WilcoRoger

On the topic of CAN and visa free transit.

I had several trips to CAN, easily doable with an open jaw AY ticket - HEL-BKK-CAN-HKG*-HEL or the other way round. CAN offers an opportunity to try airlines you might otherwise not fly - for me such was UL (Sri Lankan) and KQ (Kenya)

Make sure to explain the checkin personel that you're on TWOV, it may take them some typing to find the correct procedure, depending on airline/airport. In HEL the AY staff knows the routine well.

You get max 72 hrs in the whole Pearl River delta (Guangzhou province), not just Guangzhou city. The clock start ticking at 0:00 the day after your arrival - with good timing you might stretch the time to well over 72 hrs.

You'll need printout of your onward flight and hotel reservation and go to the "special" immigration booth (rightmost) Best experience 5 minutes, worst experience 30 minutes, with extra paperwork and supervisor involved (but no questions asked)

* or ICN or someplace in JPN

intuition

Really?! Not online IME, tried several times.

Courmisch

I remember that I was able to price HEL-CAN-HKG-HEL reasonably (in Y). To be honest, I don' t remember if it was true interline HEL-CAN-HKG/HKG-HEL or just a multi-city.

intuition

Ay.com just comes back with "the destinations you have choosen cannot be booked online. Please contact Finnair". If it used to work, they clearly blocked it.

lkrt

I feel that many of the searches I was previously able to do there, now come back with that message.

Courmisch

Is there any logic to interline capabilities on Finnair.com? HEL-*-ZAG w/OU works, but HEL-*-SOF w/FB does not, even though Finnair publishes fares for both... Figures.

intuition

As per feb 2017, FB is an interline partner to AY. The only limitation to the agreement is that revalidation is not performed on 623 stock and no iEMD SSR are issued.
However with Finnair current business model, interline is only offered to customers when agent feels like it. There is no obligation to use interline agreements just because they have signed the contract.

OU is also interline partner, with slightly fewer restrictions (only iEMD SSR are not issued)

Purjelentaja

Not quite right. Interline works when flights are on same ticket. BPs might not be issued for the whole journey in all cases, though, but baggage should be checked through. Interline doesn't work when on different tickets, even when transfering to another oneworld carrier which I find to be very poor customer service.

intuition

AFAIU, this is the result of a policy, not a technical limitation. Finnair chooses when to use their interline agreements. Hence my hyperbole it is at their will.

But I've also had instances where check-in agent is not capable of checking bags to final even when on one AY ticket. Typically Australasia trips have had this limitation.

Purjelentaja

Right you are, but it is Finnair policy, not an individual agent deciding it based on how (s)he feels like.

Courmisch

Guys, I'm referring to purchasing interline tickets, not to checking in bags through an already purchased interline ticket.

Finnair.com does not seem very consistent w.r.t. which companies/destinations it offers interlines fo - Oneworld or otherwise - and which it does not.

You can buy interlines with NZ or OU there. You cannot buy interline with FB, even though 105 stock fares exist.

intuition

Inconsistent indeed. While entirely OT, here is the current list of interline partners. If airline is on the list but agent refuses to do interlining, you at least have a reason to raise the question with management. If they refuse interlining with FB it is at least not because they don't have an agreement.

Courmisch

I must say that I have an intuitive but possibly incorrect idea what the groups column mean. The others, not so much.

In any case, the table is not all that useful for purchasing purpose. Finnair does not publish fares for many of the listed airlines. For instance, you can get AY-AZ interline at CDG under AF code and ticket, but not from AY that I'd know of. Aside from YY fares that is (obviously).

seldomrfly

I had a look at your ARN-CAN-HKG/HKG-ARN reservation that ay.com turned down.
It is indeed possible to book in the spring of 2018, (maybe also in the last days of october). Price from ARN is sub 500€. The CAN-HKG leg is operated by Cathay Dragon.

intuition

Interesting. I tried several dates and all failed with the same message. Can you provide details of a booking that works for you?