Asiana Club - SYD-ICN OZ, SQ, or CX?

Wondering if the OZ board can help me out.

I need to get from SYD to ICN to start a OneWorld DONE4 ticket that I bought during the sale.

I have three options and plan on flying business class:

1) Fly OZ direct from SYD to ICN on the 777 - 10 hour journey
2) Fly SQ through SIN on 744 and regional Airbus - 19 hours because of SIN layover
3) Fly CX through HKG on 777 and regional Airbus - again 19 hours with layover

Having never travelled OZ, but travelled on the other two, I was wondering if the board had any opinions on how they would rank the options?

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,

ACN

I would look at the direct flight as the best becuase I can't be stuffed hanging around airports.

BUT if you are flying to ICN to start a DONE4 then that would suggest that you are doing this as an MR with a bit of work thrown in so the stopover is best to maximise milage. If you book with SQ you can get their HUGE J class on the 77W's or 380's so that is certainly an attractive option.

I don't mind CX but it doesn't float my boat. You could also think of heading to up that part of the world with BA, QF, TG, MH and Korean Air. Your choice or Star, 1world or STeam really depends on who you are earning with.

Don't forget that if you are placing the DONE with QF you get the points status bonus only with BA/QF/AA numbered flights.

Enjoy and let us know about the OZ flight if you take it.

SYD-ICN is a day flight in the case of OZ, departing 0910 and arriving 1845. Hence, 180-degree flat is not really necessary for a flight with this timing.

With the perfectly fine C seat (angled lie-flat) and the good service and food/beverages, I would personally just fly OZ as long as I have a home for the OZ miles. It will also be a much easier flight without the tiresome transits.

If you prefer to build up Oneworld miles then obviously go for CX.

Option C:

Late QF flight to MEL.

1am SQ departure from MEL in a 77W, short connection at SIN to a 77W to ICN. All in new (77W) SQ C.

That's how I'm ticketed in a few months.

Wondering if the OZ board can help me out.

I need to get from SYD to ICN to start a OneWorld DONE4 ticket that I bought during the sale.

I have three options and plan on flying business class:

1) Fly OZ direct from SYD to ICN on the 777 - 10 hour journey
2) Fly SQ through SIN on 744 and regional Airbus - 19 hours because of SIN layover
3) Fly CX through HKG on 777 and regional Airbus - again 19 hours with layover

Having never travelled OZ, but travelled on the other two, I was wondering if the board had any opinions on how they would rank the options?

Any advice/thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers,

ACN

No question for me. I would go for OZ any time. This is a very pleasant flight, great service, nice views of the Great Barrier Reef and a decent seat.

Option C:

Late QF flight to MEL.

1am SQ departure from MEL in a 77W, short connection at SIN to a 77W to ICN. All in new (77W) SQ C.

That's how I'm ticketed in a few months.

Interesting. I'm based in MEL and when I need to go to ICN, I look with envy for those staying in SYD as they can take the direct OZ flight (definitely my preference). I hate transiting in SYD so I end up taking SQ and transiting in SIN :)

I'd look at fuel surcharges and taxes for the entire route:

1) CX - US$ 89.60

2) OZ - US$ 95.00

3) SQ - US$ 232.30

But for service and convenience, I'd go for OZ. 2nd for CX.

I would avoid SQ cos I cannot see the justification in paying 2x more for their taxes and fuel surcharges.

I'll be using points/miles for the flight, and though I'm primarily a member of BA, I have a bunch of miles left over from my Aeroplan days along with around 30K of KrisFlyer points, so I've been thinking about burning the KrisFlyer miles with their current sale, but could obviously use those for the return leg for ICN-SYD.

10 hours in a plane is still 10 hours, and the truth is from what I've seen on the website, biz class doesn't look all that impressive. Is the service really on par with SQ, and are the in-flight amenties on par as well?

Interesting. I'm based in MEL and when I need to go to ICN, I look with envy for those staying in SYD as they can take the direct OZ flight (definitely my preference). I hate transiting in SYD so I end up taking SQ and transiting in SIN :)

It should be noted that when I'm doing it, it's in F, and I refuse to travel C on an F ticket. If OZ operated F on the SYD flight, that would be a no-brainer.

10 hours in a plane is still 10 hours, and the truth is from what I've seen on the website, biz class doesn't look all that impressive. Is the service really on par with SQ, and are the in-flight amenties on par as well?
OZ C is comparable to Spacebed, and service is just fine.
It is miles better than regional C seat on SQ 772s which you'll have to fly some 6~7 hours for SIN-ICN.

Amenities wise, SQ has well stocked lavs, but so does OZ. While I haven't flown OZ on this route, I believe they still provide Amenity kit in C?

In summar, unless I can do SYD-SIN on A380 and SIN-ICN on 77W, I wouldn't go out of my way to fly SQ over OZ on this route.

OZ has very very nice service, and a fine seat for a daytime flight... Unless there's a need to rack up miles, I'd take the OZ non-stop for sure... much less tiring then an overnight flight (even in a flatbed).

Fly the nonstop.

When we flew OZ SYD-ICN six months ago, I found the C seats, the service and the food easily comparable to SQ C.

I have no hesitation to give OZ SYD-ICN a ^.

The OZ ICN lounge is nothing special, but the inflight service, this 777 cabin and seat, drinks, food and entertainment are up to scratch.
It's a 2-3-2 cabin and our fllight was around or just under 2/3 full.

Unless you can find benefits in going via SIN and spending your time that way, I'd highly recommend OZ for this flight, as everyone else has.

On *A, the only superior service I've ever had in C was NZ (the 'departed' 744 HKG-LHR with beds) and that's closer to F, IMO.

(If you have eclectic entertainment tastes, the Korean channels are silly fun for a short time, too. Even SQ offers silly Korean comedy content. :D)

The OZ option is very comfortable. Here are some photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/blackwych/sets/72157612931509410/

Since you are starting a ONEWORLD product perhaps it might be useful for you to know that QF codeshares the OZ flight from SYD to ICN.
You could thus book your flight via QF and collect OneWorld miles and at the same time experience OZ and their great service.

My OZ SYD-ICN B772 pics (http://picasaweb.google.com/benbrowning1/OZToHKG_AsianaB772AndB74M)in Picasa. Nice pics, Mr H!

just wanted to let everyone know that i went with the OZ direct flight. Thanks for the pics everyone, it helped to swing me away from CX and SQ with their long layovers.

Did they just change this to a 747? Does this mean older seats or are we still OK?

Did they just change this to a 747? Does this mean older seats or are we still OK?

That's a good question. OZ602 was 747 for 5 / 6 June. It's a 777 again for 7 June but back to 747 on 8 June. Obviously the outbound OZ601 ICN-SYD departing the previous nights is the matching equipment.

Unless it's the combi, I don't think there's much to be concerned about regardless.

Unless it's the combi, I don't think there's much to be concerned about regardless.

There is no other choice but the old combi, remember the other 4 744 has to served LAX and JFK, each route are served by 2 744 as both of them are daily. I don't think they are so stupid to put the newer one for SYD and put the older one for LAX or JFK, as both of them are longer than SYD.

There is no other choice but the old combi, remember the other 4 744 has to served LAX and JFK, each route are served by 2 744 as both of them are daily. I don't think they are so stupid to put the newer one for SYD and put the older one for LAX or JFK, as both of them are longer than SYD.

Having said this, the old beast has been seen at LAX not too long ago.

There is no other choice but the old combi, remember the other 4 744 has to served LAX and JFK, each route are served by 2 744 as both of them are daily. I don't think they are so stupid to put the newer one for SYD and put the older one for LAX or JFK, as both of them are longer than SYD.

I would agree but KVS has been showing 747 for ICN-SYD-ICN the past couple of days and a few coming days. Not 74E. The ICN-LAX route has been showing both flights as 777 instead of one being 747 for the same matching days.