Traveling over the Atlantic is something I am extremely used to at this point, but on this trip we were going to be heading the farthest north and east (in Europe) we have ever been. To travel from New York to Helsinki, Finnair was our first choice in trekking to Finland, so we were really excited to partner up with them as we embarked on our Nordic adventure (I still have the music from their onboard videos still stuck in my head and I love it!).
The journey from New York to Helsinki is around 7 hours while the journey back is around 9 hours (gotta love jet streams). We had the opportunity to fly Finnair’s business class both to and from Finland, which was a really nice way to bookend our visit.
As we were flying business class, this gave us a chance to experience Finnair’s lounges at both JFK and Helsinki. In New York, they share a lounge with American Airlines, but in Helsinki, they have several lounges of their own and one exclusively for business class passengers. Finnair’s lounges in Helsinki are modern, bright, and full of delicious food and beverages. They even had sea buckthorn shots, which I pretty much devoured during our entire 10-day visit to Finland. We checked in for our flight several hours early so we could enjoy the lounge in Helsinki, and I wasn’t going to say no to a glass of champagne at 10 am.
Finnair has one of the most comfortable business class seats, which is always welcomed when trekking over the ocean for several lengthy hours. I always tend to grab a window seat, although in business class the two middle seats are ideal for couples. The seat lie fully flat, which was helpful in grabbing a couple of zzz’s on our journey from New York to Helsinki. But what really stood out to me was the food. On our flight back to New York, Tor and I both devoured a delicious mushroom soup (and I’m normally NOT a big mushroom fan) as well as yummy seafood with potatoes in a dill butter sauce (two of my favorite things – dill and butter). They also had an impressive wine selection, so I found myself indulging in a few glasses of red wine as we trekked across the Atlantic.
As you all know I am a very anxious flyer, but the cabin crew on Finnair knew what to do to make me feel much more comfortable for our transatlantic flights. I have to credit the Finnair cabin crew on our flight to Helsinki for introducing me to blueberry juice, which is extremely common in Finland but not so much here in the United States. Needless to say, I was hooked instantly and kept asking for more glasses of it throughout our flights.
Finnair is the perfect airline to travel on if you’re heading to Finland. The flights are deceptively quick to and from the US. In the winter months, the best daily option is a flight out of New York’s JFK airport. Miami offers year round service as well, but only operates 3 days a week. In the summer, Chicago offers daily flights and San Francisco offers 3 weekly flights to and from Finland on Finnair. Finnair is also a great airline to fly to Europe with a connection. It’s a great way to get to Estonia, Lithuania, Denmark, Germany, Sweden, Latvia, Russia, and Norway.
If you’re traveling to Finland anytime soon or curious as to which airline to fly to get to Finland, look no further than Finnair. I’m looking forward to flying with them again someday!
Be sure to check out our Helsinki city guide, our day trip to Porvoo, our stay in an arctic Finnish treehouse in Rovaniemi, our skiing expedition in northern Finland, and our stay in a glass igloo in Levi, Finland. Check out our entire Finland itinerary here, as well as our Finland travel guide here.
We flew as guests of Finnair, however all opinions in this post are my own.
Photos by Torrance Coombs.
Your looks want me to travel to Finland immediately..if someone visiting Finland summer what activities you recommend???
We went in winter, so I can only give recommendations on what to do in winter at the moment. We are hoping to return next summer though!
This trip looked amazing! I have never flown with Finnair I always fly British Airways or Virgin for transatlantic flights. Finnair looks very comfortable though! You are very lucky that you where guests of the airline to! You are so lucky that you have such an amazing job! I wish I could travel as much as you do and in style but as a pharmacy student all I have time for is to study. PS: the Blueberry juice looks really good! Was it fresh ? Also will you upload the vlogs soon?
Finnair is a part of OneWorld Alliance, so they are affiliated with British Airways! And Finnair was definitely very comfortable!
Yes the blueberry juice was fresh and delicious!
Pity Finnair don’t fly their new A350 aircraft to USA yet, only to Asia. The A350 is great for long haul flights: super quiet, great air quality.
I am hoping to fly on their A350 someday soon! The A330 was really comfortable and quiet for us though!
I’m dying about your stripped sweater but unfortunately it’s too expensive, do you know if there is one similar anywhere ?
Love from a french living in Helsinki, x
Chloé