AY 712
SVO-HEL
Embraer E190
OH-LKN
Seat 1A (J)
Flight #45 of 2091
It was FINALLY time to head home and wrap this memorable and fairly lengthy trip up. All that was left was the back end of the SVO-HEL-JFK AY J ticket. I had taken this combination of flights before, and each time it's been an adventure. AY sells these flights with a sub-1hr MCT in HEL and the flight out of SVO isn't always on time. I made it by a hair last time and my checked bag (I know, I know, never check bags...extenuating circumstances in this case) did not make it to JFK when I did. I assumed it was due to the tight connection, but in the end, the (likely) liquored up baggage handlers in Moscow never even put my luggage on the first flight from SVO to HEL, even though I was at the airport and checked in 2 hours before the flight...oh well, no worries this time. Carry on only.
I battled horrific traffic getting into central Moscow from DME on arrival, so I left myself an abundance of time to get to SVO, as I didn't want to miss this flight out. My reward of course was to be at the airport about 2h15 minute before departure. To my surprise the AY check-in desks were not open 3 hours before departure, as check-in desks usually are. They waited until 2 hours on the dot, then began taking passengers. I already had an electronic BP and had checked in at t+24, but I grabbed a paper copy and a lounge invite anyway. The airport was much more crowded than SVO usually is at that hour. There was no priority line for immigration, and it took about 30-40 minutes to get to the front of the line. After being stamped out of Russia, I slid over to the priority security line and was quickly airside. The lounge near the Finnair gate isn't the best in the world, but it's certainly not Algiers. They have a fair amount of seats and some barely edible food items. I tried to take some ice from the bar and jam it into a tall thin glass with coffee, it was almost a proper iced coffee.
Boarding started late, as it usually does (in my experience with AY ex-SVO). The E190's have a moveable curtain like most Eurobiz, and today there was only one row of biz. The seats are 2-2. There was a guy solo on the F side of row 1, and I was in 1A. Right before the door closed, a woman got on board and sat down next to me. I could not believe it. In my experience when the seats are 2-2 and you are in eurobiz you still get the seat next to you blocked, effectively making it 1-1. I also have read that AY blocks seats next to OWE when possible. Give that the plane was at best 60% full in the back, I thought it was really lousy of Finnair to not make J 2-rows so that all biz passengers would be seatmate free. Beyond that, if you are 2-2 with someone next to you, and there's no extra legroom, what exactly are you paying for in business class? Eurobiz with the same lousy seats and just the blocked middle is bad enough, but now they're taking the blocked middle away? Quadruple the price for the exact same seat, no extra space, someone next to you and what? I crappy meal that cost the airline 40 cents? I was really disappointed in Finnair, and it certainly didn't help that this woman smelled like a sausage factory and would not stop trying to make conversation with me. I set the air vent to blow directly on my face to deal with her stench, and at one point closed my eyes, put my head back and tried to sleep. She continued asking me questions. Like seriously lady? Pretty sure, eyes closed, head back is universal for "I am trying to sleep, I don't want to talk." Thankfully it was a short flight. We were 20-30 minutes delayed getting out of SVO.
The FA came through telling people about connections and I said something like "I have a really tight connection, do you think we'll make it?" She said something stock, like "check the boards on arrival" and I was like "my flight starts boarding at 1130am, JFK" she then looked concerned and she told me she would have to get back to me, because we would likely not even land until noon. She apparently spoke to the pilots who called HEL and were assured that the plane wouldn't leave without me. I think this falls under "FAs tell passengers what they want to hear when they don't know the truth."
The rest of the flight was uneventful, the meal was some sort of meat with pea puree, it was not very good quality. Soon we were descending through the gloom into a rainy day in Helsinki.
AY 5
HEL-JFK
Airbus A330-300
OH-LTR
Seat 2L (J)
Flight #46 of 2019
By the time we rocked up to our gate, it was after noon. The helpful FA came by to try to explain a map of HEL terminal to me, so I would know where my gate was, but having been through there a few times, I told her not to worry, I knew how to make it. Just had to hope the plane would still be there once I got to the gate. As I was in 1A, I was the first person off the plane. I very quickly made my way to transit security, which was thankfully TOTALLY empty, like not a single other person going through when I arrived. I do LOVE Helsinki airport, such a pleasant place to fly through. I threw my stuff onto the conveyor belt, went through the metal detector, collected my bags and took off down the hallway, past the AY lounge and to the gate. Thankfully, even though I was QUITE LATE, the board still read "LAST CALL" and the flight had not yet closed.
I got on board, stowed my gear and plopped into my seat, quite relieved that I would not be stranded. Then, of course I got my phone out, checked and found I had flown this exact same aircraft on 10/12/18, in the same seat (2L) on AY 6, going in the opposite direction (JFK-HEL). I highly recommend seat 2L. It's in the front of the cabin, but not right next to the lav. It's a single seat, and the table is in between the seat and the aisle so it's very private. I always select it when it's available.
So let's dive right in with the food. Finnair catering is quite good in general, but they really outdid themselves on this flight. There was an amuse bouche offered, though no one explained what it was, it was fairly tasty. The cold salmon with horseradish coleslaw starter was excellent. For the main, I had the braised cheek of beef and I have to say it was probably one of the best main courses I have ever had on a plane in any airline or in any class of service. Really excellent. The meal finished with some cheese and a cheesecake with strawberries. A great meal, well done Finnair.
Now for the entertainment. Finnair does NOT have the most robust IFE options. They don't have a ton of movies, and they don't have a great selection of new movies, or really movies you'd want to watch. A lot of indie films from maybe 5 years ago that no one has ever heard of. The night before, while unable to fall asleep, I looked up a list of what Finnair had loaded in the IFE system, and checked out some of the titles i'd never heard of, since there were absolutely 0 new releases I hadn't seen/had any desire to see and after going over the list from top to bottom I couldn't find even a single movie I had heard of and wanted to see and had not already seen. So, here we go...
First up, "Goodbye Christopher Robin." This was the best of the three movies. An excellent story about the writer who created Winnie The Pooh. I didn't realize his son, actually named Christopher Robin was the inspiration for the books. Good story, and Margot Robbie was hot, but her character (Milne's wife) was quite a ...... B+
Next, "The Sessions" which was a rather strange movie (true story), about a guy who had childhood polio and needed to live in an iron lung. Specifically, the movie focused on his quest to lose his virginity and find love in his late 30's/early 40's. Inexplicably, Helen Hunt was not only IN this no name movie, but naked for half of the film. Overall it was a bit weird, uncomfortable, and off putting from start to finish, and I didn't really like it. C
Finally, "The Drop." It had excellent reviews and was supposed to be a by the numbers outer borough crime film. I was not impressed. Tom Hardy's accent was not believable, the entire plot didn't make a tremendous amount of sense and I didn't like or care about any of the characters. Also the big "reveal" twist at the end wasn't at all surprising, nor did I at all care. This movie probably would have been better if they all shot each other at the end. C+ at best.
Before arrival, AY served ANOTHER excellent meal, this time an open faced cold smoked salmon sandwich. Another home run for AY. Shortly thereafter we touched down and it was a breeze from jetway to global entry to uber. Shockingly hot in NY coming from the relative cold of Moscow in June. It was a wonderful trip, but I was ready to get back home and get back up in the air with my OWN hands on the controls for change.
Next up: 16th RTW EWR-YYZ-JFK-HEL-CDG-HEL-SIN-HKG-DFW-MEX-DFW-JFK. Departing June 4, 2019.