight attendant was friendly and offered to store my bags at the large closet in front of 1DEF. That is nice… don’t need to ask like in the US at most cases. Door was closed at 10:44am, and we pushed back four minutes later. We headed towards Runway 27L and took off at 11:03am.
Flying time was two hours and fifteen minutes, with a cruising attitude of 33,000ft. No nose camera for this particular aircraft, but the screens remained in the viewing positions throughout takeoff and landing. In the US, those screens are always retracted during takeoff and landing. Sky map was turned on the whole flight. The routing took us across the North Sea, onto Alborg, Northern Denmark, South of Gothenburg, Sweden, and then Stockholm, before entering the Finnish Island of Mariehamn, and began our descent over Korppo, and then onto Vantaa Airport.
Cabin service began shortly after the seat belt sign went off at 11:09am (six minutes after takeoff). Then a beverage service made its appearance with our choice of beverage and a pack of pretzels – Y class got no initial beverage service – just the hot meal immediately, followed by the beverage cart. Hot towels were passed out before beverage service in J, and then after beverage service, the meal cart showed up followed the beverage cart right behind. There was no choice for meals and everything came on a single tray. Here is my description:
Appetizer of Parma Ham
Entrée of Sliced chicken breast with an apple juice, rice pilaf, and steamed vegetables
Breadbasket of white & wheat rolls, rye bread loaf, and brown crackers
Cheese – President’s Camembert cheese wedge
Dessert of Swiss roll with raspberry filling and a mango sauce
The meal tasted okay – I like the ham appetizer and the dessert. The rolls tasted great, but the entrée was a bit disappointing – it was not rubber chicken, but just not a big fan of chicken breast served on a plane and reheated in an oven. I though the Finns like red meats. Well, tea and coffee were offered twice – once after the beverage cart disappeared, and second time, when trays were collected. The F/As did not do any additional beverage run after the meal. It was fine for a two hours flight. For entertainment, an episode of “Beckers” and a sport program were shown after takeoff. Well, no audio was installed at these Airbuses, so we relied on the subtitles on the screen – a strange way to watch TV. Fortunately, the map was back on soon, and I took notes on various waypoints. Descent soon began at 12:55pm. We landed on Runway 15 at 3:21pm (Helsinki is two hours ahead of London), and parked at stand 123, and we deplaned through stairs. It was a warm day at Helsinki this afternoon. We arrived at the international area, with two AY’s MD-11s parked at gate 31 (OH-LGB heading to Beijing) and 32 (OH-LGE).
AY 667 HEL-CPH Lv1745 Arr1825
Airbus A320-200 OH-LXE
Helsinki Vantaa airport was very nice – the architecture is beautiful and it has a sense of style. There are lots of natural lights and high ceilings. It is well organized, sleek and stylish – not like your typical US airport. Since I am heading to Denmark, EU country, I passed through immigration at HEL – we shared the same passport check counters as other HEL arrival passengers. The agent asked where I was doing and thanks me for visiting EU. Helsinki arrival passenger headed to the bag claim area, but those continuing to these EU countries headed towards another security check. Then I headed towards the Golden Circle lounge located above gate 26 and 26A. The agent was friendly and I like those glass wall at the lounge… had a great view of both Runway 22 and Runway 15. There was a full bar featuring various alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. There were the usual prepackaged snacks, but there were potato salad, pasta with pesto salad, and a bread bar located next to the drinks. So far, Aer Lingus has the worst lounges among the OW carriers with less facilities and any real food is lacking. Wireless internet was available in the lounge for a fee, but three free internet stations were set up throughout the lounge.
The departure was delayed once again due to late arrival of incoming flight. We were notified in advance this time. There was no boarding announcement and everyone boarded at once again. Newspapers were at the door this time, but Danish papers were offered to J passengers after door was closed at 6pm. The pilot apologized for the delay and informed that our flying time was an hour and twenty-five minutes with a cruising attitude of 38,000ft. No route information, as short subjects were shown throughout the flight. We pushed back two minutes later and headed to Runway 22R, the new runway, for takeoff. We lifted off at 6:12pm. Nose camera was installed on this Airbus, and it is a great feature during takeoff and landing. I was able to jog down my landing runway number, as we landed at CPH.
A cold light meal was offered this time, and there was no separate initial beverage service, due to the obvious lack of time. The F/As were very friendly this evening, and alcohol is definitely the theme for this cold meal. Here is my description –
Entrée of roast beef (well two slices) on top of pesto marinated penne pasta, feta cheese, chives, and mesclun greens
Breadbasket of white and wheat rolls, and brown crackers
Dessert of mini pastries – donuts, chocolate cake slice, and citrus fruit on chocolate cup
A bottle (mini of course) of red wine – Chateau Livran Medoc 2001
And a small bottle of Remy Martin VSOP Cognac
And a spring water pack
I honestly believe that the different between the J and Y meals are these two bottles of alcohol. It was lots of drinks for a short hour flight. Some tourist video and Tech News were shown on this flight. Descent soon began at 7:15pm, and the landing gear came down at 7:28pm. Soon Runway 22L was in sight and AY 667 touched down at 6:41pm (CPH is an hour behind from Helsinki), and headed towards gate A20. Bags came out ten minutes later, and the screen at the claim showed when your bags would be out.
I stayed at the Hilton Copenhagen Airport – I redeemed 60,000points for two nights. The airport was connected to the hotel directly – easy to find. The staffs here are kind and helpful. My room had a nice view of Runway 22R and most of the terminal area… tonight, I got to see Greenland Air’s A330 arriving and the departure of SK flights to EWR (A330) and BJS (A340). Nice -- the room was very stylish and everything is great. Downtown is closed from the hotel – only 15 minutes – the train service was convenient and costs $45kr RT (about US$6). So far, I was enjoying the stay here. The city is beautiful and charming – not pressing like London or Los Angeles or New York, but is urban enough and has a sense of culture attached to it. It is a good stopover for a two or three days visit.
Well, the next installment will be on BA to LHR from CPH, and then CX to AKL via HKG. The report will not happen until after the weekend. I hope you are enjoying them so far!
Here is the second posting of my continuous trip report!
I stayed at the London Hilton Metropole for two evenings using my HH points. I was not impressed with this hotel and glad that I did not pay real money for this stay. The hotel room was small, even though I was upgraded to an executive floor. The location was great though – although the website was a bit misguiding on how you can walk from the Paddington station to the hotel within five minutes – it was a long walk especially with bags. If I know that Edgeware Road station was right next to the hotel, I will take the tube a bit further. Well, thankfully, I had two roller bags… not too bad! The hotel staffs were also not so friendly and I was disappointed, but I could not get rooms for the Paddington station Hilton, which will definitely be nicer.
June 5, 2003
AY 832 LHR-HEL Lv1020 Arr1515
Airbus A321-200 OH-LZE
Time to head back to Heathrow – I took the Heathrow Express again, which was easy to use. Then I headed to terminal one and as expected, BA handled the ground handling for Finnair and Aer Lingus – EI used to have its own staff, but is now all BA. The BA agent was efficient and got the works done – she seemed a bit stressed out – well, nothing to complaint, but nothing to praise as well! There is no priority tag, which is true to all BA flights. Maybe I should ask next time. Security was friendly and efficient, unlike TSA. I went to the Servisair lounge, which was shared by Iceland Air and a few other airlines and priority pass holders. I decided to give this lounge a try because I have been to the Terrace before. Well the lounge is a bit smaller than BA, but is spacious, especially with only our flights departing shortly. There was a full bar and some prepackage snacks and some fruits. I took a seat and read some magazines. Gate today was 17 and our flight was obviously late, but there was no announcement. The BA agent simply apologized briefly when boarding began at 10:19am. Well then there was no priority boarding at all. So everyone lined up and I decided to wait till last minute to board. No point to get pushed around.
These new Airbus planes were nice and had the convertible C class cabin. Avoid the bulkhead row, if possible. I had 1C, which was fine especially there was no closet in front of the aisle seats. Newspapers were placed on the jetway and J class was not offered any papers separately like BA and OS. But the flight attendant was friendly and offered to store my bags at the large closet in front of 1DEF. That is nice… don’t need to ask like in the US at most cases. Door was closed at 10:44am, and we pushed back four minutes later. We headed towards Runway 27L and took off at 11:03am.
Flying time was two hours and fifteen minutes, with a cruising attitude of 33,000ft. No nose camera for this particular aircraft, but the screens remained in the viewing positions throughout takeoff and landing. In the US, those screens are always retracted during takeoff and landing. Sky map was turned on the whole flight. The routing took us across the North Sea, onto Alborg, Northern Denmark, South of Gothenburg, Sweden, and then Stockholm, before entering the Finnish Island of Mariehamn, and began our descent over Korppo, and then onto Vantaa Airport.
Cabin service began shortly after the seat belt sign went off at 11:09am (six minutes after takeoff). Then a beverage service made its appearance with our choice of beverage and a pack of pretzels – Y class got no initial beverage service – just the hot meal immediately, followed by the beverage cart. Hot towels were passed out before beverage service in J, and then after beverage service, the meal cart showed up followed the beverage cart right behind. There was no choice for meals and everything came on a single tray. Here is my description:
Appetizer of Parma Ham
Entrée of Sliced chicken breast with an apple juice, rice pilaf, and steamed vegetables
Breadbasket of white & wheat rolls, rye bread loaf, and brown crackers
Cheese – President’s Camembert cheese wedge
Dessert of Swiss roll with raspberry filling and a mango sauce
The meal tasted okay – I like the ham appetizer and the dessert. The rolls tasted great, but the entrée was a bit disappointing – it was not rubber chicken, but just not a big fan of chicken breast served on a plane and reheated in an oven. I though the Finns like red meats. Well, tea and coffee were offered twice – once after the beverage cart disappeared, and second time, when trays were collected. The F/As did not do any additional beverage run after the meal. It was fine for a two hours flight. For entertainment, an episode of “Beckers” and a sport program were shown after takeoff. Well, no audio was installed at these Airbuses, so we relied on the subtitles on the screen – a strange way to watch TV. Fortunately, the map was back on soon, and I took notes on various waypoints. Descent soon began at 12:55pm. We landed on Runway 15 at 3:21pm (Helsinki is two hours ahead of London), and parked at stand 123, and we deplaned through stairs. It was a warm day at Helsinki this afternoon. We arrived at the international area, with two AY’s MD-11s parked at gate 31 (OH-LGB heading to Beijing) and 32 (OH-LGE).
AY 667 HEL-CPH Lv1745 Arr1825
Airbus A320-200 OH-LXE
Helsinki Vantaa airport was very nice – the architecture is beautiful and it has a sense of style. There are lots of natural lights and high ceilings. It is well organized, sleek and stylish – not like your typical US airport. Since I am heading to Denmark, EU country, I passed through immigration at HEL – we shared the same passport check counters as other HEL arrival passengers. The agent asked where I was doing and thanks me for visiting EU. Helsinki arrival passenger headed to the bag claim area, but those continuing to these EU countries headed towards another security check. Then I headed towards the Golden Circle lounge located above gate 26 and 26A. The agent was friendly and I like those glass wall at the lounge… had a great view of both Runway 22 and Runway 15. There was a full bar featuring various alcohol and non-alcohol beverages. There were the usual prepackaged snacks, but there were potato salad, pasta with pesto salad, and a bread bar located next to the drinks. So far, Aer Lingus has the worst lounges among the OW carriers with less facilities and any real food is lacking. Wireless internet was available in the lounge for a fee, but three free internet stations were set up throughout the lounge.
The departure was delayed once again due to late arrival of incoming flight. We were notified in advance this time. There was no boarding announcement and everyone boarded at once again. Newspapers were at the door this time, but Danish papers were offered to J passengers after door was closed at 6pm. The pilot apologized for the delay and informed that our flying time was an hour and twenty-five minutes with a cruising attitude of 38,000ft. No route information, as short subjects were shown throughout the flight. We pushed back two minutes later and headed to Runway 22R, the new runway, for takeoff. We lifted off at 6:12pm. Nose camera was installed on this Airbus, and it is a great feature during takeoff and landing. I was able to jog down my landing runway number, as we landed at CPH.
A cold light meal was offered this time, and there was no separate initial beverage service, due to the obvious lack of time. The F/As were very friendly this evening, and alcohol is definitely the theme for this cold meal. Here is my description –
Entrée of roast beef (well two slices) on top of pesto marinated penne pasta, feta cheese, chives, and mesclun greens
Breadbasket of white and wheat rolls, and brown crackers
Dessert of mini pastries – donuts, chocolate cake slice, and citrus fruit on chocolate cup
A bottle (mini of course) of red wine – Chateau Livran Medoc 2001
And a small bottle of Remy Martin VSOP Cognac
And a spring water pack
I honestly believe that the different between the J and Y meals are these two bottles of alcohol. It was lots of drinks for a short hour flight. Some tourist video and Tech News were shown on this flight. Descent soon began at 7:15pm, and the landing gear came down at 7:28pm. Soon Runway 22L was in sight and AY 667 touched down at 6:41pm (CPH is an hour behind from Helsinki), and headed towards gate A20. Bags came out ten minutes later, and the screen at the claim showed when your bags would be out.
I stayed at the Hilton Copenhagen Airport – I redeemed 60,000points for two nights. The airport was connected to the hotel directly – easy to find. The staffs here are kind and helpful. My room had a nice view of Runway 22R and most of the terminal area… tonight, I got to see Greenland Air’s A330 arriving and the departure of SK flights to EWR (A330) and BJS (A340). Nice -- the room was very stylish and everything is great. Downtown is closed from the hotel – only 15 minutes – the train service was convenient and costs $45kr RT (about US$6). So far, I was enjoying the stay here. The city is beautiful and charming – not pressing like London or Los Angeles or New York, but is urban enough and has a sense of culture attached to it. It is a good stopover for a two or three days visit.
Well, the next installment will be on BA to LHR from CPH, and then CX to AKL via HKG. The report will not happen until after the weekend. I hope you are enjoying them so far!
Jun 6, 2003, 4:45 pm
#2
Join Date: Sep 2000
Location: Burlingame, CA
Programs: TK Miles & Smiles, CM ConnectMiles, AA Advantage
Posts: 2,129
It seems AY's service is quite good. I agree with you about CPH. It's just the right size and not too overwhelming. When I visited it was winter time and it definitely had a different aura. I've heard the Tivoli Gardens are great, especially this time of the year when all types of outdoors activities take place. Enjoy!
Jun 8, 2003, 8:34 am
#3
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Copenhagen
Programs: EBS
Posts: 729
Well I am glad you liked Copenhagen, I do too ;-) What do you think about the airport?
Oh forgot to tell you, the weather is so nice now, the best summer, and Copenhagen is showing herself from the best.
BTW i am going to have a swimm in the harbour right now, the water is so clean that you allowed to swimm in it.
Regards from me and a nice summer to your all.
[This message has been edited by bjerregaard (edited 06-08-2003).]
Oh forgot to tell you, the weather is so nice now, the best summer, and Copenhagen is showing herself from the best.
BTW i am going to have a swimm in the harbour right now, the water is so clean that you allowed to swimm in it.
Regards from me and a nice summer to your all.
[This message has been edited by bjerregaard (edited 06-08-2003).]
Jun 11, 2003, 12:09 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,347
I love Copenhagen. The airport is super user-friendly. As I am typing this message, I am sitting at the Scandanavian lounge at Kastrup airport waiting for my flight to HEL, and then I will be back to this airport tomorrow afternoon.
I love the canal tour and I saw people jumping into harbor too. Although it was in a midst of a Danish soccer match, the bar areas were filled with people dressing in red. A wonderful spirit! But I have to admit that I don't like Carlsberg though --
Thanks for all your kind comments!
Carfield
I love the canal tour and I saw people jumping into harbor too. Although it was in a midst of a Danish soccer match, the bar areas were filled with people dressing in red. A wonderful spirit! But I have to admit that I don't like Carlsberg though --
Thanks for all your kind comments!
Carfield
Jun 12, 2003, 5:19 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: SoCal to the rest of the world...
Programs: AA EXP with lots of BA. UA 2MM Lifetime Plat - No longer chase hotel loyalty
Posts: 6,699
I just flew AY in Y from LHR-HEL Monday and the meal was actually a Satay Chicken w/Rice... Quite nice compared to the dry chicken you normally get on most flights.
The Nose Cam was working for that flight and the return on Tues AM (although we had a 40 min delay leaving HEL due to a ground stoppage/slowdown in HEL; maybe due to another round of losses announced by AY)
The Nose Cam was working for that flight and the return on Tues AM (although we had a 40 min delay leaving HEL due to a ground stoppage/slowdown in HEL; maybe due to another round of losses announced by AY)
Jun 12, 2003, 11:03 pm
#7
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 511
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by NickP 1K:
The Nose Cam was working for that flight and the return on Tues AM (although we had a 40 min delay leaving HEL due to a ground stoppage/slowdown in HEL; maybe due to another round of losses announced by AY)</font>
The Nose Cam was working for that flight and the return on Tues AM (although we had a 40 min delay leaving HEL due to a ground stoppage/slowdown in HEL; maybe due to another round of losses announced by AY)</font>
Carfield, have good time in Finland and Scandinavia! HEL and CPH are two of my favorite airports too.