ICN-NRT OZ F
It was nice to see a more lively airport terminal than the one I had seen in the evening. There is a really good energy at ICN. The terminal is spotlessly clean, with lots of open space, good lighting and a myriad of interesting features. I particularly like the little temple that overlooks the check in counters!
A bleak yet pristine winter's morning in Incheon
I was greeted warmly at the First Class check-in counter and proceeded to hand over my passport. At this point a received a bit of a shock. "I'm sorry sir, there is no First Class on flights to Tokyo".
Thankfully a supervisor overheard this and immediately rushed over to say something in Korean and type away on the check-in agent's computer.
"So sorry Mr Jermyn, There is First class today". She proceeded to place a seat plan on the counter and asked me which seat I would prefer. "Mr Jermyn, you will be the only passenger in First Class today so you may choose any seat. Are you still happy with 1K"?
"That is some great news! Yes 1K is my favourite seat. Thanks"!
Then things got silly.
After typing for a couple more seconds, she once again apologised.
What could have gone wrong? Am I in First Class but they've only managed to cater a lacto-ovo, Halal baby meal?
No. More absurd.
"I'm sorry Mr Jermyn, can I offer you a gift?"
"Uh, sure"
She then hands this over:
A small plastic wallet, filled with crisp new dollar bills.
Ridiculous.
I can see the logic behind giving a small amount of dollar bills to premium passengers flying from a non-tipping Asian culture to the United States. However, the need for dollar bills is somewhat diminished when the country you are flying to has a service sector whose workers would rather defenestrate themselves than receive a tip of any kind.
Still, I was now happily beaming from ear to ear at the thought that I had not only flown into a country for the sole purpose of flying out of it, I now had the entire nose of a 747 to my self and a packet of free money to help me on my way
There is no formal fast track at ICN but I was given something better. I had an assistant to walk me through the crew lane. The crew lane was filled with super cute, smiling cabin crew all grinning and bowing at me as I cut in front of them.
At the point where I had to put my tray through the scanner, a captain had just turned to put his tray down. I gestured to him to please put his tray ahead of mine but this guy was not having it. He motioned for me to place my tray ahead of his and would not take no for an answer... so I cut the security line in front of the Captain of an airplane. Another one for the bucket list.
Soon enough I was ready to explore the OZ F lounge.
The lounge has a very calm atmosphere, with lots of natural light coming in from the apron facing windows. There is a grand piano in the middle of it, which when I was there seemed to serve as some form of magnetic monolith, drawing all the pax to sit near it. Hence me not photographing it.
Still, I was happy to get a seat with an awesome view of the planes.
I managed to resist the bottle of JWB and stuck with sparkling water and coffee.
The OZ F lounge has a decent selection of food and beverages but is certainly not worth arriving massively early for. Any more than 2 hours here and you could get bored. Besides, there is an ice skating rink, museum and a cinema at ICN so its not like there aren't other things you could be doing on a short layover.
On my way to the gate I realised that I had managed to not only not spend any of my money in Korea, I had actually gotten into a ludicrous position of being fed and watered on multiple occasions yet somehow leaving with more money than I arrived with.
So, I decided to invest in a couple of small Korean vases in a duty free shop. They now take pride of place on our book cabinet at home, a reminder of this amazing trip.
OZ 102
ICN-NRT
8:50am
Boeing 747-400
Seat 1K
load 1/10 !
As soon as I entered the plane I knew this was going to me awesome. An FA immediately took my jacket and carry on and placed them in the cupboard for me.
"Mr Jermyn, can I get you a drink before we depart"?
"Yes please, I'd love a glass of champagne. Which champagne are you serving today"?
"Pol Roger"
(eyes and smile immediately lighting up)"Winston Churchill?"
"Yes Mr Jermyn. Do you know it"?
"It is one of my favourites"
"I'll make sure it is a large glass then"!
NB. This started off as a large glass but was half full (easy to be an optimist when you have the nose of a 747 to yourself) by the time I got round to taking a picture.
I was particularly impressed by the glassware. I think that the combination of full sized flute with a much reduced stem, works really well in the air. I'd much rather this than an infantilised mini flute, which retains its proportions only to massively diminish the vessel's capacity to deliver my booze.
After having some sips of the champagne I quickly went to town, taking pictures of the empty cabin.
I noticed a few differences between J and F service in this plane, other than the F&B. The F cabin has universal power adaptors rather than just Asian ones:
Also, the slippers are nicer. They have thick padding on the heel, where the J ones are just thin disposable ones. The colour, on the other hand, is a matter of opinion.
Soon enough the FA asked if I needed a refill (I did) and handed over the menus for today's short flight.
I decided to go for the Western starter followed by the Bibimbap. The FA asked if I would like soup too and I figured 'why not?', if a man can polish off a bottle of champagne for breakfast he can sure as hell manage a soup.
The overall look of Asiana's food offering in F, is outstanding. Full sized cutlery, a bread dish suited to the limited space on the table, individual salt and pepper pots, olive oil and balsamic vinegar bottled and ready to pour into a dipping bowl, elegantly shaped plates and bowls and a long stem rose.
This is how you present a First class meal.
Then came the Bibimbap
The more eagle eyed of you will have noticed that there are two champagne flutes in the second Bibimbap picture.
This is because having noticed that bottle of Pol was nearly empty, I thought it was high time to try another 2000 vintage champagne. The Heidseick Millesime.
The FA quickly obliged and presented the bottle to me so that I had a picture of the label, should I decide I wanted to buy some on the ground.
It transpires that the Millesime was not enormously to my liking but I love the fact that OZ catered both champagne options for a single pax in the F cabin. Once again, when it comes to service and more specifically meeting the expectations of F passengers, OZ just hits the nail on the head. There is no room for disappointment, you know what the hard product is like (and by the looks of things it is world beating in the suites) but there is just no way in which you can get a negative impression of OZ from a soft product perspective.
Between the F and J flights I did not see a single flaw. The OZ crew is truly remarkable.
Before dessert I quickly got a snap of the winner
Thankfully the dessert itself was a light affair
After the meal I went to the bathroom (no massively eager hand towel service this time) and returned to see that all the shades had been pulled down for me, with the exception of the three next to my seat. This made for some great lighting conditions for further cabin shots.
Soon enough we were touching down in NRT, with that exhilarating expression of kinetic energy taking place a couple of feet away from me, as the landing gear hammered down onto the tarmac.
On the right, a memento of the immediate past
...and a sign of things to come