Live Trip Report: MAN-LHR-HEL
 

Intro

Well it has been almost two months since my trip to Hawaii and San Juan, and I am starting to get withdrawal symptoms. Our next holiday in Aug to Yellowstone is still another 3 months away (almost) so we both thought it was time for a weekend away somewhere. Rome? Paris? Looked at the BA website checking out costs and TP earnings, and then wondered about somewhere slightly further afield, and in the end we opted for Helsinki.

Helsinki looks an interesting place - we have never been to that part of the world before, and it’s not part of Scandinavia! It’s about a 3 hour flight from Heathrow, earns 80 TPs each way in Club class, and was a decent price over Easter (although we were limited in the times of flights at a decent price). It allows us to try out the CCR at T5 (on the way back anyway).

This is only going to be a short live trip report since it will be all over in a couple of days time, and I'm taking billinghamv with me for a change, so no wild parties back at our house whilst I am away!

So pretty quiet at MAN this morning. Surprising - I thought it would be mad busy. No doubt it will be hectic by the time we get down to LHR. No hold ups at MAN - straight through security and into the lounge, which was also very quiet. I enjoy my first piece of cold toast in the MAN T3 lounge at the start of every trip - I am odd that way! :)

Enjoy your time in Helsinki, fantastic city.

My next visit will be late October for another refreshment course.

Flight down to Heathrow was fine until we came out of the stack for final approach. Captain was advising we would be at least 10 mins early at the gate. Great we all thought. Not quite a full flight. Happy people turning up early, until we have to stop and wait for our stand which was occupied. Captain reported that he was negotiating for another stand.

10/15 mins later, we are now running a tad late, and captain is pleased to announce that he has secured a different stand for us. When we get there we are then told we have to get off via the steps and a bus will take us to the terminal because we are at an international gate.

We then wait another 10 mins for steps, and then we are told that they are going to be placed at the back of the aircraft and it then takes another 15 mins before we are dropped off by the bus at the terminal

I could carry on whinging, but I will try not to. After all we are having a few days away and we need to chill. One thing I hope someone on the BAEC forum can clarify is this: Is the captain made aware of potential gate/stand issues before landing? I would have thought that someone should have a view of the end to end process - timing of the final approach, landing and availability of gates/stands to avoid setting the wrong expectations? Appreciate things can go wrong, but I'm feeling like Mr Grumpy right now and I'd really like to know...

Found our way into the First Lounge at T3 - the bus seemed to be waiting for us to take us between T5 and T3, which was appreciated, whether it was intended or not. The lounge is almost empty and we got a reminder when checking into the lounge that we had to be at Gate 24 at least 25 mins before departure without fail - they don't go chasing for anyone nowadays! Suitably chastised, we helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet which was more than adequate to quell my ire from earlier.

Looking forward to the flight to HEL now.

I was held hostage on a flight ex Aberdeen to Heathrow a year ago for 1 hour 20 minutes - well about 180 of us were, not just me. No stand available, then the stand guidance system failed, it was an international stand, no steps, no bus and a missed connection!! Grrrrrr, 10,000 Avios compensation just wasn't enough for the inconvenience of that!

I love these, can i ask where/ what routing you will be taking to Yellowstone, i was eyeing going there next summer.

Looking forwards to the rest. :)

Live Trip Report: MAN-LHR-HEL
 

Just arrived at Hilton Strand in Helsinki. Wish I hadn't brought my thick coat now. It's lovely here - very sunny, warm and experiencing a new place. Looking forward to my reindeer steak now. Hope they don't leave the antlers on.

It's just not the same trip report without Mrs. B's parties.;)

Hope you both enjoy this trip.

Summary of our flight from MAN-LHR:

We're on our way. Been working mad busy over the past few weeks, and have been looking forward to this short break for a couple of weeks now. Up nice and early and left 13 mins ahead of schedule.

Arrived at MAN expecting it to be very busy - there were a fair number of cars in the T3 Meet & Greet, but by the time we got into T3, it was dead. Used Fast Track Security for the sheer hell of it, and was straight through - no waiting. The lounge was equally quiet.

billinghamv didn't let me sit in my favourite seat because of the sunshine shining in her eyes (for goodness sake woman), but the seats she chose were ok.

So pretty quiet at MAN this morning. Surprising - I thought it would be mad busy. No doubt it will be hectic by the time we get down to LHR. I enjoy my first piece of cold toast in the MAN T3 lounge at the start of every trip - I am odd that way!

Flight down to Heathrow was fine until we came out of the stack for final approach. Captain was advising we would be at least 10 mins early at the gate. Great we all thought. Not quite a full flight. Happy people turning up early, until we have to stop and wait for our stand which was occupied. Captain reported that he was negotiating for another stand.

10/15 mins later, we are now running a tad late, and captain is pleased to announce that he has secured a different stand for us. When we get there we are then told we have to get off via the steps and a bus will take us to the terminal because we are at an international gate.

We then wait another 10 mins for steps, and then we are told that they are going to be placed at the back of the aircraft and it then takes another 15 mins before we are dropped off by the bus at the terminal

https://31.media.tumblr.com/d6f2f68c...fBd1rp3ex7.jpg

I could carry on whinging, but I will try not to. After all we are having a few days away and we need to chill. One thing I hope someone on the BAEC forum can clarify is this: Is the captain made aware of potential gate/stand issues before landing? I would have thought that someone should have a view of the end to end process - timing of the final approach, landing and availability of gates/stands to avoid setting the wrong expectations? Appreciate things can go wrong, but I'm feeling like Mr Grumpy right now and I'd really like to know...

Found our way into the First Lounge at T3 (after stopping off at Starbucks) - the bus seemed to be waiting for us to take us between T5 and T3, which was appreciated, whether it was intended or not. The lounge is almost empty and we got a reminder when checking into the lounge that we had to be at Gate 24 at least 25 mins before departure without fail - they don't go chasing for anyone nowadays! Suitably chastised, we helped ourselves to the breakfast buffet which was more than adequate to quell my ire from earlier.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/efe2cffc...3vG1rp3ex7.jpg

https://31.media.tumblr.com/a9444699...4xi1rp3ex7.jpg

Looking forward to the flight to HEL now.

Summary of our flight from LHR-HEL:

After being warned by the gate dragon about being late to the gate for our flight, billinghamv was keen to leave the lounge, so we headed out 35 mins before it was scheduled to depart but I knew it was scheduled to depart at least 10 mins late.

The flight left from gate 24b which is a bus gate, with a similar reputation to A10 in T5 - no one really wants to see that gate against their flight no. It didn't take long to get to the plane though and we were welcomed aboard.

Not long after taking off from 09R a very attractive CSM came over to say hello to me. Since I had swapped seats with billinghamv she asked whether we were together. I thought to myself "not necessarily love"! I laughed about it after the event with Vick but I dont think she saw the funny side...

The CSM was very pleasant and it was nice to be appreciated as a good customer. Settled into the flight and it wasn't long before the Haribo Tangfastics came out.

For lunch we both ordered the cold meats with a nice soft cheese and I had to try the Monopole champers which went down very nicely with some orange juice.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/be9ca6e3...06D1rp3ex7.jpg

Later I chatted with the CSM, a male member of CC and the captain. Two had never been to Helsinki before as and the other had only visited once and that was overnight last night taking the early flight out of HEL.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/295e79ee...ixe1rp3ex7.jpg

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Skies starting to clear and now looking forward to arriving. Arrived about 20 mins late but didn't take long to taxi to our arrival point. Offloaded pretty quickly and spent about 5 mins queueing to get through security. Then it was off looking for the bus into town.

Caught the bus from platform 21 (bus 615) in to the city and got off at Hakin... Square. The bus now costs 5 Euros - this may have gone up recently.

Unbelievably for us we didn't print out a map of exactly where the hotel was, so we aimlessly walked for 5 mins before realising that it was pointless. We needed to ask, and for a change it was me, the bloke, who suggested the wife should approach someone to ask where the hotel was. A very nice couple said they had just walked past the Hilton, and pointed us in the right direction. These Finns are really nice.

I have to say that I wish I hadn't brought my thick coat now. It's lovely here - very sunny, warm and experiencing a new place. Looking forward to my reindeer steak now. Hope they don't leave the antlers on.

Arrived at the Hilton Strand and was upgraded onto the Exec floor - it is a bit dated, but there is a bit of a charm about it. The room was nice enough - great view out towards the sea, and access to the Exec lounge, which wasn't that good, but it had free wine, and appetisers etc, so can't complain.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/41d090af...rqG1rp3ex7.jpg

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We had booked Stefan's Steakhouse a few days before and turned up almost an hour late - combination of the plane arriving late and just needing a bit more time to find the hotel etc. The hotel tried to ring on our behalf to change the time but the restaurant weren't answering for some reason. It wasn't a problem - they weren't very busy so they fit us in without too much hassle.

The food was absolutely gorgeous. I had crab cakes as a starter, and Vick had iceberg lettuce with blue cheese and bacon. Very good start.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/5b243330...Ihr1rp3ex7.jpg

Then we went on with a steak - billinghamv went for the traditional steak and I had the reindeer. Both were excellent.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/f05ab46c...gxF1rp3ex7.jpg

And then the pier de la resistance, we both had chocolate fondants which were Masterchef quality.

https://31.media.tumblr.com/1da4411e...Upl1rp3ex7.jpg

Walked back to the hotel - it was pretty dark by this time, but still a nice temperature, and crashed.

Just woken up - 2 hours ahead of the UK - slept well and am enjoying not working through the night. So what do we think of Helsinki so far? Well it's an interesting city - not seen much of it so far, but from what we saw yesterday afternoon and evening the main streets in the central part of the city are beautiful, especially in the evening when the street lights are on - the trams add an extra dimension to that. The rest of the city seems to be fairly drab to be honest (in respect to buildings etc).

We have been given some advice about good walks to taken in beautiful views, so will be exploring today, and I am sure we will see a different side to Helsinki.

We are flying DUB-LHR-JFK-MIA-SEA on the way out, picking up a Herz convertible and driving to Yellowstone over 3 days. We are then heading back to the west coast on the more southern route taking another 3 days or so, and then winding our way down to San Francisco where we will be taking the reverse flights back to DUB but starting from SFO instead of SEA.

So this is another ex-EU trip and I've upgraded the LHR-JFK and JFK-LHR flights into First with a Joker and a GUF2. Looking forward to my first experience of First Class.

W T F



(Welcome to Finland. At least every hotel room used to have ... magazine, which amused my US colleagues)

You definitely got lucky with the weather. Until this week the Spring has been cold, windy and damp. Yesterday was wonderful and today looks like being better.

I would definitely recommend a walk on Suomenlinna (ferry from the market square) and a walk past the Silja terminal to Kaivopuisto (Cafe Ursula for coffee and something to eat) and a view of the sea. You might get high on the various chemicals in the air as everyone rushes to get their boats ready for launch now the weather has improved.

You are right about the centre of Helsinki being nice and the rest being a bit drab. Generally Finland suffers from urban growth happening in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Lots of low rise concrete and everything looking very similar. If you are a hard core architecture fan you can find some hidden gems, but to most they look just like another concrete building. Downtown Helsinki is great though.

Generally Finland is best in deep winter or mid summer. It is all about the extremes. At this time of year it has a great feeling for the locals as it is all about the transition. The end of the cold and dark and the start of the warm and light and soon everything is green. However, for someone dropped into it things look a bit "brown" as the ground has thawed but not yet started growing.

Billinghamn....I agree we found Helsinki a bit drab though we only went for a day trip. What you need to do is hop on the lindaline and head over to Tallinn....its the nicest European city ive ever been to!