27: AY837, Finnair European J (A320) HEL-LHR, 3h:10m, 1A/C
After loving the AY lounge, it was only a short walk to the gate. Helsinki was quiet, perhaps given it was a Sunday morning, or perhaps simply in comparison to the mosh pit that JFK was the night before. Regardless, boarding was a pleasant experience and we were on the A320 in no time.
Finding our seats - which being the 'European J' is basically economy with the middle seat left empty - I was very dissapointed to be sitting in the front row (though we did it to ensure we'd be off quickly, given some stress I had about connection time at LHR). Pictured is 2DEF, which is the first row on the opposite side of the plane.
Regardless, my wife and I enjoyed sitting next to each other and being at the front. As mentioned, boarding was quick, the flight didn't feel that busy compared to all the American flights we'd become used to, and we took off relatively quickly. Outside was a bit foggy though.
We were in the clouds about ten seconds after take off, and from the top they looked like picture perfect pillows. This is one of those times when you just think how nice it would be nice to be able to float.
Not long after, we were given hot towels (which I am becoming very partial to) and the menu. No choices; you get what you're served in Euro-J.
Drinks were then offered and then service began. The meal was an interesting (read: not to my taste) cod dish, with a side of salmon/egg (very strong, unpalatable to the untrained (read: me)), bread and a raspberry/mouse/chocolate dessert.
The cod was not to our taste, while I'm not much of a fish person I was never expecting it to be amazing. I didn't go near the salmon, pictured left, my wife reported it was extremely smokey. The dessert was fantastic, but the coffee left much to be desired and was cold by the time I got to it anyway. Long story short - if flying through HEL to connect to a Euro flight, eat in the lounge if you can.
Another gripe I have with this plane is the lack of power - with so much to do, IFE wasn't needed but my laptop and phone really needed a charge.
The FAs on this flight were extremely friendly. On picking my accent, one of them had a chat to us about Australia, as they had recently hosted an exchange student from Perth. I really appreciate a small chat, something we rarely got on the US liners.
The flight became a bit wobbly as we got close to Copenhagen (the fold-down screens from the roof rotated through flight information). It seemed to calm down after about 20 minutes though. Little bits of wobbliness did come back every now and then as we made our way to LHR T3. We flew over some seemingly big soccer stadiums (stadii?) on our smooth approach and landing.
All in all, Finnair served us well. A good experience, and while Euro-J is basically QF Y, leg two of three wasn't that bad at all.
Next Up: LHR T5 & A-Gates BA Lounge
