After nearly 20 years together, and every Christmas spent at home, I’d finally managed to pursued the other half that a Christmas spent in 40c heat in Thailand would be a good idea and by some stroke of good luck, was able to get 2 seats in business class with Finnair that would have us in Thailand for Christmas and New Year. 

I’d booked the outbound flight with Avios on 2 January, 354 days before we travelled. If you want seats in premium cabins over peak periods, you have to be organised and generally book them as soon as they go on sale. Flexibility is key, and I couldn’t, at that time, get seats from the UK, so booked what I could find out of Helsinki and would worry about how to get to Helsinki later. The inbound was more straightforward and I was able to book Bangkok to Helsinki to Manchester all on one ticket on the day the seats were released. 

As we were flying out of Helsinki on the Monday before Christmas, my plan was to spend the weekend in Helsinki and just pay cash for a one way ticket from Manchester. That would have worked out quite expensive (about £300 each), but Finnair eventually released some more Avios seats in August, so I jumped on those. We flew out on the Saturday and spent Sunday exploring Helsinki’s Christmas markets and main sites. 

I was really impressed with Helsinki Airport and it’s one of the more stylish airports I’ve ever passed through. It’s not particularly large, with separate areas for Schengen and non-Schengen flights. I loved the dark blue and light wood colour theme throughout the airport, and especially in the business class lounges. 

Flying out to Bangkok, we were gifted entry to the Premium Wing of the business class lounge in the non-Schengen area, which is usually reserved for the upper echelons of frequent flyers, by my contact at Finnair. 

As soon as we entered the lounge and passed the bar, we were warmly greeted and offered a glass of champagne. It might have been just after 1030, but who am I to turn down a glass of champagne? I’m on holiday, and it was Christmas!

I had a mooch around the lounge, and I loved loved loved the sultry blue alcove of comfy seating just off the dining area. The dim light and dark walls make for a calming, relaxing space that feels really opulent. 

Lunch service was already in flow and we sat down to a bite to eat at about 1100. The buffet had a selection hot and cold starters and mains and the beetroot, blue cheese and fig salad was delicious. Ordering from the à la carte menu, I found the blackened salmon a bit too blackened and the sweet potato fries a bit too salty to my taste. Even the other half, who puts salt on everything, couldn’t finish his fries as there was too much salt. He enjoyed the “reindeer” burger, but had it without the reindeer! Nonetheless, it was a good meal and would easily have been €100 in a restaurant. 

The cocktails and mocktails are made to order and the honey ginger mocktail, made with fresh, muddled ginger was lovely. I skipped dessert in favour of enjoying one of the most unique airport lounge experiences – the Finnair sauna! 

To the left as you enter the lounge, the same sultry dark blue theme carries the relaxing feel. With separate men’s and women’s changing rooms, both empty into the relaxation room and the small, 3 person sauna is off this main lobby area. It’s a very bijou space but I had the place to myself and was able to enjoy a very relaxing 20 minutes or so of peace and steam. The Sees toiletries rounded off the luxurious experience and it was almost a shame to have to leave and board our flight! 

We were the first business class passengers to board which, for anyone who knows me, will not be surprised! 

First impressions of the seat were excellent. A couple of little storage compartments, but big enough for your essential items. I got way too excited that my Brics amenity kit from a Qatar business class flight in 2017 fitted perfectly in one of the compartments. Being an A350-900, there’s luggage bins over the aisle seats but none over the middle seats. We didn’t struggle for storage on either the outbound or the inbound flights, despite them being full. 

It’s an unusual seat. It doesn’t recline. There’s no privacy door, but it instead curves around to hug you and provide tons of privacy. With plenty of width and legroom that stretches into the shell of the seat in front, a couple of flip up panels that create a flat surface to lounge and sleep on. I thought the seat was extremely comfortable, especially as a side sleeper. I tend to sleep on my right and found that I could curl around the console when sitting on the right side of the plane. The only thing needed is more cushions. You can never have enough cushions! I far preferred the seat to Qatar’s Qsuite, which is often regarded as the best business class seat in the world, but I found it small and claustrophobic. 

Having said that, the other half didn’t get on with the seat at all. He couldn’t find a comfortable sitting position and felt like he had to twist his body to be able to watch the TV. To get the most out of this seat, it helps if you’re nimble and can mould into the shape of the seat, like to sit with your feet up or are only interested in a flat surface to sleep on. 

Slippers, mattress pad, 2 cushions, a blanket and a (fairly basic) amenity kit was waiting on the seat as were menus for lunch and breakfast. We were offered champagne (Joseph Perrier Cuvée Royale Brut), water or blueberry juice as a welcome drink. 

The entertainment screen was plenty big enough and I liked that it had a timeline of the journey so you knew when meals would be served and it also had a guide to how the seat works. The choice of films was pretty decent and the quality of the screen is great, it’s just a shame you can’t add programs to a favourites list. 

We pushed back about 1355, so only 5 minutes behind schedule although we were held back a bit by deicing. We were airborne by about 1430 with 10 hours 25 minutes flying head of us and lunch was served just after 1500. I’d read that Finnair business class is the world’s best premium economy and I guess they were referring to the dining experience. 

You get both starters but as one was prawn, and the other half doesn’t eat sea food, I ended up with 2 prawns dishes and he had 2 carrot and celeriac salads. I enjoyed the Asian flavour of the shimeji mushrooms and the prawns were good although I found the horseradish to be bit strong for my taste.

The sourdough roll was excellent (why do I love bread on planes so much?!) and the beef main was good enough. It wasn’t spectacular but also not bad. We preordered our meals ahead of time and there were extra options available onboard. For our outbound, the beef was available for preorders and onboard but the chicken that the other half had wasn’t available onboard. Considering he doesn’t eat fish and paneer has bad memories for him, it was a good job he preordered. 

The dessert was lovely and I adore cinnamon so very much enjoyed the mousse, although I would have appreciated a hot dessert. I washed it down with a glass of the famous cloudberry liquor and a blueberry tea before snuggling into the big armchair and having some rest. 

I had read that service on Finnair wasn’t proactive, but that wasn’t our experience on either flight. The crew came through the cabin a number of times with water, juice, fruit and sandwiches although drinks could have been more frequent.

I slept solidly for about 2 hours and the lights came up with about 2 hours 15 minutes left to go, with breakfast served about 15 minutes later.

On our return, we were invited to use the Miracle or Oman Air lounges at Bangkok Airport, but as we were flying business class on Finnair, we had access to any of the Oneworld airline lounges. 

My first pick would have been the excellent Qatar lounge, but as Qatar didn’t have any flights scheduled around the same time as our flight, their lounge wasn’t open. We went to the, also excellent, Cathay Pacific lounge instead.

We were warmly welcomed with a quick scan of our boarding passes and directed to the iconic Cathay noodle bar on the left or the main bar and seating area on the right. As it was midday and we were starving, we headed to the noodle bar.

With dark wood panelling and banquette seating, the lounge oozes sophistication and the runway views kept me entertained whilst we tucked into wonton soup with the most delicious shrimp dumplings, fried aubergine and vegetable spring rolls. There’s also a small buffet with various salads, sandwiches, cold cuts and cheese. The little cheesecake washed down with Cathay’s signature drink – Cathay Delight – rounded off our little lunch perfectly. 

At Helsinki, boarding was exceptionally well organised with priority passengers given their own holding area which opens to the air bridge before the area with the rest of the passengers. Contrast that to Bangkok, which was a chaotic mess with gate lice blocking the passport desks. It was carnage. 

Being in A8, the last seat in the forward business class cabin, it took a while to get a welcome drink. The flight was scheduled to take 12 hours 45 minutes, my longest flight ever. We’d been onboard about 25 minutes when the pilot announced that ATC were asking us to stay put for at least another 20 minutes. In the end, we pushed back from the gate at 1509, only 9 minutes late and ended up spending 13 hours on the plane, arriving in Helsinki about 20 minutes late. 

Lunch was served about an hour after takeoff and, again, I felt it would be an excellent meal for premium economy but, on balance, the dining experience isn’t good enough for business class. 

The starters of prawn couscous salad and Thai beef salad were very tasty, but too much coriander. The beef would have been far too rare for some, and the other half couldn’t eat his. As he doesn’t eat sea food, he couldn’t have either starter and there was nothing I could swap with him. He’s not the easiest person to cater for, but the lack of choice on Finnair meant we struggled to cobble a meal together like we have on previous flights. He’d preordered the chicken with pineapple and the quality of the chicken was appalling – all fatty gristle with slimy skin. I’ll eat most things, and even I would struggled with that dish. 

My main of salmon with vegetables was good, but pretty cold by the time I’d eaten my starter. I really don’t understand why the main is served at the same time as the starter. Not least when the protective foil is removed so it chills quickly.

The chocolate mousse was the highlight of the meal, even with the rice cracker base which reminded me of Cracker Jacks. I also very much enjoyed the Schloss Reinhartshausen Hattenheimer Reisling wine. 

About 3 hours before landing, a second meal of smoked salmon salad, leek and potato quiche with fruit was served. I’m not really a fan of leek, but the quiche was warm and very eggy. It was quite good. As he doesn’t eat fish and eggs, this was another meal that the other half couldn’t eat. The crew prepared additional fruit and offered some items from the other cabins. 

We had a 9 hour layover before our connecting flight to Manchester so I booked a room at the Hilton to get some proper rest. We were tucked up in bed within 45 minutes of landing and back up at 0500 for our 0800 flight. 

Annoyingly, passport control for the non-Schengen area doesn’t open until 1.5 hours before the first flight so we were delayed getting some breakfast at the lounge. The buffet had a small selection of fruits, hot and cold meats and eggs. 

Due to a shortage of ground staff, we left an hour late as there were only 2 guys loading bags on the plane. Fortunately, this being an Embraer 190, it’s a small plane with only 100 passengers. I dread to think how long it would have taken loading an A350. 

Whilst just normal economy seating, I was actually quite impressed with the breakfast on this short flight. A fruit salad, some cold cuts with cheese and a cheese omelette with sausage and vegetables. It feels like a bit of a confused offering when the long haul meals are decidedly average but they can turn out a more than acceptable meal on short haul. 

On the whole, I think Finnair is on to a winner with this business class seat, the lounges are decent, but the experience is let down by dining. The cash cost for our flights would have been about £8000 for the 2 of us. I don’t think it would be unreasonable to expect more for that kind of money when it comes to the choice, quality and presentation of meals. 

Date of trip; December 2025

Price paid; 310k Avios plus £440 in taxes for 2 people.