LHR-HEL Finnair trip report
Jun 18, 2001, 7:21 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: HKG
Programs: AA 3MM EXP, SQ Solitaire, LH SEN, CX DM, Hyatt CC, Marriott LT Titanium
Posts: 3,180
LHR-HEL Finnair trip report
Trip report LHR-HEL AY832 June 18th
For those people who emailed me asking me where the pictures went…. I don't have a digital camera with me. It's back in Boston... last time I used Francis' camera to take those pictures on the previous trip reports, as my camera ran out of battery and the charger was left in Hong Kong. This time, I brought my charger back with me to Boston, so when I get back to Boston, all the following trip reports will have the pictures back..
Onto the trip report now:
I left my London apartment at 08:00, and found a cab just outside. I know it was nearly rush hour, and I was lucky to get a cab around the area where I live. I got to Paddington and proceeded directly to a train. Didn't want to check in at the station, as my previous experience there found the people working there to be incompetent at best. Not that it's a bad thing, as being so incompetent, they usually forget or don't know to collect my systemwide upgrades.
I also had a piece of luggage when I wanted to store at the left luggage at the airport, so decided to do everything together there. I went all the way to the car at the end of the platform, as that is the one where you come out in Terminal 1, 2, 3 and can jump right onto the elevator. The train journey was uneventful, and I got into Heathrow at the advertised 15 minutes. The left luggage in Terminal 3 was a mess… I had to store it in Terminal 3 as my flight through London to LAX departs from Terminal 3. There were a lot of people waiting in line, and only one guy manning the desk. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I finally got my piece of luggage stored.
Afterwards, I went back down into the underground passage and found my way to Terminal 1. When I got to the departures area, I looked around for the Finnair counter and couldn't find it at all. I was starting to panic and thought I was in the wrong terminal or even the wrong airport maybe! Luckily, I asked the BA people where the Finnair counter was, and was told that I could check in at any BA desk. Phew… I asked them if an aisle seat was available, and was told that it was a full flight, and I would not be able to change from my pre-assigned seat 1A. I got my boarding pass and it was still showing my AA Ruby status… I should be Sapphire by now, since I did the platinum challenge. I guess my miles haven't been posted from the CX flights yet so my account is still Ruby. I was also given the boarding pass for my BA flight back tomorrow, which I found rather silly. I went through the security and tried to find my way to the Finnair lounge. They used the Serviceair lounge, which was shared between Finnair, Icelandair, Cyprus Airways, Sabena and Priority pass. I could have gone to the BA lounge, but I figured I since I'll be taking BA later, I should try this one first. The lounge was located on the upper level, and I thought was quite nice. Although the tables and sofas were very low, small, and colorful, sort of like a room at a pre-school, it was still very comfortable. There were plenty of drinks including a lot of alcohol, and a bunch of pre-packaged snacks. They seemed to have more alcohol selection than most United First class lounge, and also had my favorite honey mustard pretzels.
My flight departure time was 10:20, and a boarding announcement was made in the lounge at 09:55. I proceeded to gate 18 where to plane was, and most people were already on board already. The plane that was used today was an Airbus 321. As I boarded the plane, I was impressed with the cleanliness of the cabin. The cabin crew were also very friendly, and greeted every passenger when we boarded. The Business class cabin was nearly full already, but a lot of the overhead luggage compartments were still empty. I stowed my carry-on and took my seat in 1A. The seat itself was quite comfortable and had the butterfly headrest, but unfortunately, the bulkhead did not have a cutout in the wall, so legroom wasn't that good. I would recommend people to pick a seat on the left side of the plane, and further back. Next time, I personally would choose 2A or 2C. Couldn't really expect too much from these flights, as essentially, they really all Economy seats and service.
Boarding finished pretty soon, and the doors closed. There were no pre-departure drink service, but that was expected, as it was an intra-european flight. After the pushback, we taxied out onto the runway. The plane was equipped with a belly-cam, and the screens showed the view of the tarmac and runway. It was similar to ANA, except the image was much cleaner. After takeoff, the view of the cam changed from facing forward to downwards. Now this was the first time I've seen such a view, and I was quite excited to see the houses and roads we were passing over. The captain came on the PA when the seat belts signs turn off, and informed us the flight time today was 2 hours 30 minutes. Cruising altitude was initially at 33,000 feet, and then slowly up to 37,000 feet. When we were passing over the Channel, drinks and pretzels were served. Lunch menus were also handed out, and I was surprised that they even provided this, as the flight wasn't that long. The drinks on Finnair were served on really nice glasses, and I thought they looked very similar to CX F glasses. They didn't have that many soft drinks, and only had coke, diet coke and sprite. Most other passengers I saw asked for wine, so I guess that was the reason behind the lack of soft drinks.
As we were passing over Sweden, lunch was served. Lunch menu was as follows:
Lunch
Fresh crabmeat salad,
Peeled cucumber in yogurt and chive dressing
Wild duck breast with red wine,
Walnut and cranberry sauce,
Dauphinoise potato with buttered vegetables
Cheese
Mango and coconut choux bun with mango coulis
Coffee Tea
Lunch was served from the back of Business class to the front, and I was the last person to receive my meal. It was basically an Economy style lunch, served on a tray with everything there. I can only compare with Lufthansa and SAS, as those are the only other 2 airlines I have taken inter-european flights on. The presentation was quite nice, and looked a lot more appetizing the Lufthansa and SAS. I went for the crabmeat salad first, which was very good. The cucumbers were cool and fresh and I quite like the yogurt and chive dressing. Have to remember to buy some when I get back to the States. The main course was a little disappointing though. Although the piece of duck was quite big, it was quite tough, and had a generic kind of sauce on top. The potatoes were alright, but I cannot see how they can call the vegetables buttered, if they were all dry and tasteless. I guess it's really not as bad as a lot of Y class food I've had, but they could do a little better with the main course. What was really good in this meal was the dessert. It was sort of like a pastry bun with cream inside, coconut shavings on top, with a mango sauce. Was so delicious I wanted to ask for more, but was told that all the meals were given out already. After the lunch service, the trays were collected again from back to front, and cognac was served.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, but I spent some time making observations around the plane and flipping through their in-flight magazine. The magazine, Blue Wings, was quite interesting, and had a few good articles in it. One interesting thing they had in the cabin, were wireless airfones. They had two on the wall in front of the cabin, and you can take this back to your seat and make satellite calls. I thought this was a very smart idea. Much cheaper than installing phones in every seat, and better than having 2 or 3 where you have to stand there to make the calls. Only thing I wonder was why they can have a wireless device on a plane? Aren't they supposed to interfere with the other airplane electronics? I was also wondering if anyone actually tried to lift one off the plane. haha… I noticed that the bathroom was also quite clean, but had a funny smell in it. It wasn't smelly or anything, but just a weird clean smell, if there is such a thing. Throughout the flight, they were showing the skymap and also some sports programs. However, there were no headphones provided, and upon examination, the seats actually didn't even have headphone jacks or controls! Very strange indeed. I wonder why they even bother with the programs.
Descent started at 14:45 local time. When the seat belts came up, there was a fury of people getting and rushing to the bathrooms. Must be a European thing. Anyhow, we landed in Helsinki Airport at 15:10, about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. We parked at the gate a few minutes later, and I managed to be the first to off the plane and onto immigration. A funny thing that I just remembered… I had noticed the past few times while going through immigration in European countries, were that many people just held up their passports and said which country they were coming from, and the immigration officers would just wave them through. I suspect that they're EU nationals or citizens of that country. Since I'm have a EU passport, I always wanted to try it myself, but didn't want to get stopped and asked what the hell I was trying to pull. I always give the passport to the officials to be inspected and stamped. Anyone want to give me some insight? Anyways, the immigration here is pretty smart though. They have a gate in front of the counter. Basically they won't open it for you to go through until after they check your passport. Anyways, after going through the customs, I walked over to the taxi stand and caught a taxi to one of my favorite hotels, Hotel Kämp. I have some work and errands to run today, before I could get some rest for my real European mileage run tomorrow.
For those people who emailed me asking me where the pictures went…. I don't have a digital camera with me. It's back in Boston... last time I used Francis' camera to take those pictures on the previous trip reports, as my camera ran out of battery and the charger was left in Hong Kong. This time, I brought my charger back with me to Boston, so when I get back to Boston, all the following trip reports will have the pictures back..
Onto the trip report now:I left my London apartment at 08:00, and found a cab just outside. I know it was nearly rush hour, and I was lucky to get a cab around the area where I live. I got to Paddington and proceeded directly to a train. Didn't want to check in at the station, as my previous experience there found the people working there to be incompetent at best. Not that it's a bad thing, as being so incompetent, they usually forget or don't know to collect my systemwide upgrades.
I also had a piece of luggage when I wanted to store at the left luggage at the airport, so decided to do everything together there. I went all the way to the car at the end of the platform, as that is the one where you come out in Terminal 1, 2, 3 and can jump right onto the elevator. The train journey was uneventful, and I got into Heathrow at the advertised 15 minutes. The left luggage in Terminal 3 was a mess… I had to store it in Terminal 3 as my flight through London to LAX departs from Terminal 3. There were a lot of people waiting in line, and only one guy manning the desk. After waiting for about 15 minutes, I finally got my piece of luggage stored.Afterwards, I went back down into the underground passage and found my way to Terminal 1. When I got to the departures area, I looked around for the Finnair counter and couldn't find it at all. I was starting to panic and thought I was in the wrong terminal or even the wrong airport maybe! Luckily, I asked the BA people where the Finnair counter was, and was told that I could check in at any BA desk. Phew… I asked them if an aisle seat was available, and was told that it was a full flight, and I would not be able to change from my pre-assigned seat 1A. I got my boarding pass and it was still showing my AA Ruby status… I should be Sapphire by now, since I did the platinum challenge. I guess my miles haven't been posted from the CX flights yet so my account is still Ruby. I was also given the boarding pass for my BA flight back tomorrow, which I found rather silly. I went through the security and tried to find my way to the Finnair lounge. They used the Serviceair lounge, which was shared between Finnair, Icelandair, Cyprus Airways, Sabena and Priority pass. I could have gone to the BA lounge, but I figured I since I'll be taking BA later, I should try this one first. The lounge was located on the upper level, and I thought was quite nice. Although the tables and sofas were very low, small, and colorful, sort of like a room at a pre-school, it was still very comfortable. There were plenty of drinks including a lot of alcohol, and a bunch of pre-packaged snacks. They seemed to have more alcohol selection than most United First class lounge, and also had my favorite honey mustard pretzels.
My flight departure time was 10:20, and a boarding announcement was made in the lounge at 09:55. I proceeded to gate 18 where to plane was, and most people were already on board already. The plane that was used today was an Airbus 321. As I boarded the plane, I was impressed with the cleanliness of the cabin. The cabin crew were also very friendly, and greeted every passenger when we boarded. The Business class cabin was nearly full already, but a lot of the overhead luggage compartments were still empty. I stowed my carry-on and took my seat in 1A. The seat itself was quite comfortable and had the butterfly headrest, but unfortunately, the bulkhead did not have a cutout in the wall, so legroom wasn't that good. I would recommend people to pick a seat on the left side of the plane, and further back. Next time, I personally would choose 2A or 2C. Couldn't really expect too much from these flights, as essentially, they really all Economy seats and service.
Boarding finished pretty soon, and the doors closed. There were no pre-departure drink service, but that was expected, as it was an intra-european flight. After the pushback, we taxied out onto the runway. The plane was equipped with a belly-cam, and the screens showed the view of the tarmac and runway. It was similar to ANA, except the image was much cleaner. After takeoff, the view of the cam changed from facing forward to downwards. Now this was the first time I've seen such a view, and I was quite excited to see the houses and roads we were passing over. The captain came on the PA when the seat belts signs turn off, and informed us the flight time today was 2 hours 30 minutes. Cruising altitude was initially at 33,000 feet, and then slowly up to 37,000 feet. When we were passing over the Channel, drinks and pretzels were served. Lunch menus were also handed out, and I was surprised that they even provided this, as the flight wasn't that long. The drinks on Finnair were served on really nice glasses, and I thought they looked very similar to CX F glasses. They didn't have that many soft drinks, and only had coke, diet coke and sprite. Most other passengers I saw asked for wine, so I guess that was the reason behind the lack of soft drinks.
As we were passing over Sweden, lunch was served. Lunch menu was as follows:
Lunch
Fresh crabmeat salad,
Peeled cucumber in yogurt and chive dressing
Wild duck breast with red wine,
Walnut and cranberry sauce,
Dauphinoise potato with buttered vegetables
Cheese
Mango and coconut choux bun with mango coulis
Coffee Tea
Lunch was served from the back of Business class to the front, and I was the last person to receive my meal. It was basically an Economy style lunch, served on a tray with everything there. I can only compare with Lufthansa and SAS, as those are the only other 2 airlines I have taken inter-european flights on. The presentation was quite nice, and looked a lot more appetizing the Lufthansa and SAS. I went for the crabmeat salad first, which was very good. The cucumbers were cool and fresh and I quite like the yogurt and chive dressing. Have to remember to buy some when I get back to the States. The main course was a little disappointing though. Although the piece of duck was quite big, it was quite tough, and had a generic kind of sauce on top. The potatoes were alright, but I cannot see how they can call the vegetables buttered, if they were all dry and tasteless. I guess it's really not as bad as a lot of Y class food I've had, but they could do a little better with the main course. What was really good in this meal was the dessert. It was sort of like a pastry bun with cream inside, coconut shavings on top, with a mango sauce. Was so delicious I wanted to ask for more, but was told that all the meals were given out already. After the lunch service, the trays were collected again from back to front, and cognac was served.
The rest of the flight was uneventful, but I spent some time making observations around the plane and flipping through their in-flight magazine. The magazine, Blue Wings, was quite interesting, and had a few good articles in it. One interesting thing they had in the cabin, were wireless airfones. They had two on the wall in front of the cabin, and you can take this back to your seat and make satellite calls. I thought this was a very smart idea. Much cheaper than installing phones in every seat, and better than having 2 or 3 where you have to stand there to make the calls. Only thing I wonder was why they can have a wireless device on a plane? Aren't they supposed to interfere with the other airplane electronics? I was also wondering if anyone actually tried to lift one off the plane. haha… I noticed that the bathroom was also quite clean, but had a funny smell in it. It wasn't smelly or anything, but just a weird clean smell, if there is such a thing. Throughout the flight, they were showing the skymap and also some sports programs. However, there were no headphones provided, and upon examination, the seats actually didn't even have headphone jacks or controls! Very strange indeed. I wonder why they even bother with the programs.
Descent started at 14:45 local time. When the seat belts came up, there was a fury of people getting and rushing to the bathrooms. Must be a European thing. Anyhow, we landed in Helsinki Airport at 15:10, about 5 minutes ahead of schedule. We parked at the gate a few minutes later, and I managed to be the first to off the plane and onto immigration. A funny thing that I just remembered… I had noticed the past few times while going through immigration in European countries, were that many people just held up their passports and said which country they were coming from, and the immigration officers would just wave them through. I suspect that they're EU nationals or citizens of that country. Since I'm have a EU passport, I always wanted to try it myself, but didn't want to get stopped and asked what the hell I was trying to pull. I always give the passport to the officials to be inspected and stamped. Anyone want to give me some insight? Anyways, the immigration here is pretty smart though. They have a gate in front of the counter. Basically they won't open it for you to go through until after they check your passport. Anyways, after going through the customs, I walked over to the taxi stand and caught a taxi to one of my favorite hotels, Hotel Kämp. I have some work and errands to run today, before I could get some rest for my real European mileage run tomorrow.
Jun 18, 2001, 12:47 pm
#2
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: Syracuse, Boston, Athens
Posts: 995
Although proceedures still have slight variations from airport to airport, the basic idea is that if you travel between Schengen countries (not all EU countries have signed up to the Schengen treaty yet, and some non-EU members - Norway and Iceland - have), you can travel without checks or controls. Airports have gradually adapted by assigning separate Schengen through-ways, separate from international controls. In essense traveling between Schengen coutnries is for practical purposes the same as traveling domestic. Here is a quote from the link I mention firther down:
"Citizens of countries implementing the Schengen Agreement can cross the internal borders of the implementing countries at any point without checks."
Even for non-Schengen EU countries though, passport controls have for many years now tended to be very lax. One of the basic premises of the EU is freedom of movement, so when they see an EU passport they usually just wave you through.
If you would like to see some more details of the basic Schengen provisions, check
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/e.../schengen_html
[This message has been edited by SK (edited 06-18-2001).]
"Citizens of countries implementing the Schengen Agreement can cross the internal borders of the implementing countries at any point without checks."
Even for non-Schengen EU countries though, passport controls have for many years now tended to be very lax. One of the basic premises of the EU is freedom of movement, so when they see an EU passport they usually just wave you through.
If you would like to see some more details of the basic Schengen provisions, check
http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/e.../schengen_html
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" size="2">Originally posted by tfung:
I had noticed the past few times while going through immigration in European countries, were that many people just held up their passports and said which country they were coming from, and the immigration officers would just wave them through. I suspect that they're EU nationals or citizens of that country. Since I'm have a EU passport, I always wanted to try it myself, but didn't want to get stopped and asked what the hell I was trying to pull. I always give the passport to the officials to be inspected and stamped. Anyone want to give me some insight? </font>
I had noticed the past few times while going through immigration in European countries, were that many people just held up their passports and said which country they were coming from, and the immigration officers would just wave them through. I suspect that they're EU nationals or citizens of that country. Since I'm have a EU passport, I always wanted to try it myself, but didn't want to get stopped and asked what the hell I was trying to pull. I always give the passport to the officials to be inspected and stamped. Anyone want to give me some insight? </font>
[This message has been edited by SK (edited 06-18-2001).]
Jun 18, 2001, 2:49 pm
#3
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Jacksonville, FL/Chesterfield, MO, USA
Posts: 385
In regards to the satellite phone question...
The main danger with wireless transmissions is in the take-off/approach phases of flight. That is due to the exactness required when making instrument approaches and departure patterns so they don't run into anything. Being off by 100 feet on an ILS (instrument landing system) approach could put the airplane down short of the runway or off to the sides (even hitting another aircraft on a taxiway). There have been close calls due to cell phones being used during landing, namely a Northwest DC-10 that came out of the clouds in finals to MSP and discovered it was lined up with the grass instead of the numbers on the runway. Cell phone use is blamed in the crash of a Crossair SF-340 (killed about a dozen people) recently because on an instrument approach the interference with navigation equipment put the aircraft into the side of a hill.
However at altitude, being off by a small amount is allowable. This is a nonissue with things like the wireless phones you mentioned because they know the level of interference it causes and can compensate for it.
Even when I go to pilot my Cessna, I know based on data provided how much magnetic interference is caused by other electronic equipment in the aircraft and can compensate for it on heading calculations (magnetic variation and deviation, also caused by the difference between true and magnetic north). When a passenger uses their own cell phone or radio, the aircrafts instruments are not calibrated against that kind of interference and become even more inaccurate.
------------------
Jason Seiple
OMA
The main danger with wireless transmissions is in the take-off/approach phases of flight. That is due to the exactness required when making instrument approaches and departure patterns so they don't run into anything. Being off by 100 feet on an ILS (instrument landing system) approach could put the airplane down short of the runway or off to the sides (even hitting another aircraft on a taxiway). There have been close calls due to cell phones being used during landing, namely a Northwest DC-10 that came out of the clouds in finals to MSP and discovered it was lined up with the grass instead of the numbers on the runway. Cell phone use is blamed in the crash of a Crossair SF-340 (killed about a dozen people) recently because on an instrument approach the interference with navigation equipment put the aircraft into the side of a hill.
However at altitude, being off by a small amount is allowable. This is a nonissue with things like the wireless phones you mentioned because they know the level of interference it causes and can compensate for it.
Even when I go to pilot my Cessna, I know based on data provided how much magnetic interference is caused by other electronic equipment in the aircraft and can compensate for it on heading calculations (magnetic variation and deviation, also caused by the difference between true and magnetic north). When a passenger uses their own cell phone or radio, the aircrafts instruments are not calibrated against that kind of interference and become even more inaccurate.
------------------
Jason Seiple
OMA
Jun 19, 2001, 2:09 am
#4
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,371
Thank you very much for an interesting report!
I am actually not surprised on the printed menus given out by Finnair. Other European airlines, such as BA and LH, also provided printed menus on longer main meal provided intra-European flights.
But I am a bit disappointed that there is no second entree choice. Serving the dinner all in one tray is perhaps due to the large business class cabin and the rather short flying time.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip reports!
Carfield
I am actually not surprised on the printed menus given out by Finnair. Other European airlines, such as BA and LH, also provided printed menus on longer main meal provided intra-European flights.
But I am a bit disappointed that there is no second entree choice. Serving the dinner all in one tray is perhaps due to the large business class cabin and the rather short flying time.
Looking forward to the rest of your trip reports!
Carfield
