We'll be flying Finnair to Helsinki (coach)
As an AA Plat (oneworld Sapphire) will we have access to the Lounge at JFK? On departure in Helsinki??

Also, how many AA miles to upgrade (if available) these tickets?

Thanks in advance for your helpful replies.

As a OneWorld Sapphire travelling on a OneWorld airline you have access to OneWorld Business Class lounges with one guest. So in principle you could you any OneWorld airline's business lounge at JFK. See http://www.oneworldalliance.com

For the upgrade I'm not sure - why don't you look at the http://www.aa.com ?

Yes to both. When departing on AY, the only convenient lounge at JFK is the Admirals Club (Terminal 8, 3rd floor). At HEL you'll have access to the Fresh lounge, located next to the coffee shop on the 2nd floor.

Finnair (AY) does use the Terminal 8 (mainly AA International and Miami) JFK Admirals Club Lounge.

I think that Iberia(IB) uses that same lounge as well.

Both AY and IB uses Terminal 8 at JFK.

LOT POlish also uses Terminal 8 and I believe the Admirals Club there too.

With your oneworld Saphire status, you could get into others (like British Airways' over in Terminal 7, which Qantas also uses and Cathay Pacific too.) Or even Aer Lingus' and Lan Chile's respective lounges in Termoianl 4. But terminal to terminal transfers at JFK are a huge hassle.

Yes, at JFK the lounge is as described above, terminal 8, 3rd floor.
Yes, at HEL you will have access to any AY lounge! I cannot remember the names (i.e. Fresh Lounge), but if it's in 2nd floor, it's in "shengen"area and not good for you. If you're flying HEL-JFK non-stop, you'll be leaving from "non-shengen" area (likely gate 31/32) and there are two lounges available. One is a "Long Haul/Platinum" lounge with airfield view(the best in HEL) and the other one is just a regular business lounge.
Have a great trip!

At HEL unless you have emerald OW status or travelling in a long haul premier cabin you are best to stay in the shengin area and use the lounges there. The business lounge in the non-shengin area is very basic.

And besides that they won't honour Oneworld status in the non-schengen area lounge. Only business class customers are allowed in. The queues are never long at immigration control so I suggest you stay in the Schengen area for as long as possible.

I'm confused with the answers from db7 and ozzie. I have used the Finnair Long Haul Lounge earlier this year with my OW-sapphire status (AA PLT) and economy ticket. Well, maybe it was a mistake...below are all Finnair lounges at HEL (from AY website)

HELSINKI

International Terminal - Non Schengen

Finnair Long Haul Lounge
P, CC (long haul)
Finnair Plus Platinum members and business class customers on Finnair long-haul flights.
Transit hall, between gates 30 and 31.

Gateway Fresh lounge
P, G, S, FC, CC
Non-Schengen terminal,
2nd floor, next to coffee shop

International Terminal - Schengen

***) Golden Gate Lounge
P, G
Regardless of travel class or airline.
Transit hall, second floor, opposite gates 28 and 29.
Sat - Sun closed

Gateway Lounge
P, G, S, FC, CC
Transit hall, opposite to gates 28 and 29, 2nd floor.
Open Mon-Fri, Sun 06.00 - 19.30, Sat. 06.00 - 17.00


Silver Wings Lounge
P, G, S, FC
Finnair Plus Platinum and Gold members regardless of airline. Finnair Plus Silver and Finnair Club members when departing on Finnair marketed flights and Finnair code-share flights with British Airways, regardless of travel class.
Second floor, above gates 26 and 26A.

Gateway Tower Lounge
P, G, S, FC, CC
Second floor, gate 25.
Open Mon-Fri 06.00-21.30, Sat 06.00-19.00, Sun 06.00-20.30

WOW -- much more of a response than I ever expected!! Thanks again for all the helpful information, especially the fact that we WILL be able to get into the lounge with our economy/coach ticket

Non-Shengen area has a 2nd floor too, and that's where the Fresh Lounge is (I use it every time I fly through HEL). Right between the coffee shop and the duty free shop. It's absolutely nothing special - rather small, a coffee/cappuccino machine, nuts, cookies, drinks (self-served), a selection of European newspapers. Staff has always been quite helpful.