As far as longhaul economy class flights go, my Korean Air A380 flight in economy class from Seoul to Los Angeles was excellent…with one glaring exception.
Korean Airlines A380 Economy Class: My First Impressions
Let’s talk about what was nice, first.
The seat was well-padded and the legroom was excellent. We have not had many full flights on this trip, but this flight was full and so I wound up in a middle seat while Augustine got the window. There was a woman about my age seated on the aisle and I had to laugh that the crew assumed we were together…they asked her about Augstine’s eating preference and whether he needed headphones or a blanket!
Speaking of the crew, they were all excellent… especially Miss Ye who took care of our side of the cabin. She was so attentive and so kind. At the end of the flight, she even said, “It has been an honor to have you with us today.”
Sorry folks, it’s not just about being young and beautiful. People prefer East Asian carriers because the flight attendants are so polite and kind.
Cool headphones for the kids (not to keep) and amenities like slippers for everyone onboard.
Good seat, good service, and good food as well. Lunch was served after takeoff and breakfast before landing.
For our first meal, Augustine had a chicken curry with rice while I had French-style braised beef…both were served with a side salad topped in shrimp, bread, and cake.
A very respectable lunch. I was actually hoping for bibimap, which Korean Air has traditionally served on flights out of Seoul, but it was not a menu option in economy class.
Corn dogs were served mid-flight…I’m going to dedicate a separate post to that. Quite odd, actually…
Before landing, a full breakfast was served with a Korean choice or eggs with bacon (no surprise I took the eggs…).
Augustine slept through breakfast.
And just like that, we flew over Los Angeles and landed at LAX…the trip, at least this phase, was over.
What a treasure this trip has been and what a great flight on Korean Air.
Oh yes, the one big complaint. It’s 2024 and Korean Air still has no wi-fi onboard. While I was able to prepare beforehand, it is simply uncompetitive not to offer this onboard and it really confuses me why such a tech-savvy country like South Korea would not offer wi-fi on its flights (Asiana does not either).
The fleet will slowly be updated, but this was really overdue a decade ago.
In any case, it was a truly lovely flight overall and a fitting way to end our marathon journey around the world.
I’m sharing in real-time style about my SAS EuroBonus SkyTeam Million Mile challenge this week. Click here for background and route information. Now we have just Aeromexico and Delta left to finish the challenge...
That was a long trip. Well done. Corn dog is a typical Korean snack. I look forward to flying Korean Air.
Glad to see that Augustine survived the trip in good health.
Congratulations on completing the challenge (x2). I learned a lot from your million mile challenge blogging and I too will be transiting through ICN next month. Thanks!
This is an example of why Matthew’s column is the best in the world. Unlike Ben/Lucky, he doesn’t overuse the word “gorgeous” and isn’t so snobbish by reviewing only business and first class but reviews a mix of business class and economy class trips. Not everyone has unlimited access to business class. Even the most fortunate fly a mix of business class and economy class. In addition, the quality of the writing is superb, even if there is the occasional speeling error.
+1, I could not agree more!
Have to agree on the first point. But I find Ben/Lucky good too for what he reviews. I don’t like Gary’s View, and Kyle: they both have a snobbery in their writings, and with Gary, it’s gotten very tabloid’ish – s0 bad that he’s even had to delete some of his tabloid posts. Anyone have recs for a others besides Matt’s LAFY?
Check out a site called https://flight-report.com/en/index/. It’s a site where anyone can sign up and post flight reports. The website is good and bad – the good is you get a nice variety of reports from lots of airlines and routes across the world, in all classes, while the bad is the reports can be inconsistent in quality depending on who is doing that particular trip report. Still, it’s variety is unmatched and it is good to see different reactions to different airlines.
Schlappig is intolerable.
Regarding the lack of wifi, one reason I’ve heard is that because Koreans are so used to such good data.speeds +everywhere+ in the country (on mountain tops and in subway cars) that until inflight wifi is reliable and fast enough it’s actually better not to offer it at all.
I’ve really enoyed reading about your adventures, updates and impressions during this marathon ‘Around the World’ trip you’ve taken. What a great way for a dad and his son to bond. Thanks for sharing it all with us.
Both Korean Air and Asiana have inflight wi-fi. It’s just installed on select aircrafts only.
Korean Air has it on all the 737MAX, A321neo, 787-10, and select 787-9 and 777-300ER. They’re installing wi-fi on 787-9s and 777-300ERs, and it’ll be completed sometime by next year.
Asiana has wi-fi on all the A350-900s.
Korean Air doesn’t have any plan to install it on A380 because these will retire in a couple years.
Nice! Welcome home. But please you can’t fool us. That was a United Polaris dinner.
Something my brother and I learned from our food tour guide when we were in Korea recently. The Korean War popularized several typically American dishes with the general public, because American soldiers would share leftovers. Hence why fried chicken and corn dogs, among other items, became popular snacks.
Like SQ, KE/KAL seems very much to be world class – like you mention the crew on Asian carriers are gracious and kind.
On our last SQ ULR flight, the relief pilot was sitting behind me. As we were deplaning, he went out of his way to thank us for our custom, and said ‘I am very glad I could be of service to you and your family’. It was a very kind gesture, and continues to be the reason why we will always fly on SQ going East.
Oops, typo – I meant going West, not East:)
My last economy KE long haul, I slept through dinner service and the mid flight snack. When I woke up, the FA saw me, and approached me with an energy bar and offered a cup of instant ramen. Can’t imagine that level of service happening on DL
And KE isn’t even usually considered a top 3 Asian airline… but still leagues above the main players on SkyTeam
I think KE’s the best in economy class. It’s business class and lounges where they lag behind.
Their business class service is basically like “economy plus” for them. The bibimbap meal in BC is the same as EC with ceramic plating, and the service flow is like an assembly line.
Their economy and first class are great. Their IT’s better than ANA/JAL only when they install wi-fi on most of their fleet. They just need to revamp their business class service and lounges to be on par with top Asian airlines.
Thanks for your comment.
Why no bibimap on my flight? I was truly looking forward to it.
And another quesiton since it seems like you might know. Is there anyway I can get a first class ticket using my Korean miles? Any trick? I have 80K to go from the USA to North Asia and I really want to fly the 747-8 upfront wihtout having to pay sticker price.
As I mentioned below, doing some searches on their menu previews on their website for economy and it seems this month bibimbabp is offered for flights to and from Europe but not the US for some reason. Maybe they rotate it per region and month? From the searches they offer 3 choices in economy, Korean, Western, and Chinese. I guess they want to showcase something Korean that isn’t bibimbap from time to time.
To be fair that same bibimbap is better than some business class meals
Yay! Well done. Can’t wait for the finish line of this adventure
Welcome back! Enjoyed following along.
I think for economy, KE usually serves bibimbap for inbound flights to Seoul, while outbound long haul flights usually have a different Korean dish.
I think it’s just luck more than anything. Here is a menu from LHR to ICN in economy. Bibimbabp is on the menu in economy.
https://www.koreanair.com/plan-your-travel/in-flight-experience/meal/search-menu?hl=en
Reminds me of Back in 2006 JAL had the upper deck of the 747 configured as a smaller economy cabin,where I lucked out with 3 across.The catering and service the best.Oh and the overnight connection included a free night with transfers and breakfast at the Nikko Narita Hotel!
I flew from LAX to ICN (continuing on to PNH) on an Asiana A380 a week ago, upstairs in a coach window seat. I have flown on Korean Air for one round trip during the last two years. The entire flights are pretty comparable between Korean Air and Asiana. I have eaten bibimbap several times, and I think I had it on the Korean flight toward ICN. It was good. I have been asked by the flight attendant if I know how to eat it. The food is always good on Korean airlines and it looks visually nice. I agree about the flight attendants. They are efficient, helpful, kind and polite. They will also help customers stow luggage overhead and they rearrange the overhead bins if more room is needed. I have never been disappointed with the service.
“Sorry folks, it’s not just about being young and beautiful. People prefer East Asian carriers because the flight attendants are so polite and kind.”
Well said! It’s the service, politeness and kindness.
I’d add one more: it’s service *consistency*. Yes, there is still some variation in service, but on the East Asian carriers, service on the vast majority of flights is good to excellent.
That simply isn’t the case on US carriers. I fly United a lot, and I’ve had flights with excellent, friendly, proactive service even in economy. But I’ve also flown in business before where the service was poor, and where the average service in economy on an East Asian carrier was better.
It’s nice to see you doing a review on an economy class flight, particularly a long-haul one.
“or our first meal, Augustine had a chicken curry with”ice”
That chicken looks like shrimp…
He took the shrimp from the salad and placed it on top of the rice and chicken.
Smart kid.
I could never imagine sitting 11 hours in a middle seat. Why did you not buy a third seat?
Good Job!~ You both made it.. I have an 8 1/2 year old grandson and I could not see him hanging in there like your son did.. I brought him cross-country with me(middle and aisle seats) and he needed the bag all the way till landing…
I had the option of paying for Wi-Fi on my korean air flight last month.
Which aircraft?
I also had Wi-fi on my Korea air flight. I don’t remember which aircraft though, but I flew to/from Germany so it was a long flight. Usually when I fly to the States I also have it available.
Did not have WiFi on all three KE flights ~1-year ago:
JFK-ICN Boeing 747-8
ICN-MNL Boeing 777-300 (regional/non-ER)
MNL-ICN Boeing 777-300 (regional/non-ER)
Bibimbap was offered on JFK-ICN flight; it was yummy! Meals on the ICN-MNL-ICN flights were also very good.
Flight attendants on all KE flights were excellent, especially with my partner’s then 90-years old dad MNL-ICN.
Did have WiFi on Delta A350-900 for ICN-ATL segment.
The WiFi was the only redeeming aspect for what was otherwise an absolutely dreadful flight before at ICN (where they & KE abandoned a golf cart full of passengers with reduced mobility in a remote area of ICN), during (utterly inedible food; robotic, even a few surly, flight attendants) & upon arrival at ATL (requiring reduced elderly &/or mobility passengers to walk a fairly long distance in an inclined jetbridge before being seated in a wheelchair.
All KE flights in Economy/Main Cabin, bulkhead rows; Delta flight Comfort+, bulkhead row.
Have booked several family members on KE this year, with another already booked for early next year.
It’s among my preferred carriers for trans-Pacific travel, along with Japan Airlines & Singapore Air.
KE discontinued its popular inflight hot ramen noodle cup in Economy class this past October, which was available when I flew JFK-ICN last year.