Finnair fares and taxes

[qf unfort]

Hi All,

Question about finnair connections from australia - i'm about to book one of the business class fares from australia to London in May that seem pretty good value from australia - currently about $6500 plus tax (connect from Australia on OF, CX, JL or BA). Is there anyway (apart from asking my very helpful Trailfinders travel agent) of finding out the cheapest stopover for taxes? i've only found one online booking tool that even shows finnair fares from australia, but this doesn't let me change the stopover point (only shows HK). From what I can find out about the fare, the stopover options are Japan, HKG, BOM, DEL, BKK, PEK, and PVG. I want to stop at one on the way back (not bothered which one), and from what i can see all will offer similar SCs - so really only tax is the only differentiator.

Also, if i've missed something and there's a cheaper Oneworld biz class fare to London that anyone's found recently, that would be appreciated!

Cheers

 

[serfty]

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[Postcode]

I've used Finnair several times to Europe both in Y and J class and RTW J class. The value is there but I advise avoiding the MD-11 flights to HEL currently from Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Mumbai, Delhi, Osaka-Kansai. The planes are very dated, uncomfortable and the IFE was a DVD player which caused more problems than it was worth.

Finnair also currently operates A340s which is way superior. It flies to HEL from Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo Narita. Much more comfortable and for the sake of a few bucks in taxes it's worth it. So much so I'm doing it again.

 

[JohnK]

The value is there but I advise avoiding the MD-11 flights to HEL currently from Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi, Mumbai, Delhi, Osaka-Kansai. The planes are very dated, uncomfortable and the IFE was a DVD player which caused more problems than it was worth.

When did you last fly the MD-11 in business class? I flew Finnair MD-11s in J a number of times, admittedly only tag flights BKK-SIN and BKK-HKG, in 2006 and 2007 and I would say they have a decent business class product.

The business class cabins on the MD-11s were refurbished around the time I was flying and while not quite Skybed the seats were very comfortable and the service friendly and more than adequate. From memory there was also IFE, not DVD player, with limited selection of channels available.

 

[Postcode]

The last time on a Finnair business class MD-11 was December 2007 BKK-HEL and January 2008 HEL-JFK. Finnair have sourced a number of the old planes from a variety of airlines who have configured the planes as they like. I believe Sabena is where the older ones came from.

The DVD player comes on an armrest tray along with the food tray. Very limited entertainment for someone who rarely sleeps on a flight.

In December 2008 I flew QF to PVG December 2008 with a Finnair A340 to HEL, a marked improvement on the MD-11s.

Note that the MD-11s are marked for retirement. The option of taking a Finnair A340 is a much better option which is the point I was trying to make. Sorry if that was not clear to you.

If only other Oneworld airlines would consider the more reasonable pricing that Finnair offers.

 

[HardieBoys]

I'll be doing the same trip, but in June - July. The fare conditions stipulate that you can't travel through the same Asian port in each direction.

 

[JohnK]

The last time on a Finnair business class MD-11 was December 2007 BKK-HEL and January 2008 HEL-JFK. Finnair have sourced a number of the old planes from a variety of airlines who have configured the planes as they like. I believe Sabena is where the older ones came from.

Interesting. So what has Finnair done with the refurbished MD-11s? I find it hard to believe Finnair would refurbish the MD-11 fleet and then retire them....

 

[Evan]

Interesting. So what has Finnair done with the refurbished MD-11s? I find it hard to believe Finnair would refurbish the MD-11 fleet and then retire them....

But they are... all MD-11's to be gone as converted to freighters by this year i think.... But plans do change of course. for example i believe some of the converted MD-11's would going to Aeroflot and maybe they are not so keen to take them right now...
Still i have also been on the re-furbished MD-11';s and found them good.

And some A330's will enter the fleet if i remember correctly.

E

 

[MelUser]

I flew on the MD-11 last year from JFK to HEL and found the business class cabin to be excellent:

(1) The whole cabin had so much space - overhead lockers are huge, distance between seats is very large. I think the MD-11 has a nostalgic cabin and atmosphere (at least in J) - this must have been what flying was like in the heyday of the 1970s. (The AY A340 is a more modern plane - much less space and more ordered seats.);

(2) Seats turn into very comfortable beds;

(3) Meal services are more like first class, there is a predinner drink with appetiser, soup, entree, main, desert. It is not like qantas where you only get whatever option you choose - they will offer you everything so you can have more of the entrees if they are to your liking and less of the mains. Breakfast has two clear choices - a continental European style with cold cuts etc or the more western cooked eggs etc. Everything is brought out and served at your table rather than the Qantas style of doing it in the galley and plonking it down on your table.

(4) There are plenty of cabin crew and service is fantastic.

I would not hesitate to fly with them again should they be covering the routes that I need. I'm not flying with them this year as they don't fly into YVR and I don't want to go HEL-JFK-YVR, when I can go LHR-YVR!

 

[markis10]

The last time on a Finnair business class MD-11 was December 2007 BKK-HEL and January 2008 HEL-JFK. Finnair have sourced a number of the old planes from a variety of airlines who have configured the planes as they like. I believe Sabena is where the older ones came from.

If only other Oneworld airlines would consider the more reasonable pricing that Finnair offers.

Finnair have one ex Sabena aircraft and three of the 7 MD11's are leased, these are being replaced by the A330's as their lease expires with the original MD11s being the last to go (and the ones with the refurb). Entertainment is loop based IFE, much like QF767. The ex sabena A/C was the last past passenger MD11 built, and their fleet is actually younger than most of the QF 767 fleet by quite a few years

I have to concur with John K, similar experience, very enjoyable and comfortable cabins on a par IMHO with QF A330, their J class bed was fantastic and so was the service, could not fault them at all!

 

[qf unfort]

Well firstly thanks for all the replys - it's always good to hear good things about airlines i've not been on before. In the end i didn't spend forever figuring out the cheapest tax route home - instead went for the best ticket/times/place i wished to stopover on - so now flying Mel-Lon via HKG and HEL and Lon - Mel via DEL and HKG and only 'have' to fly Finnair on HKG-HEL-LHR legs. Will let you all know how it goes after I fly later this year.

Any suggestions for seat choice on these legs? T/A has booked me on 1A on both legs - never having flown bus class on A340 or intra-europe A321 no idea if these are good - suggestions would be very welcome.

thanks.

 

[docjames]

It's a rare aircraft where 1A is not "good"!!

Having said that, there's no doubt people have other preferences at times, especially if ther'es a bulkhead or similar.

You should enjoy 1A on the A340 - so quiet!

 

[pauly7]

Well firstly thanks for all the replys - it's always good to hear good things about airlines i've not been on before. In the end i didn't spend forever figuring out the cheapest tax route home - instead went for the best ticket/times/place i wished to stopover on - so now flying Mel-Lon via HKG and HEL and Lon - Mel via DEL and HKG and only 'have' to fly Finnair on HKG-HEL-LHR legs. Will let you all know how it goes after I fly later this year.

Any suggestions for seat choice on these legs? T/A has booked me on 1A on both legs - never having flown bus class on A340 or intra-europe A321 no idea if these are good - suggestions would be very welcome.

thanks.

Question for you - what codshare flights did you end up on on the Aus flights... Cathay or BA...? I've been looking at something similar and I can't get QF to come up - wondering if they codeshare with AY at all on those routes...?

 

[markis10]

It's a rare aircraft where 1A is not "good"!!

Having said that, there's no doubt people have other preferences at times, especially if ther'es a bulkhead or similar.

You should enjoy 1A on the A340 - so quiet!

1A often has leg area where the fuselage starts to taper in, resulting in significantly reduced space on some configs, such as that found in *class on JQ. Thats not the case with Finnair as they have larger toilets that take up that area, but note the centre seats in row 1 are more froward than the rest of the row.

 

[qf unfort]

Question for you - what codshare flights did you end up on on the Aus flights... Cathay or BA...? I've been looking at something similar and I can't get QF to come up - wondering if they codeshare with AY at all on those routes...?

Got on QF29/30. My travel agent simply advised it was a choice of Cathay or Qantas on the Mel/HKG legs. Apparently Cathay don't allow date changes on a Finnair ticket, while QF do. So just in case i need a change, i went QF (plus extra bonus miles!!!)

 

[pauly7]

Got on QF29/30. My travel agent simply advised it was a choice of Cathay or Qantas on the Mel/HKG legs. Apparently Cathay don't allow date changes on a Finnair ticket, while QF do. So just in case i need a change, i went QF (plus extra bonus miles!!!)

Great thanks - funny it must be something only a TA has access too - online I can only seem to get Cathay and BA to come up. Good to know.

 

[Postcode]

Have booked a D class ticket BNE-HKG-HEL-CDG then GVA-HEL-HKG-BNE on a QF/AY fare for just over $7 000 taxes and cough included. Decent newish Airbus on the long haul flights. I pay for my own travel and it's holiday time for me. Have done it before and was quite happy with that. I just did not enjoy the MD-11 experience.

I booked through Bestflights who is owned by the same lot who owns Harvey World. Harvey quoted me $700 more and told me they could not match the fare.

Other Oneworld carriers could take a leaf out of AY's book and consider pricing their fares more reasonably both in Y and J class. Their product in the Airbus is not bad at all and way better value than QF and CX.

 

[qf unfort]

Their product in the Airbus is not bad at all and way better value than QF and CX.

Hi Postcode - sounds like you've flown the HKG-HEL route before? Any suggestions for J class seat choice? I've requested 1A (surely can't be bad!) but from the virtual tour looks like it may be missing a window (other side of cabin may look better), or do you know if the small J cabin at the back of J class is any better? thanks.