Review of Finnair flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Helsinki in Economy

Finnair A350-900 Flight Review in Economy!

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I recently had the opportunity to fly with Finnair from Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) to Helsinki Vantaa (HEL) on their A350-900 in economy class. This article will first go over the ground experience and lounge before moving onto the flight. Lastly, I will give my final thoughts about the long-haul economy experience on Finnair. 

Airport and Check-in

Terminal D at DFW is where most of the international flights depart from. Finnair check in opens 3 hours before the flight, so when we got there we were surprised to see that there was no check in area yet. We had to wait for about 30 minutes until the gate agents arrived and set up. Check in was fast and easy since we did not have any checked bags but we did have to get our carry-ons cabin approved. With a classic economy ticket you are allowed to bring one carry-on and one checked bag. I then headed to security, the line was short and was moving really fast.

Booking an economy ticket with Finnair does not give you lounge access but if you have a capital one credit card you can access the Capital One lounge 3 hours before your flight. If you are traveling around lunch time or after I suggest that you check into the lounge online 30 minutes before you get to the airport. Fortunately I had checked in before so I was able to skip the 40 minute wait time. This lounge has everything you need from free food to showers and a work out room. All of the extra amenities like the showers, gym, and Prayer rooms you have to request a time slot at the reception desk. I took a seat by the windows for an amazing view of the ramp and runways. The food was really good. I had some Mac and cheese along with a croissant. There is also a full service bar all free of charge where I got a hot chocolate. From the lounge I was able to see the Finnair A350-900 land so let’s head to the gate and get onboard.

Gate and Departure

We were departing from gate D14. We entered through the L2 door into the business lounge section. As I stepped on board I was warmly greeted by flight attendants who showed me which aisle to go down to my seat. The cabin was a calming mix of blue, white, and gray. Today I was sitting in row 65H, it is the second to last row in the middle section. The seats are made out of gray and white fabric. They have a 31 inch seat pitch and an 18 inch width. Laying on the seat when I got there was a blanket, earphones, and a mini water bottle. The seat was pretty comfortable and was not too cramped. It came with a large screen, two headphone jacks, USB port and one mesh seat back pocket. There was also an adjustable headrest with adjustable wings on the side for extra comfort and stability. Overall the cabin was clean and modern. The seat was great and had everything you need for a long haul flight.

Note: If you are seated in the last few rows in the middle section be sure to get there early because the crew rest area is right above those rows and the overhead bins are a lot smaller. I was unable to fit a regular carry-on in them, so I had to put it across the aisle.

Inflight Entertainment

For the inflight entertainment, Finnair A350s have large, modern, and responsive touchscreens on the seat back of every seat. It has two headphone jacks and one USB port to charge your devices during the flight. The screen is not adjustable which can be an issue if the person in front of you reclines during the flight. They offer a wide range of movies, tv shows, games, and music which keeps passengers entertained for the whole flight. There is also a flight map and two external cameras (one right behind the front landing gear and one on the vertical stabilizer). Another cool thing about the IFE (Inflight Entertainment System) is that it had a schedule of when the meals would be served and when the lights would be dimmed for passengers to get some sleep. This was great giving passengers an idea about when meals would be served and what would be served.               

Inflight Meals

Speaking of inflight meals this flight had two meal services - one after takeoff and one before landing. Passengers have the option of ordering a special meal if they have dietary restrictions. You must order the special meal at least 24 hours before the departure time through the Finnair website. You can find all of the options they offer online. They also offer snacks and some light meals onboard for purchase. Finnair has no options during their meal service. They serve only one meal so if passengers fail to order a special meal before the flight and have an allergy issue they are stuck with whatever they are serving. This is part of their initiative to reduce waste. For dinner they served Harissa beef stew served with mashed potatoes, carrots, and broccoli. It comes with a cabbage salad and a fudge brownie for dessert. Alongside the meal you also get a choice of beverage. I chose blueberry juice, their signature drink. I highly recommend that you try it if you are on a Finnair flight because it tastes absolutely amazing. The rest of the meal was really good, the stew was hot and had lots of flavor. The fudge brownie was like a cosmic brownie but with no sprinkles and it was very fudgy. Overall the meal was really good, there was lots of flavor and it was the perfect size. 

The second meal was served before landing and was considered breakfast. They served a Parmesan cheese and parsley omelet, potatoes, cherry tomato and marinara sauce. The flight attendants just came down the aisle and handed you a small paper cardboard box with the omelet in it. It was again served alongside a beverage service and I was able to snag some more blueberry juice. The omelet was warm and came with wooden utensils that I promptly snapped after trying to cut my omelet. The omelet was pretty good but it was heavy on the cheese and potatoes were soggy but overall it was pretty good. 

The wooden utensils and biodegradable package are part of Finnair's initiative to reduce waste. They do this by only serving one meal choice and using wooden utensils along with other things.

After that we had a smooth landing in Helsinki. We were on time and the customs was really fast.