Korean Air Business Class Review Sfo to Icn
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I had a chance to try Korean Air'southward Prestige Class (Business Class) from New York JFK to Seoul (ICN) and onward to Bali (DPS). Despite the carrier'south ain insistence that they are superior, I didn't find them to be anything other than average (peradventure below) and I claiming 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 adopt to put that aside to remain neutral for the purpose of this post. At that place 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 concern course 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 earlier they depart for their 14-hour flights to Seoul. That's a lot of premium passengers, the Airbus A380 alone has 106 business or excellent seats (on both the primary and upper deck) while the 747-800 holds 54 in apartment bed concern and excellent cabins. That's without elites that may exist traveling in bus but qualify for the lounge or the Priority Laissez passer holders that have access during specific times of the solar day.
That's not to say that American Airlines Admiral Lodge holds much stronger offerings than some bland soup, cubed cheeses, and mixed basics, only it just doesn't stack up to modernistic contest like United'southward new Polaris lounges. The Nihon Airlines lounge in Narita, the ANA lounge in Haneda and Cathay Pacific'south lounges in Hong Kong all come to mind as fair competition and Korean Air doesn't hold a candle to those.
Luggage Handling and Checkin
Checking into our flight, we were lucky to take a connection with Delta or we may take been waiting at JFK awhile for an amanuensis to show up. Again, zilch out of the ordinary there, only zero special either. In Bali, when nosotros checked in (an outstation of course) they did have Korean Air staff as opposed to a tertiary-party service like some carriers utilize, 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, simply that's the whole signal – they are merely as bad or as skilful equally the contest, boilerplate.
When we arrived at JFK and waited an hr and xv 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 chugalug, new bags were still arriving with priority, Morn Calm (loyalty plan), Prestige, and First Form flags. I don't understand the bespeak of tagging a bag with a priority tag if the pocketbook doesn't come up off close to the front half of the residue of the numberless, nor (in our case) brand the flight at all. This is non unique to Korean Air, United, and American struggle with this in my experience too. But they are no amend at it than anyone else and that is decidedly average.
Nosotros were greeted by a pair of Korean baggage staff employees, ane may have been a third-political party and the other a Korean Air managing director. The third-party employee (assuming so to requite Korean the do good of the incertitude) didn't bother to investigate our tags and instead only suggested that someone else had absconded with our luggage never to be seen or heard from again. Comforting.
The Korean Air managing director said he would wait into information technology 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. Nosotros filled out a grade in which nosotros had to surrender the sticker and had I not taken a photo of it, nosotros would have no indication every bit 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 fabricated, and information technology was. The bag was located inside of 12 hours and shipped to us 2 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 outcome, I am not certain the response would have been equally quick and thorough. I fear that for other customers, they may not have the same result.
Food on Board
The food was fine. The basics were served in a handbag which is not a trouble for me but plainly has been reported to be beneath some former management at the carrier. I had unremarkable Korean bibimbap and a steak, remarkable solely considering they nailed the temperature, a feat that is too difficult for most United states of america carriers. Again, unremarkable in the rest of the world. In fact, Cathay Pacific serves – every bit a snack – an incredible wagyu cheeseburger that was as good as anything I had in a restaurant on the footing. While I enjoy warm cookies, the snack carte with Korean Air doesn't compare to Asian peers. Just boilerplate.
It'due south worth noting as well that I went through the procedure 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 girl were correctly delivered, a 50% success rate or the literal definition of average.
Our seats, notwithstanding, were correct as we selected them, but we could not do this online despite Korean owning the itinerary. And so, they didn't really fail and another airlines take difficulty especially with mixed carrier itineraries allowing this, just they didn't excel either. Boilerplate.
The Hard Product
Seat
I would place the seat in Prestige course beneath the contest for a couple of reasons. It's not quite fully flat. It'due south inexplicable because even with the seat fully extended in that location are however a few inches (perhaps 6-8) for the seat to further extend frontwards. It'south close – if I had to guess I would say it's 170 degrees – just it's a noticeable difference from fully lie-flat seats that occupy the market on competing carriers.
Further, and perchance nigh importantly, the seats did non have straight aisle admission at all locations. I criticize United for doing this on their new 787s besides. The unabridged rest of the market has shifted to direct aisle admission and even United has seen the folly of their ways and corrected information technology for Polaris, updates to 787s are in the works.
Stepping over a stranger or beingness stepped over by a stranger in a business organization class seat while sleeping is not something that should occur in the modern era and does not on most other carriers. Fifty-fifty Delta has a closed-door suite, and American'due south 777-300ER product that licenses their blueprint from Prc Pacific are decades ahead of Korean for comfort and ease.
Lastly, privacy is a business as well. A thin divider drops down between newly mated bedfellows that does not evangelize much privacy. If yous're seated at the aisle, there is a niggling bulwark betwixt your face and a clanking cart if you plow away from your seat partner and slumber on your side facing the aisle. It feels very public in a way that other carriers have long since left behind. Below-boilerplate and falling even further behind as carriers go along to update their products and Korean Air does non.
Business-class passengers are paying thousands, sometimes more than than $10,000 more than equivalent economy class seats for their flight on Korean Air, this is simply non good enough.
Amenities
The assiduities kits were ok. There was zilch outstanding nor whatever missing elements, the design was fine though non particularly unique. They were… average.
But what nigh the onboard amenities? The A380 has a bar in the back and a lounge in the front, that has to exist superior, right? While I can't compare to American carriers (they don't own the equipment), and ANA is using their A380s for medium-booty densely packed tourist flights to Hawaii, the Singapore A380 comes to mind every bit does Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar.
Matthew can speak further to the Lufthansa A380 and how they used disused space similar the front of the aircraft where seating is non a possibility. I imagine that there is nothing particularly slap-up about the LH A380. But the Korean Air business concern grade cabin does not inspire.
Emirates, Etihad and Qatar offer confined and Emirates has a shower on board. It's more novelty than anything else, sure, though after arriving in JFK without an inflow lounge (pregnant no shower for us) we would have gladly taken one if Korean Air offered it. Over again, they aren't the worst in the sky, but just boilerplate.
Fight Me!
I have made my case and I think it is a good ane. 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 some other vigilante in the lounge.) But they are too not keen, and their position that they would never offering flights (like the ane I bought) in business grade for $2000 considering information technology'southward then cheap for their product – is disconnected from the market. They only exercise not understand the competition or don't care. Regardless, they are utterly average in business organization course, whether they decide to call it Prestige or not.
The meal service was substandard, flying attendants were adequate, not legendary, noise-canceling headphones were basic, and as a business class product – it was boilerplate to below average. Perhaps in the splendid Kosmo suites where a window seat matters and the product is an "Apex" suite, that could exist a improve case 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 non recognized? Are they average in your experience when comparison to other similar carriers?
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