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Hi all!
The recent thread about BA vs Iberia got me thinking about my plans for next year travelling to SE Asia. My original plan was to fly to SIN using BA241 and return from HKG (due to low taxes) – both legs BA. JDB mentioned that he always prefers Qatar flying East, as the savings in Avios are not substantial. I tend to agree regarding Avios cost, but I keep thinking about optimising the trip even further and wanted to ask for some collective wisdom from fellow HfP members. Please let me know if you have any comments or suggestions on the points I’m going to mention below. No kids, all flights in C, enough Avios for all the options, BAEC silver.
1. One of my options would be Finnair. I would fly Saturday morning to HEL and self-transfer to one of their services to either SIN, BKK, or HKT. I would be able to use T-3 lounges, which is always a bonus. I’m just a bit worried about self-connection, as the weather in Feb/Mar is unpredictable.
What is your take on Finnair in general? I’m 6’4” and the seat might be more spacious than Qatar/BA, but I’m not sure about food and beverage and onboard experience.
2. The other option is Qatar, as the timings work slightly better for me, but I’m aware that I have no EU/UK 261 protection on the return leg, so I’m leaning towards Finnair. We did like their service on our last trip, but you never know what seat you are going to have.
3. The last option is to stick with BA, so I don’t waste the voucher, but that requires me to fly to HKG at the end of my trip. Is it possible to have one or two relaxing days over there (OH is not keen on sightseeing at the end of the journey), or is Hong Kong generally overwhelming as a city?
I would greatly appreciate your subjective feedback (especially how the Finnair seats compare to CW/CS/QSuite for someone slightly taller than average, as we never flew with them). I would also appreciate how you feel about UK261 and its lack on Qatar.
Thank you in advance for your time and all of the responses!
For a self-connection I would want to have most of a day in HEL if not overnight. Another option is to book a >24 hour connection on the same ticket, which avoids APD. You’d likely have to do this on the phone (incurring extra fees)
In very generalised terms, Qatar has many more options for food and drink, Finnair food tends to be Nordic and the Asian option is usually not great, Finnair of course has blueberry juice. (I don’t drink alcohol on planes.)
Personally I’m more concerned about finding avios availability and taking what I can get than thinking about EU/UK261 protection. If both QR and an EU airline are available at similar prices then it would of course be a consideration.
Nobody is going to forcibly drag you sightseeing in Hong Kong – but you do have to travel into the city (which could perhaps be considered “overwhelming”) unless you are happy with the Airport Hotel.
On your first option APD wouldn’t be emlinated entirely as it would still be due on the short haul trip to HEL but on an avios booking it would be hidden anyway.
And it wouldn’t be a connection it would be a stop over which affects the pricing and availability.
The OP can try and book this online as the “stop over” option will be displayed.
But if they want to use a voucher this isn’t an option anyway as it can’t be used on AY or QR
Rhys recently wrote some reviews for AY.
I actually like their “sofa suite”.
I wouldn’t try this as an on the day self connection even though AY do interline bags but would on a single ticket.
There are some reasonable hotels at HEL including a Hilton and a clarion (both close to but not in the terminal) and a HI and 2x Scandics (via free coach) not too far away.
I would also appreciate how you feel about UK261 and its lack on Qatar.
A flight from Doha to Birmingham went tech about 45 minutes into the journey.
We turned around and were taken back to the Al Mourjan lounge where we sat for around 4 hours.
Landed at BHX more than 5 hours late.
No compo due. The duty of care was perfectly adequate for us. I heard those in Economy were given vouchers to spend on f&b in the airport.
It is far from the worst airport to be stuck in, and the Al Mourjan lounge is of course one of the better business class lounges.Of course, other potential issues & scenarios may be worse and the lack of eu261 could be frustrating.
For a self-connection I would want to have most of a day in HEL if not overnight. Another option is to book a >24 hour connection on the same ticket, which avoids APD. You’d likely have to do this on the phone (incurring extra fees)
In very generalised terms, Qatar has many more options for food and drink, Finnair food tends to be Nordic and the Asian option is usually not great, Finnair of course has blueberry juice. (I don’t drink alcohol on planes.)
Personally I’m more concerned about finding avios availability and taking what I can get than thinking about EU/UK261 protection. If both QR and an EU airline are available at similar prices then it would of course be a consideration.
Nobody is going to forcibly drag you sightseeing in Hong Kong – but you do have to travel into the city (which could perhaps be considered “overwhelming”) unless you are happy with the Airport Hotel.
The availability seems good at the moment and we are quite flexible, but the point about short connections in HEL is valid, thank you.
About Hong Kong – we would like to find a good hotel in a relatively safe, peaceful neighbourhood with good restaurant options around and were wondering how it compares to Singapore or Bangkok. Will do some more research on it.For Hong Kong, Singapore, and many, if not most cities in Asian, safe, peaceful neighbourhood with good restaurants is basically just everywhere. Some places maybe too busy or crowded, but that’s part of the experience anyway. And public transport in Hong Kong and Singapore are among the best in the world. For small cities, taxi costs are low in general anyway, also do download a couple of AI apps for live translation.
I have flown AY in J a few times and quite like the no recline seat. It is great for lounging in and eating. The problem is getting your legs into and out of the leg coffin! I am 5’9” and find it a bit tricky. Especially getting out. (I am oldish so joints may not be quite as flexible as they once were!)
So, it’s not wonderful but there is nothing about it that would make me not fly AY.
Surprised at no mention of Cathay: not as flashy as Qatar, but a great hard and soft product including pre-ordering meals, good cheese plates, better catering than Finnair (and flights much closer than Helsinki!)
Another option is to book a >24 hour connection on the same ticket, which avoids APD. You’d likely have to do this on the phone (incurring extra fees).
If you phoned to do this and had a 24+ hr layover in Helsinki to avoid APD, I guess your connection would be protected if anything happened, but am I right in thinking that you wouldn’t be able to check your luggage all the way through (so would need to collect in Helsinki and check it back in)?
Another option is to book a >24 hour connection on the same ticket, which avoids APD. You’d likely have to do this on the phone (incurring extra fees).
If you phoned to do this and had a 24+ hr layover in Helsinki to avoid APD, I guess your connection would be protected if anything happened, but am I right in thinking that you wouldn’t be able to check your luggage all the way through (so would need to collect in Helsinki and check it back in)?
You can’t have it both ways! In order to avoid the APD you need to have a stopover, so you can’t have a protected connection as well, but that should be less important when you have 24hrs + to play with.
In respect of luggage, it will depend on the airline, but most airport baggage systems aren’t designed to hold bags for extended periods like this.
You can’t have it both ways! In order to avoid the APD you need to have a stopover, so you can’t have a protected connection as well, but that should be less important when you have 24hrs + to play with.
In respect of luggage, it will depend on the airline, but most airport baggage systems aren’t designed to hold bags for extended periods like this.
So what happens if I phone and book EDI-HEL and HEL-HKG on AY on one PNR with a 26-hour gap between them and, in a worst case scenario, something disrupts the EDI-HEL leg (e.g., weather, etc.) preventing us from making the HEL-HKG flight? Do Finnair have a responsibility for getting us to HKG or is that lost because it is a stopover?
If you’re booking that far out, do keep an eye open to see if QR have the BKK-DOH-LHR/BHX/LGW option with the first leg in F. It used to price the same as J.
If you’re booking that far out, do keep an eye open to see if QR have the BKK-DOH-LHR/BHX/LGW option with the first leg in F. It used to price the same as J.
They seem to have fixed that.
You can’t have it both ways! In order to avoid the APD you need to have a stopover, so you can’t have a protected connection as well, but that should be less important when you have 24hrs + to play with.
In respect of luggage, it will depend on the airline, but most airport baggage systems aren’t designed to hold bags for extended periods like this.
So what happens if I phone and book EDI-HEL and HEL-HKG on AY on one PNR with a 26-hour gap between them and, in a worst case scenario, something disrupts the EDI-HEL leg (e.g., weather, etc.) preventing us from making the HEL-HKG flight? Do Finnair have a responsibility for getting us to HKG or is that lost because it is a stopover?
@RK228 – in this situation, there’s the regulations and the practice. If you couldn’t get to HEL in time because of an issue with the first flight, I would still expect AY to reroute you (as a matter of customer service) on both legs but not pay compensation for any late arrival at the final destination, but potentially the lower compensation for EDI-HEL if that delay/cancellation was within their control. You could theoretically get compensated for both legs if both flights were delayed or cancelled when a connecting flight would only give single compensation.If there’s an issue with the first flight, the fact you need to get to Helsinki by a certain time does put an onus on AY to reroute you at the earliest opportunity more than other people who aren’t so pressed.
If you’re booking that far out, do keep an eye open to see if QR have the BKK-DOH-LHR/BHX/LGW option with the first leg in F. It used to price the same as J.
They seem to have fixed that.
I think it still works for some airports eg BHX – I might definitely consider it, as the train connection to London is quite good! Do you have access to Al Safwa lounge if you arrive in F and your connecting flight is in J?
I haven’t mentioned Cathay / Malaysia due to higher cost and lower availability at the moment
If you’re booking that far out, do keep an eye open to see if QR have the BKK-DOH-LHR/BHX/LGW option with the first leg in F. It used to price the same as J.
They seem to have fixed that.
I think it still works for some airports eg BHX – I might definitely consider it, as the train connection to London is quite good! Do you have access to Al Safwa lounge if you arrive in F and your connecting flight is in J?
I haven’t mentioned Cathay / Malaysia due to higher cost and lower availability at the moment
You would have access to Al Safwa if you have arrived on a long haul flight in F (which BKK would be), but you don’t (or at least didn’t in the past) have access connecting from a short haul F flight to J.
You can’t have it both ways! In order to avoid the APD you need to have a stopover, so you can’t have a protected connection as well, but that should be less important when you have 24hrs + to play with.
In respect of luggage, it will depend on the airline, but most airport baggage systems aren’t designed to hold bags for extended periods like this.
So what happens if I phone and book EDI-HEL and HEL-HKG on AY on one PNR with a 26-hour gap between them and, in a worst case scenario, something disrupts the EDI-HEL leg (e.g., weather, etc.) preventing us from making the HEL-HKG flight? Do Finnair have a responsibility for getting us to HKG or is that lost because it is a stopover?
So if its one booking but includes a stopover, does that mean no cover with EU261?
I consider myself quite risk averse, but I’m flying LHR-HEL-ICN next month on separate (reward) tickets with a 3 hour layover in HEL.
I know that AY will check my luggage through to ICN. I know that I don’t need to clear passport control or security in HEL.
I’m on the 09:55 flight, and if it is cancelled there is a flight at 10:20, which I hope AY would put me on.
I’m flying the first leg in Y, as it will be on an A320, and I didn’t think it worth paying for J on an A320. I should still get lounge access at T3 as I have on onward flight in J the same day. There was a considerable saving in avios and APD splitting the ticket and class of travel this way.
My travel insurance (Holiday Extras) provides cover of £1k pp for missed connections in most circumstances.
Personally, I found Finnair’s AirLounge seat more comfortable for sleeping than F on BA, and the service on AY was far better than my last flight in BA F.
@PaulR – you do have EC261 protection on each individual flight but effectively no EC261 protection for the connection and I say effectively because in practice AY would fix this even if they don’t have any statutory obligation. I don’t think you are really giving anything up anything by creating that stopover to save the APD and it may sometimes save Avios/money to have one booking.
You are effectively in the same position as someone who decides to do this on two tickets and decides to play safe by overnighting in Helsinki.
I consider myself quite risk averse, but I’m flying LHR-HEL-ICN next month on separate (reward) tickets with a 3 hour layover in HEL.
I know that AY will check my luggage through to ICN. I know that I don’t need to clear passport control or security in HEL.
I’m on the 09:55 flight, and if it is cancelled there is a flight at 10:20, which I hope AY would put me on.
I’m flying the first leg in Y, as it will be on an A320, and I didn’t think it worth paying for J on an A320. I should still get lounge access at T3 as I have on onward flight in J the same day. There was a considerable saving in avios and APD splitting the ticket and class of travel this way.
My travel insurance (Holiday Extras) provides cover of £1k pp for missed connections in most circumstances.
Personally, I found Finnair’s AirLounge seat more comfortable for sleeping than F on BA, and the service on AY was far better than my last flight in BA F.
I fly Finnair to Japan, Singapore or Korea from Heathrow almost monthly and the connection is a breeze. Arriving from London you do not need to go through security, you exit straight into the departure area and they schedule the arriving LHR flight at the same end as the departing long haul flights. You can literally walk off one plane and onto another within a few mins. Even on the return leg where you do need to go through security it is quick, and they have separate lanes if you have a short connection.
As for the seat I really like it and as someone who wants to maximise sleep on the plane, find it very comfortable. As others have said the food is not the main reason to fly AY but it’s fine plus I normally eat in the lounge beforehand.
We’ve got a Finnair redemption to BKK over summer, excited to try the new seat. Great value too!
Have booked a separate positioning flight to HEL from MAN the day before but getting a bit nervous now. The flight to HEL gets in around 11pm and the BKK flight is the following lunch time. However, the alternative options from MAN are pretty non existent if there’s an issue with our positioning flight. Is this a bit too risky? Been debating swapping to LHR as there’s many more options.
Writing from Dubai, arrived with Finnair last night. I was impressed. Very smooth, HEL was a breeze, the lounge great, the biz seats comfortable and the food and service perfectly good. Oddly, Finnair doesn’t seem to fly to Dubai between April and September (inclusive). In any case, I’d use them again. For those sticking with the BA Club, biz flex tickets are not always much more expensive than non-flex and earn 50% of the mileage as TPs.
Oddly, Finnair doesn’t seem to fly to Dubai between April and September (inclusive)
I was in Dubai in May.
The temperature around midnight was 32 degrees. The Cornetto I was attempting to enjoy had melted all the way down to my elbow and dripping to the ground.
I guess many tourists would be put off by that kind of heat.Oddly, Finnair doesn’t seem to fly to Dubai between April and September (inclusive).
Hardly odd given it’s location and likely weather in the summer. Weather-wise, surely the main attraction of somewhere like Dubai will be as a winter destination?
Oddly, Finnair doesn’t seem to fly to Dubai between April and September (inclusive).
Hardly odd given it’s location and likely weather in the summer. Weather-wise, surely the main attraction of somewhere like Dubai will be as a winter destination?
If Finnair’s passengers are largely tourists then true, but it’s not like the UAE grinds to a halt when the weather warms up. They’d not much have of an economy if it did. Stll, my point remains valid: using AY was a perfectly good way to get here and I intend to use them again for trips further east as well. The DOH stop for Asia is exhausting. HEL, in my opinion, feels like a much better option (although I concede that AY isn’t up to QR levels of indulgence).
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