nk15

I am considering flying AY TATL overnight in economy (paid, AA code) on the A330 for 9 hours, have a few questions:

1. Is it survivable, has anyone done it and lived to tell the story?

2. As an OW Emerald (with AA), do I have any chance for any freebie economy comfort seats or exit row seats? (I saw the upgrade thread...)

3. Assuming I survive the first leg, I have a 4 hour layover in HEL, what is the lounge situation there?

jmmi

1. I have a few times, and I'm sure there are many other survivors here – it's nothing to write home about though.

2. In theory, yes to both. See this post for advice on seat selection. There are recent reports that due to whatever technical reasons on AY's end, this is not currently possible, more discussion in this thread. In any case, you'd have to contact AY customer service for the seat reservation.

3. Depends on which TATL you are arriving on (that is, at what time) and whether you are connecting to a Schengen country or not. If your connecting flight is not during the afternoon rush hour, great, especially if you are going outside Schengen, as then you have access to the Premium lounge.

miamiflyer8

I've done HEL-JFK a few times in row 21 in Economy comfort and it definitely is survivable.

linz36

Does operating carrier or marketing carrier matter when calculating points?
(I.e. Does booking an AA codeshare on a BA operated flight award points according to the AA chart or the BA chart?)

intuition

In oneWorld, marketing carrier counts. (Operating carrier must be a OW member or affiliate for main rule to apply.)
So AA flight number on a BA operated flight earns according to AA chart, by the fare class AA is using on the ticket.

In Star Alliance, operating carrier counts.

linz36

Excellent, thats what I thought, but it was nowhere spelled out. So AA Economy tickets are actually really good for points when crediting to AY.

nk15

Thanks to both for the feedback.

Formatted

Hi, I'd be very grateful for any input to a problem I'm having with Finnair. I have a milestone birthday coming up and my family surprised me with an economy roundtrip LHR-Tokyo flight departing in November- I was delighted!

I hope I don't offend anyone, but weighing 300lb I think both me and my neighbour are going to be more comfortable if I buy a second adjacent seat and the Finnair website FAQ advises I can do that over the phone only. I call yesterday and am told by the agent that such extra comfort seats can only be purchased at the time of the original booking and there is nothing they can do after the fact- the ticket was booked via travel agent a few weeks ago and is nonrefundable. TBH I thought it was just a difficult agent and so contacted Finnair through website (no answer) and then twice today via direct messages on Twitter @FinnAirhelps. No, can't buy the second seat other than at time of booking (despite no mention of this on Finnair website stated policy) and this time told that it's got something to do with one segment being operated by BA? I asked for a manager's details and their complaint procedures but got back only a link to the original complaint form on Finnair website.

Any advice? If it weren't a gift, I'd feel like rebooking with another airline which is a shame since I had very positive opinions on Finnair and was looking forward to flying with them. All help is appreciated
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Courmisch

From the US, you should arrive in the Non-Schengen area, so you can either get to the best Premium lounge there, and rush to passport controls before boarding the connecting flight on Schengen side. Or you can play safe and go directly to the inferior Schengen lounge. The lounge staff might strongly advise that you do that...

That is, if you connect to a Schengen destination. Otherwise, you can "only" use the Premium lounge.

ffay005

Congratulations on your birthday! This might not be much of a help, but my two cents:

For the AY-operated, AY-ticketed flights, would it be possible for you to consider an upgrade? The upgrade would get you an empty middle seat on the shorthaul and a large seat on the longhaul. Look here for different options, some of which do not require you to have AY+ membership: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/finna...-upgrades.html

On the flight that is BA-operated, you might be out of luck. Codeshares come with lots and lots of inconsistencies and problems where the airlines direct you to one another and noone takes responsibility. What you could do, however, would be to proceed to the BA check-in desk, explain your situation and ask to pay for an extra seat or an upgrade. If the flight is not full, the agent might be able to block the seat next to you free of charge, too.

CeruleanBlue

Congratulations with the milestone and the lovely present! I also thought of upgrades and yes, codeshare can be tricky. Short-haul BA upgrade to biz typically costs some 160 GBP or EUR if booked a few days in advance through their app or website. Might be cheaper at the airport. For example, I recently bought a long-haul upgrade from economy to Premium economy for 320 GBP one-way at the transfer desk in Heathrow. The day before, when I called BA before I commenced my trip, I would have had to pay 800+ GBP.

However, I was not able to upgrade a BA ticket on a Qatar codeshare flight, not even for money. Hopefully Finnair's policy towards BA is more flexible if that's the solution you choose to go for.

tafer2uk

Just taken the plunge and purchased tickets for my first trip with AY. The wife and I will be travelling MAN-BKK in J.

I've selected the following seats after researching here and other websites, but thought I'd run them by those in the know to make sure I've not missed anything.

AY1362 1D & 1F (A190)
AY141 5A & 6A (A350)

AY144 4L & 6L (A330)
AY1361 2D & 2F (A319)

Our preferences were for relative peace away from bassinet's and toilets, we aren't bothered about sitting together as we will have 16 days of 'bliss' in between. I read that service can be slow and choice limited the further you sit away from row 1 but figured you can't have everything. We also wanted on the A330 to have seats by the window with table against the aisle for privacy.

I'm sure I will have more questions but for now if anyone can advise/comment on our choices on all flights it would be much appreciated, especially if our logic is flawed/mistaken.


Thanks

WilcoRoger

Solid choices, IMO.

AY J beats BA CW and as an added bonus you avoid LHR!

tafer2uk

Thanks WilcoRoger, the wife took some convincing as we have more recently traveled Etihad or Emirates, and are due to fly to BKK with Qatar in November. We did BA once and whilst it wasn't bad it wasn't up to ME airline standards (although they seem to be declining imho). I just couldn't justify the extra £900 in my mind especially given journey times are on a par or better.

cerberusbites

Hi guys, I'm a newbie to both AY Plus and the forum but I did join as a former AB*G and got the instant upgrade to silver so yay.
Question: I flew four segments in J on QR last week and made sure to include my AY# in the booking and while checking in. However, the flights still haven't shown up on my AY account.
How long does it usually take in your experience for segments to show up (a) from AY flights (b) from other *OW airlines?
Thank you <3