Surprise upgrade to Helsinki on Finnair

As my last trip in Europe before I move back, I decided to go to Switzerland and Helsinki.  To get to Geneva, I flew (in economy) on a Swiss flight that I bought using United miles from London City.  That flight was delayed due to extreme heat in London making it impossible for the A220 to land and take off from City.  It was delayed by over two hours, which wasn’t long enough to be eligible for any compensation but it was just long enough for me to just miss the last train to Lausanne, which led to a $175 taxi ride to my hotel in Lausanne.  I’m not going to bother reviewing that flight because I’d rather forget it and move on. If you’re interested in a flight from London City to Switzerland, I recommend my business class flight to Zurich.

After my time in Lausanne, it was time to go to Finland. I wasn’t able to book a flight from Geneva earlier because my travel plans were in such a state of flux, and by the time I was ready to book, my only option was from Zurich, which was a 2.5-hour (direct) train ride instead of a 45-minute (direct) train ride.  These were definitely not my most successful travel plans, but we move on.

I booked this ticket because it was the only flight that worked to get me to Helsinki in a reasonable amount of time at a reasonable price.  I attempted to use 10 000 Finnair points to upgrade myself (even though I was travelling on my BA Gold number).  36 hours before the flight, I was informed that no upgrade was available and so the points were refunded, which was a bummer.

Upon arrival at Zurich, I proceeded straight to the lounge.  The lounge for Finnair flights was the Aspire lounge, but I’m not really a fan of Aspire lounges.  I find them pretty boring and lackluster.  Instead, I decided to try out the Marhaba lounge, which was right next door.  Both lounges were accessible using Priority Pass, and my understanding is that they’re actually fairly comparable.

The lounge was a lot smaller than I had anticipated but was not overcrowded.  I proceeded to the gate a few minutes before boarding was scheduled to begin so that I could check out the shops along the way (and because I didn’t know how long the walk would be).

I arrived at the gate shortly after boarding began, but in typical July fashion, boarding groups were not followed very well. 

I tried to board earlier in the process because I was sitting in an exit row seat and would need the overhead space.  I used the automated boarding gate (since the flight was within Schengen).  When I scanned my boarding card, a receipt was spat out, and the screen simply said, “please take receipt” before letting me through.  The receipt was a seat change.  This was only the second time that I’ve had a surprise seat change and gotten an upgrade to business class.  I checked my Finnair account, and the 10 000 points I’d tried to use had been returned, so the upgrade was actually completely free, not that I’m complaining. 

I was reassigned to seat 1D, so I found my seat immediately upon boarding.  Finnair’s A321s have a standard intra-European business class that consists of a blocked middle seat but no tray table. 

The only in-flight entertainment offered was WiFi, which is typical for Finnair’s narrow-body aircraft.  The free upgrade from an Economy Light fare didn’t include the 30 minutes of free WiFi that a (non-light) Business class ticket would’ve come with, unfortunately. As is often the case with this type of upgrade, I got the benefit of sitting in the seat, rather than all the other ancillary perks.

Shortly after takeoff, drinks were served.  I had champagne and blueberry juice, as per usual.  Then they came through with the meal service.  Since the upgrade was a surprise, I wasn’t able to prebook a meal, so I was very happy to see that it wasn’t a beef meal.

The three-course meal consisted of a small starter of asparagus and cream and a dessert of a chocolate cookie. The main course was a chicken and rice dish with a salsa-like sauce and roasted vegetables. The food was pretty standard for Finnair’s EuroBusiness. Their catering hasn’t really changed much during the pandemic (at least within Europe).

In summary, my surprise upgraded Finnair flight to Helsinki was a very standard intra-European Finnair business class flight.  As a non-Oneworld hub outstation, the ground experience wasn’t up to Finnair’s normal standard, but that’s expected (3/5).  Finnair’s business class seat was as expected (3/5). I was pleased that my non-pre-booked meal wasn’t beef, and it was pretty good (4/5).  The service was excellent as is standard on Finnair (5/5).  The only IFE offered was WiFi, which is also typical for Finnair (2/5).  Overall, the flight gets an 17/25, which is pretty standard for Finnair’s business class.

This flight is a rare example on this blog of minimal thought being put into the flight beyond the most convenient way of getting from point a to point b on the day that I needed to travel.  The flight was not cheap, coming in at 353 CHF, which reflects how expensive travelling is currently.  I credited the flight to BA as per usual (831 Avios), even though I could’ve credited it to Finnair and gotten a similar number of points (1 000 Finnair points).  The main reason for crediting to BA was to get the improved soft treatment, and it worked, since I got the upgrade.  Interestingly, I guess since Switzerland is not in the EU, all credit cards get a 1.95% transaction fee, so I paid for this flight on my Platinum card and earned 1 841 MR points.  Overall, I got a rough return of 10.4% in points, which isn’t amazing, but is decent for an economy flight.