TBD

You seem to overthink the value of alliances. United and Singapore are both in star alliance, but they are still competitors (on overlapping sectors).

Alliances don't matter much in business. This was purely a financial decision. Lufthansa needed more planes, but doesn't have them. Finnair has extra planes that aren't flying over Russia or to China right now. This wet lease deal was probably very good for both airlines.

oliver2002

In other news, it seems the deal was extended into the W22/23 season, RSW will be one of the destinations that may be added into the 4Y ob by AY portfolio.

As far as the AY-LH relationship goes, there are some long standing deals between the two. LH did a lot of the MRO for AY and their catering was operated by LH for a while. On an operational level most airlines in Europe co-operate well. Take the A380 as an example: BA/AF/QF have associations on the MRO of A380 since the 2010s. LH used the A380 MRO overcapacity in AUH and CAN too.

weero

What an evolution - the AY J seat I ended up in on the A350 was a lot lot worse that LH's product on the same aircraft type.
Seems that for once the penny pinchers chez LH have made the right move!

theKrafty1tar

I know I'm taking this off-topic. Was this the new AY J seat (the one that doesn't recline)? or the older reverse herringbone seat?

weero

3 out of 4 the older herringbone.

I found both fairly similar and unsuitable for me - the leg space is very confined. And I cannot set any lounging position that is relaxed and comfy and the Ottoman feature is too high for my liking. It's probably a nice product for many but I really don't like it.

Rookie52

Hi everyone,

I will soon be flying with Eurowings Discover, a Finnair A350 aircraft is flying here.

How is the toilet handling in business class here? According to the seating plan, there are 4 in total - can they all be used or are they somehow blocked, as is the case with Lufthansa? Anyone here have experience? As for Eurowings Discover and the Finnair A350?

mashlakito

On a "related" note, anyone know what's the deal with flight 4y72 (OCN1V) operated with FInnair OH-LWG? Blocked toilets causing the delay/cancellation?

TBD

I just took two 4Y/AY flights and wanted to share some feedback.
- The Finnair crews were very friendly. Food was not great.
- I confirm the premium economy cabin is the rear business cabin on AY a350s. Hooray beds at Y+ prices.
- The beds were really uncomfortable. The seat sections didn't line up right and the padding was quite poor.

Separately, although this has nothing to do with AY, the ticketing/reservations system is absolute garbage. There doesn't seem to be any integration between LH and Eurowings. I couldn't check-in online. Couldn't get a seat assignment. And no one except for the Eurowings gate agents could help with any of it. My connections to/from LH were painful.

oliver2002

MCO (4Y 68/69 daily) and PHL (4Y 50/51 5x weekly) have now been filed for 4Y op by AY A359 in W22/23.

TBD

Philly? I thought AY was only contracted for Eurowings routes. Philadelphia should be mainline.

oliver2002

The modus operandi (like YUL earlier this year) is to transfer the flight to 4Y who then wetleases it to AY.

TBD

Montreal, too?
How embarrassing
But I suppose having a low-service/low-cost longhaul carrier matches having a low-service/low-cost hometown domestic carrier, too.

ETA: I'm referring to my hometown carrier in PHL, AA.

Phl06

Booked on PHL-FRA on December 17th. Booked the ticket in PE a month ago and looks like I now see that its operated by 4Y and on the A350. Anyone have any luck getting advance seat selection? Expert flyer is showing me that the mini J cabin is fully booked? LH told me to call 4Y for seats 4Y tells me to call LH.

TBD

I just went through this, although with the added complication of it being a UA (016) ticket. LH-coded flight "operated" by 4Y (but really AY).

I called LH to reserve a seat. They took my credit card to charge me $55. Charge never appeared on my card, though, and I never got the seat assigned. Noticed it a week or so out, but LH phone agent said he couldn't do anything until check-in. Couldn't check-in on Eurowings website. Wound up having to sort it all out at the airport. EF said there were no seats available for me, too, but I got a seat and one seat went out empty.

It was a real pain, but I guess still a good deal to get a bed on a Y+ ticket/price.

Kid Flyer

We have just completed a round trip FRA-TPA operated with FINNAIR and I can share some of my views for those who might be travelling 4Y op by AY.

In general, the hardware is better compared to LH but if you travel as a couple the middle seats are "too private" to have a decent discussion or any kind of interaction since the middle dividers cannot be moved. We were travelling with 2 small children which makes it even worse, and, in this case, I recommend sitting the children to the windows and an adult in the aisle seat. It is much closer than sitting in the middle together giving more room for interaction.

Coming to the service, the crew makes no additional efforts of any kind, they do their Scandinavian style service just enough for you to be OK, not more and not less. I was on several AY flights where the service was much better compared to when operating a 4Y flight, and I am not talking about drink selection or similar but the "going the extra mile attitude". We have pre ordered 2 child meals that were also confirmed in our booking but were never loaded in the aircraft. This is also a great example of the "going the extra mile attitude" I was talking about earlier. The same thing happened to us last year on a LH operated flight and the crew did everything to solve the situation, offering pasta from premium eco and looking for solutions, the AY crew responded in this case: " Fly FINNAIR next time we have child meals, and we make sure they are loaded. Mistakes do happen and the difference is how you handle the issue.
I have the general impression that the purser on both flights was experienced, the rest of the crew seemed to be on some sort of training, and it seemed they have zero or very few months of experience.

Long story short, many complain about LH about seats, reduced ground service, downsizing of meals, etc... but I would choose LH Group any time over AY, and after this experience I value LH crews even more!