6 Finnair longhauls in a week - reflections
 

So I just did 6 Finnair longhaul segments (+ 2 short hauls and 7 *A segments) pretty much back-to-back, and here are some reflections. All AY longhaul were business class on A330 (ie "new" J)

Video / IFE
(This is my first time using IFE extensively, so take it for what it is)
Screens are small and brightness and contrasts is not very good making it difficult to watch movies on a daytime flight.

Selection is so so and doesn't seem to be updated very often. I started to watch a movie, just to realize I watched it in february when I flew AY last time.

It is nice they offer a selection of movies from all destinations, but why isn't there a selection of subtitling? There are a lot of good Korean movies, but they are offered completely without subtitles. The audience of that is minuscule, especially on flights to all destinations but ICN.
Some of the material had Finnish subtitles hard coded into the movie, even if you selected subtitles=none, it still was Finnish.

On some flights each movie was preluded by un-skippable commercials. Very annoying, especially since one of the two slots were not working, muted sound and black screen for 30 sec.

Elite recognition
This seems to be individual purser's initiative, and quite far inbetween. On 4 of 6 longhauls, there was no recognition at all, in fact no purser interaction at all. On one, purser approached me but was a bit awkward and said something like "welcome aboard, I can't pronounce your name but you are a oneworld frequent flyer, so there you go". (way to sell yourself short - they think so little of themselves that they rather call me OW than Finnair platinum customer?!)
On one flight, purser was clearly much more a people-person, engaging in a chat, and well aware of my connecting flight saying "you have a long day ahead of you". Purser also remembers my name throughout flight and when deplaning bidding me farewell by name and wishing me a good next flight.

(By the way, I've learned a way to determine number of elites in cabin - on one flight we were 2 plats, on one there was a gold (or other status, not sure which) besides me in the J cabin. Not very elite heavy, so doing recognition can't really be a burden)

I assume some of this is a language thing. Many FAs can be very chatty in Finnish and very short in English. Similar, I was on a Y shorthaul where I was ignored while another status member 2 rows behind me was "secretly" given a free newspaper. Again assuming this was due to me not having a Finnish name on manifest.

Overselling
When flying so much in such a short time, you get a great understanding of AY's massive overselling. On 6 out of 6 flights there were multiple operational upgrades, ranging from a few up to over 30 op ups. As I noted in another thread, I can't understand how that can prove to be a viable way of business. Combine it with not recognizing you own elites, you have an even stranger situation.
On one flight with 12 op-ups, I got a chance to peek at one op-up's boarding pass. He has no frequent flyer number attached and is seq. 125. Tell me last time anyone on CX or QR got op-up'ed without high status and low sequence...

Seats
"New" J is quickly getting old and worn, and I wonder how we all will feel just this autumn when the A350s have entered into service. How fast won't these "new" J become the "dreaded old J"?
Also, having enjoyed several Asian flights in regional narrow body business class (2+2 seated) I can say that on a daytime flight I prefer these recliner seats over AY's "new" J. Actually, 2+2 on narrow body has wider seats than AY new J (I have measured). They also have thicker upholstery and higher quality pillows.

Is there any airline where acknowledgement are not either miss-miss or hit-and-miss? Finnair seems pretty bad, and even when you do get acknowledged, they often try to avoid talking English. But I have never been acknowledged on AA, AB, BA, CX, IB or JL (all in Y) ever.

Only QF is the only airline with which I have had good experience in that respect. It seems the purser has a tablet with all infos about onboard FFs on some flights even.

I suspect that the Finnish notion of politeness is a bigger problem than the language barrier even. They just fear they would disturb you. It felt most awkward when they would drop me a newspaper in short haul, or a spare business class head set in long haul (before Y+ was introduced), and run away with a word or at least before I had even time to utter a thank you.

Obviously, the tablet thing from QR could help. But the status and connection infos are available on the manifest anyway. So what's your trick, beside peeking at the manifest or the gate staff monitors?

Recognization is indeed hit or miss, I have now 3 flights in row where purser comes and greets, longest streak ever.

I just love overselling, since I travel exclusively in economy and low elite loads often grant me opup. This year I have 8/13 record on finnair :D

IFE is crappy, BOYE (bring your own entertainment).

On CX I always get the acknowledgment from ISM though I've heard that sometimes they didn't do it when there are too many elites.

It could happen during peak periods say around Christmas. At other times, the chance is probably between zero and ... zero. :)

Sorry for what may seem like a rudimentary question but how wide/good are the selection of western (i.e. Hollywood) movies?

I'm wondering because I am planning to fly AY to asia this fall. There's a long transit time in HEL (something that AY could improve if they're planning to target US east coast - Asia passengers) but AY J price is very reasonable compared to CX (i.e. about 1/2 what CX is charging) so I'm thinking of giving it a try.

Btw, from looking at finnair site it seems that reindeer meat is an option. Would any of you recommend it?

The IFE does not categorize, they just present everything on the same screen. I am a movie illiteral but I'd say there was a couple of current hollywood movies, maybe 10-15 older hollywoods and a rather large selection of american sitcoms.


Reindeer is a good option. NB it is only available on flights ex HEL, not on inbound.

OK thx. I will give it a try then (I just booked the flight so one way or the other I'll be on AY to BKK/SIN in Nov. :)).

Sorry but one more question. From what I gather AY uses A343 with angle flat (old J) on SIN-HEL and yet when I was choosing my seat, it showed A333 map (i.e. map showing new J w/ those vantage 'throne' seats). Is AY finally putting A333 on SIN - HEL route?

Planning to book BKK in Dec, A350 available then :)

I was surprised they still serve BKK twice daily most of the winter season, plus the scheduled service to Phuket and Krabi. Are they the biggest European to Thailand in winter?

I have had elite recognition on AA to Caribbean destinations and once over Atlantic. This has only been offered to Emerald, not Sapphire. On some CX flights there has been a line to say a few words for me as an Emerald (again Sapphire not noted). On the other hand, AY has also been quite good providing a news paper on short hauls and head phones on long hauls (naturally not always, but reasonably often). All these occurred are at the back of the bus.

The only op-up I have received on AY was one LHR-HEL, have received upgrades to premium econonmy on BA and CX once or twice (and one J on BA as well).

And +1 from me to the reindeer. I order it whenever possible, me like it.

Recognition indeed is hit&miss on many airlines. JL even said in public they've abolished the practice. On KA I always get greeted, on CX most of the time.
I consider a 2 out of 6 succeed ratio on AY to be a step forward, a few years back it would have been 0 out of 6.

Reindeer is really good, excellent choice. The risk with reindeer (just like beef steak), however, is that if the service has to be interrupted because of unexpected turbulence, the dish overcooks in the oven and the delicious meat is not so good anymore. That has happened to me twice, but it is a no-can-do thing. But in any case +1 for that dish, go for it!

Personally, I agree with your opinion about the dimensions and state of the current 'new' J seat on AY. The cabin and the seating are modern and mostly clean, certainly better than many previous generation J seats on other airlines. However, I agree the seats are very narrow and feel slightly claustrophobic. I find the juxtaposition between the airy cabin, even lacking privacy to an extent, with the quite constrained seat area. Perfectly comfortable yes, and good enough as long as its fully flat. That being said, I would personally go for seats like the reverse herringbone or even CW on BA. They feel more spacious, yet private. (Given, I do manage to get window seats on BA)

When it comes to elite recognition, it's very hit and miss on AY. When I travel SH J, I've never been given any sort of greeting or recognition, despite having a very Finnish name. ;) The few times I've been in SH Y, I have received the newspapers now and then but not very consistently. Which is slightly disappointing, given I saw some other elites be given them. (Presumably AY+'s own elites) On BA I have two experiences, and only whilst I've been a OWE. The first was the first flight after I was upgraded to Gold, on LH, which was much appreciated. The second time was on SH, by a stellar purser in CE who thanked me and another pax. in J, and gave both of us water bottles which was a very nice touch. I've only flown F on CX so far, but I have received greetings every time. Also, nothing on AA.

Personally, I don't really mind whether or not I receive a greeting. Sometimes it can be a bit awkward and disingenuous, whereas some crew are very sincere and make you feel appreciated. I think it is very crew-specific, whether or not I would even like to receive a greeting. I definitely consider being greeted by a crew member a nice surprise, and would like to keep it that way. It would become a bit too mechanical if it were to happen on every flight IMO.

I gave that reindeer 3 or 4 chances, but horrible everytime even without turbulence. Avoid at any cost!
Ironically, the other reindeer that they had as a seasonal course for a short period, was fantastic...

Another thing about the IFE - movies are heavily cesored! Any expressive language, any words that might be mildly offensive, is muted or vocied-over. It is very clumsily done, by one single voice actor for entire movie, replacing colourful invectives with 'person' and so on. Pretty annoying!

In my experience Finnair rather op-up's based higher booking classes rather than high status or time of check-in. Not really sure how consistent the practice is tho..

I had my first experience with the all-chinese cabin crew on AY69. Can't say I'm pleased. While there was more smiling the service was sub par. For example they forgot my drink order, didn't wake me up for breakfast as requested and to top it off there was no matronly feeling anymore. I pay to get my beer from a grumpy Finskin täti. Now going to fill in the feedback form -->