I had a chance to try Korean Air’s Prestige Class (Business Class) from New York JFK to Seoul (ICN) and onward to Bali (DPS). Despite the carrier’s own insistence that they are superior, I didn’t find them to be anything other than average (maybe below) and I challenge anyone to disagree with my assessment.
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Originally published: March 10, 2019, Updated: Apr 26, 2021.
The Soft Product
Lounges
I had my issues in one of their lounges with a particular vigilante, but I would prefer to put that aside to remain neutral for the purpose of this post. There is nothing special about their lounges, not their outboard stations like JFK, nor their main hub locations in the beautiful new Terminal 2 and Seoul Incheon airport.
In JFK at the business class lounge, where they host both a 747-800 and an A380 daily, saran wrapped sandwiches and Cup o’Noodles busied elites and business/first class customers before they depart for their 14-hour flights to Seoul. That’s a lot of premium passengers, the Airbus A380 alone has 106 business or first-class seats (on both the main and upper deck) while the 747-800 holds 54 in flat bed business and first-class cabins. That’s without elites that may be traveling in coach but qualify for the lounge or the Priority Pass holders that have access during specific times of the day.
That’s not to say that American Airlines Admiral Club holds much stronger offerings than some bland soup, cubed cheeses, and mixed nuts, but it just doesn’t stack up to modern competition like United’s new Polaris lounges. The Japan Airlines lounge in Narita, the ANA lounge in Haneda and Cathay Pacific’s lounges in Hong Kong all come to mind as fair competition and Korean Air doesn’t hold a candle to those.
Baggage Handling and Checkin
Checking into our flight, we were lucky to have a connection with Delta or we may have been waiting at JFK awhile for an agent to show up. Again, nothing out of the ordinary there, but nothing special either. In Bali, when we checked in (an outstation of course) they did have Korean Air staff as opposed to a third-party service like some carriers use, but that staff failed to scan and load one of our bags. There was no indication given as to why. This happens on other carriers too, but that’s the whole point – they are just as bad or as good as the competition, average.
When we arrived at JFK and waited an hour and 15 minutes for our bag to not ultimately arrive we had a couple of observations. More than 30 minutes into the process of bags rolling onto the conveyer belt, new bags were still arriving with priority, Morning Calm (loyalty program), Prestige, and First Class flags. I don’t understand the point of tagging a bag with a priority tag if the bag doesn’t come off close to the front half of the rest of the bags, nor (in our case) make the flight at all. This is not unique to Korean Air, United, and American struggle with this in my experience too. But they are no better at it than anyone else and that is decidedly average.
We were greeted by a pair of Korean baggage staff employees, one may have been a third-party and the other a Korean Air manager. The third-party employee (assuming so to give Korean the benefit of the doubt) didn’t bother to investigate our tags and instead simply suggested that someone else had absconded with our luggage never to be seen or heard from again. Comforting.
The Korean Air manager said he would look into it but we had to be fairly persistent and produce the sticker tags from our tickets before he typed them into the computer. He then indicated that the bag had never been loaded and he didn’t know where it was. We filled out a form in which we had to surrender the sticker and had I not taken a photo of it, we would have no indication as to what that tracking number was.
I pulled out an email I received from the VP of Sales and Marketing for Korean Air to ensure that a solid effort was made, and it was. The bag was located inside of 12 hours and shipped to us two days later. A fine response once the stakes were raised, though had I not already reached out to staff at Korean Air from my prior issue, I am not sure the response would have been as quick and thorough. I fear that for other customers, they may not have the same result.
Food on Board
The food was fine. The nuts were served in a bag which is not a problem for me but apparently has been reported to be beneath some former management at the carrier. I had unremarkable Korean bibimbap and a steak, remarkable solely because they nailed the temperature, a feat that is too difficult for most US carriers. Again, unremarkable in the rest of the world. In fact, Cathay Pacific serves – as a snack – an incredible wagyu cheeseburger that was as good as anything I had in a restaurant on the ground. While I enjoy warm cookies, the snack menu with Korean Air doesn’t compare to Asian peers. Just average.
It’s worth noting as well that I went through the process of nearly an hour-long call with Korean Air phone support to select seats and meals for our flights. Three of six meals for our daughter were correctly delivered, a 50% success rate or the literal definition of average.
Our seats, however, were correct as we selected them, but we could not do this online despite Korean owning the itinerary. So, they didn’t really fail and some other airlines have difficulty especially with mixed carrier itineraries allowing this, but they didn’t excel either. Average.
The Hard Product
Seat
I would place the seat in Prestige class below the competition for a couple of reasons. It’s not quite fully flat. It’s inexplicable because even with the seat fully extended there are still a few inches (maybe 6-8) for the seat to further extend forward. It’s close – if I had to guess I would say it’s 170 degrees – but it’s a noticeable difference from fully lie-flat seats that occupy the market on competing carriers.
Further, and perhaps most importantly, the seats did not have direct aisle access at all locations. I criticize United for doing this on their new 787s as well. The entire rest of the market has shifted to direct aisle access and even United has seen the folly of their ways and corrected it for Polaris, updates to 787s are in the works.
Stepping over a stranger or being stepped over by a stranger in a business class seat while sleeping is not something that should occur in the modern era and does not on most other carriers. Even Delta has a closed-door suite, and American’s 777-300ER product that licenses their design from Cathay Pacific are decades ahead of Korean for comfort and ease.
Lastly, privacy is a concern as well. A thin divider drops down between newly mated bedfellows that does not deliver much privacy. If you’re seated at the aisle, there is a little barrier between your face and a clanking cart if you turn away from your seat partner and sleep on your side facing the aisle. It feels very public in a way that other carriers have long since left behind. Below-average and falling even further behind as carriers continue to update their products and Korean Air does not.
Business-class passengers are paying thousands, sometimes more than $10,000 more than equivalent economy class seats for their flight on Korean Air, this is simply not good enough.
Amenities
The amenity kits were ok. There was nothing outstanding nor any missing elements, the design was fine though not particularly unique. They were… average.
But what about the onboard amenities? The A380 has a bar in the back and a lounge in the front, that has to be superior, right? While I can’t compare to American carriers (they don’t own the equipment), and ANA is using their A380s for medium-haul densely packed tourist flights to Hawaii, the Singapore A380 comes to mind as does Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
Matthew can speak further to the Lufthansa A380 and how they used disused space like the front of the aircraft where seating is not a possibility. I imagine that there is nothing particularly great about the LH A380. But the Korean Air business class cabin does not inspire.
Emirates, Etihad and Qatar offer bars and Emirates has a shower on board. It’s more novelty than anything else, sure, though after arriving in JFK without an arrival lounge (meaning no shower for us) we would have gladly taken one if Korean Air offered it. Again, they aren’t the worst in the sky, but just average.
Fight Me!
I have made my case and I think it is a good one. Korean Air is not terrible and the issues I encountered could happen at any airline (though in all my years of experience I have never encountered another vigilante in the lounge.) But they are also not great, and their position that they would never offer flights (like the one I bought) in business class for $2000 because it’s so cheap for their product – is disconnected from the market. They simply do not understand the competition or don’t care. Regardless, they are utterly average in business class, whether they decide to call it Prestige or not.
The meal service was substandard, flight attendants were adequate, not legendary, noise-canceling headphones were basic, and as a business class product – it was average to below average. Perhaps in the first-class Kosmo suites where a window seat matters and the product is an “Apex” suite, that could be a better example of a business class flight than Prestige which is more or less Premium Economy Plus.
I beg of you to prove me wrong in the comments.
Is there something I missed? Is Korean Air superior to the competition in a way that I have not recognized? Are they average in your experience when comparing to other like carriers?
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KE catering is really, really bad out of JFK. But it’s really, really good out of ICN. J seats are way better on 747-8 vs. A380. I like F about the same on these 2 aircraft types: A380 is larger, so plenty of unoccupied seats. Despite the less private Kosmo 1.o suites, I’ve never had a person across from me, so it feels quite private anyway, and rather spacious. Kosmo 2.0 obviously has a door, but the cabin is less spacious and more seats are occupied (given there are only 6 total). Agree with you on the lounges, they are beyond embarrassing at this level and compared to competition, especially the ones at the home airport.
@Kyle
I agree on every point. I think their bibimbap is not bad, but I like Asian food. It looks like you flew their A380 and not 747-800 right? Their new biz seats on their 747’s are the same as JAL’s, which everyone raves about.
Also love your last photoshopped picture. Lol, spot on! Haha.
Agree to the most extent. Business class on KE is not bad, it’s just that it doesn’t go “above and beyond.” I found that the Korean meal options to be a more consistent bet vs their Western meal options which I find hit-or-miss. Although the hard product I’m sure it does tilt in their favor if you look at their Apex Suites.
Though almost all of their lounges fall short. Way short. The ICN lounges are not bad, the issue is what is supposed to be their “best” is still “average.” And the less said about their outstation lounges, the better (been to the old HKG lounge and the KIX lounge).
My wife and I flew Prestige class from Toronto to Seoul and onwards toKuala Lumpur in December/January 2018/2019. We boarded the Boeing 787-9 and were very impressed with both the seat comfort and the privacy and access they afforded. The staff were extremely attentive and the food was excellent. I do share you views about the prestige lounges. The Toronto one was shared with another carrier and was definitely sub par. The Prestige Lounge in Seoul was a nightmare as all Korean Air passengers can pay to use the lounge. I stood in line for 15 minutes whilst staff were busy taking payments. I mentioned my dissatisfaction to staff and they were totally disinterested. On entering the lounge the fruits of the open door policy were all too clear. It was a zoo. There were probably three times the passengers the facility was designed to serve. I wrote to Korean Air after my trip and got a totally useless reply.
Would it stop me from flying with this carrier on this route again.? Quite simply no. I would avoid the lounge and use others I have access too. The planes used and the service received more than made up for the lounge issues and, the flight costs were very competitive. I fly extensively both on business and for private travel. I don’t travel and write about travel for a living. I accept that the writer does and, can be hyper critical most likely to add some “bite” to his offerings. Business Class travel provides superior levels of space, comfort and service. However, it does not provide the levels of superstar service this writer seems to expect or feels deserving of.
I’m not going to fight you, because I think you’re right. I am going to nitpick, however, as that’s all that’s left! Comparing Korean’s JFK lounges to the lounges at other airlines’ main hubs (Hong Kong for Cathay, and Japanese airlines at major Japanese airports) is not fair competition, unless you’re comparing them to Korean’s lounges at Incheon. An AA’s Admiral’s Club actually does seem like a fairer comparison to Korea’s JFK lounge.
The second is 50% is not the definition of average, it is the midpoint between 0 and 100. In this case Korean merely averaged a 50% success rate at meal delivery. If Korean only manages to serve pre-requested meals half the time, I’d actually think that their performance is very much below average. As a comparison, I can’t ever remember not getting my pre-requested vegetarian meals back when I was a vegetarian, or rather, I had an average 100% success rate at getting vegetarian meals.
End nit-picking. My apologies in advance.
I should have been clearer that the ICN lounge was also just average while the others are far better.
Then I guess I really shouldn’t be too sad about Korean no longer being a Chase transfer partner 🙂
I agree mostly but you should try their apex suite before you rate their hard product. Those old seats with no direct aisle access is not a fair comparison to Polaris seats as many United Js don’t have those either.
Food is mediocre at best. I don’t know how they can get away with serving the same old bibimbap in this day and age. I’ve had it on Y, J, and F on KE and honestly they mostly tasted the same. It honestly feels like left over food from the night before, kind of like making fried rice the next day from left over meal from the night before.
I do think that your lounge comparison is a bit unfair. The other lounges you mention with Asian airlines are all actually in Asia. It’s a lot easier to have a top notch lounge at your main hub. Other than that, sounds about right.
The Korean lounge in ICN was entirely unremarkable. The JAL and Cathay lounges are superior in every facet.
Ok. Sorry, I thought the reference was to JFK specifically, which isn’t known for having many great lounges, to the best of my knowledge.
Fair, I didn’t make that clear enough. I mention the JFK lounge (which is bad) but don’t clarify that ICN was also below average for Asia, just average for US lounges when excluding Polaris, AMEX Centurion lounges. There are so many caveats just to get Korean to average in this category but I take your point on board.
And he makes a pale comparison to the Admirals Club, but business class passengers at JFK have access to the Flagship Lounge, which is as nice as the other lounges he praises.
*Business Class passengers on American that hold oneworld emerald status or first class passengers.
I’m happy to take the ICN lounge up against its Asian peers.
Your Twitter pic is a 747 but the seat and bar are a380. A little homework and maybe a trip on the very private 747 apex seat would have been a better experience for you.
The twitter pic is the standard we use for all Korean posts, that’s an SEO thing. I would have loved to take the 747-8 but unfortunately Korean bungled my reservation, I’ve posted on that extensively.
missed your other posts, guess I should have done my research!
I agree with every point of this article. Flew korean air business class yesterday and now my whole body hurts the seats were so uncomfortable. Definitely not worth the price I paid.
“I don’t understand what the point of tagging a bag with a priority tag if the bag doesn’t come off close to the front half of the rest of the bags”.
Exactly! And this is the case on every airline I’ve ever flown. In fact, I am completely surprised when it comes out among the first.
I think you talk nitpicking tosh! I’ve always found Korean Air a great airline, but everyone has their opinion and perhaps you just had a bad flight. We’re all human.
And bad baggage handling… and average food… and average lounges… and average fleet… in an average alliance…
I’d actually argue that KE’s business class product is way below average…a lot poorer than what you described.
Seat: terrible. The seats fold out to a very uncomfortable angle and they do not provide direct aisle access. The pillow and blanket are also horrible.
Food: inedible. I am especially really sick and tired of the bibimbap, which is basically the same dish that is served in economy class served in china.
Drinks: one of the worst drink lists out there. If you ask for a cup of tea, they bring you lipton tea bags…even in first class.
Airport Lounge: the worst of the worst, especially at outstations. Enough said.
Service: the service is probably the only good thing, but since everything else is so bad, it hardly makes a difference. Also these days most airlines provide good service…I yet have to fly on an airline where I thought the service was poor in business class.
Who has three entrees with beef in them??? That is just bizarre! Lord help you if you don’t like beef…
This all looks very sad, esp for the high standards of many Asian airlines.
Yes, crazy. Two are the signature dishes but to have 3 is overkill. Nothing vegetarian. This airline presumes everyone to be uber carnivorous.
I personally agree that Korean Air needs an upgrade in their business class prodict. But I also think the overall tone and verbiage of this article suggests that, despite your claim that you’re trying to be unbiased after your vigilante episode, you still have lingering negative sentiment towards the airline.
I have to disagree, we flew london to new zealand across 4 flights in total and found the cabin staff freindly and attentive with nothing being too much trouble,
All our flights had the new style sleeper flat need seats placed in such a way that even if located by the window had access to the isle.
Food was very good, in fact the mushroom soup was the best i have ever tasted.
Overall would definitely fly again.
What else was above average?
I worked for Korean for 4 years and your opinion is very much the reality. The staff and management is inexplicably proud of the product that is offered and I as a CSA who has flown revenue business on a multitude of airlines could never understand why. The KE management is completely paranoid about getting a bad rap amongst Koreans and bends over backwards for them but couldn’t be bothered with any other nationalities. That is a fact – I can’t tell you how many times I went to bat for a passenger because the KE staff couldn’t care less because they weren’t Korean.
The overall product is truly appalling and stuck in the 1980s. The new business and first class product on the 747-8i is just okay – it’s nejther revolutionary nor particularly attractive. Compare it to any other product and you’ll see the deficiencies. The old product found on the rest of the fleet is truly shocking. It’s not TOO bad on the A330 because it’s a small cabin but a 777-300 or A380 you realize you are as much chattel as in economy class.
The service is also very impersonal – meal and drink services from a trolley makes you feel like you’re in an assembly line. The website and app are clunky and definitely stuck in the early 2000’s. And the focus on “service” which is all but beat into the staff is so comically misplaced because the staff is not empowered to do anything for the passenger and there is a real atmosphere of fear of repercussions.
I would choose Asiana over Korean any day. They’re marginally better but I had a much better experience working for them for three years and I did see genuine service there. I didn’t see it once at Korean.
I was a contract worker so I had the benefit of seeing a wide variety of company cultures and products.
You certainly have a unique outlook having worked there so I certainly respect your views. I can only go by my experiences with Korean Air and have NEVER had anything but excellent service at every level. I’ve lived here for the better part of the last two decades and certainly know what it’s like to be treated as a “foreigner” and can say 100% that has never been the case in my dealings with Korean Air. I do also have a great relationship with Asiana though I find Korean Air to have better award seat availability, so I tend to fly them more. (I do have an Asiana First flight this week though and really look forward to that!) And the website is very easy to navigate to me. I would say at least on par with AA and Delta for sure, and easier than ANA IMHO. My only complaint would be the not having the ability to view available seats until going through the booking process, but I wouldn’t call it clunky at all. Maybe I’m just used to it…Asiana’s in contrast was terrible until the recent overhaul and is now much easier to use.
I agree on the hard product, certainly for the premium cabins, though I wouldn’t call it “stuck in the 80s”..lol…Asiana’s Smartium biz are way nicer….lie flat 1-2-1 suites should be the standard and I hope (but doubt) that they will go that route someday on all long haul jets.
Thanks for your insider perspective. Very informative for sure.
The saddest thing is that I have to agree with you this time….
Kyle, very good write up. I agree with much of this and I happen to fly Korean air often living in Korea. The hard product on the 380, if you’re traveling alone then certainly you want a seat in the middle 2 with direct aisle access. Not a great setup as you states but I think most of their other planes now have the 2-2-2 setup with the walkway in front to get to the window seat. Much nicer for sure. Would be surprised if the retrofitted the 380 upper deck like this though.
Lounges, we all know JFK lounge is horrendous. I think the ICN ones are ok though. Now, I’ve been to the Haneda JAL Sakura lounge and that’s the nicest one I’ve ever been to including the few I’ve tried in Dubai. (I’ve never been to the Emirates first class lounge though..lol) . Looking forward to trying out the ANA First suites lounge next year actually. Anyway, I would give KAL at ICN lounge a little bit above average overall (shower suites are very nice) but the spread and space seems a little off. I’ve only tried one of the new ICN terminal 2 lounges. Not sure if they are all the same.
Despite your regretful episode in JFK, I’ve found the service extremely friendly at every part of my journeys. Certainly that means a lot to me especially when traveling with family. I’m ok with the food as well for the most part.
One thing I do like about Korean Air is the availability of award seats and their very generous cancellation policies overall. Although it’s been reported that you can no longer hold seats while you wait for miles to post, I’ve been able to do it several times recently with no issues by simply calling them. (Off topic I know)
I appreciate your honest write up and largely agree with it. I’m actually flying Asiana A380 First this coming week (Now that’s an amazing experience!) and my return is Korean Air A380 biz..Got a middle seat secured for that one!
I just had 4 KE flights in BC on the 777 and 330 and found it very pleasant.
Seats were pretty good and I had a solid sleep on each of the flights.
Service was friendly. Food was pretty good although it the presentation of it could have been better.
The lounge in ICN was definitely not crowded.
Transiting through ICN is about a 1000% more efficient than any US airport, eventhough TSA found it necessary to give me a SSSS.
All in all I would certainly fly KE again.
You have just confirmed a thought that I had about the Korean airlines after I flew Asiana to Japan and back in Business Class a few years ago.
First of all, I am in the Star Alliance program so I had no experience with KAL other than using their Lounge at LAX. When I have flown international but not Business Class, I have a Diners Club card that gives me KAL Lounge access at LAX. I have probably been there 4-5 times. They have the same things all the time. Northing changes. The only hot item is the Cup of Noodles. It would be no better than average at best. And this is the lounge that the SkyTeam members would be using.
Anyway…Asiana in Business Class at LAX has the Star Alliance Lounge….which is great. But when I used the lounge in Incheon and Osaka….that were all Korean run….they seem to be similar to the KAL lounge at LAX. Again, Cup of Noodles is the top hot entree. Everything else is cold…like the sushi, finger sandwiches, and packaged cookie snacks. I guess the philosophy is to had something very basic to snack on. Just like going to grab something quick at a 7-11 in the US….but not the hot dog or hamburger items. And you just confirmed that same impression with KAL.
Asiana does sound better than KAL though. Hard product was above average, Service was above average, but food was below average. Better than any US and European airline of course…but not as good as the other Asian airlines.
Every time I’ve been to either KAL or Asiana lounges at ICN there has been a selection of buffet style “hot” food other than the usual Ramen noodle offerings. If you’ve experienced something different at ICN I would be very surprised. At other locations yes but ICN has always had hot spreads. Certainly not as nice as Japanese airline lounges I’ve been to in Tokyo, but more than just noodles for sure. I’ll follow up later this week after my trip on Asiana ICN-LAX…I will say that I did use the Star Alliance lounge at LAX last summer and it was tremendous! Way nice than the KAL lounge there without a doubt….
Never seen Korean air and wow in the same context as is usual with other airlines.
Korean air was everyone’s darling because they were playing tricks with UR points and transferring to Korean for guaranteed first. Now no love will be lost.
Never took Korean Air so I can’t challenge or agree, but clearly this post is not “neutral.” This is the exact same trip as the one where you had the vigilante in the lounge, right? After an incident that clearly affected you emotionally, could you have detached yourself to a point where you could view the business class product objectively? It shows in your writing that you couldn’t.
Take a look at the pictures and tell me how Korean is objectively better than the competition.
I don’t quite understand the belligerence of this article? Yes, one bad experience but it sounds like they worked really hard to put it right, imagine BA or United trying that hard! Having flown at least 4 long hauls with each of Korean, Singapore, Qatar, Air NZ and China Southern in the last couple of years I can say without doubt that the service on Korean is the best by some distance. In addition, the food is exceptional, spicy octopus hot pot; probably the best dish I’ve ever had on a plane! Even against Singapore’s ‘book the cook’ it stands out.
Yes, you can get unlucky with the 2=3=2 777 but the 2 lounges on the A380 are astonishing, I’ve made friends with both passengers and crew there, as I imagine was the case with the old 747 top decks. And if you get the Apex suite I’d say the only thing to rival it is the Qatar Q suite.
Try speaking nicely to the crew, you may be surprised.
The crew was great and I mentioned that in the post. Let’s pretend that I had the APEX suite and was astonished with its superior luxury – the food is still average or below, the lounges (yes, even ICN) were nothing special and below their peers, baggage delivery (even if they didn’t lose one of mine) was slow, and had first class and priority bags coming off 45 minutes into the process. None of that is to the level of their peers when measured against Asians, JAL, ANA and Cathay Pacific.
Really, the little lounge in the front and back of the A380 has them shining above the competition? It was fine but not that special.
Yes, on one of my flights I got the Apex suite. Absolutely perfect. It beats the strange SQ seats by miles. I agree I rank these suits quite close to the Qsuites.
My biggest recent surprise however were the 4 shorthauls on United EC recently. Far better than I feared ( no other flights were available) and quite enjoyable. My first flights on United ever. And completely different league from AA which is disgusting.
I don’t think you were critical enough.
Korean is just plain horrible. I say that because it has horrible lounges, even at their flagship Seoul airport, and horribly inconsistent configurations in first-class and business-class, depending on aircraft, that aren’t competitive with the configuration of other international airlines.
This sucks for Delta customers as Delta is abandoning Asia, outside of a couple key routes to Tokyo, in favor of Korean.
The only alternative is Delta’s partnership with China Eastern, but this seems stalled with no new news or enhancements for a while.
I dread flying China Eastern — it’s so hypocritical for Delta to criticize the Middle Eastern airlines when it has a partnership agreement with a communist state-owned airline — but at least their hard product is consistent and is better than Korean. I wouldn’t eat on-board China Eastern, however.
I would only choose a Korean carrier if I was going to Korea and not for a third country and in that case I would always choose Asiana who are just that bit better on all fronts.
“I challenge anyone to disagree”
Oka-a-ay…
Maybe you should just stay away from this airline, since it obviously ticked you off before you even boarded. I’m not a fan of Korean either, so I fly other carriers. There’s a lot of choice out there.
You’ll be pleased to know I’ve not purchased anything from them since my encounter.
I found Swiss and Emirates (on the 777 at least) to be decidedly mediocre.
Korean’s service was outstanding. The crew could not have been nicer or more helpful. And their English was better than other Asian carriers.
If the seats were not completely flat, I didn’t notice it. True the 380 seats are not the most modern, but they were quite comfortable there is plenty of room for your feet, unlike the airlines that give you only a small foot cubby.
I agree that their food was not the most exciting and their IFE badly needs updating, but I was perfectly happy with my KE flight.
I feel the same way about Korean Air as they feel about us: totally indifferent.
Went with them on a business trip recently from AU to Europe.
First leg – A330 – average at best due to the old cabin and not so comfortable seat
Second leg – A747-8, easily one the best business class product available with apex suites…
Service is top notch as expected from an Asia carrier, and stopover hotel at Hyatt Regency was a bonus.
Been a regular customer since that flight for subsequent trips to europe… amongst cathay, singapore air, and china airlines.
I will not fight you. I just flew KE 777 service from ICN to HKG in prestige class (Delta Connection from Atlanta to Hong Kong) The seat to me was very poorly designed. You cannot reach the pockets or screen in front of you. The seat is the equivalent of a domestic First Class seat at 20inches wide. Indeed I was on the window seat and had to wake up my row mate when I had to go to the bathroom. The food was not great in my opinion. I am so glad my flight was only 4 hours. I would have been miserable if the flight was longer than that. A trans-pacific flight would be awful in this seat.
The transfer in ICN was actually very smooth and quite pleasant. I loved airport and the lounge was in line with Delta’s Sky Clubs. Yes Polaris is better. Yes Singapore is better. Yes Cathay is much better.
The Flight Attendants were the one exception. I was very pleased at their attention. I fly Singapore and Cathay and I will place KE Flight Attendants right up after my flight.
Nonetheless, I have already asked my assistant to try and find another flight for my return to Atlanta. Perhaps a Cathay Flight to ICN.
I’ve been on the A380 from JFK to ICN. I did not like stepping over someone if I needed to get up when sitting in the aisle seat. The service was good on the plane but I expected a little bit more. I took a 777 from ICN to KAN on the 777 and had more of a suite which I really enjoyed.
The lounge in ICN felt a bit cheap as it was crowded and the selections a bit lacking. JFK had a few items but nothing special. I had lunch outside the lounge because the selections didn’t meet my needs.
I am a big guy who flies business class to avoid the economy squeeze. After flying Business on Philippine Airlines, I can’t possibly go back to anyone’s economy. I think I’ll have to choose Asiana’s A350 over Korean Air’s A380/747. I prefer the direct aisle access. I prefer their 23” seat width.
Korean Air’s business class looks like most Premium Economy seats.
It is however the cheapest from JFK to Manila.
In my years of flying on business JFK-Manila, the cheapest fare is Asiana Airlines, that other airline that Korean Air is considering to acquire. Our Priority bags arrive ahead of the others about 95% of the time. All business class seats on long-haul flights have direct aisle access, and the food is ok (it used to be very good). The lounge in Inchon is huge and elegant, but not so in other airports where they share with other airlines. The crew is friendly and professional. I hope it doesn’t change much if they’re acquired by Korean Airline.
Why is this being republished? I’m confused
“I don’t quite understand the belligerence of this article?”
“Why is this being republished? I’m confused”
Some people just need the attention. He probably felt the sadz that his last 3 posts got less than 25 comments each (2 got less than 10 comments each).
“Your Twitter pic is a 747 but the seat and bar are a380.”
Well, this is the same guy who posted a picture of Cathay’s private cabana which is in their First Class lounge, not their Business Class lounge, so…
Also, kind of dumb to compare the worst seat Korean offers to the best seat United offers. The Apex suite is certainly more comfortable than the Polaris seat.
The consensus among most people is Korean has weak lounges, but generally, the food and service in BC is above average. They are probably more correct than Kyle. As for the seat, it can range from truly horrible to really great, depending on the seat. The Apex seat is really good, one of the better business class seats out there.
Relax, it’s a stock photo of a Korean Airlines aircraft. I am clear about which product it was on. And I would happily compare the business class lounge experience at Cathay to that of Korean. It’s not close.
I’ll play. With possible exception of in Japan, airlines serving sizable domestic markets (50+ million Koreans) have a greater emphasis of soft product than on hard product. I’m sure someone will point out other exceptions but nearly all of the best hard products are in countries that are little more than transit points (HK, SG, ME3). If you are disinterested – or simply tone death – in engaging local service differences, the experience will seem uninspiring. My point: definition of service varies in different cultures. And for many of us service is important, even in J. Language, temperament, personal space, (cabin temperature) expectations are different. I find Korean staff to be very kindhearted and helpful. As in most of east Asia, actually asking for what you want is not rude. Particularly in premium cabin. This point is lost on so many bloggers. FA are not there to put on a performance. They are people. Talk to them and you’ll likely find service on KE is very enjoyable. Have never/rarely felt that way on any UA flight.
Yea, I gave this site my normal Sunday rest and came back today to read this dreck. Big mistake. I’ll probably just not even bother with LaLF if they’re not going to confine him to Sunday.
I am relaxed. You publishing incorrect photos doesn’t upset me, it’s just something I felt needed to be pointed out 🙂
Also, not sure why we need to compare lounges with Cathay, since I already said Korean has weak lounged and was just pointing out that you posted a picture of their private First class cabanas.
If anyone needs to relax, it seems you do, and not be do defensive anytime someone offers a contrarian opinion to yours. 🙂
Did I miss the “update” part of the post? Did Kyle fly Korean recently? If so, I can’t figure out what exactly changed in the review… I mean, I’m glad that at least the post is referencing the fact that it’s updated (unlike others who just recycle posts without saying so), but I’m not sure what the purpose of reposting this was… If it’s to make you rethink flying on KE, I guess it did its job… I’m with @Stuart – confused.
Also not sure what’s been updated, but I’ll agree with you on biz class. And obvi the avg person isn’t paying for F nor will they do the research to know which routes, equipment, and lounges to visit.
So with that caveat, I’ll say that their J is not in top 15, but the overall F product is ~~ top 5. The new lounge in ICN, the seats on the 8i, and the redemption value (although this is mostly gone re Chase) made it one of the best experiences.
Yep, I third and fourth people here. What is the update? And what is the J seat in question? Is it the Apex (generally liked by other people)? Because the other J hard products are old.
@Jan – Thank you for your question. To comply with Google and keep our posts up-to-date we have to revisit old posts from time to time. We aim to do these updates during the evening hours so as not to confuse our dedicated readership. Out of deep respect for our readership, we aim to refresh these posts as needed and verify their accuracy. However, because this is not an entirely new work, the post was updated after midnight on the east coast as opposed to a new piece altogether. In the past, we have made small changes to old posts to keep them accurate but that method was not crawled as it should be.
Yes, I agree with you.
Korean air have to retire their A380.
Out dated business class
What’s the “update”?
Am also confused AF.
Korean Air and even Asiana’s business class are plain bad compared to ANA, JAL, SQ or EVA.
Seat is bad, meal is bad, service is average and cold and lounges are outdated, crowded and with bad food.
I hate forking out that money for that service when I fly to Korea but they almost hold a monopoly when flying to Korea.
When I have more time, I take ANA or EVA and make a stop over in Japan or Taiwan just to avoid Korean air or even Asiana….
Korean airlines lounge in lax is horrible. Good, drink, furnishings etc. embarrassing. Chips, pretzels, commercial frozen food chicken wings, and cup of soup ramen… and folks are paying thousands for biz class ?!?
Having this business class seat still on their A380s is a crime. I am a Korean American so I am beholden to KE and OZ. They better retrofit the A380’s with at least the apex suites.