‘Scripts, Skeletons & Scriptures: Writing About Writing in Yorkshire.

[Human]

Boarding commenced on time.

The Spirit of Australia:


Thankfully, I did indeed end up with two seats to myself:


About two and a half hours into the ten hour flight — exactly 30 minutes after I first asked myself, “Are we there yet?” — the thought occurred to me:

• Business class: you don’t mind how long the flight lasts.
• First class: you want the flight to last longer.
• Economy class: you wish the flight were shorter.

I mean, the flight was OK. The A330 was nice and modern, the cabin crew were efficient, it was a daytime flight, and I had two seats to myself on the right hand side of the plane. Also there was no-one seated behind me, which took the guilt (and shame) out of reclining.

And after that actually the flight seemed to go a lot more quickly. So really it could have been a lot worse.

Nevertheless there were a couple of quirks.

First, the meals and snacks were not exactly spread out.

Half an hour into the flight, the crew brought around a snack.


Less than half an hour later,, the main meal ("lunch") was served (this was at 11am, Sydney time).


Two and a half hours into the flight (12:30pm), the crew brought around another snack. Or was that dessert? It was, admittedly, yummy.



Five minutes later the drink cart also came by (it included spirits, but I just had a coffee and a Tim Tam).

So within two and a half hours of departing, two snacks and a full lunch had been served. Then there was nothing except water until 90 minutes before landing, when a "light dinner" was served:


Also there was no internet. Which was probably good for me. I finished reading this book which I needed to finish before Monday. Why? Because its author will be one of my tutor/mentors at the writing retreat.


Anyway, the flight did go quickly after that. I didn't sleep (surprising, given my 3am start), but I did recline my seat and rest to some Boccherini symphonies.

Everyone had closed their window shades, but I opened mine to enjoy the view as we crossed the Australian coastline (almost right over Darwin, in this case). I always enjoy watching crossing that coastline as you leave Australia.


The entertainment options were not bad at all. I generally just bring up the flight map and listen to music, but one of the albums available was Carole King's Tapestry.

If you have never listened to Tapestry, stop reading right now and listen to it. It's one of the greatest albums of all time.

If you have listened to it before, stop reading right now and listen to it again..

A couple of photos of our descent into Bangkok (there was a lot of cloud around so I couldn't get many):


Bangkok airport is big, but efficient enough...


And I was out the front probably within 30 minutes of landing.

So all in all, I survived my long-haul Economy class experience. Tomorrow I'm being driven to the airport at 4am for my 7am Finnair (operated by Finnair!) flight.

 

[Human]

I'm staying at the "At Residence Suvarnabhumi Hotel" near the airport; thanks @RB for suggesting this. I booked an airport transfer for THB400 (about A$20) return and the transfer was easy and seamless. The room itself costs about $61 for the night. Really can't complain about that; it's about a 10-minute drive to the airport.


I would normally go out for a walk, but I was too tired. I went downstairs to have a delicious dinner at the hotel's own restaurant. I had a Thai Iced Tea, the crispy chicken with cashews and vegetables, with rice, and a coconut sundae for dessert. All delicious.




Time for an early bed before my second pre-4am start in a row tomorrow.

 

[Human]

Up at 3:35am for my transfer from the airport. BKK is quite large airport. Check-in, as you’d expect, was quick and efficient and I was issued my boarding passes for HEL and CDG. I was also given an invitation to the Miracle Lounge.


But I'm an AFFer . “I can do better than that”, I thought slyly as I made my way to the Qatar lounge.

Nope.


So I thought I’d try the Cathay Lounge. It was closed too.


I made my way to the Miracle Lounge with my tail between my legs. It’s quiet-ish and the seats are comfortable. But the breakfast options were utterly underwhelming. This is the coffee, which I decided not to drink.




The Qatar lounge opens at 5:40am, 45 minutes before boarding. I’ll have a (much) better breakfast there.

 

[Human]

Well, I was right to wait for the Qatar Lounge to open. What a great lounge!!





I ordered French Toast from the a la carte menu. It did not disappoint.


The menu is here.

Boarding of my Finnair A350 commences in a few minutes.

 

[VPS]

Boarding commenced on time.

The Spirit of Australia:
View attachment 466164

Thankfully, I did indeed end up with two seats to myself:
View attachment 466165

About two and a half hours into the ten hour flight — exactly 30 minutes after I first asked myself, “Are we there yet?” — the thought occurred to me:

• Business class: you don’t mind how long the flight lasts.
• First class: you want the flight to last longer.
• Economy class: you wish the flight were shorter.

I mean, the flight was OK. The A330 was nice and modern, the cabin crew were efficient, it was a daytime flight, and I had two seats to myself on the right hand side of the plane. Also there was no-one seated behind me, which took the guilt (and shame) out of reclining.

And after that actually the flight seemed to go a lot more quickly. So really it could have been a lot worse.

Nevertheless there were a couple of quirks.

First, the meals and snacks were not exactly spread out.

Half an hour into the flight, the crew brought around a snack.
View attachment 466166

Less than half an hour later,, the main meal ("lunch") was served (this was at 11am, Sydney time).
View attachment 466167

Two and a half hours into the flight (12:30pm), the crew brought around another snack. Or was that dessert? It was, admittedly, yummy.
View attachment 466168


Five minutes later the drink cart also came by (it included spirits, but I just had a coffee and a Tim Tam).

So within two and a half hours of departing, two snacks and a full lunch had been served. Then there was nothing except water until 90 minutes before landing, when a "light dinner" was served:
View attachment 466169

Also there was no internet. Which was probably good for me. I finished reading this book which I needed to finish before Monday. Why? Because its author will be one of my tutor/mentors at the writing retreat.
View attachment 466170

Anyway, the flight did go quickly after that. I didn't sleep (surprising, given my 3am start), but I did recline my seat and rest to some Boccherini symphonies.

Everyone had closed their window shades, but I opened mine to enjoy the view as we crossed the Australian coastline (almost right over Darwin, in this case). I always enjoy watching crossing that coastline as you leave Australia.
View attachment 466171

The entertainment options were not bad at all. I generally just bring up the flight map and listen to music, but one of the albums available was Carole King's Tapestry.

If you have never listened to Tapestry, stop reading right now and listen to it. It's one of the greatest albums of all time.

If you have listened to it before, stop reading right now and listen to it again..

A couple of photos of our descent into Bangkok (there was a lot of cloud around so I couldn't get many):
View attachment 466173View attachment 466174

Bangkok airport is big, but efficient enough...
View attachment 466175View attachment 466176View attachment 466177

And I was out the front probably within 30 minutes of landing.

So all in all, I survived my long-haul Economy class experience. Tomorrow I'm being driven to the airport at 4am for my 7am Finnair (operated by Finnair!) flight.

Ah Tapestry. I remember playing that over and over again.

Saw her in concert with James Taylor about 20 Years ago and she was fantastic

 

[Human]

I want to write a little more about the Qatar lounge, as my earlier post was necessarily hurried.

It was the best Business class lounge I’ve been to. In fact, the quality of the food was the same as, and the level of service exceeded, the three First Class lounges I’ve been to: namely, The Private Room in Singapore, the JAL First Lounge in Haneda, and the SoHo Lounge in New York JFK (which admittedly is more a Oneworld Emerald lounge than a true First lounge).

Yes, I’ve been to other Business class lounges where the range of food available was much more extensive – the SilverKris Lounge in SIN, the Al Mourjan Lounges in DOH and, especially, the Turkish Airlines Lounge in IST – but the quality of the food at the Bangkok Qatar Lounge was amazing: it was fresh, tasty, and well-presented. As most of us know, usually you’d hold off eating too much in the Lounge because you know that the quality of the food onboard will be better. There, it was the other way around. I ate in the knowledge that it would be all downhill from there!

Finally, because of its small size, the staff-to-passenger ratio at Bangkok was better than any other lounge I’ve been to by far. While I was eating I was checked at my table several times, and there was even a friendly greeting by the staff at the entrance to the toilet!

Are all the Qatar outstation lounges like this? Certainly the hospitality of the Thai staff was next level.

 

[Human]

It felt that I had to leave the Qatar Lounge prematurely, and certainly I could have spent a lot longer than 35 minutes there. But it was time to board. There was a bit of a hold-up at the gate, but we boarded soon enough and the flight departed on time.

I had allocated myself seat 11A, in the smaller of the two Business class cabins. After boarding I had my first real view of the famous Finnair Business class seat:


Before I write about it more specifically, here’s the one-word TL;DR summary: SPACE.

It has by far the most room of any Business class seat I’ve had, with the obvious but rarely-available exception of Singapore Airlines’ long-haul A350 and 777 bulkhead seats. There’s plenty of storage space, plenty of room to spread out, plenty of room to stretch and plenty of room to sleep.

As you know, the seat doesn’t recline. I was expecting that that would be annoying. It’s not. (Well, not yet, anyway). On this seat one does not recline; one lounges. Lounging is not reclining and reclining is not lounging. But for me it’s difficult to determine which is better; they’re just different.

Other features: a very basic amenity kit (earplugs, toothbrush & toothpaste, eye mask). The Jetstar Business Class amenity kit is better. Having said that, the eye mask is very large and effective.

The entertainment selection isn’t great, in my opinion. At least they have Sibelius. I’m currently listening to an album called Älä pelkää elämää from a band called “Haloo Helsinki!” (or should that be the other way around? No idea, really…) simply because I feel I should be listening to something Finnish.

At least there’s a tail camera.


Immediately after boarding I was offered a drink. Being before 7am, I chose the blueberry juice over champagne.


After takeoff I was offered a “smoothie”. No elaboration was given, but I definitely tasted strawberry and mango. In any case it was very nice.


Breakfast came around about 45 minutes after takeoff. I chose the scrambled eggs. As I suspected, it was a step down from the Qatar Lounge. It was OK, though, but it didn’t come with salt & pepper which I had to ask for specifically. When the salt & pepper did come, it was in those annoying little paper square thingys that come with economy class (and Virgin business class!) meals.


After that the cabin lights were dimmed: slightly weird, given it was about 9am Bangkok time. Mind you, that was 3am Helsinki time so that was maybe the method in their madness. In any case, I didn’t mind as I thought there was a decent chance that I’d sleep. A member of the cabin crew offered to make my bed for me.


Over the next two or so hours I slept sporadically. It was nice having the space to spread out and stretch.

The toilet at the front of the front cabin has a window. Lovely.


After a couple of hours I realised that I wouldn’t be able to sleep any more so I sat up, with the seat still in bed mode, extended the tray table and got out my laptop. As a Business class passenger I get one hour of free internet which I’m using now!

 

[drron]

And early tomorrow morning we get to taste the QR BKK lounge,
Of course JQ J meals come with the small rectangular salt and pepper sachets. I was expecting that though.

 

[Human]

And early tomorrow morning we get to taste the QR BKK lounge,
Of course JQ J meals come with the small rectangular salt and pepper sachets. I was expecting that though.

Sorry we missed each other by a day! I don't know if you're into sweet breakfasts, but the french toast was really a treat!

 

[Human]

Everyone had their windowshades down, but I did manage to sneak in some pretty spectacular views of, I think, Afghanistan...


Here's the menu:


The main meal was served about three hours before landing. I had pre-ordered the Massaman Beef. Again, it was quite OK without being spectacular. Note the quite small quantity of beef. The appetisers and main course were once again all served on one tray. I had a 2023 Pinot Noir which seemed OK to me, but what do I know?

.
I had the "Lemon custart tart" for dessert, which was essentially a lemon meringue pie. It was quite nice.


By that stage we were well and truly in Europe and approaching Helsinki. I could see from the flight map how being unable to travel over Russian airspace had made a difference to our route.


Some photos of our descent into HEL...




So... some reflections on my first Finnair Business class flight:

The hard product was up there with the best I've flown. The fact that I could lounge, rather than recline, didn't end up being a negative at all and it was a perfectly comfortable flight. I think I'd still marginally choose Qatar Q-Suites, for their privacy and other features, and Singapore Airlines bulkhead seats for their even greater space. But it's a very close call. I was happy that I was able to experience what everyone else has been talking about!

The soft product wasn't bad, but it was nowhere near the best I've experienced either. Again, Qatar is the clear leader here for its food, its presentation, and its dine-on-demand. Singapore Airlines, at its best, is a close second. I'm not that experienced a Business class flyer (never flown JAL Business, never flown United Business, never flown ANA Business, etc, etc) and at the end of the day I'm not all that fussy (largely because my palette is quite unsophisticated compared with some...). But certainly offering everything on one tray on a long-haul Business class flight isn't amazingly impressive ... and how hard could it be to provide passengers with salt and pepper without them having to ask for it?

The bottom line, though, is that I'd gladly fly Finnair Business again. And I'll be forever grateful that there was Award availability one month before the flight!

 

[Human]

As I write this I'm in the middle of my 5-and-a-half-hour transit in HEL. My flight to Paris is later tonight on a Finnair Embraer E190.

I don't have any photos of my arrival at HEL due to the fact that it was about 10pm in Melbourne and my focus was on talking to my wife before she went to bed. I have to say, though, that I was happy to be clearing EU/Schengen Immigration somewhere other than Paris, which can be a bit of a nightmare sometimes. The queue in Helsinki was about five minutes, and I can say with some confidence that it would have been several times that long in CDG.

After doing some shopping of some cute, but tasteful, Finnish souvenirs for my abovementioned wife, I headed upstairs to the Finnair Lounge. Sadly, unlike its non-Schengen counterpart, the Schengen Area Finnair Lounge does not have a sauna! And it's quite crowded -- particularly the food area -- so I don't have many photos. But it's a perfectly good "domestic" lounge with lots of different seating areas, even if it could be a little larger.




One of the drinks on tap is a "Gin & Grapefruit" drink which I just had to try. It was very nice!


Later on I'll have a shower and a light dinner before my flight. If I don't post about that tonight, I'm not sure when my next post will be -- there's no internet on Finnair E190s and I'll be arriving in Paris quite late; my priority will be sleep rather than posting...

Then I have quite an early start tomorrow and a very full day. I'm looking forward to it though -- I'm going back to the Louvre for the first time in over 3 years.

You might have worked out what the "skeletons" are in this TR title. If not, Saturday's the day!

 

[RooFlyer]

Are all the Qatar outstation lounges like this?

Pretty much. The Singapore business lounge I would equate to 1st class lounges with almost every other airline.

Unlimited supply of fresh squeezed orange juice is a godsend in the middle of an international itinerary

 

[Human]

Unlimited supply of fresh squeezed orange juice is a godsend in the middle of an international itinerary

A truer word has never been spoken!!

 

[Human]

Jumping back in with one more post because the Finnair Lounge has emptied right out. So I’ve been able to take a few more photos.



So now that the Lounge has emptied somewhat, in true teacher fashion I’m upping its grade from a B to an A-minus!