mirfield

Absolutely right Intuition. Y passengers get a choice, albeit on a paid for basis. J pasengers get a take it or leave it "plastic" salad, because the cost of the meal is included in the ticket price.

I finally received a reply on 3rd July. Here it is :

Dear XXXXXX

Thank you for your feedback. We highly value your opinion about meal services on your flight 5th June AY938 Manchester-Helsinki.

The Deli menu is available in economy class. In business class, the meal is included in the ticket price. For customers in either class transferring via Helsinki to or from Finnair’s 11 Asian destinations, a complimentary snack box is included in the price of the ticket.

Based on customer feedback and our experience, many of our customers would like to have more freedom of choice on what they eat on these kinds of short flights. With this trial, we hope to gather information about customer preferences and views on buy on board selection, in order to be able to further develop our service offering.

The five month trial takes place on Finnair’s flights between Manchester and Helsinki during June – October 2012. Finnair flies from Manchester to Helsinki 14 times a week.

As an apology for the lack of meal service in our lounge at Helsinki please accept our 20 EUR gift voucher. Voucher can be used for purchases onboard Finnair operated flights and Finnair Shop at Helsinki airport. Please inform us your mailing address for the voucher.

Sincerely,

Finnair Plc
Customer Relations


I am going to respond by suggesting Finnair Management read this thread : -

Thank you for your reply and your offer of a 20 EUR voucher. My address is XXXXXXXX

You mention in your reply that the change has been made in response to customer feedback. As a company that clearly listens to customers, and acts upon their views, can I suggest that you follow this link :

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finna...l#post18884773

Regards,

XXXXXXXXX

intuition

This is just absurd. And claiming
when they instead present a low quality, no choice meal to their business class passenger.
I know it is just a copy&paste answer, but did they think even 2 seconds before sending that reply?!?

To me this indicates
It is true that HEL offers a good value when it comes to short total travel time for northern asia. For me that is one of the deciding factors. Service is another, and for me, I value the service and feel from checkin until I arrive at destination. Crappy departure lounge will affect that feeling. Crappy service on feeder flight will too. And so on.

In my mind, quite a few J-pax have this line of thought, regardless of flying for business or pleasure. It is not just about getting there or even the price we pay for getting there. We go "there" several times a year, some of us several times a month. Some of us just for a day or two. To be content with this, the way we go there will matter greatly. I didn't think AY could afford to risk this.

But what do I know. Maybe AY can make a profit by flying nordic tourists to BKK in no-service econ classes. There is hardly no competition at all in that segment, right?

WilcoRoger

You being ex-CPH, the direct SK flight to NRT or PEK is surely a shorter option - you actually fly over HEL without landing, transferring, etc. Yes, I know SK sucks on the blood of their home customer base just as AY does with theirs

Re - freedom of choice. Clearly you aren't in the AY Finnish corporate mindset. C pax do have a freedom of choice - take it or leave it. Unfortunately for AY, the same pax have the same choice when it comes booking tickets on AY - and many of us take the second choice.

intuition

Haha, the take it or leave it choice is common these days, I guess
Yeah, I know, I am quite alone on the FT AY ship. I guess it is me and Laajo left...

For NRT I'd love to go directly, ie SK. What has kept me going via HEL and AY is due to my "stake" in AY+ (ey! a loyalty program that works?!? and the fact that via HEL is almost as quick. SK to NRT is about 11,5 hours, AY 12,5.

As OW emerald gives med first lounges, and *G doesn't, that is decisive. So I am a bit negative towards *A already because of that, and as SK is in more trouble than AY and serves even fewer destinations, i have not chosen them for preferred carrier. (Nowadays, when TK serves a few destinations I like, *A looks a bit better to me. TK is nice service, but hopeless when it comes to irrops or even being on time)

SPBanker

Hey, what am I then?!? Chopped liver? Next AY flight tomorrow HEL-SVO, even upgraded to biz with 3500 points, hope to get something reasonable to eat so I don't have to spend $$$ to dine in Moscow. And in the IC the minibar is free, so I save at least two beers that way. Frugal traveler, that's me.

intuition

Ah yes, the frugal way. Well known amongst bankers

On the serious side, I'm sorry. Some days it seems everyone has left for BA et.c. I don't blame them, it just feels lonely.

Back in topic, I just can't get my head around this thing with trashing the service on feeder traffic. OK, I get the money saving part, but why do they insist on doing it under the Finnair brand? Because as they utter the words "the look and feel of outsourced feeder traffic will remain" they must start making up these marketing slogans : "customers have asked for more flexibility, so that is why we reduce the J-pax meal to a sallad" or "we now charge €60 for seat selection, not because we need money but because it will give our customers peace of mind"

A much more honest approach would be:
"We need our euro-traffic to be dirt-cheap. We cannot do that ourselves. That is why we have outsourced everything to a partner that can. There will be no AY+-points, no food, no service and no lounges. There will be fees charged for bags, seats, printed BPs, et.c
We will remove any trace of AY brand from the euro-traffic, as this is nothing we like to be associated with, but since it is the only thing customers are willing to pay for, this is what we need to do"

I'd prefer if they came out and said honestly what the plans are, instead of the B/S phrases that are produced now.

But as WilcoRoger said, I clearly can't understand the AY corporate mindset.

WilcoRoger

Well, I, for one don't get it.

If AY loses just one (1) paying C customer on the MAN route, how many crappy meals does it equals to in savings? 1 C ticket HEL-MAN-HEL ca. 800€ (low estimate) Cost difference of "traditional" C meal vs "new concept" = 4€ (guesstimate)

So they need at least 200 paying C pax to make up in the meal savings side for the one C pax who decided to "stuff'em" And this is just one (1) passenger deciding to NOT fly AY once (1x)

I rest my case.

(and yes, you clearly don't get the AY corp mindset - but neither do I)

WilcoRoger

And that's when they would have to kiss goodbye to their most lucrative customers - connecting C pax to/fro Asia.

intuition

Yeah, I guess it is beyond us all.

But I do believe that people rarely do stupid stuff out of plain stupidity. Usually there is some reasoning behind any decision, and it is this reasoning my structured mind is struggling to find.

Maybe C-pax volumes are down, and they actually can make more money in oneclass? We've all seen how they've put the large 330's on leisure and price competitive routes. I guess we'll never know.

Yes, an honest approach would be risky. But I think that the nordic and large part of the asian) market values honesty over slick salesmanship. It may be my idealized view of the world, though. I just personally find it loathing to be told that they offer me a salad instead of a hot meal because I asked for flexibility. To me that is not only lying, but it is an insult.

OK, rant over for me. I am off to southeast asia on QR in 1,5 hour. Am very excited about this, as EK/EH/QR is a coming thing, and I will closely jot down my experience for future reference. QR or EH may join OW and EK may partner up with QF (leaving OW after break up with BA). We may soon have a whole different flying world.

tsastor

Could this ne something about the Finnish mindset? I remember wondering why Nokia was pushing 79 euro handsets - at the same time screwing their suppliers and employees - while I was used to pay 500 as long as they were the best on market.

WilcoRoger

That'll be the day!

intuition

Rumors has it BA will partner up with or even sponsor one of the gulf carriers for OW during 2012...

GUWonder

EY being considered by some to be better positioned than the rest of the Gulf carriers.

nordic

Sorry, if this has been posted before, but this is the link for the menu. I think that the prices are extremely high. Usually, the inflight prices are lower than in the duty-free shops, but AY has now changed that. A small bottle of champagne cost 10 €, a lot more than at Finnair airport shops. Can I complain if the rather good-looking Scandinavian tapas plate is not served on a porcelain plate. 15 € for that is pricey. I want a peace of mind and forget of paying 3 € for a cup of tea. Is Finnair really sure that the Asian connecting passengers love bread sticks, crackers and chips. I always thought that the Asian passengers do not like bread. No more Finnair flights for me if this concept will be the standard service. I can cope with payed pre-ordered hot meals like Air Berlin offers, if the basic service (rolls and drinks) are free of charge.

For business class, I rather pay 400 - 800 € for BA and LH for a better C class product with the exception of the poor extended breakfast by BA. For Y class even KL offers better value.

intuition

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