Nathan's Insights

Finnair
Date: 7 April 2024
Gate: 23
Seat: 5A & 6A (Economy Class Seats)
Plane: Airbus 320
Boarded: 10:55
Pushback: 11:23 (Scheduled 11:25)
Arrived: 12:19 (Scheduled 12:30)
Duration: 1 hours 56 minutes
Distance: 1,129 kms

This flight was from Helsinki-Vantaa (Finland) Airport to Berlin Brandenburg (Germany) Airport Willy Brandt.  This flight was between two countries in the European Schengen travel area so similar to domestic Australian flight.

The Cost

I purchased this economy flight as part of a reward ticket that covers Melbourne to Singapore (Jetstar – review), Singapore to Helsinki (Finnair – review), Helsinki to Berlin (Finnair – this flight), Split to Helsinki (Finnair), Helsinki to Singapore (Finnair), and Singapore to Helsinki (Jetstar). For each passenger (I am travelling with my niece) it cost 139,800 Qantas points and AUS $361.37.

To use Qantas reward points just for this flight it would have cost 14,000 Qantas points and 34 euros each. To purchase a ticket on the same flight it would have been AUS $640.00 with AUS $371 being the cheapest direct flight on the same route.

Check In / Bag Drop / Security

We checked in a dropped our bags 3 hours before the flight using the self-serve kiosks. This time we didn’t need assistance.

As we were traveling inside the European Schengen travel area we didn’t have Border Control instead we just had to deal with normal normal airport security to get airside. 

You will that air travel between Schengen travel zone countries is similar to domestic travel in Australia or USA. I was pulled aside to check my day pack, in particular the power battery pack. After a quick security inspection I was allowed through to airside. 

Lounges

While I was travelling in Economy Class on Finnair as a Qantas Lifetime Gold Member I also hold Oneworld Sapphire status.  This Sapphire status means when travelling on any Oneworld airline (including Finnair) I was allowed access to any Oneworld Lounge, even when flying in economy, for me plus one guest. 

As a result, we accessed the Finnair Schengen Lounge (Helsinki). This lounge is located at Gate 22. This was a nice complex lounge which lots of drink options and some finger food. The lounge provided a good view of the tarmac and our airplane. Finnair has more impressive lounges for flights flying out of the European Schengen travel area that can only be accessed by passing Border Control.

Boarding

This flight boarded from Gate 23. Finnair boards their business class passengers and top tier members first in Group 1 which was called at 10:55. Group 2 includes high level members which included me and was called just one minute later. You had to scan your ticket to open the security gates to board the flight.

The Seat

This Finnair A320-200 aircraft operates with all economy class seats with 168 seats in total.  The first 4 rows are allocated as the “business class section” with the middle seat not used reducing total number of bookable seats to 160.  Rows are in a 3 – 3 layout. There was not one passenger in the ‘business’ class section. Darby was allocated row 5 seat A meaning she was the forward most passenger on the plane. I was in 6A behind Darby so we both had window views.

The economy seats have 18 inches (46 centimetres) width and have a pitch of 31 inches (79 centimetres). There is no in seat power via a USB port.  

Amenity Kit

No amenity kit is provided in economy.

Meals and Drinks

No meals are included in the economy ticket price you can purchase food items on board.  Given this is a short flight and we had been in the lounge earlier this was not needed. Drinks (water, coffee, tea) were offered at no charge.

Service

The service was limited on this domestic short haul flight. All announcements were made in Finnish first and then English. Despite flying to Germany that language was not used.

Entertainment System

There is no entertainment system for this flight. Internet was advertised as being available for purchase but I didn’t look into this.

The Flight

This was an enjoyable short flight.  As it was in the middle of the day and only for 2 hours I selected two window seats for Darby and myself and this allowed for some nice views as we departed snow capped Finland and flew into green Germany. The cabin temperature was comfortable.

Arrival

We arrived at 11 minutes early. As we were in the Schengen travel zone we did not need to clear Border Control just a normal airside zone. 

Our bags we available approximately 15 minutes after landing.  After picking up our bags we were off to find the train station (located under Terminal 1) to organise transportation to our hotel.  The was a whole different unexpected adventure.

Summary

This was a simple and short flight. Economy seats are comfortable, and there is just enough room for standard sized people.