intuition

Reconfirming Jewel early check-in is open for Finnair, from 12.00 on day of travel. And it was the first manual disk just around the corner, like reported above.

If going taxi/hail-riding, choose Jewel drop off as destination, ask to be dropped at the far end e.g. pillar 9. There is a sign "Elevator to early check-in". Go down, turn around 180° and the desk is behind that elevator shaft.

Check-in agent was friendly and positive and made a clear comment that "you can go to Qantas lounge based on your status or to Merhaba based on lounge invite on ticket."


A note on lounges. QR has now restricted opening hours. According to lounge finder it closes in the morning and does not open until 18.00. Sign on door says "Opens again 17.20" so you could try slightly earlier than official opening hour. But no need to go early for the sake of QR.

A note on the "revenue ticket" text for QR lounge. I believe this is to reflect that guesting is not available, ie only the ticket- and card-holder has entry and OW guesting privileges (+1) is voided.
QR plats do have a +2 guesting policy when travelling on QR flights. I do hold this card, but couldn't test if they allow guesting for own elites as I'm flying AY today.


To experience the exclusive feeling of Finnair business class travel, I went to Merhaba to try it out. It is a typical PP lounge type, with some slob food (chicken in different sauces, rice and noodles). Spirits provided are Chivas regal 12, Bacardi, Beefeater and Absolut blå.
So nothing special and nothing to strive for, but adequate.

Freightman

Would anyone know why the Singapore flight is late out tonight (AY131, 31st March)? Showing as delayed overnight.

Have parents travel traveling to LHR on the return and they want to know why (typical for most airlines - not just Finnair - communication is non-existant other than flight delayed...)

Jorma

Just looks like lack of planes to me (or something went technical somewhere earlier). OH-LWI that is scheduled for the SIN flight, is on schedule at MIA and arriving HEL 06:25.

edit-- LWI was delayed at MIA and LWD from SIN was used for the delayed SIN.

ffay005

On my day of travel in May, QR seems to have flights departing at 2:15, 10:30 and 18:45 so surely the lounge should open no later than 16:45? But AY departs at 21:50 and if the lounge closes when the QR 18:45 starts boarding, then it's not of much of use for AY pax. I had an excellent dinner there last time.

Freightman

Thank you.

As it goes, Finnair have proactively moved them to the BA flight.

intuition

On the day I checked, QR947 was scheduled to depart 20:20 and so the door sign "Opens 17.20" seems to align with T-3. If this logic holds true, the retimed QR947 (moved from 20:20 to 18:45 per today) would mean opening at 15:45. However, their own webpage still shows 18.00 as evening opening hour, so you will just have to go there on your day of departure and see.
Do note that we were turned away from QF F at around 15:30 because lounge was at capacity and was asked to return at ≈18 (IIRC). So if QR now opens at 15.45 then that will be a good starting option.

The access policy in "QR Premium lounge" is indeed premium (J or F) ticket, confirmed by staff at the lounge. Even QR PC platinum holders cannot use their +2 guesting allowance.

I was there just before AY departure and the lounge was very quiet. Just doing drinks so I did not look at menu but I assume it is still good.

WoShiProDevils

https://mainlymiles.com/2024/03/31/w...2500-avios-87/

Now that business class to Europe miles required is so much lower compared to SQ. Look like I be saving miles and transferring to British airways avios for my trip to Europe next time.

Jorma

Looking at that award chart begs the question, when will SIN, LAX and Japan award go up in prices? I think this is more for the award thread.

aster

The Jewel addition is absolutely superb with its early check-in service, but I'm still not sure about the closing time for Finnair flights. The airport's official website states 18:30 as the cut-off time (not very convenient for many...) though I was in Changi just a few days ago and the monitors in T1 show Finnair in the group of airlines with the 22:00 closing time. Do you happen to know which information is correct?

I was really, really looking forward to checking out the Qantas lounge. Like really looking forward to it after reading some of the reviews here that compared it to the other options. But then my mom's flight on a *A carrier got changed and we were suddenly flying out at similar times (me on AY via HEL and her on TK transferring in IST), albeit with OW vs *A lounge access. Turns out Merhaba takes everyone so we just headed there in order to stay together.

The food really didn't look enticing (Changi prison probably serves better) but the drinks selection was quite decent as long as you aren't a wine lover. If you are then please pretend you are not, at least for those 1-2 hours in the lounge, because that stuff is rough as heck. Reminds me of my student days of "anything goes" but even then I cannot remember downing wine half as bad... Even thinking about it just now as I type makes me shudder...

On the upside it really makes you appreciate the nice choice of wines onboard AY, and I must have had close to a bottle's worth of the Italian white to finally put to rest the lounge experience...

What an unlucky day to travel, with the flight delayed from 23:55 to 07:53. Isn't this a hugely expensive EU261 scenario for the airline?

When I collected Avios on BA it was near impossible to book a reward ticked on the SIN route, which was hugely ironic because the LHR route was one of the easiest ones to book a reward ticket on SQ (which I did on many occasions). Has this changed with regards to either airline?

Also, an interesting little trick on SQ, although I haven't tried it myself (but have booked for others), is to use those precious miles to fly to IST and then book a cheaper connection from there: 56.5k vs 103.5k miles.

intuition

I believe the 6:30 cut-off is for Jewel early check-in. After that time, it is no longer an early check-in"and you should use the ordinary check-in desk. I think this has to do with getting checked in bags into the ordinary flow. All airlines using Jewel has a "3 hours before departure" cut-off.
No deeper insight on this though, just my personal reasoning.

LOL! Yes, I saw the "wine-collection" at merhaba and decided to stay dry a few hours.

aster

Yes, early check-in needs to happen at least three hours before the flight but if there is an additional cut-off at 18:30 then that creates a void between 18:30 and 19:45, which is when the regular check-in desks should open (for a 22:45 departure).

The website indeed states 18:30 but the monitors in T1 had AY lumped with a few others showing 22:00 (though naturally the 3-hr rule would still apply).

I learned that the hard way, lol. Even looking at the stuff coming out of the bottle was a warning sign in itself because it simply looked nasty (at least the red). Tasting it just confirmed the obvious I guess. Headed back to try some white as if one lesson wasn't enough...

My mom was smart enough to give it a pass completely and just settled for tea.

WoShiProDevils

Thanks for the tip.

Sq to IST and economy is much more miles/cost saving.
Probably will use this option for my trip to UK/Europe. As my local banks allow direct crediting to krisflyer while for Avios I only have Citi. It be mush faster to save and redeem miles on SQ.
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Plip

Early check-in was great for us since we arrived with Air Asia in the morning and had 10 hours or so layover. Just dropped our bags and went to the city and had Bak Kut Teh for lunch. After coming back we spent the rest of the time in QR lounge. The food was pretty good as were the wines. However, their bar wasn't well stocked (Non-Schengen lounge in Helsinki is way better) and service was pretty bad. We were the only ones dining and still it took forever to get drinks and one main course arrived before starters. They were also out of desserts and just told us bluntly to get cakes from the buffet. My last visit in the lounge was about two years ago and then it was really good and service was great. Funnily enough, they hadn't change their wifi code since my last visit.

Have to mention also that the Singapore-based crew on our flight was excellent.