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Have a flight later this month on Korean Air from Guangzhou to San Francisco with an overnight layover in Seoul. This is the return half of a similar flight I took with them several months ago.

I called Korean Air yesterday to see if they would furnish me a hotel room in Seoul, but they said they couldn’t since they already did that for me on the first leg of the trip (San Francisco to Guangzhou.)

That seemed reasonable, and I just thanked the agent for checking, and made no attempt to argue or insist. Now today I’m wondering if I should have been more assertive, pressing my case by politely requesting a supervisor and so on.

What I’d like to ask the experts here is whether furnishing a room during an international overnight layover is just a courtesy airlines sometimes do on a discretionary basis, or whether it’s something I should reasonably expect. I’ve found some older discussion of the topic on line suggesting that the former is probably the case.

Realize the answer might depend on several variables, so let me add that I’m a member of Korean Air’s frequent flier program, but have no elite or elevated status. The details of my ticket are that it is Q (Economy) class with the actual “fare basis” being QKXEUS3. The details of the trip are that I arrive ICN at 17:05 local time one day and depart for SFO at 16:10 the following afternoon.

It’s not a huge deal, and paying for my own room won’t break the bank. But I am curious as to whether or not this is currently usual practice. I also realize that it might very well be a belt tightening measure, recently instituted by KE for its lower priced tickets, and I can live with that if it is.

Thanks.