There are few things better than a lie-flat seat for the long flights to Europe, but Finnair Business Class stands out among many other carriers flying across the Atlantic Ocean.
Ever since Finnair first debuted its new business class seats a few years ago, I've been eager to fly them. The seats themselves are unique in their design in that they don't recline or slide down into the lie-flat position, yet they still convert into a big, comfortable bed. Plus, they were surprisingly huge – and much more roomy and private than I had assumed.
Read on for my full review of a recent flight in Finnair business class from Helsinki (HEL) to Dallas (DFW) on the Airbus A350-900.
How to Book Finnair Business Class
Finnair offers its Collins’ AirLounge seats on all of its Airbus A350-900s and A330s. You'll be able to try out these business class seats on any of Finnair's long-haul routes between Helsinki (HEL) and the U.S., including to and from Chicago (ORD), Dallas (DFW), Los Angeles (LAX), Miami (MIA), New York (JFK), and Seattle (SEA).
With Finnair recently adopting Avios as its mileage currency and updating its award chart, it's easier – and cheaper – than ever to book Finnair Business Class with transferrable credit card points.
Booking through Finnair, it's now just 62,500 Avios each way no matter which U.S. airport you're traveling to or from. Only Capital One miles can be transferred directly to Finnair, but if you've got American Express, Bilt, Chase, Citi, or Wells Fargo points, you can transfer them to British Airways firs and then easily move them over to Finnair to book.
You can even add a connection to another destination in northern Europe like anywhere else in Finland, Stockholm (ARN), Oslo (OSL), or Copenhagen (CPH) for the same rate. Same goes for many cities in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and even Poland.
Connecting onward to other destinations throughout the continent, though, will cost you an additional 18,000 to 20,000 miles.
Thrifty Tip: If you're looking to book for two passengers, you'll need to set your location to “Finland” or another European country on Finnair's website to see more award availability.
Since Finnair is a member of the massive Oneworld alliance, you've also got a few solid options to book through its airline partners, too.
- You book through Cathay Pacific for 63,000 to 89,000 miles each way. Transfer points from Amex Membership Rewards, Bilt, Capital One, or Citi to do this.
- If you've racked up miles with American Airlines, you can book for only one passenger from 57,500 AAdvantage miles each way.
- You can also book through Alaska Airlines for only one passenger from 55,000 Alaska miles. Short on Alaska miles? Right now, you can use this workaround to transfer Amex points to Alaska via Hawaiian Airlines.
Award space to actually book these flights isn't always easy to come by, but you when we find it, we send it right to our Thrifty Traveler Premium members. This deal we unearthed last month included a ton of award space to book Finnair business class using any of the methods outlined above.
This is how I booked my one-way flight from Helsinki (HEL) to Dallas (DFW).
At Thrifty Traveler, we don't accept freebies. We use our own points, miles, or cash to pay for every single flight or hotel you see reviewed here – including this one!
Checking in & Lounge Access
Flying out of Helsinki airport (HEL) was a treat. The airport is beautiful, and clearly there's an ongoing effort to make this one of the cleanest, most welcoming, and easiest-to-navigate airports in the world.
I arrived at the check-in counter about three hours before departure, standard for international flights. It was interesting how Finnair had a dedicated desk for passengers traveling to the U.S. At first, I did not see this separate area and went to the other Finnair counters. I was told to go to the U.S.-only flight area after my passport wouldn't scan.
After checking in, I was happily surprised with the priority security checkpoint I had access to with my business class ticket. This expedited process got me through security in about two minutes with no one else in line.
I had plenty of time to head to the Finnair Lounge which is located near Gate 52 in the non-Schengen area of the Helsinki airport.
I walked into the lounge's entrance and was a little surprised to see no line. The agent warmly greeted me, and I just needed to show them my boarding pass. There was also the option to just walk directly in and scan my boarding pass without an agent's assistance.
Thrifty Tip: There is also a Platinum Wing in this lounge, which included a sauna. I did not have access to this area, however, as its only available for travelers with Oneworld Emerald status or Finnair Plus Gold or Platinum status.
The lounge's entrance was pretty impressive. On the wall, there was a smaller collection of historical items from Finnair.
One of the first things I noticed as I entered the lounge was how much space there was. I was impressed by the amount of room and all the seating options. There are 450 total seats in this lounge! The group of three seating pods was also a really cool touch.
Just a bit further into the lounge was the first dining area, which featured only drink options. You could load up on coffee, soft drinks, and even tap beer. There were a ton of seating options in this area, too.
As I walked further down the hall of this beautifully minimalist lounge, I discovered the food selections. There was a decent spread set up for breakfast. I had some eggs, potatoes, and sausage, all of which were pretty good.
There were even some wine and champagne selections for interested travelers.
The centerpiece of the lounge was a gorgeous circular island bar. I loved all the lights encircling it with the 360-degree arrangement of glassware overhead. It was surrounded by tons of seating options at tables, couches, and barstools.
I had a very nice time during my two-hour stay in this lounge. All the staff members were very friendly and the service was excellent. It can be rare to find near-empty and gorgeous lounges these days, and I was very pleased with my experience in Finnair's lounge.
Finnair Business Class Cabin
There are 43 seats in the business class cabin on Finnair's A350-900 aircraft, and they're all the same the Collins’ AirLounge seat. When I first saw the seats I was immediately impressed with how huge they were. They were built with a hard shell exterior and dark navy blue cushioning wrapped all over the interior.
The business class cabin has a 1-2-1 seating arrangement, meaning every passenger had direct aisle access. The cabin was beautiful with tons of room thanks to no overhead bin storage above the middle rows.
The middle seats are ideal for two passengers traveling together, with adjoining side tables between the seats. If I was traveling with a companion I may have sat in one these seats as sometimes it's nice to be able to talk and share the fun experience in business class with another person.
The layout was consistent throughout the cabin, too.
With the partition raised, you can see that these middle seats allow quite a bit of privacy if needed.
Looking at the seats from behind you can see just how much room each passenger has sitting in the middle aisle. I don't think any seat in Finnair's business class cabin would be a poor choice.
After the meal service, most passengers lowered their window shades and the cabin crew dimmed the lights. There were some cool, orange neon lights running the length of the cabin.
As for the lavatories in the business class cabin, I was very happy with how much room I had in the bathrooms on this flight. I'm a taller guy and anytime I can easily fit into a bathroom on an aircraft is a win. There was plenty of headroom and a good amount of space overall in these restrooms.
The bathrooms had a pretty simple design to them. There was nothing over the top – no extra amenities or anything else sometimes found in lavatories on business class flights. Overall, they were very nice and clean.
There was even a window above the toilet which I can't recall being on most aircraft. I was pleased with how tidy the restrooms remained for the entire flight along with the surplus of space in them.
Finnair Business Class Seat
Since I was traveling alone, I opted for seat 7L along the windows. The combination of a simple design with a clashing dark navy fabric and an off-white shell made all the seats look sharp.
When I got to my seat, I was struck by just how large each Finnair business class seat actually is.
For starters, these seats are tall. That additional height on the back and sides of the seats gives you more privacy than you might find in other business class seats.
Looking from above and behind the seat, you also see just how wide and deep they are. There was no shortage of legroom or space on either side of me while I was seated.
Another look from this angle shows a little more detail on how much side-to-side room there was.
Looking directly at the seat, you can tell how gigantic this seat is – even in photos. It actually reminded me of the business class seats on Singapore Airlines, minus the fully reclining features of course.
The legroom was not an issue for me, and like I said before, I'm a tall guy. I had plenty of room in all directions while seated.
Directly next to the window was a side table with menus, headphones, and an amenity kit. While the shelf wasn't as big as some other business class side tables, it still had plenty of room for me to store some items during the flight.
Just above the table was a small compartment that had just enough room to store a few tiny items, like a passport or wallet. I don't think a book or larger headphones would have fit in there. There was a standard USB and USB-C plug for devices and also a removable control pad for the entertainment system. It was a little weird to have the headphone jack inside this compartment as when you closed it your cord became a little smashed.
The controls for the seat were located on the narrow panel just under the table. This was the only spot to control your seat adjustment.
Under that control panel was the tray table that could easily be unlocked and rotated out. This needed to be folded in half to store it. It was a decent-sized table. Maybe it could have been a little larger but it worked just fine for my purposes.
Unlike most other lie-flat seats, these Finnair business class seats do not recline fully. In fact, the actual backrest does not move at all. Yet, these seats can be still converted into a fully-flat bed.
The first step was to raise the chair's middle padding using the control panel. This only took a couple of seconds to do.
The next step was pulling up the smaller pad by hand which was directly under the monitor. There was a little lever that locked this pad into place. It was very easy to adjust and flip the section up.
The small cushion easily flipped up which then converted the seat into a usable bed! I actually kept my seat in this position for the majority of the flight. Sitting upright felt very comfortable with my legs elevated.
Here's another view of the seat with the cushions lifted. You can see below that there is quite a bit of legroom in the footwell.
Even though I'm over 6 feet tall, my feet did not hit the end of the footwell. I was really impressed by how comfortable I felt whether lying down or sitting upright in these Finnair seats, even without being able to recline the back of the seat. The seat components formed together perfectly and it felt like one single unit while I was lying down.
Amenities Flying Finnair Business Class
Every business class passengers flying Finnair received a small amenity kit along with a set of Phitex noise-canceling headphones.
The travel kit didn't have much to it compared to other airlines' fancy business-class amenity kits. Finnair's kit contained a toothbrush, sleep mask, and earplugs.
Business class passengers also received a pair of slippers with their seat padding and blanket. I didn't end up wearing the slippers but the blanket and bedding were both very comfortable.
I was not overly impressed with Finnair's amenity kit. It was pretty basic and likely very cheap. But while some passengers really look forward to an incredible amenity kit while flying certain business class seats, it didn't affect how I felt about the flight overall.
Finnair Business Class Dining & Service
All business class passengers were offered a pre-departure drink as we settled into our seats after boarding, mine being a delicious glass of champagne.
Meal service began about an hour after takeoff. Finnair's business class menu was fairly basic, with just two pages to ponder. For the meal, passengers could choose from “cold plates,” “warm plates,” and dessert.
A separate page consisted of all the beverage options. One side contained different wines, from champagne to dessert wines. I ordered a second glass of champagne before my meal arrived.
I liked the simplicity of this menu more than other airlines. Sometimes it can feel a little dizzying to navigate through different languages and endless options for drinks and food.
If you flipped to the other side of the sheet you'd see additional options for cocktails, spirits, soft drinks, teas, and coffees.
Later on in the flight, I decided to try Finnair's signature cocktail called the “Northern Blush,” which tasted good and was reminiscent of a vodka cranberry.
For my meal, I was in the mood for the slow-cooked beef with mushroom duxelles, root vegetable purée, roasted vegetables, and red wine sauce. This seemed like the best option compared to the rainbow trout or stir-fried noodles. Both of the cold dishes of salmon sashimi and kale hummus also arrived on the same plate.
The food in Finnair business class was decent, but it was far from the highlight of the flight for me. I'm a pretty picky eater and salmon and kale hummus are tough for me to stomach, no matter how nicely they are prepared. The beef was tender and delicious, and the red wine sauce was a nice compliment to the meat. However, the vegetables seemed a little undercooked and weren't the best. That being said, I had plenty of room left for dessert.
The assorted cheese and crackers were very good. I loved how sharp the cheeses tasted and the Scandinavian-style crackers were a nice touch. I chose to go with the key lime pie served with salted caramel crumble, with whipped cream and berries. This was probably the best food item I had on this flight. The pie was sweet and the crust was perfectly baked. I loved the dessert.
Several hours later, before our final descent, we were served nearly another full meal. This time, I went with beef burgundy stew with rice, vegetables, mushrooms, shrimp salad, and fruit. I enjoyed the fruit, bread, and salad, but the beef stew was a little questionable. The sauce wasn't that great and the quality of meat seemed pretty poor. It was a little chewy and had a very different flavor than what I'd expect for a beef stew.
Even though I didn't like the food as much as I'd hoped, the service was top-notch on this flight. Every flight attendant was quick to clear plates and offer refills on drinks. They were all very friendly and happy to assist whenever I needed anything.
Finnair Business Class Entertainment
Each business class seat comes equipped with an 18-inch touchscreen for entertainment during the flight. The monitors were decent quality, although not 4K resolution. There was a wide range of selections from television series to music to movies, and it was very easy to navigate with many different options on the screen.
There were over 100 movies to choose from to keep me busy on this nearly 11-hour flight to Dallas (DFW).
I thought it was a nice touch to have the flight timetable available on the monitors. I could see when each meal was going to be approximately served. Also, both the departure and destination city's time zones were on display.
Wi-FI was available for free for the first hour if you were a Business Classic or Business Flex ticket holder. If you were a Finnair Plus Gold member, no matter where you were sitting in the cabin, you'd get the first hour free. Otherwise, the Wi-Fi starts at $9 for one hour, $16 for three hours, or $28 for the entire flight. Wi-Fi speed could reach 15 Mbps. I opted to not use any wifi on this flight.
Bottom Line
Overall, I really enjoyed my flight from Helsinki to Dallas in Finnair business class. I was extremely impressed with the seat's comfort whether sitting upright or lying down.
The consistent theme of simplicity, from the easy-to-operate seats to the menu to the entertainment, made this flight even better. The only area that could use some attention was the dining, but I would never hesitate to fly Finnair business class again.
