Evaluating the Finnair premium financial system flight expertise on the A330 versus the A350

Since becoming a member of TPG, I’ve come to know the significance of incomes airline elite standing and what a constructive impression it might probably have on the flight expertise, together with attainable upgrades and lounge entry.

I am presently an American Airways AAdvantage Gold member, American’s entry-level standing, marking the primary elite airline standing I’ve ever held.

I’ve set my sights on reaching AAdvantage Platinum by subsequent yr, although, which requires incomes 75,000 Loyalty Factors by the tip of February 2023. That provides me about 4 extra months to qualify, which is why I’ve been searching for cheap methods to spice up my Loyalty Factors stability for the previous few months.

As a way to assist me recover from the qualification threshold, I booked a long-haul premium financial system flight on American’s Oneworld accomplice, Finnair. My journey had me flying spherical journey from Chicago’s O’Hare Worldwide Airport (ORD) to Singapore’s Changi Airport (SIN), with lengthy layovers at Helsinki Airport (HEL). Sounds a bit exhausting, proper? Properly, who ever stated elite standing got here simple?

As a result of I used to be flying two segments every method, my journey allowed me to check Finnair’s premium financial system on the airline’s two long-haul plane varieties, the Airbus A330 and the Airbus A350.

Regardless of the similarities of the premium financial system cabins, seats and repair on these two jets, there have been some notable variations between the expertise on my two flights, together with seat layouts and the rest room scenario.

This is what I discovered, and why I would select the A330 over the A350 for Finnair’s premium financial system expertise.

Reserving

I booked this journey in July after discovering a deal on Google Flights for just below $1,500 spherical journey from Chicago to Singapore on October 17-23.

When flying from Chicago to Singapore, you may anticipate no less than one layover, as there aren’t any direct flights from O’Hare. I flew 9 hours to Helsinki, adopted by a 14-hour layover earlier than one other 13-hour flight to Singapore.

I booked my flight instantly via Finnair and earned 2,998 Chase Final Rewards factors utilizing my Chase Sapphire Most well-liked Card, because the card earns 2 factors per greenback on journey purchases. These factors are price $59.96, in line with TPG valuations.

As talked about, I selected this flight to earn AAdvantage Loyalty Factors, which you earn primarily based on the fare class of your ticket and the gap flown when touring on companions like Finnair. For this flight, the round-trip itinerary was a whopping 20,372 miles, for which I earned a complete of 28,533 Loyalty Factors plus a 40% bonus on the bottom miles as a result of my AAdvantage Gold standing. That is practically all the best way to AAdvantage Gold by itself, and nearly a 3rd of the best way to Platinum.

Though this assessment doesn’t cowl my journey again to Chicago from Singapore, be aware that the return journey has a barely longer flight time of 13 hours and 25 minutes from Singapore to Helsinki, adopted by a 9-hour, 25-minute flight to Chicago.

Chicago-Helsinki: Finnair A330 premium financial system

Floor expertise

Upon arriving at O’Hare, I famous a really lengthy TSA safety line and headed straight to the Finnair check-in counter on the finish of Terminal 5.

The gate agent checked my passport, vaccination proof and entry card, which have been all required to go to Singapore on the time of my journey. She additionally added my TSA PreCheck Recognized Traveler Quantity to my reservation (Finnair does not enable you to take action on-line) earlier than printing boarding passes for each flights.

Due to the very fact there was no line on the counter and the flexibility to make use of TSA PreCheck, the check-in course of and safety took roughly seven minutes complete.

If you happen to fly from O’Hare’s Terminal 5 this yr, you will discover that it stays below building.

Though the $1 billion enhancement challenge is almost full, a number of the gates, together with mine (M15), weren’t but renovated. If you’re flying from one of many M gates, do not anticipate loads of meals choices close by. There’s a Tortas Frontera, the airport outpost of Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill in River North, which I might extremely suggest due to the flavorful meals they serve. There may be additionally a Burger King.

At roughly 4:56 p.m., the gate agent introduced that boarding can be delayed till 5:05 p.m. as they have been nonetheless working to organize the plane after the late arrival of the earlier flight. After the delay, boarding started with passengers who wanted additional time after which teams 1—3.

Premium financial system ticket holders get precedence boarding in group 3, which suggests you board about midway via the method, earlier than teams 4 and 5. This places you in boarding spot — the airplane just isn’t but crowded and it’s best to nonetheless have the ability to discover room on your bag within the overhead bin.

Cabin and seat

The premium financial system cabin on the A330 comprises 21 seats configured in a 2-3-2 sample throughout rows 21-23. For the sake of consolation, I paid $63.60 for 21J, a most well-liked aisle seat within the first row of the cabin. Although this row lacks under-seat area, I needed the bulkhead for the additional legroom. In any other case, you may pay $47.90 for the standard aisle seat within the different rows, or choose one of many different seats without spending a dime.

By happenstance, there have been solely seven passengers within the premium financial system cabin, so all of us had our personal rows. This, plus the additional legroom from the bulkhead seat and the marginally smaller cabin measurement (in comparison with my second flight) made the part really feel spacious. Even so, the seats themselves felt pretty tight.

My seat had a 38-inch pitch and was 18.7 inches huge. The recline was 8 inches — snug however not something extraordinary.

Every seat had a headrest with adjustable wings and a 15.5-inch single-leaf tray desk with no devoted cupholder. There have been individually managed air vents above every seat, which meant you could possibly regulate the temperature on your consolation stage.

All premium financial system seats had an overhead gentle and a studying gentle you could possibly regulate to 3 brightness ranges.

Though no seats on this cabin had footrests, I did not thoughts since I had room to stretch my legs and the leg rests have been ergonomic and comfy. Sadly, the armrests have been immovable, which prevented me from turning the row right into a makeshift lie-flat seat.

Facilities and inflight leisure

Upon boarding, every seat had an amenity equipment by the famed Finnish style model Marimekko, which included an eye fixed masks (with cloth a bit too tough for my delicate pores and skin), ear plugs, a mini toothbrush with toothpaste, and Swedish model La Bruket chamomile and lavender-infused lotion and almond-coconut lip balm. Fundamental, noise-canceling Phitek headphones have been additionally offered. The over-ear headphones have been highly effective sufficient to drown out conversations round me however I might nonetheless hear background noise. Passengers have been additionally given Marimekko neck pillows fairly than a normal, small airplane pillow.

My bulkhead seat had a bigger inflight leisure display than these in different rows: 16 inches in comparison with simply 13.

Leisure choices have been plentiful, with 150 films and 50-plus TV exhibits, starting from rom-coms like “Undoubtedly Possibly,” and classics like “Prime Gun: Maverick,” “The Breakfast Membership” and “Father of the Bride,” to films made inside the final decade like “Pitch Good” and new releases like “Elvis.” TV exhibits of be aware included “Actual Housewives of New York Metropolis,” “Will & Grace” and “Pals.” Whereas the inflight leisure system was touchscreen, bulkhead seats have a distant to manage it as nicely because the screens are farther away from the seats.

As we have coated earlier than, Finnair inflight Wi-Fi may be spotty, which was additionally my expertise. It disconnects after your system is inactive for some time, but when this occurs, you may log again in and restart your session. That labored for me.

Wi-Fi was out there for buy for one or three hours or the whole flight as follows:

• 24.95 euros ($24.39) for the whole flight.
• 14.95 euros ($14.62) for 3 hours.
• 7.95 euros ($7.77) for one hour.

Based mostly on a pace check, the Wi-Fi was considerably quicker on my flight from Helsinki to Singapore (13.70 Mbps add and 5.66 Mbps obtain pace) than on my flight from Chicago to Helsinki. Additionally, be aware you may solely have Wi-Fi related on one system, forcing you to decide on between your cellphone, laptop computer or different digital gadgets.

Talking of gadgets, I might cost two at my seat concurrently since there was one worldwide A/C port plus one USB port per seat, each to the underside proper of the seat close to the place your legs go. This space can also be obstructed for all premium financial system seats since there are under-seat IFE packing containers on this plane, although your legroom just isn’t restricted within the bulkhead seats since you don’t have anything in entrance of you.

The very last thing of be aware about this premium financial system cabin is that it has only a single devoted toilet. For simply 21 passengers, that needs to be enough, and on my flight with simply seven passengers it was practically at all times empty.

Meals and beverage

Premium financial system passengers on this flight obtain two meals, one at the start of the flight and one shortly earlier than touchdown.

The primary beverage service occurred shortly after takeoff, with complimentary water, gentle drinks, juice, Roche Mazet Merlot, Tourelle De Tholomies white wine and different alcoholic drinks. I sipped a Northern Blush, a gin-based canned beverage made for the airline, served with lemon and ice. Together with the primary beverage service got here a bag of peanuts.

Though I observe a gluten- and dairy-free food plan, no airline presently gives a pre-ordered meal that’s each gluten- and dairy-free. Due to this fact, I often probability it by ordering a gluten-free meal or a vegan meal and consuming what I can from these plates. For this flight, I ended up pre-ordering two gluten-free meals throughout the reserving course of.

Dinner was served roughly an hour after takeoff. The gluten-free meal was hen with rice, broccolini and a aspect salad. Sadly, the hen was doused in an unknown sauce that the flight attendant could not verify was dairy-free. I did not eat my meal in consequence, however saved the Sort bar and a gluten-free dinner roll for later. As an alternative choice to the hen, they provided me one of many two commonplace premium financial system meals — crabcakes with lobster or veal with mashed potatoes and carrots. As a result of they didn’t have allergy data for both of those, I did not really feel protected consuming both one, however I did style the rice and spinach accompanying the crabcakes.

As a post-dinner deal with, passengers have been provided Joseph Perrier Champagne Brut, which retails for round 35.54 euros ($35).

Our second meal, breakfast, got here roughly two hours earlier than touchdown. The principle selection was an omelet with tomatoes, mushrooms and potatoes. Though marked as gluten-free, it was not clear whether or not it was additionally dairy-free, so I didn’t eat it. For drinks, water, black tea and occasional have been provided.

Regardless of being unable to eat both meal absolutely, I appreciated that the crew members tried to accommodate my dietary restrictions to the perfect of their means. It was factor I would introduced additional snacks aboard.

Service

Though there have been no devoted premium financial system flight attendants (additionally they served the financial system part), that didn’t negatively have an effect on the extent of service in our cabin. I felt very nicely taken care of, particularly when the flight attendants tried to confirm allergen data whereas offering different options throughout meal occasions. I significantly appreciated the abundance of bottled water out there throughout the 4 beverage companies and the bottled water at our seats upon boarding, since I attempt to hydrate all through lengthy flights.

I additionally loved the pleasant banter with the flight attendants, together with the one who informed me the story behind the North Blush, the beverage I had that pays homage to the (fairly tart) lingonberries widespread in Finnish forests.

Helsinki-Singapore: Finnair A350 premium financial system

My second Finnair premium financial system flight felt acquainted to the primary, with a number of key variations.

Floor expertise

Once I take into consideration my time at Helsinki Airport in comparison with O’Hare, Helsinki stands out as a greater expertise total for a number of causes. To start out with, the safety course of at Helsinki is seamless, offering all passengers an expertise akin to TSA PreCheck, whereas permitting you to hold full water bottles via safety.

Secondly, the entire airport was spotless, together with the check-in areas, the principle concourses and the gate areas.

Strolling to gate 45A after a protracted layover in Helsinki, I marveled on the principally closed high-end retailers and eating places, earlier than stopping at a snack store in hopes of securing some vegan chocolate. To my delight, they’d oat milk chocolate, which I had by no means seen at an airport earlier than.

The gate was impeccably clear, brilliant and spacious, with a number of charging ports towards the wall and ample seating, together with a number of designated handicapped areas.

After arriving on the gate, the boarding course of was clean, with one line for these with precedence boarding like me and one for financial system passengers with out precedence entry. As soon as we handed via the preliminary gate, we sat for a number of extra minutes within the holding space earlier than lining up (in no specific order) to stroll to the jetway and board the airplane.

Cabin and seat

For the second leg of my journey, I paid $63.60 for a most well-liked aisle seat within the middle part (21D), although I used to be not within the first bulkhead row this time. The seat association aboard the A350 was barely completely different than the A330, with a 2-4-2 structure for twenty-four seats throughout three rows.

The seats provided the identical legroom of 38 inches and have been practically 19 inches huge, although the legroom in non-bulkhead seats was obstructed by IFE packing containers on the right-hand aspect of every seat, making it a bit uncomfortable for my 5-foot 10-inch body. Subsequent time, I might go for bulkhead seats on each plane, because the non-front row seats really feel most constrained by the IFE packing containers.

Finnair’s A350 doesn’t have individually-controlled air vents above every seat, however the crew saved the cabin very cool, which I appreciated.

Just like the A330, seats on the A350 additionally had adjustable headrests and studying lights and one overhead gentle every. There have been no footrests on any of the seats, however the padded leg rests made them snug.

Sadly, this plane lacked a devoted premium financial system toilet, which meant you needed to stroll to one of many three bathrooms behind the cabin in financial system, or do what I did, which was stroll ahead via enterprise class to make use of theirs on the entrance of the business-class cabin.

The business-class toilet appeared like those in financial system, however had hand sanitizer, rest room seat covers and the identical La Bruket merchandise from the amenity equipment.

Neither the financial system bathrooms on this flight nor the premium financial system amenities on my first flight had hand sanitizer or seat covers.

Facilities and inflight leisure

The premium financial system amenity equipment, inflight leisure choices (150 films, 50-plus TV exhibits) and Wi-Fi in flight have been practically similar to the choices on my flight to Helsinki,. The one distinction was the dearth of a distant for the 13-inch IFE display since I wasn’t within the bulkhead seat this time.

Just like the A330, the A350 seats additionally had 15.5-inch, single-leaf meal tray tables with out devoted cupholders.

The second distinction on this seat was that the USB port was hidden in a small compartment beneath the IFE display. I discovered that area very helpful and tucked my glasses and AirPods in it whereas sleeping.

Meals and beverage

Like my first phase, I had pre-ordered two gluten-free meals for my flight to Singapore. We acquired the identical bag of peanuts throughout our first beverage service, with the identical Roche Mazet Merlot and Tourelle De Tholomies white wine choices, gentle drinks (Coke merchandise), and numerous juices. Though I tried to order my flying beverage of selection, ginger ale, they have been sadly out. In contrast to the primary flight, solely cups of water have been handed out fairly than bottles.

The pre-ordered gluten-free dinner was salmon, which the flight attendant knowledgeable me had milk in it. I saved the raspberry scone for later as a result of it didn’t seem to have any dairy, and so they provided me one of many two financial system meals — beef with a cheese curry or hen with rice and cauliflower. I opted for the hen. It was bland, however no less than I might eat it.

The second meal service, lunch, passed off about two hours earlier than touchdown once more, and we have been provided water, black tea and occasional to start out. The gluten-free possibility was hen with rice and veggies, whereas the common premium financial system meal was gnocchi.

Neither of the meals was significantly flavorful, however once more I appreciated that there was no less than one thing I might eat. I preferred that the airline can also be considered one of only some carriers utilizing sustainable bamboo cutlery.

Service

On my flight to Singapore, I very a lot appreciated the flight crew being conscious of the meal’s allergen data since information is energy and it gave me peace of thoughts. As soon as once more, there was no devoted premium financial system crew; the crew served each us and the financial system cabin, which I believe was mirrored of their service. For instance, I paged the flight crew after dinner and so they by no means got here. It additionally took them 45 minutes to gather our meals following breakfast.

Finnair premium financial system: A330 vs. A350

Once I evaluate my flight from Chicago to Helsinki on the Airbus A330 and my flight from Helsinki to Singapore on the Airbus A350, a number of issues stood out for me, together with:

• The smaller premium financial system cabin of 21 seats on the A330 versus 24 seats on the A350. Fewer seats and passengers made the cabin really feel extra spacious, as did the truth that the center part of every row had simply three seats on the A330 in comparison with 4 on the A350.
• The dearth of a devoted premium financial system toilet on the A350 was barely inconvenient and detracted from the expertise.
• The under-seat IFE packing containers impede the legroom on each plane within the non-bulkhead seats.
• Maybe because of the A350 being a more moderen plane with higher humidity and pressurization and a quieter cabin, I felt much more jet-lagged after arriving in Helsinki than upon my arrival in Singapore (although this was doubtless exacerbated by the truth that I didn’t sleep in any respect on the best way to Finland, so had been up for 30-plus hours at that time).

Although not particular to the plane, the truth that the second flight crew was educated relating to the allergens current within the meals out there on board made a long-lasting impression on me, because it made the distinction in whether or not I might eat the offered meal or not.

Though a number of the gentle merchandise, together with the amenity kits, have been similar, the service different when it comes to consideration to element.

Backside line

The little touches offered on every flight, together with a scorching towel delivered to our seat shortly after takeoff, the chocolate provided as we arrived in Helsinki (although not on arrival in Singapore) and the cleanliness of the Helsinki airport, in addition to the calm and pleasant nature of the airport staff, are among the many issues I’ll consider when somebody asks me about my first Finnair flight.

This journey marked my longest journey journey up to now and my first journey to Asia. Having skilled greater than 65 hours within the air cumulatively, with practically 22 hours of layovers in complete, I in all probability wouldn’t select this route once more. For my subsequent journey to Singapore or elsewhere in Asia, I might fly domestically from Chicago to a U.S. metropolis from which I might take a continuous to my remaining vacation spot. I might additionally attempt to redeem factors or miles to improve to enterprise class for a greater probability of having the ability to sleep due to a lie-flat seat.

That stated, for flights from the U.S. to Europe or from Europe to Asia, Finnair’s premium financial system seats and repair are a stable, inexpensive possibility for people who need a bit greater than the usual financial system flight expertise however should not have the funds or factors for a business-class ticket.