Booking LHR to HKK - is Finnair a good option?
 

I'm flying from LHR to HKK business class in two weeks time and trying to decide which airline to use - Finnair, Lufthansa, BA or Airfrance?

Could someone please give me the pros and cons and which they would choose?

Much appreciated.

Um, HKG or BKK?

But welcome to the FT in any case!

Apologies!! HKG**

Thank you for the warm welcome!

If price is no issue I'd take BA w/o thinking it = direct flight (regardless if you mean BKK or HKG). Business Class is what it is, nothing special on any of the carriers and sleep is usually the main concern and BA seat is good for that.

Welcome to FT.

Yup, the other airlines should be pretty amazing to beat the direct flight. They really aren't.

Direct is always preferred! I've had a few issues with BA over the years..the seats are comfortable thuogh!

I've never flown with Finnair and I wonder if it's worth giving them a chance? The prices seem more reasonable but I wonder about the whole experience?

The Finnair flight is very short and a pretty good experience. Having said that, on my return transitting through HEL to LHR, the lounge was full of unhappy passengers delayed to HKG from the previous night. AY's long haul fleet is stretched, so when there is a mechanical, in this case an engine needed replacing, there are no alternatives. For that reason, going LH or AF gives some backup as their fleets are much larger.

It is difficult to beat a direct flight in convienience, but usually one pays the price for that. I'd say quite a few people here are advocating the use of BA even from HEL for that reason (ie they prefer HEL-LHR-HKG before the direct HEL-HKG)

I'd like to offer a different opinion than above, admittedly based on my personal experience on a few BA flights.
I suggest you go with AY. Yes, it is not a direct flight, but the flight-path LHR-HKG is almost identical to LHR-HEL-HKG, and the connection in HEl is very smooth. So you wont lose much time on this.

You will save money on this choice.

As for total experience, it will differ with crew. AY crews are usually a bit less chatty than BA. Servicewise they are usually quite good. If you compare to the best of BA crews, AY are "worse" but on BA you take the chances of meeting a really bad/impolite/unproffesional crew, which I never had on AY. My personal view is that I hands down prefer AY crew over BA on a average.

It may be nice to try AY just for a change too.

If IFE is really important to you then AY may not be the right choice. There have been quite a few trips with semi-functioning IFE.

If full flat horizontal bed is really important to you, AY may disappoint you. On HKG route it is almost always A340 in service, so very little chance of getting the A330's with new J-cabin. I personally don't have any issues with AY's A340-seats, and actually prefers these over the BA cabin layout (reversed seats with separate foot rest to act as part of the bed)

I agree Intuition, I would choose AY from LHR if not flying non stop.

Connecting in smallish HEL is a breeze, can't get much easier. I like the Nordic style lounge.

I find the angled seats on A340 fine, cabins feel roomy and very clean. I've found their LH service quite good too, professional and attentive crew, friendly in the Nordic way. Been happy with the meals, most of the times.

Yes their IFE is the weak part, the AVOD system has rather modest selection of entertainment.

Thank you for the responses!

I'm moving towards AY for my upcoming flight!

IFE isn't an issue as i've become well equipped with entertainment via my Ipad - I'm starting to ignore the IFE all together!

Food is a concern though...I've always found BA to be spot on when it comes to meals - how does Finnair match up?

Seats...I don't mind not having a fully flat bed but do you manage to get some shut eye with Finnair?

Overall, I'm quite interested to see what Finnair has to offer...it must have a 4* rating for good reason and I quite like the idea of a 'design-based' airline...I'd like to think that means the cabin's are top notch!

I'd say go with AY if nothing else for the change of scenery :)

If your expectatios are realistic (well, business class IS business class, not First Suite) you probably won't be disappointed. AY longhaul C is a solid hard and soft product.

I slept recently well in both old and new C (better in new C)

Of the alternatives you have, I'd say rather AY than LH. I have never flown AF in longhaul, so cannot comment on that.

The direct flight is of course very convenient, but how much money are you ready to pay for a 1-2-3 hours shorter trip?

I find sleeping easier on AY. Mostly because is is a smaller cabin and therefore less people around to make commotion. Many people like the seats on BA, but I personally dislike their footrest and the fact that all seats are interconnected. On BA you may get disturbed when someone else rolls around in their sleep or raise/lower seatrest. That will not happen on AY. AY seats are maybe a bit on the hard side though.

Also, BA has the reversed seats layout, AY does not. In my experience noise travels easier on the reversed layout. I cannot remember feeling disturbed by others on AY, but frequently on BA.

I wouldn't say the cabins are top notch. I'd actually say they have seen better days.

Foodwise BA wins by miles on the shorthaul leg. On the longhaul AY is better, IMO. The pre-order design meals ("Meals designed for you") are not bad but does not live up to the expectations built by AY marketing.

With a huge experience of 1 LH trip in AF J, I'd say the hard product on the triples is roughly on par with AY old J, soft side perhaps even a tad better, but not enough so to put myself through the pain of transiting at CDG... at least if not getting an A380, which you don't for HKG.

So I'd agree with the others, BA is direct and direct is direct, but if connecting, go with AY.

Thanks Wilco, it does seem to come down to that question of time...but what is 1-3 hours on a long haul flight if the amenities are up to scratch and generally a seamless experience?

Intuition, yes I always found the 'zig zag' seat arrangements of BA to be a little bizarre?

You make an excellent point about the interconnected seats...a little bit hard is better than essentially sharing a bed!

I'll have to check out the pre-order meals, sounds interesting! So you can customise aspects of your meal before you fly? Are there many options?

I thought maybe that partnering with Marimekko would have played to that 'design' factor it doesn't sound like much!

There are 3 options, presented here
http://www.finnair.com/GB/GB/informa...business-class
You can pre-order in the manage my booking (but sometimes website just doesn't work and you need to call to make the pre order)
I think you can find some reports on FT about the meals.

If you skip this pre-order, there is the "normal" 3 options onboard, so all in all 6 options of main course.