[Anonymous]

[FinnFlyer]

What do you expect if the flight departs around midnight and the flight time is 10 hours or more?

On a recent Finnair flight from Bangkok to Helsinki a pre-departure champagne was offered, after departure it took about 45 minutes before the trolleys were on the move and a tray with salad, soup, main course and cheese were served… no drinks before it and for passengers sitting towards the back of the cabin, it took close to 1,5 hours before they got anything. Is this appropriate service for business class?

Business class was almost full with 30 seats taken out of 32, they had 3 flight attendants, clearly for the first service they should have had one more. While the service was polite and the food was ok, the long wait after take-off sort of ruins the experience.

This is what Finnair web says:
“Finnair Business Class passengers can order a quicker meal service on intercontinental flights when booking their flight or by requesting it from the crew at the beginning of the flight. The meal comprises an appetizer, soup, cheese platter and coffee or tea.
Passengers can make sure that they will receive one of the three main courses served onboard by ordering it in advance. On departure from Helsinki, there are three additional main courses to choose from, which are only available when pre-ordered. See Business Class Meals.
Our Business Class service is personalised to meet the preferences of each individual passenger.”

If you have a chance to order a quicker service, why not give others the chance to have a drink and relax before the meal (different story if it would be a short hop across the Atlantic). The service certainly is not personalized by any means, personalized it would be, if they would ask drink preferences before take-off, like they do on some airlines.

And have you noted, that Finnair does not give you any salt or pepper on the tray, they have pepper/salt mills on their trolleys, but are you supposed to ring the call button every time you feel for more salt? And if you don’t know they have them, tough luck!

And yes, the lights were bright and shiny for about 3 hours after take off…!

The new lie flat seats are great, too bad only 4 aircraft out of 15 has them and no improvement on that can be expected before the new A350’s roll out 2014 – over 2 years from now!

[esselle]

It may be that you were unlucky on your flight; I have flown BKK-HEL a few times over the last year, always on new A330 with fully flat (nice single window seats), at least 4 and sometimes 5 crew, and whilst they did not seem to be asking every pax what they wanted, they always seemed to be very responsive to a specific request.

Equally, the carts have always been out quickly, first for a drinks run, then for the meal service. I normally ask for a large cognac, and to be woken for breakfast!

[Danwolf]

I have been tempted to trying out Finnair’s service to Asia, with BKK having a good % of flights with its new lie flat seats. Never sure about the short connections though…

I understand that food service can be a luck of the draw in terms of how quickly one gets served. It was mentioned to me on some airlines (namely star alliance) they serve food in order of status (i.e. Gold then Silver, and so forth). Anybody able to shed some light on this?

[MartynSinclair]

The bright lights and slow food service on Finnair have been reported on these pages several times. I have flown Finnair on several occasions and their service protocol has not changed, despite cabin crew agreeing with these issues.

Love the new seat layout and lie flat.

What do I expect on night flights in business class:

1. Cabin lights not turned fully up when boarding

2. Cabin lights dimmed for take off

3. Cabin lights turned back on only for breakfast

4. Speedy dinner service for those that require

5. Consideration by passengers and crew when walking through cabin

[LPPSKrisflyer]

I think it depends on the length of the flight and the arrival time at the destination. After my last meeting or committment I start to try to think myself in to the destination time as a way of dealing with jet lag.

If I’m returning from the east coast of Canada or the US I just want to sleep and other than a drink if I’m thirsty and maybe a sandwich if I want one, I don’t want any service at all.

If I’m returning from Aus or SE Asia then generally the departure from there is at about 18.00 UK time from BKK or earlier from SIN or HKG. On departure I like a decent drinks service and dinner after which I might watch a film and then sleep.

What I do not want is to be woken for breakfast at around 04.30 UK time and I just want to continue to sleep until the last possible minute, breakfast can wait and there are far more interesting options on arrival than there will ever be at 04.30!

Has anyone tried the EK service which leaves SYD about 06.00 allowing a same day return to the UK? I haven’t but I’m interested to try it in terms of jet lag etc.

[TominScotland]

Martin anticipated my comments on AY’s Asia services to Europe. I would be reluctant to use them again after my experience from HKG to HEL, when it took close to 2 hours for the cabin crew to finish what they were doing in Businerss Class, disturbing sleep on what is anyway sold as the shortest route to Europe. The so-called dimmed cabin lights were not a great help either. Generally, I want peace, quiet and darkness as soon as possible after take off.

[MartynSinclair]

To be fair with AY, on my last trip with them, I mentioned the lights on 2 or 3 occasions to the cabin crew and then the chief steward came to talk to me and agreed to dim the lights.

They are awre of the issue, many passengers complain, but as of the last time of discussing this, it was a case of until their manual is changed, the crew feel unable to use intiative over rules.

I hope someone from AY reads this forum, becasue that is one small ammendments to their service that would make a BIG diffrerence.

[JordanD]

I’m going to disagree a little here. Yes, I appreciate people want to sleep immediately after take off, but on departures from the Far East (BKK, HKG, SIN come to mind immediately) with very long flights ahead (12hrs+), it isn’t nearly ‘bed time’ in LHR at the time of departure.

As I’m trying to settle back into the UK timezone, I’m doing every single thing I can to stay awake and being forced to ‘sort myself out’ with only a single overhead light to help is beyond ridiculous. The crews often provide eyemasks, often of good quality – and if not, I recommend a trip to Muji to purchase some excellent ones – which can provide those who want darkness the required levels they need.

Sorry if it sounds selfish, but not all passengers on these longer long haul flights want darkness from the off …

[FinnFlyer]

I agree with JordanD. And the lights can be dimmed, but not completely dark to make service easier. And every regular business traveller must have tons of eyeshades, use them! And earplugs also. And if you want to sleep, get a window seat where nobody distrurbs you. It’s not selfish, it’s normal, and not everyone can even sleep on airplanes… myself if I get 4-5 hours of sleep on a 10+ hours flight, I’m extremely happy.

Finnair for sure has no status recognition onboard, being BA silver/OW saphire, no priority in service. But gets you access to Qantas lounge in BKK, which is crowded, so if you do not want to eat, go to CIP Louis Tavern, with equal drink availability and lot less crowds.

[TominScotland]

I don’t think anyone disagrees with the reality of long flights back from Asia. Finnair’s are shorter than most so that does change the context a little. Also, their cabin service is, in my experience, particularly slow and does not reflect the reality of what most travellers seem to want. Eye plugs and ear shades are all very well but both are uncomfortable and I, for one, prefer more natural sleeping options!!

[LeTigre]

I recently purchased one of those travel pillows for all my short-haul marathons. It cost about £10 and is much more comfortable than it looks, as long as you don’t mind looking a bit silly trying to inflate it!

Perhaps you could just bring an inflatable lilo…a real flat bed!

[RoadKing]

@danwolf:
I have been Gold with both *A and BAEC for many years, and nothing I have seen indicates either make a priority of serving.

Even on those that come around and ask what you would like from the menu in advance of serving, there is no apparent priority. They start at one end of the cabin and go one by one. It differs though, whether they start at the end or the beginning. It may of course be that the entire cabin is filled with Gold or higher, but I find that rather unlikely.

Speaking of it, that makes me notice one thing. For the intercontinental flights I have made with British Airways the last six months, not once have I experienced that they were out of the choice I opted for from the menu. This by contrast to former years where it happened more often than not.

Funny, I haven’t paid attention to it until now… I guess it just shows how ungrateful one can be and take things for granted.

Bravo BA!

[Stephen787]

Flying from Istanbul to Singapore on Turkish the flight leaves at 11:30pm and then they offer a 5 course dinner – tempting but ridiculous at this hour. Half the cabin was settling to sleep at around 1:30am while there were still serving dessert, cheese and coffee. At least they had 5 crew serving to get through the service a little faster.

[MartynSinclair]

Jordan and others – there is a difference between the lights full – dimmed – off.

I agree that some pax may not want to sleep and also that they may wish to have a full dinner service on a night flight. I also accept that one overhead light is not sufficient for much more than reading.

Having the cabin lights dimmed (not off) though remains a fair and safe solution and compromise. I think it is fair to suggest that most passengers on a 9 hour night flight from Asia, do not want to wait 2 hours for the cabin lights to be dimmed.

Where the airlines could further score is to introduce snooze zones for pax who dont require full service on a night flight – perhaps providing a cost savings to both the pax and airline (somehow doubt that one!).

[Author]

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