Finnair, lis - jfk
 

We are flying coach, using miles, on our return trip to the US. Any comments on using Finnair coach? We could use BA but prefer not to xfr at LHR.

Lisbon to New York? Direct? Are you sure that's really a Finnair flight and not a code share on someone else's flight?

I'd take the most direct flight possible at the best price. I flew Finnair only once between Helsinki and Amsterdam. Flight was fine, I would definitely fly them again at least based on the airline - certainly I'd take a direct flight on Finnair vs. connecting in London with anyone.

It is a connecting flight, LIS-HEL-JFK. I think it's better than other choices, BA and AA, connection at LHR. BA not my first choice in any case.

Isn't there a direct flight on TAP?

It’s not better than flying via LHR. It’s going to almost double the length of your trip home. If that’s ok with you then enjoy. Could you not connect through Madrid on Iberia?

Andrew, we're using AA miles, TAP is not part of One World.

Doug, the total travel time on Finnair is 14H, 20M; on BA, with a connection at LHR it's 12H, 15M. We prefer not to connect thru LHR, we'd have 1H, 10M to make the connection with a probable terminal change. Flights on IB, again using miles, require a layover.

Sometimes those TAP flights can be fairly cheap. AA flights with miles aren't free - there are fees too. You might at least look at the TAP option of you could get a reasonably priced direct flight that doesn't cost a whole lot more than using AA miles with the fees. A direct flight that saves a lot of hassle and hours of travel time might be worth spending a tiny bit more on.

I just flew home from Porto to the US using AA miles. (TAP wasn't an option - I was flying to the US west coast.) I wound up flying Iberia between Madrid and Portugal both ways. Really didn't care for my Iberia experiences in coach, even on short flights. I got hassled about checking my carry-on bag (which other airlines haven't bothered me about), and the coach seats on the first flight were the worst ever (very cramped). I got an "economy comfort" seat on the way back that had more room, but because it was an AA award seat, they actually tried to sell it to someone else and put me in one of the cramped seats instead! They wouldn't let me board to my assigned seat until the last minute to give someone else a chance to pay to upgrade to it. I'll never fly Iberia again if I can help it.