We thought we had this trip planning well under control, and then along came Delta Airlines and their frequent flight schedule changes.
We only went about six days after we purchased our flights before our flight to Helsinki got changed, and it was a major change. Instead of leaving at 2:15 PM as we had purchased, Delta changed that first flight to an 11:00 AM departure, adding over three hours to our existing layover in Atlanta, now approaching five hours with the earlier departure time.
I went to the Delta website to see what had happened. Sure enough, the 2:15 PM flight was gone, and there was only one choice to make our connection in Atlanta, the 11:00 AM flight we had been changed to.
Luckily, this qualified us to receive either a 100% refund or a flight change. The flight change was always possible without any cost, but the 100% refund was a result of the drastic change in our flight schedule. I believe it has to be over 2 hours of scheduled change to qualify for the refund, which this certainly was.
I started looking at other possibilities on other airlines, and there were a couple of options, but they were not significantly better than the new flights we had. There was one later flight on Delta we could take, arriving at the Helsinki Airport at 5:25 PM, but we had already looked at that flight arrival time and selected the initial 1:10 PM arrival in Helsinki. The reasoning was that we wanted to have sufficient time to catch the night train at the Helsinki Central Train Station. We would only have a total of two hours of time to make that connection IF all of our flights were on time. We knew we also had to go through Immigration, and claim our luggage, and then take a 30-minute train from the airport to the central train station. With all of that, we thought that later arriving time might be cutting it close. Missing our train would not be good. There is a later train, but we would then have to ride in seats for the 11-hour train trip, the sleeper cars would be sold out by then.
We considered several other options. There was another train station closer to the airport that we could go to and catch our night train from there, it was just an eight-minute train trip from the airport instead of the 30-minute ride all the way to the Helsinki Central Station. If we went there, we would gain close to an hour in additional time, we would not spend the 30-minute ride south to Helsinki, plus close to that same time for the night train to head back north and arrive at the alternate station from Helsinki. With that additional hour, we would then have almost three hours of connection time if we made the change to the 5:25 PM arrival at the Helsinki Airport. Definitely a possibility.
This sounded good. In researching online about the night train to Rovaniemi, we found a YouTube video of a couple who took the same night train we were on, and they had gone to the alternate station closer to the airport to catch the train there. The only issue with boarding the train at the alternate station is that the connection time at that station is only around two minutes, and in that timeframe, we have to find our coach and get onto the train with all of our luggage Two minutes is the listed duration of the stop there. That is doable, we have done it before, but never after having just flown for over 18 hours. We know from experience that we would be tired from the overnight flight and may not be fully mentally or physically aware to deal with any problems. This seemed to be a potentially stressful solution.
The benefit of starting at the Helsinki Central Station is that the train is in the station for at least thirty minutes before it departs since this is the originating station for the trip. That gives us plenty of time to find our coach (car) where our room is located. We had read that getting to another coach is difficult with luggage because these trains are all double-deckers, and they have steps going up and down at each end of the coach. This would happen if we had difficulty finding ur getting to our coach once the train arrived and we had no choice but to board wherever we could to avoid missing the train altogether.
Another factor we considered was the night train berth itself and it’s included shower. I had read several reviews about this night train trip, and several reviews mentioned issues with the water for the showers, both that it was not always hot, and there were instances where the water ran out altogether. We were relying on this shower to help us to rejuvenate some after our long flight, a nice hot shower will do that. If we had issues, then we would not have access to a hot shower for another 20 hours or better, the 11-hour train ride plus the time we might have to wait before we get into our room in Rovaniemi. That is a long time when added to the fight time.
Next, we considered just getting a hotel room for a short time with our original 1:10 PM arrival time, and using the time to relax and shower in that room. We looked at hotels both at the airport, actually right next to the terminal, or nearby to the Helsinki Central Station. Availability was not an issue, and this plan seemed possible but expensive. Also, most hotels had check-in times as late as 5:00 PM, some earlier at 3:00 PM, but not as early as we needed to make this a viable plan. In the end, this option was tossed out, It was mostly due to the cost, if we were willing to pay that much for a hotel room for a few hours, why not just have it for an entire night instead?
In the end, that was what we decided to do. We would just leave one day earlier on the trip, plan on taking the later flights on Delta, and arrive in Helsinki at 5:25 PM. Then we would reserve a hotel for the night, either at the airport or in Helsinki near the Central Train Station. The prices are similar, we just need to figure out the final logistics of getting from the airport to the Central Station, either the night we arrive or the next evening before our train departure. Part of this has to do with check-out times.
We could not find a hotel that listed guaranteed late check-out times that was close to the airport terminal or central train station and within a decent walking distance in the dead of winter. Most listed 11:00 AM or 12:00 PM as the official check-out time. Since our train does not depart until 7:20 PM, we need somewhere to hang out from the time we check out of the hotel until the train departs. Cold weather is definitely part of the equation, we need somewhere inside to wait, and most times train stations are cold. The worst case is we just hang out in the hotel lobby or use luggage storage and venture out for a bit while it is still daylight and not frigidly cold.
With this plan formulated, it was time to change the tickets for the flights for a one-day earlier departure, but keeping the same return date.
I had already looked at the Delta flights and made the choices, I just needed to make those same selections for our actual reservation change. I logged into delta.com and selected our existing flights. I then selected the change flights option and started the process. Since I was not changing the return flights, I did not select that as a change option, just the flight to Helsinki.
I went through the selections, also looking to see what options there were for a minor change to Comfort + seats, especially on the long flight from Atlanta to Amsterdam. They were available, but I did not select them, I just wrote down some of the pricing for the upgrade. I made all of the changes including selecting new seat assignments, and then hit the “compare flights” option so I could make sure everything was done correctly.
Everything was correct, so I hit change flights and confirmed the new flight date and schedule. Shortly thereafter, I received a new email receipt for the revised flights from Delta. everything was the same cost, so there were no additional amounts to be paid.
Next, I went into the revised reservation to see what the cost was to upgrade individual flights to Comfort + seats. I was looking mainly to upgrade the two long-duration flights, Atlanta to Amsterdam and the longer return flight from London to Atlanta. Wow, I was surprised. Just for upgrading one seat on one return flight, it was $100 per seat for Comfort +. I knew it was only $75.00 to do the upgrade as part of the reservation, and that also included a better seat on the short flight to Atlanta. It was even worse for the upgrade on the new departures. Back to the drawing board, or in this case, the reservation board.
Since there are no fees for changes, I opted to start all over again and reserve the same flights with Comfort+ seats. At first, I could not find an option for that on the departing flight, I had to select a different option which included a KLM flight number for the final flight from Amsterdam to Helsinki. It was the same as the Delta flight times, but it was a KLM flight number and not the Delta flight number, which said there were no Comfort+ seats available on the flight at all.
I made all of the selections, this time selecting Comfort + as the ticket class option, and then I did the same “compare flights” option to make sure all was good. Oops, I had selected a 3:30 PM departure on the first flight, not the 5:15 PM option, so I had to go back in and make the change. Everything was correct, and the total cost for the upgrade for both flights to Comfort + was $300 total for both tickets, much better than the $200 for just two seats on one of the four flights.
Next, I entered my credit card info to pay the additional $300 fee for the upgraded seats and hit the payment button. Several minutes later, I received an error message, but I had been down this road before with Delta, I first needed to check the revised itinerary, most of the time it is changed, and the error is not valid.
Sure enough, the reservation now showed both the revised flights on departure day and the Comfort+ seats as the class of fare, but we had no seat assignments. I went back into the system to select our seats, the same ones I thought I had already selected as part of the revised reservation process. I was able to select the Comfort+ seats we wanted without issue, and we were set. We are now sitting in Comfort + seats on two of the three flight segments to Helsinki and on both of the flights back home.
I waited for a revised receipt, but none ever came. I looked online, and the receipt still showed the seats from the first change today, not the revisions to Comfort +. After a bit, I started a chat session with Delta Customer Service and once I got past all of the automated responses and reached a representative, he was able to send me a revised receipt showing the new seat selections in Comfort +. The receipt still did not show the $300 extra fee for the seat upgrades, maybe that is separate. The online receipt still showed the wrong info even after he sent me the correct revised receipts.
That was it for today, it was a little stressful, but now we have better connections and the overnight stay in Helsinki will help us to be better rested for the night train experience and also for our arrival in Rovaniemi. We don’t need to be exhausted knowing we might be staying up really late to try and see the Northern Lights there. Having the extra time in Helsinki will also allow us to go to a grocery store and get some bottled water for the train ride, a bottle of wine, plus some snacks or real food for the train trip.
Tomorrow I will work on the hotel reservations. We will most likely make non-refundable reservations now that we have revised flights confirmed. That will help reduce the cost, and that helps to pay for the travel insurance we already purchased.
We did revise the trip Itinerary to change the departure date to January 16, 2025, and add in that extra night in Helsinki.
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