Korean Air Skypass - US-Guam in business: KE or NW?

I'm going to redeem an award ticket in business class from SAT-GUM for travel in May 2009. My options are to fly NW and connect via DTW and NRT or to fly KE and connect via ATL and ICN. I'm trying to choose between the two. Both options would put me into ICN at the same time (1:20 a.m.), but I'd have to leave a few hours earlier to backtrack through ATL if I chose KE over NW.

KE #36 (ATL-ICN), I understand, is operated by a 744 with the new Prestige Plus business class seat. What about KE #111 (ICN-GUM), which appears to be scheduled for a 772? Will it have the old seat? Audio and video on-demand?

How is KE's audio and video on-demand on KE #36? Approximately how many different English language movies will I be able to choose from?

Can one do FF redemptions that effectively have KE doing a domestic flight (ATL-GUM)? Does the addition of a domestic segment make it legal?

Didn't KE (or was it OZ) get fined for selling US-GUM trips a few years back?

Can one do FF redemptions that effectively have KE doing a domestic flight (ATL-GUM)? Does the addition of a domestic segment make it legal?

Didn't KE (or was it OZ) get fined for selling US-GUM trips a few years back?

KE is prohibited from selling US to Guam via ICN. NW or CO is the way to go

KE is prohibited from selling US to Guam via ICN. NW or CO is the way to go

Interesting. I was offered it as an option by a NW agent. Never really thought about the domestic nature of the trip. I would have thought that transiting ICN would have solved that problem.

Asiana got fined for selling Saipan-USA via ICN. Yeah, apparently it's illegal.

Interesting. I was offered it as an option by a NW agent. Never really thought about the domestic nature of the trip. I would have thought that transiting ICN would have solved that problem.


If it's ATL-DL-ICN-KE-GUM, you might be okay. But if it's ATL-KE-ICN-KE-GUM, you cannot do this because this is a violation of cabotage laws. You're flying from the U.S. to the U.S. although you will have to clear immigration at GUM if I understand correctly.



Can one do FF redemptions that effectively have KE doing a domestic flight (ATL-GUM)? Does the addition of a domestic segment make it legal?

Didn't KE (or was it OZ) get fined for selling US-GUM trips a few years back?


It was Asiana, not Korean Air. They got few warning from the U.S. for doing USA-SPN, but ignored. Eventually, ended up with being fined almost one million dollars. What a bad ....!

There is a way around this.

Fly KE ATL-ICN.. stay in ICN a 1-3 days, then fly KE ICN-GUM. Then when you return, stop over in ICN again 1-2 days then back to ATL. Essentially, you did leave the US as you had to go through customs to stay in Korea. After "Staying" in the Korea, it's as if you flew back to the US. Then when you go back, you fly back to Korea and stay there a day or two, then fly back to the "US." That's one way it can work, I believe.

I'm going to redeem an award ticket in business class from SAT-GUM for travel in May 2009. My options are to fly NW and connect via DTW and NRT or to fly KE and connect via ATL and ICN. I'm trying to choose between the two. Both options would put me into ICN at the same time (1:20 a.m.), but I'd have to leave a few hours earlier to backtrack through ATL if I chose KE over NW.

KE #36 (ATL-ICN), I understand, is operated by a 744 with the new Prestige Plus business class seat. What about KE #111 (ICN-GUM), which appears to be scheduled for a 772? Will it have the old seat? Audio and video on-demand?

How is KE's audio and video on-demand on KE #36? Approximately how many different English language movies will I be able to choose from?

There is a way around this.

Fly KE ATL-ICN.. stay in ICN a 1-3 days, then fly KE ICN-GUM. Then when you return, stop over in ICN again 1-2 days then back to ATL. Essentially, you did leave the US as you had to go through customs to stay in Korea. After "Staying" in the Korea, it's as if you flew back to the US. Then when you go back, you fly back to Korea and stay there a day or two, then fly back to the "US." That's one way it can work, I believe.


I did something similar a few years back. I went ORD-UA-LAX-OZ-ICN-OZ-GUM. We had to spend the night (not sure if it's minimum 24 hours or "the night") in Korea. Also, ORD-LAX-ICN was a separate itinerary than ICN-GUM.

Via NRT

Delta 55 777 ATL/09:50a NRT/02:25p (+1d)
Continental 7 737-800 NRT/05:15p (+1d) GUM/09:50p (+1d)

KE crashed in GUM some years back. :td:

I'm going to redeem an award ticket in business class from SAT-GUM for travel in May 2009. My options are to fly NW and connect via DTW and NRT or to fly KE and connect via ATL and ICN. I'm trying to choose between the two. Both options would put me into ICN at the same time (1:20 a.m.), but I'd have to leave a few hours earlier to backtrack through ATL if I chose KE over NW.

KE #36 (ATL-ICN), I understand, is operated by a 744 with the new Prestige Plus business class seat. What about KE #111 (ICN-GUM), which appears to be scheduled for a 772? Will it have the old seat? Audio and video on-demand?

How is KE's audio and video on-demand on KE #36? Approximately how many different English language movies will I be able to choose from?

Avoid NW's World Business Trash if you can, I find it to be one of the worst J classes out there.

KE crashed in GUM some years back. :td:

:rolleyes:

From NYT (http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E00E2D61F3DF935A3575BC0A9619582 60)

Because of the bad weather, darkness and low visibility, the plane would have been relying more heavily on instruments to make the landing at Agana International Airport, where a radio system that tells pilots whether they are flying high enough as they approach the runway had been out of service since last month.