Review: Asiana A380 First Class Seoul To Los Angeles

My flight abroad the Asiana A380 in first class was one of the best of my life.

After spending several hours in the first class lounge, I boarded my 10.5-hour flight to Los Angeles. A FA welcomed me onboard and ushered me to my seat on the lower deck of the A380.

Asiana 202
Seoul (ICN) – Los Angeles (LAX)
Thursday, November 06
Depart: 02:50PM
Arrive: 08:30AM+1
Duration: 10hr,40min
Aircraft: Airbus A380-800
Seat: 1K (First Class)

I liked the prominent Asiana sign as I entered the aircraft and flying on an aircraft with such a grand staircase is always special.

Asiana A380 First Class Seating

First class features 12 closed-door suites in a 1-2-1 configuration. The seats are firm but comfortable, although the fabric pattern struck me as very dated.

The suite featured a small closet, plenty of side storage compartments, a power port, and a special console to control the seat.

After dinner, a FA transformed my seat into a bed and I slept very well for the next seven hours. Bedding included two comforters (one acted as a mattress pad) and a soft, oversized pillow. Although there were not individual air nozzles, the cabin never got too warm.

The cabin has “star” lighting at night:

Asiana A380 First Class Service

Service was such a highlight on this flight. Ms. Lee and Ms. Son worked first class and were the perfect combination of gracious, attentive, kind, and professional. Yes, there was a bit of language barrier, but great service shines though any language barrier and they were excellent. For example, after dinner I ordered a cappuccino. When I woke up in the morning, Ms. Son asked, “Good morning Mr. Klint, would you like another cappuccino while we prepare your breakfast?” Attention to detail is always the mark of excellent service and these FAs were amazing. You can see below in the meal section how carefully arranged every dish was. I didn’t touch it: that was all them.

Prior to landing I was offered a survey, which I was glad to fill out with a glowing review of the flight.

Asiana A380 First Class Meal

Prior to takeoff, I enjoyed a glass of sparkling water and a ramekin of mixed nuts.

Many airlines offer warm towels before the salty nuts, which make your hands dirty again. Nuts followed by a towel is the correct approach!

Here’s the food and drink menu for my flight. You’ll see there was a great selection of western and Korean dishes, an extensive wine list, two champagne choices, and even several cocktails:

Now let’s talk here about ordering western food on Asian airlines. Some people reason that it is foolish to order western food on an airline that specializes in another cuisine. I wholly dismiss that argument and argue that it always depends on the carrier. Asiana, ANA, Singapore, Malaysia, and JAL offer tremendous western dishes…far better, I might add, than “western” airlines. Some of the best airline meals of my life have best western meals on these Asian carriers.

I actually like bibimbap. But I knew Asiana would do everything well and ended up ordering the waygu steak. But let’s go back a bit.

Dinner began with a small amuse-bouche of potato cake with mushroom timber. Very small, but very tasty.

Next, FAs laid the table for dinner and served a caviar course. I liked the mother of pearl spoon, rose, and amazing fresh bread and olive oil. The caviar was also great. I also enjoyed a glass of strawberry juice.

Next, gratuitous but still delicious lobster with asparagus and saffron sauce:

A tomato consomme followed. The tomato and basil were so fresh, tasting like it came from my garden. This was shaping up to be a tremendous meal.

Salad is hard to mess up. This was a light, delicious salad with sliced grapefruit, mandarin oranges, and beets.

In preparation for my main course, I requested a glass of Chateau L’arrosee. Once again, a remarkable choice.

A scoop of mango sherbet served as an excellent palate cleanser before the main course.

And then the waygu steak arrived, which was cooked perfectly and tasted even better, even with the unnecessary peppercorn sauce on it.

Do you understand why I order western food now on Asian airlines?

The meal continued…

Fruit and cheese came next, with Blue, Brie, and Mimolette, the best of the three.

Finally, the meal concluded with a “Tropezienne” with blackberry sauce. I also ordered a cappuccino. Superb and superb.

Breakfast

After a meal like that, I wasn’t all that hungry even eight hours later. But I took one for the team and ordered breakfast prior to landing. Service started with fresh orange juice and a warm towel.

After setting my table, fruit and yogurt followed with a croissant and sweet roll. More orange juice as well.

I certainly did not touch those horrid looking sausages, but the omelet was excellent. I also appreciated the side of bacon as well. After the meal, I enjoyed one more orange juice and cappuccino.

Asiana A380 First Class Amenities

Amenities include pajamas, an amenity kit, and slippers. I’m sorry I don’t have a picture of the contents of the amenity kit, but it contained basic items plus some L’Occitane skin products.

Asiana A380 First Class IFE

No wi-fi onboard Asiana’s A380s yet (only A350s) and I did not take much time to use the IFE on this flight. I’ll note that Bose noise-cancelling headphones were offered and there was a large library of movies, TV shows, music and games onboard. I did listen to some Christmas music prior to landing.

A large handset could also control the screen or display IFE directly. I appreciated the nose camera as well.

Asiana A380 First Class Lavatory

Although not as large as the spacious upstairs lavatories available onboard some A380s, the lavatory was roomy, featured a window, and included additional amenities like Evian facial spray and L’Occitane products.

CONCLUSION

Once again, I was sorry that the flight ended after only 10 hours. I would have loved several additional hours onboard. Asiana first class is an excellent product, one of the best as far as I am concerned.

Remember, I booked this using miles and you can too. Asiana is great about releasing award space on its A380 in first class. The aircraft serves Los Angeles and New York JFK.

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