Korean Air Skypass - First time on KE - some questions

Hi all

I'll be flying KE on January, 13, between HKG and SVO (Moscow). The HKG to ICN redeye shows C4 R4 I4 W0 Y0 K0 M0 E4 H0 L0 S0 Q0 N0 V0 G0. Does it mean the flight is already overbooked more than a month out? Or is it normal for KE and they'll just release more seats closer to the date? If the former is the case, where do I stand in KE's pecking order for op-ups as a SkyTeam Elite Plus travelling on a S fare?

The HKG to ICN flight is on a 744-Combi, and the ICN to SVO leg is on a 777-200. What would the best seats be in Y? I have seen the seat maps but I'd appreciate some personal comments as well...

I'll have a 12 hours layover at ICN and I'd probably prefer to stay airside. Is there a lot to do except hitting the lounges? I know there are several lounges I can access on my Flying Blue Gold card - which one is best regarded among the Flyertalkers?

Thanks in advance

I can't speak to the seat recs but you'll have access to the KAL Prestige Lounge which is excellent. You can grab a shower, have something to eat, and enjoy some shopping, surf the web etc. An added bonus is the giant windows that open onto the tarmac and give you a great view of the airport & planes. I don't know if it would require a visa or not but you might consider leaving the airport and going into Seoul for a couple of hours. 12 hrs is plenty of time to get downtown, explore a bit, and then head back.

Another option if you remain Airside is use one of the 2 hotels. (they are on opposite ends of the terminal, run by the same company). You can purchase blocks of time for the room and grab some sleep between flights. The KE lounge has showers, snacks, computer terminals and wi-fi. It also has a nap rom where there are some reclining chairs in a dark room. Personally, I have never been able to sleep there. There is also a large shopping area i the arside terminal.

If you want to stay airside, I'd suggest using the transit hotel, it's a great way to get some rest and a shower in the middle of a long trip. I believe they rent rooms in 6-hour blocks, so you could rent one for 6 hours and use the lounges the rest of the time, or pay for 12 hours even if you only end up using 9 or 10, which is what I have done when I've stayed there.

Info here: www.airgardenhotel.com/english.htm. I'd suggest calling them to make the reservation.

As wonderful as I think Incheon International Airport is, 12 hours is a long time to spend airside. The duty-free shopping--tons of it but thankfully the shops are actually in shops, unlike Sydney where the wares spill into the walkways, forcing pax to walk through the chaos--is very good, but it's largely the same stuff as you can get anywhere else, such as HKG. With 12 hours, I'd be inclined to dash into Seoul, especially if you haven't been there yet.

OTOH, the redeye from HKG to ICN is about the most painful redeye I know, less than three hours flying time with a late departure and very early arrival. You will almost certainly be exhausted and want some more sleep. You might take advantage of the forced disruption in sleep to re-set yourself to Moscow time, which could involve going to sleep upon arrival at Incheon.

Having been caught in this trap myself, I'll warn you that if you decide to dash landside simply to get a couple of passport stamps then go back airside, wait until after 6:30 am to do it. Despite the humming airport landside in the wee hours when the HKG redeye arrives, the check-in hall at Incheon is dead at that time. When I was there, KE check-in desks didn't open until 6:00 am. And there was no one to do departing immigration or security screening until 6:30, so I was stuck landside just waiting for over an hour.

As for op-ups, I got an op-up BKK-ICN about a year ago. I was flying on a DL-coded ticket as a Delta Platinum Medallion (SkyTeam Elite Plus). The depature from BKK was going to be a bit delayed, making my connection tight. I'm not sure if overbooking in the back (didn't look) or the tight connection was the reason for the op-up. But I was certainly grateful for it.

I totally agree with the consensus above... if you have the right passport and/or visa combination then get out of the airport for a while. ICN is nice, but 12 hours is a REALLY long time. If you want to drop off your carry-on, ask the info desk before going through immigration. Its been a few years since I tried to leave on a layover, but I remeber at the time left luggage was airside somewhere.

Thanks for all the suggestions... and keep them coming ^

The problem is I need a transit visa for South Korea which would waste a precious page in my passport - I will have had 1 or 2 blank pages left by mid-January and I'll need them for somewhere else a bit later. So wasting a page for the sake of a few hours in Seoul in the winter doesn't sound like such a good idea after all.

On a different note, KE seems to be playing with availability on my flight. This now is showing as C4 R4 I4 W4 Y4 K4 M4 E4 H4 L4 S0 Q0 N0 V0 G0. Is there any place on FT where Korean's booking classes are explained?

Nope, but I can help as much as I can.
C,R: business class
all others are economy class, I believe:
Q,V: cheap fare for transfer passengers; stopover in Seoul is mostly not allowed.
G: group
N: no milege accurable - super cheap fare
Others are just normal fares with diffrent conditions. I'm sorry, these are all I know.

Thanks for all the suggestions... and keep them coming ^

The problem is I need a transit visa for South Korea which would waste a precious page in my passport - I will have had 1 or 2 blank pages left by mid-January and I'll need them for somewhere else a bit later. So wasting a page for the sake of a few hours in Seoul in the winter doesn't sound like such a good idea after all.

On a different note, KE seems to be playing with availability on my flight. This now is showing as C4 R4 I4 W4 Y4 K4 M4 E4 H4 L4 S0 Q0 N0 V0 G0. Is there any place on FT where Korean's booking classes are explained?

I= Business class upgrade award.. and W=Business class ticket award

I haven't flown on the 777's of KE, but a friend has... try to score the first row in econ. (bulkhead) or exit rows. or other Bulkhead in second section.. seem to have more legroom :D^

Hi all

I'll be flying KE on January, 13, between HKG and SVO (Moscow). The HKG to ICN redeye shows C4 R4 I4 W0 Y0 K0 M0 E4 H0 L0 S0 Q0 N0 V0 G0. Does it mean the flight is already overbooked more than a month out? Or is it normal for KE and they'll just release more seats closer to the date? If the former is the case, where do I stand in KE's pecking order for op-ups as a SkyTeam Elite Plus travelling on a S fare?

The HKG to ICN flight is on a 744-Combi, and the ICN to SVO leg is on a 777-200. What would the best seats be in Y? I have seen the seat maps but I'd appreciate some personal comments as well...

I'll have a 12 hours layover at ICN and I'd probably prefer to stay airside. Is there a lot to do except hitting the lounges? I know there are several lounges I can access on my Flying Blue Gold card - which one is best regarded among the Flyertalkers?

Thanks in advance

KE even offers excursions if one has 6 hours and more. Have a look at the offical airport website. One of these will take you to a wonderful spa...... great way to beat the jet lag!!

I tooo would plan on using the hotels airside if you don#t want to deal with immigration hassels. Get a few hours of sleep and a decent shower.

apoivre: Where are you finding the fare-bucket availability data? If BIMMERKID2 is right about those award classes, it would be very good to be able to check for award availability online somewhere.

I= Business class upgrade award.. and W=Business class ticket award

I might be the correct code for upgrades (with KE miles), but business awards are D. Coach awards are U. Neither show up online... you have to call the airline to get them.

apoivre: Where are you finding the fare-bucket availability data?

http://availability.publicbackup.com/

Seems to be the only free availability search engine left

don't forget seatcompare.com

don't forget seatcompare.com

If you mean seatcounter.com, it hasn't worked for weeks now - at least for me

I know I am right on the I... I upgraded my ticket from Seoul to Taipei for 27 Dec. after the upgrade.. my M class econ. ticket bumped to I Class Business/Prestige...... I'm just assuming W is a C Class award because the next thing listed in the fare bucket is Y... and then the lower Y class fare buckets.......:D^

apoivre: Where are you finding the fare-bucket availability data? If BIMMERKID2 is right about those award classes, it would be very good to be able to check for award availability online somewhere.

I'm just assuming W is a C Class award because the next thing listed in the fare bucket is Y... and then the lower Y class fare buckets.......:D^

Should be D, according to Gnopps's site (http://www.gnopps.com/skyteam/pages/award-classes.php)

Should be D, according to Gnopps's site (http://www.gnopps.com/skyteam/pages/award-classes.php)

ah.... ok... sorry.. i just assumed this.. because of what i stated above ^

Here's a copy of my most recent KE award reservation for reference. The ICN-MNL leg is completely sold out in biz... hence the U on that spot.
I have no idea what the code is for F award seats... maybe that's the W?


TICKET #: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bkng Meals/ Seat/
Day Date Flight Status Class City Time Other Cabin
--- ----- --------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ------ -------
xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV TOKYO-NARITA 155P **
704 AR INCHEON KORE 435P
A SO

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK U LV INCHEON KORE 800P **
623 A SO
AR MANILA 1105P

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV MANILA 1215P **
622 AR INCHEON KORE 455P
A SO

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV INCHEON KORE 920A **
701 A SO
AR TOKYO-NARITA 1130A

^:D good Obs. maybe the W is infact a F award?
but from my recent Award upgrade from my M Class Econ. ticket for 27 dec.. ICN-TPE.. it went from M class econ. into I class for Prestige... :eek:^

Here's a copy of my most recent KE award reservation for reference. The ICN-MNL leg is completely sold out in biz... hence the U on that spot.
I have no idea what the code is for F award seats... maybe that's the W?


TICKET #: xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Bkng Meals/ Seat/
Day Date Flight Status Class City Time Other Cabin
--- ----- --------------- ------ ----- ---------------- ------ ------ -------
xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV TOKYO-NARITA 155P **
704 AR INCHEON KORE 435P
A SO

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK U LV INCHEON KORE 800P **
623 A SO
AR MANILA 1105P

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV MANILA 1215P **
622 AR INCHEON KORE 455P
A SO

xxx xxDEC KOREAN AIR OK D LV INCHEON KORE 920A **
701 A SO
AR TOKYO-NARITA 1130A

OK, here's how it went

I checked my HKG-ICN flight 3 hours before departure - all the classes were zeroed out, except for the misterious E (showed 4, which I believe is a maximum for that tool so it actually meant "4 or more seats").

Asked at check-in if the flight was oversold. The agent said it was. Asked about an upgrade and she said it was for KE frequent flyers only. (She might have meant upgrade for miles, not an op-up). She printed two boarding passes for me, then went to talk to a senior (?) agent who was manning the F counter, then went back, tore one of the passes apart and printed me a new one, showing 12F ^. She said they were moving the divider for this flight so I'd have a J seat and Y service. I fell asleep once we were on cruising altitude so I can't comment on the service but the seat was quite comfortable for a short hop. Everyone else in my row was Korean and looked like it was their first time in the C cabin so there probably were lots of upgrades.

Always nice to get an op-up.

I take it FB Gold = SkyTeam Elite, not SkyTeam Elite Plus. If so, very good on you for getting this op-up.

That overnight HKG-ICN is a bear.

Always nice to get an op-up.

I take it FB Gold = SkyTeam Elite, not SkyTeam Elite Plus. If so, very good on you for getting this op-up.

That overnight HKG-ICN is a bear.

To my knowledge FB Gold is Elite Plus everywhere except the USA. For USA based members you have to attain Plat just as we do in the US based Skyteam programs.

Always nice to get an op-up.

I take it FB Gold = SkyTeam Elite, not SkyTeam Elite Plus. If so, very good on you for getting this op-up.

To my knowledge FB Gold is Elite Plus everywhere except the USA. For USA based members you have to attain Plat just as we do in the US based Skyteam programs.

Exactly. (Mexican residents are excluded as well, but for the rest of the world FB Gold corresponds to ST Elite Plus).