Other Asian, Australian and South Pacific Frequent Flyer Programs - How is Asiana's First Class?

Just curious...

How is Asiana's First Class on its LAX-SEL route? Any experience from fellow FT talkers!

Thanks,
Carfield

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by Carfield:
How is Asiana's First Class on its LAX-SEL route?</font>

To sum it up in one word: outstanding! I took this flight in 1998, and it is the best flight I've ever been on by far. Here are some highlights (I list the least excellent first):

Seats: As far as I know, they've not been remodeled since I took the flight. They had fully-flat seats, but they weren't really "beds" in the sense that some other carriers' FC products have. But, they sure beat a seat that doesn't go flat.

Entertainment: They had individual monitors, but there were only 4 movie channels. There were four sets of movies, so if two movies that you wanted to see were on the same set, you couldn't watch both. Headsets were old acoustical-tube design. I didn't notice whether or not they also had electrical connectors for passengers with noise-cancelling headsets. Again, other carriers have better options.

But other than these two items, everything else was top notch:

Food: 9 course meal, including caviar, canape, the lot. Several selections for the main course. Dedicated cook for First Class (separate from the flight attendants) came into cabin to make sure everything was to the passenger's liking.

Beverage: Good selection of wine. Champagne was Dom Peringnon, and they were not at all stingy with it.

Flight attendants: 2 dedicated for FC, to cover 16 seats, plus the cook. Flight attendants were extremely polite and service-oriented, and seemed genuinely interested in providing good service. When meal orders are taken, attendant kneels at your feet and addresses you by name. Also, call button is answered promptly at any time during the flight, including when they FAs are mostly resting. It was such a contrast between what I normally get, that we started timing it just for fun (no, we didn't ring it excessively, only when more Dom was needed http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif). Average response time: 3 seconds. Maximum response time: 4 seconds. FC lavatories are cleaned after every use.

Boarding: As soon as they see you have a FC ticket, you are relieved of your carry-ons at the door, shown to your seat, and your carry-ons are stowed for you.

Arrival: We parked at a hardstand. Business and Coach passengers boarded "mobile lounges." FC passengers had a separate mini-bus that got to the terminal first. Baggage was out first. I don't know if they have any hardstands at ICN (I flew into SEL) so this may not apply.

Other carriers in the market (JL, CX) may have better seats and entertainment options, but I can't imagine the service being any better (but I haven't been on JL or CX FC so I can't say first-hand).