It’s been requested that I post an accounting of any differences in service, etc. that I might have encountered on this past weekend’s BA flights to Helsinki (My second trip) as opposed to those detailed in my original Trip Report on this topic:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/003293.html

You people are insatiable, do you know that?! But oh, very well then…

Since many elements of this trip are essentially the same as the first time out, rather than get into a blow by blow account of the flights I will simply note and comment on a few things that stood out, with the possible exception of the Finnair flight.


December 13th, 2002
British Airways World Traveler Plus
Seattle – London
777-236 G-VIIE Seat 22K

Once again, our departure was delayed due to the late arrival of the inbound flight from Heathrow. It certainly would seem that at present Heathrow is utilized well past its ideal capacity. This in itself has naturally been the cause of some delays. However, the recent implementation of new security procedures at LHR has further complicated matters. Their smooth integration will take a bit of time and so for at least the immediate future, delays would seem unavoidable. Plan accordingly.

What’s the best World Traveler Plus seat to sit in onboard the 777? This question has rankled scholars since the dawn of World Traveler Plus’ implementation aboard the 777. Here’s some points to consider:

 Row 21 (the bulkhead row) appears to be the most spacious in terms of legroom, but since it’s also the row designated for families traveling with infants and small children, be prepared for the usual screams and antics that the little bas – excuse me – little dears will provide.

 Row 25 looks to have all the recline, etc. of any other row, but again you’ll have the first row of regular economy (World Traveler) behind you, thus more screaming infants. There is a bulkhead separating the two cabins, but I was seated in 22K on the flight into London and still heard screams emanating from row 26, not to mention row 21. Also, the bathrooms are directly behind seats 25AB and 25JK.

 If you enjoy a view of the planet whilst hurtling overhead, (and I do) try to sit in row 24 or 25. The wing ends at row 23 but even from that vantage point, you’ll still have to look behind you to see the sights.

As such, from my perspective at least, the very best seats in World Traveler Plus aboard the 777 would be in rows 23-24 along the sides, not in the middle.

What’s for dinner? Beef or chicken. Beef or chicken. Beef or chicken. I requested the beef this time and received two chunks of meat, totaling about 3 oz.. The beef was complimented by a flavorful gravy and was accompanied by mashed potatoes and green beans. I particularly enjoyed the salad, which featured mesclun greens and a tomato with shredded carrots and cabbage. As economy class salads go, they don’t come much finer, especially compared to the bits of head lettuce and shaved carrots that I’ve received on US carriers. Good dressing, too. Dessert was a slice of cheesecake which I passed on, though it looked pretty good.

And finally, my aircraft for this flight was once again G-VIIE!! British Airways must have 30 or so 777s in their fleet and I’m frankly flabbergasted that out of four 777 flights with BA in the past 8 months, three of them have been aboard the exact same aircraft! What are the odds of that?

Landing speed was 142 mph for you techno freaks out there!


December 14th, 2002
British Airways Euro Traveler
London - Helsinki
A319-100 G-EUOA Seat 9A

There were only three rows of Club Europe (Business Class) on this flight. Given the moveable bulkhead, the size of the Club Europe cabin will vary based upon demand. Furthermore, I don’t know at what point in advance the load planners settle upon a configuration for the flight. Those of you who fancy bulkhead seating may not be able to absolutely guarantee it until check in. As well, the flexible bulkhead means you will not enjoy the legroom benefits usually associated with a fixed bulkhead.

You’ll find a slightly better seat pitch through the first 9 rows of BA’s A319s. I personally prefer the exit row at row 9 for the best legroom on the plane.

I would call the meal service on this 1150 mile segment a snack rather than a dinner. We were offered what I would describe as a Salmon Hoagie. BA’s packaging called it a Kippered Salmon Pretzel. I thought pretzels generally had a twist in them… In any event, it came with a small bag of tortilla chips, a little tub of sour cream and chives and a dessert that looked like a tub of vanilla pudding with cherry sauce. I slept through pretty much the entire flight but took the sandwich with me. I still haven’t eaten it. It sits upon my window sill here in sub-zero Helsinki. Perhaps later tonight I will retrieve it and nuke it and… on second thought, maybe I’ll eat out.


HELSINKI

So often in someplace new and different, there’s this drive to go out and see all the sights and attractions. Indeed, in any big city there are usually enough of both to keep you busy for days. On the other hand, there’s a lot to be said for not planning to do anything – so what if I don’t see everything! I was never going to see it all, anyway! Instead, why not wake up at a civilized hour, have a leisurely breakfast and savor a good cup of coffee over the morning paper. Later, go out and have a good wander about just doing the things I’d normally do anyway. This time of year, for me that means Christmas shopping. I had no particular store in mind – I just figured I’d wander about and see what came up. And of course, I’d be stopping somewhere for a bite to eat as well.

As I mentioned in my first Trip Report, Helsinki is a great city to walk around in. Yes, there’s plenty of convenient transit options but the city center isn’t overly huge and walking allows me to see and get the feel of the city that much better. One thing I noticed is that in the downtown at least people certainly seem to be well dressed. The girls are very pretty and almost everyone seems to be sporting nice jackets, scarves and/or hats.

On my way up the Pohjoisesplanadi, I came across a busy little Christmas fair. Orange tents housed vendors selling all manner of crafts, clothing and foodstuffs. The place was packed but I just wandered in and fell in with the pace of the crowd as we meandered slowly amongst the tents. A portable organ contraption supplied great sounding renditions of all the old Christmas favorites. The smells from all the foods were wonderful – there were a variety of grilled wursts available, along with fish, veggies and soups. I wasn’t terribly hungry but the aroma from a huge pot of split pea soup got the better of me. There were certainly a lot of items I felt would make nice Christmas gifts and if I’d had a better means of getting everything back home, I would have purchased more than just a wool hat and wrap. This Christmas I’m also shopping for a new addition to the family, Lilly Marie. I don’t have any real experience shopping for baby clothes, but in the infant wear section of Stockmann’s, the premier department store in Helsinki, I found a couple of outfits that I’m confident will make her the envy of all her peers! And their parents.

Restaurants and clubs are plentiful downtown. Finnish food is excellent, too! Reindeer, salmon and pike are featured prominently on many menus. Really though, there are quite a good variety of fish dishes, along with venison and pork entrees. Berries and nuts are commonly featured accoutrements. I’ve quite enjoyed the reindeer, salmon and venison meals I’ve eaten so far. I passed by a Russian restaurant called Alexander Nevski’s which offered, when available, Bear Stroganoff. $65.00 for that. Beluga caviar on toast with blinis went for only $236.00 though you could downgrade to Oscietre or Sevruga at a considerable savings. Raffaellos, an attractive eatery at 46 Aleksanterinkatu, offered wild boar with cranberries at the very affordable rate of just $18.50. I’ll be checking that out next time I’m in town.


December 16th, 2002
Finnair Economy Class
Helsinki - London
A321-200 OH-LZD Seat 20A

Things were a bit busier at Helsinki Vantaa Airport this morning than they were last week. That is to say there were lines at the check in counters! Still, the check-in process proceeded smoothly and the wait wasn’t long. I was soon checked in and enjoying a cup of Roberts coffee with a delicious orange coconut pastry. It’s worth noting that BA had also honored my request for a window seat on the flight into Seattle (I was originally pre-assigned an aisle seat in the middle section) and even pre-assigned me an exit row window on the Finnair code share into Heathrow.

Jet lag wreaked havoc with my body clock last night making sleep fitful at best. Then again, perhaps some of this was due to just a wee bit of excitement over this flight being on Finnair, a new airline for me. As well, this was to be my first flight aboard an A321, thus completing my trifecta aboard narrow bodied airbuses. Truth be known, when I was a kid I’d get so excited over an upcoming flight that I really could hardly sleep for two or three nights beforehand. Now, after nearly 3000 flights, this really isn’t much of a problem though I must still admit to at least some anticipation in advance of flying any new airline or aircraft. What’ll it look like inside, how will the food be, etc. Kind of like a kid looking at a particularly brightly wrapped present under the Christmas tree. What could be in it?

Finnair will be my one hundred and fifth airline flown. It’s interesting how many European airlines I’ve flown without having traveled widely through Europe: Air France from IAH to MEX, Swissair from HKG to NRT, Lufthansa from SCL to EZE, and CSA from JFK to YUL. As well, having too much time on my hands whilst awaiting my flight into Seattle yielded this little bit of personal esoterica: Out of the one hundred and five airlines that I’ve flown, fifty six of them are no longer flying. Aside from the well known major airline casualties like Eastern and Braniff, there were also such notables as Ecuatoriana, Texas International, Cascade, UTA, Air New South Wales, Ladeco, New York Air, North Central and Reeve Aleutian just to name a few. It’s a tough industry.

Boarding was called only about 15 minutes prior to departure time. From what I’ve experienced of late, the boarding process in Europe is a haphazard affair compared to the U.S. approach of boarding by row number and status. Essentially, boarding is called and everyone approaches the gate and boards the plane. Haphazard but also simple, it seems to work about as well, at least from this Economy Class passenger’s perspective.

So, on to the A321. In the jetway, just prior to entering the aircraft, was a newspaper rack offering a variety of Finnish and British papers including this morning’s edition of the International Herald Tribune. Surprisingly, a couple of copies of the weekend edition of USA Today were also available. I grabbed a copy of the Trib and proceeded on board.

Wow! This plane offered the largest Business Class I had ever seen on a narrow bodied aircraft - seventeen rows arranged in the usual European style of 2-3 seating. As such, these seats were marginally wider than those in Economy though I noticed that the legroom didn’t appear to be any better than coach on American’s refurbished MRTC fleet. There were no footrests, either. Hmm… apparently this arrangement is amenable to European passengers as they don’t seem to be complaining. By all appearances, not a lot of imagination was displayed by the interior designers either - all of the seats in both classes sported the same blue patterned fabric.

My exit row seat 20A certainly offered enough legroom to satisfy most any NBA center, though the A side seat was a good inch or two less wide between the armrests. Any vacationing NBA centers would be advised to grab the aisle seat. As well, there was no window beside the seat. Still, given the 31” pitch farther back, I’d say that the added legroom certainly trumped a better view.

As I was getting situated, fellow FTer Diana dropped by to say hello. Like me, she’d flown out Friday and only had a single day to enjoy Helsinki. Unlike me, who stayed at the thrifty Eurohostel, Diana had gotten herself a room at what is often described as the finest hotel in Helsinki (and some would say all of Scandinavia), The Kamp. Just yesterday I was admiring the Kamp from across the street. It’s a marvelous old building, displaying all the qualities of older European architecture that I really admire. Though room rates probably start at about $300.00/night, Diana had snagged herself a room for considerably less. In any event, she grabbed the aisle seat in my exit row and we had a nice chat during the 2:40 minute flight into London.

Breakfast for Economy Class passengers offered the following: A slice of baked eggs, sautéed vegies, two little sausages, a tub of yogurt and a cup of cranberry drink. (Not juice) A basket of warmed rolls was presented not once but twice and coffee and tea were offered in abundance throughout the flight. Kudos go out to the flight attendants. They worked hard and did a fine job during this flight.

Clouds covered most of Western Europe this morning so not having a window was no great loss. Finnair’s A321s offered drop down TV monitors every few rows and the programming varied from SkyMap to a wildlife show. No headphones were ever offered however. After breakfast, Diana asked for some champagne and was told that it was only available in Business Class. The FA did however return later with a bottle of sparkling wine from Luxembourg.

As we began our descent into Heathrow, preceded of course by 15 minutes of circling about in the inevitable holding pattern, we were treated to the view in front of the aircraft from what evidently was a nose mounted camera just forward of the landing gear. Clouds not withstanding, where there was sunlight the view was pretty neat. It was especially intriguing as we broke through the clouds and lined up to land on LHR’s runway 27R. Normally, I rarely note runway numbers but it was clearly visible as we glided over the threshold to what must have been a picture perfect landing. Really, it was verrry smooth.

Diana’s onward flight to LAX was scheduled to depart considerably earlier than mine so I bid her adieu as she headed off to Terminal 4 before making my way over to the Servisair lounge in Terminal 1 where I now sit drinking coffee and typing this report.


British Airways World Traveler Plus
London - Seattle
777-200 G-YMMI Seat 22A

Hey now! Boarding actually started 30 minutes before departure for this flight. Once again, we were remotely parked necessitating a bus ride out to the aircraft. I watched longingly as we drove by a 777 bearing the Chelsea Rose artwork on its tail. Another 777 was adorned with a big decal alerting the world to the fact that BA was the official carrier of the English football team. Or was it cricket?! I don’t think anyone has ever glorified cricket on an airplane before.

Early boarding notwithstanding, I noted that we didn't get airborne until 2:40pm. Flight time was projected at 9 hours, 50 minutes. 30 some odd thousand fe- ZZZzZZzZzzzZZZZZ...

Beyond that, the service onboard this flight was a carbon copy of last week’s LHR-SEA flight, detailed in the original Trip Report. Same exact meals, same exact movies, same great BA service!

So that’s it, everyone. I hope these reports will serve as a helpful or at least interesting preview of what to expect on your upcoming BA World Traveler adventures. Here’s wishing you all a very Merry Christmas, a happy and healthy New Year and many happy returns on your $20.00 tickets to Europe.


[This message has been edited by Seat 2A (edited 12-24-2002).]