Review - Finnair Business Class A350-900 Helsinki to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi

I had roughly an hour on the ground in Helsinki, and I raced every second of that to review the Finnair Lounge. Well, just the Platinum Wing to be precise, which was exclusively open to oneworld emerald members.

Helsinki Airport was probably the world’s easiest transit hub, as you could just walk off from your arriving flight and walk straight onto your departing one. It’s the exact same process as a domestic connection in the US. However, the Finnair Lounge was located closer to the security check area for originating passengers, so it was low key a haul.

Lounge:

When I visited the Platinum Wing, it only opened until 4:30pm daily. I found that odd given many departures to Asia were leaving later in the evening.

The entrance to the lounge was quite grand, and Finnair was definitely committed to its Arctic aesthetic…

At the reception, the lounge was split into the Finnair Business Lounge and Finnair Platinum Wing.

I was traveling during Finnair’s centennial celebration period, so you’ll see ceremonial touches here and there.

Upon entering the Platinum Wing, the first thing that met the eye was a mildly impressive bar. I’d like to note the ceilings at the airport and inside the lounge were very tall.

You can find the drink menu below. Finnair served Joseph Perrier both on the ground and in the air. I wish they had upped the champagne offering a bit in the Platinum Wing, since it was supposed to be an upgrade from the regular business lounge.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Drink Menu

A slew of shower suites was available. I liked the tilework and fixture choices - they felt quite calming yet cozy.

I didn’t actually shower here, as I was short on time and had already done so in the Qantas Lounge at Heathrow. When I was in the shower taking pictures, though, I didn’t feel much air movement. If you’ve showered here before, feel free to opine on the ventilation in the comments.

Inarguably the most unique amenity in the Platinum Wing was the Finnish sauna. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to check it out on this trip. But don’t worry! The cabin temperatures on my next flight were equally hot!

Outside the shower was an area with some lounge chairs and sofas. Furthest back in the lounge was the dining area, which consisted of both a buffet and an à la carte menu.

You could seat yourself anywhere in the dining area, and the wait staff would come over should you like to order something off the menu.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Dining Room

The menu was pretty limited. You can see the options below.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Dining Room Menu

The friendly waiter Tom came around with a bottle of champagne in hand, so I felt bad saying no. Finnair’s glassware are one of the most recognizable in the industry, featuring Littala, a Finnish design brand. I would be lying if I said I didn’t assess the viability of fitting the carafe in my carry-on.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Dining Room Beverage

While waiting for my main course, I perused the buffet selection and picked out a couple small bites - fried herrings and roasted venison steak.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Buffet Food

These were edible. Shortly arrived my main course. I chose the reindeer burger. I’ve had some exotic meats before, but I don’t believe I’ve had reindeer. It was very similar to beef, maybe just slightly leaner.

Finnair Platinum Wing Helsinki Dining Room Food

The real stars of the show were the chips, though. They were so thick and fresh. I love a chunky fry y’all. I enjoyed my short visit to the Platinum Wing. While it’s not making my top 10 favorite lounges anytime soon, it’s a solid lounge with decent f&b, friendly and efficient service and all the basic amenities you’d expect from an international business lounge.

Boarding:

I arrived at the gate towards the end of the boarding process. Since I already took all of the cabin pictures on my last flight, I didn’t need to be the first person to board. Ugh, the things I do for this blog😉. For a review of the new Finnair AirLounge seats, check out my earlier review here.

From the moment I stepped onboard I knew this flight was gonna be a toasty one. I decided to take control of my own fate and politely enquired with the crew about the possibility of making the cabin cooler. I was seated in the rear business class section with just a handful rows, so the friendly flight attendant told me she would lower the temperature in my section. SO YOU MEAN THE WHOLE PLANE DIDN’T HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME TEMPERATURE??? How did I not know this before? I mean I’ve asked for temperature changes a couple times, but they didn’t tell me it was ZONED?

Anyway, given the long haul nature of this flight, an amenity kit, slippers and more substantial bedding were provided. Business class ended up having one empty seat.

Finnair Business Class Amenity Kit HEL-BKK

Finnair’s amenity kit was probably one of the flimsiest amenity kits I’ve ever received. There were not even socks, let alone any products. I feel like Turkish had better amenity kits in economy.

Upon settling in, I was offered pre-departure beverages. I had to get another blueberry juice. The purser also stopped by to introduce herself, although I was not addressed by name. The crew on this flight was materially less reserved than my previous crew from London.

Finnair Business Class Pre-departure Drink HEL-BKK

I checked out the menu while on the ground, which reads as follows:

In the IFE system was a page detailing the service flow of the flight. The monitor itself could not swivel or be adjusted in any way.

Finnair Business Class Service Flow HEL-BKK

Outside the large windows of the A350, a mini snowplow truck caught my attention.

As well as the Finnair A330 in Marimekko livery.

Before we pushed back, the FA went past my seat and picked up some trash like plastic wrappers and napkins. Increasingly I’ve noticed how FAs on many airlines would just pretend they didn’t see anything laying around when they stopped by your seat, from British Airways to Singapore Airlines alike. Forget about US airlines, their planes were never cleaned in the first place. I mean, they’re not like some nasty filth that nobody wants to touch, but mostly just packaging for the headphones, bedding, slippers and etc. They also tend to take up so much surface space where storage is already limited.

Inflight:

After takeoff, I connected to the onboard wifi. Finnair offered 1-hour complimentary wifi to business class passengers, with the exception of those booked on “business lite” fares. The pricing was otherwise reasonable, and the speeds were quite decent.

Dinner service soon commenced with a hot towel.

Finnair wasn’t exactly the kind of airline to whip out an espresso martini onboard, but it did offer canned cocktails. I felt the urge to try the northern blush, cause who was I to say no to anything with lingonberry? Served alongside the libation were some cold nuts.

Finnair Business Class Dinner Apéritif HEL-BKK

About an hour into the flight, the rest of the meal was brought out on one tray, with the exception of dessert. Interestingly I was automatically served both starters on the menu, which included a wasabi salmon roll with apricot miso and seaweed caviar and roasted beetroot with beetroot purée, beetroot mousse and goat cheese cream. The salmon dish was better, although wtf is seaweed caviar? Veganism has gone too far. The beetroot dish, however, was undeniably too beetroot-y even for a Russian.

Finnair Business Class Dinner Appetizer HEL-BKK

For main course, I chose the beef chuck roll with potato gratin, chorizo ragù and blackcurrant sauce. The beef wasn’t dry, per se, but it was astonishingly chewy. Like had I finished the whole dish, my jaws would be dislocated.

Finnair Business Class Dinner Main Course HEL-BKK

For dessert, I paired the blueberry pie with cinnamon and mascarpone mousse with the Mouton Cadet Réserve Sauternes. This was probably the best thing from dinner.

Finnair Business Class Dinner Dessert HEL-BKK

Overall the meal service was extremely underwhelming. Judging based on presentation, quality and taste, it would be 3, 3 and 3 across the board. Not only did Finnair not have any proper salt and pepper shakers, they didn’t even have salt and pepper packets.

Dinner was concluded about an hour and 45 minutes after takeoff. I tested out the seat in bed mode afterwards. As mentioned earlier, the bed did not recline. I gotta be honest, I did not much care for this new design at all. It simply wasn’t comfortable if you were just trying to lean back and relax, as there was no lumbar support whatsoever. Additionally, I just could not get over the fact that you had to rest your head on top of the same area where your cake had been. Like???

On the plus side, the FA was very proactive in offering turndown service. She also wished me good rest before I was down for the count. Another observation I had was how there was no exposed metal in this seat, as the area under the side table was wrapped in leather. You know how sometimes you bump your knees onto the side of the seat, and the metal was cold enough to wake you? No? Just me? Okay…

I woke up about three hours prior to landing, with the newborn sun showering its fresh rays over the majestic Rolls-Royce Trent XWB turbofan engine.

Breakfast was served closer to arrival, with only one option available. It was pretty standard breakfast fare, with scrambled eggs, cold cuts, fruits and pastries.

Finnair Business Class Breakfast HEL-BKK

I was still amazed by how much of a detour we undertook to avoid the Russian airspace…

During our descent, the crew came around to offer a farewell chocolate.

Finnair Business Class Farewell Gift HEL-BKK

On Arrival:

We had a smooth touchdown at BKK and pulled into a gate next to an Air France B77W in the SkyTeam livery. I have to say, Finnair didn’t impress me much, not that I was expecting to be blown way to begin with. The crew was friendly and personable. I even had a conversation with the lady serving my aisle about how she only had one day in Bangkok due to the daily service. Meanwhile the Phuket crew had more days to enjoy the beach. While it certainly wasn’t the most polished, I have nothing bad to say about the service. I just think the whole experience was on the mediocre side. Was it as mediocre as Iberia or Lufthansa? Slightly less so. But I’m in no rush to fly with Finnair again in the near future.

Review - Finnair Business Class A350-900 Helsinki to Bangkok Suvarnabhumi

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December 10th, 2023

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