Finnair or JAL ? J class to LDN... which one?

[SF&]

Can anyone advise which they would recommend Finnair or JAL to LDN J class?

I have CX or QF or BA to Asia HK or BK then Finnair onwards or JAL via Japan.

Any ideas...

 

[BlacKnox]

Can anyone advise which they would recommend Finnair or JAL to LDN J class?

I have CX or QF or BA to Asia HK or BK then Finnair onwards or JAL via Japan.

Any ideas...

Would you prefer to overnight in Helsinki or Narita, given the choice and if possible? Personally I'd choose Narita, and visit a local izakaya, or if you wanted English speaking company, the Barge Inn Narita Barge Inn or Jet Lag Club jetlagclub . Narita town centre is near the airport and free shuttle buses are available back to the airport hotels. I haven't flown Finnair in J though JAL is usually dependable. Also you might like to check the plane types servicing these routes and whether any carrier offers a superior product.

 

[Evan]

MD-11 ?? for Finnair, the odd 3 engined thing... and its quiet up front, comfortable but not sure all of them have lie flat beds. I had heaps of room on my last finnair flight, almost like they forgot a row of seats, but the toilets are small !

JAL depending on flight will probably be a 747, some are due for a re-fit, if you get a re-fitted one then the JAL product is better.

I couldn't pick... i think the answer is, it all depends....
And the things like what kind of food do you prefer ?

And i assume your actually going to LHR not LDN

E

 

[SF&]

MD-11 ?? for Finnair, the odd 3 engined thing... and its quiet up front, comfortable but not sure all of them have lie flat beds. I had heaps of room on my last finnair flight, almost like they forgot a row of seats, but the toilets are small !

JAL depending on flight will probably be a 747, some are due for a re-fit, if you get a re-fitted one then the JAL product is better.

I couldn't pick... i think the answer is, it all depends....
And the things like what kind of food do you prefer ?

And i assume your actually going to LHR not LDN

E

yes LHR I have requested a quote on both. My friend said if you come in via euorpe it is easier to get through customs in Heathrow. I did it with SAS via Europe and I walked thru very quickly. Just not sure how bad it is if you coem in via Asia. I have never flown either so. I am leaning towards JAL only because I don't like MD planes. Some fall out of the sky.

 

[SF&]

Would you prefer to overnight in Helsinki or Narita, given the choice and if possible? Personally I'd choose Narita, and visit a local izakaya, or if you wanted English speaking company, the Barge Inn Narita Barge Inn or Jet Lag Club jetlagclub . Narita town centre is near the airport and free shuttle buses are available back to the airport hotels. I haven't flown Finnair in J though JAL is usually dependable. Also you might like to check the plane types servicing these routes and whether any carrier offers a superior product.

I am taking my Dad and my son 7 years old so no pubs till i get him to his grandparents in Wales!! . I am leaning towards JAL they have a flight arrives 16:30pm in London then can sleep it off that night instead of trying to stay awake all day. My Dad has cancer so gotta try and make sure he gets his rest.

 

[maninblack]

yes LHR I have requested a quote on both. My friend said if you come in via euorpe it is easier to get through customs in Heathrow. I did it with SAS via Europe and I walked thru very quickly. Just not sure how bad it is if you coem in via Asia. I have never flown either so. I am leaning towards JAL only because I don't like MD planes. Some fall out of the sky.

Finnair has a far better safety record than JAL. That being said the MD 11 is a fundamentally flawed aircraft in some peoples opinion. They rarely fall out of the sky, but have suffered severe pitch oscillations in flight and are difficult to land in tricky conditions. (so I have read)

The JAL J class product to LHR will be the shell sleeper 'flat bed'.

 

[Evan]

Actually the updated to the MD11 have made it a good plane more or less i am told. A well maintained MD11 over a heavly used 743/744 from JAL (still well maintained) i guess for me would be equal.

I have flown both recently and one trip it was an old JAL plane, not so good, i would prefer Finnair, but the new JAL fitout is great.

I find the MD11 quieter.

At the end of the day i think you answered your own question with the timming side of things as long as the quotes are similar take the time that is good for you.

E

 

[NM]

yes LHR I have requested a quote on both. My friend said if you come in via euorpe it is easier to get through customs in Heathrow.

I have never had any issues with customs at LHR and not noticed any difference with arrivals from Europe, USA or Asia. in fact, I don't think I have ever seen anyone manning the customs desks at LHR and you just walk straight through.

 

[JohnK]

Can anyone advise which they would recommend Finnair or JAL to LDN J class?

I have CX or QF or BA to Asia HK or BK then Finnair onwards or JAL via Japan.

Finnair does not operate MD-11 for all Asian destinations. They also use A343s. Not sure of the difference in the 2 Finnair products as I have only ever tried J in an MD-11 which to me is quite good.

If you can somehow get to NRT, NGO or PVG with CX or QF then you may want to try the new Finnair A34x J product.

HEL-NRT is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s
HEL-NGO is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s and MD-11s
HEL-PEK is operated by MD-11s
HEL-KIX is operated by MD-11s
HEL-CAN is operated by MD-11s
HEL-PVG is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s and MD-11s
HEL-BKK is operated by MD-11s
HEL-HKG is operated by MD-11s
HEL-DEL is operated by MD-11s
HEL-BOM is operated by A343s

 

[SF&]

Finnair does not operate MD-11 for all Asian destinations. They also use A343s. Not sure of the difference in the 2 Finnair products as I have only ever tried J in an MD-11 which to me is quite good.

If you can somehow get to NRT, NGO or PVG with CX or QF then you may want to try the new Finnair A34x J product.

HEL-NRT is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s
HEL-NGO is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s and MD-11s
HEL-PEK is operated by MD-11s
HEL-KIX is operated by MD-11s
HEL-CAN is operated by MD-11s
HEL-PVG is operated by a mixture of A340s, A343s and MD-11s
HEL-BKK is operated by MD-11s
HEL-HKG is operated by MD-11s
HEL-DEL is operated by MD-11s
HEL-BOM is operated by A343s

Thanks to all on the info. see what i can find out. They both sound ok.

 

[neil_gardner]

Have only flown with Finnair, last month, but here is my two pence worth. (flight was PVG->HEL->MAN)

The plane was an A343, one of Virgin's old ones. Seats were good, food was good, the wine list was excellent. IFE ok. Transfer at Helsinki was sweet, just an hour - in fact the new safety searches for connecting passengers meant it was quite tight. It didn't help that my 2.5yr old son managed to power down one of the only two hand baggage x ray machines, but that is a different story (apologies if you were behind us and had to wait 20 mins for security to figure out what he had done. Sorry. )

Anyway. The good news is that as previous poster pointed out, Finnair used to use a mix of EQ. That changed on the Shanghai route last week and slowly changing across all asian destinations during May and June. Now they have a brand new A343 with lie flat-ish seats made by Recaro (check out their site for more details RECARO Aircraft Seating||CL 6510). There are no write ups yet on the seat but hopefdully if i don't get the old VS343 (that plane is still floating round the network somewhere) I will write one.

If you do end up on a MD-11, all their seats have been updated to lie flat-ish. There are detaills of the seats on this link Finnair

Enjoy.

 

[simongr]

INteresting - I have a couple of Finnair flights coming (intra-europe rather than inter-con) so I look forward to experiencing them for the first time.

I assume I wont get the lie flats. Is it me or do they look exactly like the SKybed?

And what the frack is a Panda doing being used as their key ad device?

Hmm - just checking the site and I am noa little concerned abiut my alocated seats on my two flights:

A319 - 2c - seems to be in a set of two with a gap between
A321 - 2d - seems to be in a set of three?? seems strange for J

 

[SF&]

Have only flown with Finnair, last month, but here is my two pence worth. (flight was PVG->HEL->MAN)

The plane was an A343, one of Virgin's old ones. Seats were good, food was good, the wine list was excellent. IFE ok. Transfer at Helsinki was sweet, just an hour - in fact the new safety searches for connecting passengers meant it was quite tight. It didn't help that my 2.5yr old son managed to power down one of the only two hand baggage x ray machines, but that is a different story (apologies if you were behind us and had to wait 20 mins for security to figure out what he had done. Sorry. )

Anyway. The good news is that as previous poster pointed out, Finnair used to use a mix of EQ. That changed on the Shanghai route last week and slowly changing across all asian destinations during May and June. Now they have a brand new A343 with lie flat-ish seats made by Recaro (check out their site for more details RECARO Aircraft Seating||CL 6510). There are no write ups yet on the seat but hopefdully if i don't get the old VS343 (that plane is still floating round the network somewhere) I will write one.

If you do end up on a MD-11, all their seats have been updated to lie flat-ish. There are detaills of the seats on this link Finnair

Enjoy.

The seating is same as SAS J class from the looks which i found fine. thks for the info

 

[SF&]

INteresting - I have a couple of Finnair flights coming (intra-europe rather than inter-con) so I look forward to experiencing them for the first time.

I assume I wont get the lie flats. Is it me or do they look exactly like the SKybed?

And what the frack is a Panda doing being used as their key ad device?

Hmm - just checking the site and I am noa little concerned abiut my alocated seats on my two flights:

A319 - 2c - seems to be in a set of two with a gap between
A321 - 2d - seems to be in a set of three?? seems strange for J

on sas from copenhagen to lhr they were just like normal qantas Y seats
just better meals but only 1 hr flight so no worries three seats but one was blocked off in middle

 

[JohnK]

INteresting - I have a couple of Finnair flights coming (intra-europe rather than inter-con) so I look forward to experiencing them for the first time.

Don't get too excited about intra-Europe business class on AY.