As I hinted in my earlier Finnair A350 post, our late start from Amsterdam doomed my connection to Los Angeles, though it did not have to end this way…
Missed Connection In Helsinki On Finnair
The pilots blamed the delay on Air Traffic Control congestion and poor weather, but whatever the case, we took off from Schiphol at 12:36 pm (not 11:20 am). Even then, I thought I might still make my connection:
But as we approached Helsinki, we slowed down and began to circle. The weather was not horrible, but apparently visibility was poor enough that we had to go into a holding pattern.
We finally landed at 3:52 pm and taxiied to the gate, stopping at 3:55 pm.
I figured while it was unlikely Finnair would hold the LAX flight (4:00 pm departure) for me alone, if there were several connecting passengers (and there were) it might.
We pulled up at the gate next to the A350 bound for LAX…my flight…but of course that was a problem because we parked in the non-Schengen area and this was a Schengen flight.
So there we were, right next to my connection in a gate with a jetbridge, but we all had to exit via airstairs in the rear of the plane, board a bus, and take it to the other side of the airport.
We were dumped out in the concourse of the Schengen departures area and I began running.
I sprinted to passport control, stamped out of Finland, grabbed a cart for my bag to make the run easier, and then sprinted like a relay runner to the gate.
When I arrived it was 4:15 pm. The plane was still there…but the jet bridge had been pulled back.
The gate agent looked at me panting and said, “Amsterdam?”
She was surprised I had made it so fast…but it was still too late. The flight schedule to LAX was padded…it could have waited a little bit longer for the AMS passengers. But oh well.
She advised me to return to the customer service desk for rebooking. I did, but found a long line and so I went over to the lounge…but no one was available to help with rebooking there, so I returned to the customer service desk, now with an even longer line.
Suddenly, I had an idea. But also a decision to make…
Next: how I got back on track.
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First-world problems 😉
From my experience, United does this a TON with their “connection saver” scam!
Most recent experience was coming home in January after a deployment. I knew it was going to be close on the inbound to Denver that was delayed over 1.5 hours (had a 2-hour connection)…I got online (inflight) and messaged a United CSA about holding the flight, as it was the last one of the day to my destination. They said “we can’t guarantee it, but I’ll make an enquiry.” Landed in Denver with the flight set to depart in 14 minutes…flight had already departed…and landed in final destination 36 minutes EARLY that night!
I was just glad I had a screenshot of the CSA stating that they would pay for the hotel room for the night if I mis-connected…which they ultimately did. I have yet to be saved by “connection saver.” 0 for 4!
ConnectionSaver varies based on the flight and circumstance. I’ve benefited for it, and was on flights that were held because of it. If the situation allows it, and the the crew won’t time out, the recommendation will be made.
Not a scam at all. Stop being bitter and if you don’t like United’s program, I encourage you to take your business elsewhere. United’s connection saver is simply the best – benefited from it many times. Whereas I’ve misconnected on most other airlines, Alaska and American … now they are a scam with connections.
Good lesson for those taking circuitous routing and randomly increasing their carbon emissions. KLM has nonstop flights to LAX
Yes – the poor polar bears. Oh the humanity!
Finnair will subsidize this trip if you pursue the matter and don’t give up. €600 for EC261/2004 plus a mini near all-inclusive stay overnight.
Even though it was ATC delay?
Isn’t the primary cause for this misconnection being that Finnair made a commercial decision for its benefit? Finnair had no plane and crew available at AMS to depart AMS on time because it would rather count on tight turns on planes coming from HEL than leave positioned a plane and crew at AMS and pad more time in the scheduled turns. And the commercial decision to have a bus stand instead of a hard stand arrival at HEL also contributes.
And no matter the causes for the delay, your hotels and meals and transport to/from hotel should get paid by Finnair.
It’s been very windy in at least half the continental Nordic capitals in the last few days — 30 mph winds in and that can contribute to flight delays too for various reasons. But when an airline tries to pin a delay to ATC or weather, often I manage to successfully pushback and get a claim paid out by nothing the factors that made me miss the onward flight and were under Finnair’s control if only they had made a different commercial decision. For example, Finnair’s desire to park an AMS-HEL plane at a non-Schengen gate and use a bus stand to get passengers to the Schengen side is not because of ATC/weather — it’s because of the plane and Finnair’s plans for the plane for the next flight using that plane.
Yes! If the original reason was due to a late inbound aircraft and the reason was within the carrier control eg. “crew issues” you should be eligible for eu 261 compensation. I’d try to see if you can find the exact reason for the late inbound aircraft.
I got GBP 600 per person and all expenses paid for a 3 day delay in London last year.
I would volunteer for a misconnect in Finland any day!
When Putin arrived to Finland customs and border patrol he was asked:
Destination ?
Helsinki
Occupation ?
No just visiting.
Quality.
I recommend trying to a get a room at Home Hotel Katajanokka in helsinki, it was converted from a former prison and is absolutely beautiful.
On the bright side there is a shit ton of fantastic coffee shops in helsinki.
Similar thing happened to me two weeks ago. Iberia operated flight from Barcelona was late so I missed the connection. A couple of differences though — the Iberia plane was sitting there ate the gate in BCN starting over an hour before scheduled departure, and the crew was also present. We completed boarding and the flight crew were sitting there chatting without closing the door — no idea why, but we departed 35 minutes late. Sprinted through passport control to the LAX flight and arrived at the gate 10 minutes before departure. Jetway was still connected but doors were closed and they did not let us through.
We were the first to get to the gate from the BCN flight but there were 8 passengers that arrived in the next few minutes. With all the canceled flights Finnair is having due to their labor problems they really should hold out for a few minutes to accommodate passengers so as not to add to the load for their service desk, and all the penalty fees and hotel accommodations.
… and I’ll send what Brendo said — I love Hotel Katanajooka!