Travel
Flights: Finnair London to Seoul
(How to do Business Class Badly)
For our one way flight to move to Seoul I booked with Finnair because it was the cheapest Business Class available for the route. Turns out you get what you pay for.
Before I start telling you about the flights, I must stress that the Cabin crew were absolutely lovely and did their very best in some difficult circumstances. If I were them I would go and work for someone else….
I had seen many reviews of the new Business Class seats which are the only product in the air that doesn't recline. Reviewers seemed impressed with their spaciousness and the fold out lie flat function, so I had high expectations.
Oh Finnair....
When we boarded the London to Helsinki leg of the flight it was clear we had the old plane that had not been fitted out with the fancy new seats yet. The old ones were incredibly narrow for a BC seat, with not much legroom. They were also not very private, and I enjoyed the view of my aisle mates’ butt crack at close quarters whilst he slept.
If I had wanted to be cramped, uncomfortable and in close proximity to strangers I would have flown Economy.
The lovely crew offered me some champagne which I gratefully accepted.
I chose not to stare at neighbours butt the whole 3 hours, and instead tried to find something to watch. The entertainment choices onboard were both dated and limited. It was very noticeably poor compared to other airlines that fly to Korea.
The lunch was served at lightening speed due to the short flight, and when it appeared it looked distinctly Economy (I realise I’m sounding like a complete snob but if you pay extra you expect extra). The cheese tortellini would make any Italian Nonna swear like a sailor. I have reheated better pasta on the third day after cooking it.
It was covered in a horrible thick tomato ‘sauce’ that tasted like it would be better applied to the hull of a ship than to a bowl of pasta.
Also lurking on the plate was a slice of beef wrapped around some cream cheese which was fairly edible, and an extremely hard piece of rye bread. When in Rome…ah…Finland and all that. The bread could have been used to apply the tomato sauce to the hull of the ship very effectively.
A plastic wrapped chocolate chip cookie was desert, which I donated to my son who wouldn't touch anything else on the tray.
When we reached Helsinki, which is a beautiful airport, we hotfooted it to Finnair's Signature Lounge to enjoy it for the 2 hours we had on layover.
The lounge at Helsinki is impressive. As you would expect from a Finnish product it is sleek, minimalist and stylish. The food offerings were interesting, and I had some roasted vegetables and a beef cheek stew that was gorgeous. My son did his best to empty out their supply of mini muffins.
When we boarded the second 13 hour leg to Seoul my heart sank as I saw we were yet again on the old plane without the fancy new seats.
Dinner was probably the worst food I've had on a Business Class flight, and possibly even on an Economy one.
I chose the Venison as my first choice of the fish was already gone. I don't eat venison very often as I have Bambi flashbacks but it turned out this was no Bambi.
It was Bambis grandma, or perhaps Great Grandma, given the texture of the meat. It was so dry and chewy that I eventually gave up and spat it into my napkin. Sorry Granny.
Bambis Great Grandma was sitting in a puddle of what looked like vomit, but apparently was root vegetable puree. There was also another dubious looking slop that was described as Porcini Risotto, but I left well alone.
The broccoli on top had been cooked til all colour and flavour had left its limp corpse, and one mouthful was enough to leave the rest.
Luckily this was accompanied by a Vasterbotten cheese mousse with seaweed caviar (edible at a push), and some salmon sashimi decorated with mushrooms.
I called the cabin crew member over and told her that the food was inedible, and could I have some bread instead? She did not look surprised and gave me a sympathetic smile as if to say ‘Yes its utterly shit, we know.’
I got given a piece of bread. That was my dinner. I made up for it by drinking 3 glasses of wine.
The bed was extremely narrow and not particularly comfortable. I imagine they have rectified this on the new seats. The galley was right behind me, and the noise of the crew chatting away even came through when I had earbuds in.
I had a terrible broken few hours and eventually gave up and watched TV. My son slept for a good 5 hours but then he can sleep anywhere.
When breakfast came I was not expecting much, which was a good thing. Lets just say the food is not what you fly Finnair for.
In fact, I’m not sure what is. Probably the new seats (I’m not bitter).
I arrived in Seoul to start our new life completely and totally exhausted, and feeling like a zombie. Jet lag is bad enough when you do sleep, but when you don't it knocks days off your holiday or stay.
I can imagine those who book a Finnair flight with the new cabin will get a much better experience, but the entertainment system needs an upgrade, and the food is just…bad.
I can't speak for Economy, but if that was Business I dread to think what it was like.
Perhaps my standards are too high, or perhaps I have been spoilt by better carriers offering a better product. Do yourself a favour and book one of them.
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Flights: Cathay Pacific London to Seoul
I love airports. I love planes. I used to be cabin crew back in the day when I was thin and fancy free.
Flying to South Korea from the UK is a long flight, from a 12 hour direct flight to a combo of others. On our last visit we chose Cathay Pacific as it offered the best deal on Business Class.
Business Class is amazing. I decided that if I was going to be flying for that long I was damn well going to be comfortable and not be listening to Barry from Birmingham snore in my ear. The first time we went Business Class was Ethiad and it set a very high standard, with impeccable service and incredible food.
Since then we have been Emirates (okay but variable on different legs), and Korean Air (appalling on both legs).
Cathay Pacific has a famously hyped Business Class lounge at Heathrow. Lounges are my other favourite thing about BC. I’m like a child trying not to skip about looking at all the ‘free’ stuff I have access to, and I do enjoy wondering why people are drinking champagne at 9 in the morning. I’m not quite there yet, but they do get their moneys worth….
The lounge itself is lovely- all wood and natural tones, with multiple areas to relax or eat. When we were there it was serving breakfast, so didn't get to sample their famous noodle bar.
Breakfast was the usual fare of sausages, eggs, porridge, cereal and pastries. To my utter horror, there was coriander in the baked beans.
Sorry Cathay Pacific, but that is completely unacceptable. There's fusion food and there's just food that should not be messed with.
The toilets were very fancy, but there was an attendant. Now I know its a sign of a posh place to have some person keeping your toilets spotless, but I don’t like someone hanging out waiting for me to come out of a stall. I feel under pressure.
We boarded in quite a hurry as the gate opened late. Once installed in our seats (both window), we were offered water or juice. The usual champagne was nowhere to be seen. I didn't want any but I expect it to be offered so I can turn it down.
As cabins go, Cathay Pacific is pretty standard, with plenty of legroom for 5ft 7 me, although not particularly private. I could look into the seat across the aisle, and the light from their TV screen was irritating during the night portion of the flight.
One of the best parts of Business Class is the food. On my first flight in this class I was amazed by the food not coming in a foil covered metal dish and smelling like cat food, but on an actual plate. The cabin crew coming around and taking your order is also fantastic.
The food on the flight was pretty good. The pea soup starter looked like a puddle of algae but was absolutely delicious. The roasted chicken was moist and juicy, and who can resist carrots carved into fancy shapes? I reckon the shavings go into Economy class salads......
The superstar of this meal was the white chocolate and matcha dessert. It did have the appearance of a glass of milk that had been left out to go mouldy on the top, but by God was it tasty! Almost worth the ticket price alone. If it had been darker I would have licked the glass out like a labrador with a jar of peanut butter.
Having watched Top Gun Maverick (great fun and Tom is better preserved than an Egyptian Mummy), I decided to get some sleep. I DO NOT sleep well on planes, whether it be Business or Economy. The seat was fairly comfortable, and I did manage to get a few hours here and there. I do find that as a rule airlines like to try and cook their passengers at night, and this was no exception so I would perhaps wear less next time.
When I could no longer sleep I ordered some food whilst I watched a movie. The little burger was awesome. I don't know how they did it but it was better than some premium burger chains on the ground.
Breakfast was also good. When I was cabin crew we were taught that the food is more about entertainment than actually feeding epople, and it's true. It breaks up the time and gives you something to focus on. I was stuffed like a Christmas turkey at that point, but I did manage some fruit and coffee.
The Crew on board were without exception..um.... exceptional. Very polite and always ready to help. It makes a massive difference, and on some other airlines they can be noticeably more attentive to Asian passengers, but this was not the case on Cathay.
Okay, so they lost my luggage between London and Seoul and I didn't get it til 2 days later, but apart from that slight hiccup, I was impressed with their Business Class product, especially compared to some other airlines on this route.
I would book with them again.
Want to book flights?
Kayak is a well trusted and reliable site: I use them for all my flight bookings
https://kayak.com/in?a=kan_265557_576162&lc=en&url=%2Fflights
(This is an affilate link and I get a VERY TINY bit of compensation should you book through it. I need to buy tofu).
