gsforfree

For the uninitiated, what is a generic IATA fare?

Thanks.

mad_atta

Wow, this is a fantastic report so far Jacob_m - I can only imagine how long it took to write, since it took me ages to read it. Looking forward to more - in particular to seeing what other random airlines you manage to include on your itinerary I'd also be curious to learn more about this generic IATA fare, and what sort of price it was - I notice you mentioned it was quite reasonably priced, but then again everyone has their own interpretation of "reasonably priced"...

Good to hear AirNZ are still on form, living in NYC I miss having the opportunity to fly them. I was interested to see photos of the new AKL lounge - NZ have developed quite a unique and quirky style for many of their recent lounge refurbishments (they call it the "bach" concept - bach being New Zealand slang for a very casual holiday home) but this one looks a bit bland and strange by comparison. Disappointing for their refreshed lounge in their main hub. Or maybe the refurbishment is not completed yet - did it look like any areas of the lounge were still sectioned off? Maybe it looks better in real life, so I guess I should reserve judgement until I see it in person in December.

The other thing I was interested to note was the contrast between the quality of the spirits on offer in the NZ lounge vs the Emirates lounge. Clearly NZ have moved to cheaper brands, while EK's are commendably 'top shelf'. Kudos to EK for their excellent wine selection too - it's impressive to see champagne, Cloudy Bay sauvignon blanc, Te Mata Awatea, Mt Difficulty and Vavasour among others on offer in the lounge. ^ Their onboard wines looked excellent too, though I must disagree with you on the champagne point - I think Moet is a hugely overrated, thin, acidic tasting champagne, and I'd far prefer the Veuve Clicquot they serve in the lounge. Still, only a very minor quibble in anyone's book.

So where are we headed next? And how much time are you actually spending on the ground on this crazy itinerary?

jacob_m

A generic IATA fare is a fare not connected to a specific airline (IATA is the "International Air Transport Association" by the way).
Usually every fare is 'owned' by an airline, meaning to make use of it you need to fly all segments or the majority of the segments on that particular airline and often you need to pass one of the airline's hubs.

With a generic IATA fare you can fly on any airline of your choice via any transfer point of your choice, so you are not forced to fly a specific airline/alliance or transfer in a specific city.
There is usually a maximum permitted mileage though to keep the routing somewhat reasonable and a surcharge if you exceed it.

Thanks! As always when I write reports the length is rather unintentional. I keep on writing and when I've finally written everything I wanted to include I notice it ended up being several pages long.
Because of this I try to use headings, to make it easier to follow and to make it possible to more easily find parts of interest.
Uploading photos is really time-consuming though, the Emirates report with all A380 photos took nearly 7 hours to complete all in all.

I thought the interior of the NZ lounge in Auckland was quite OK, possibly a bit strange. Overall the lounge had a contemporary design while in a few corners they had placed some antique furniture, a bit like in a bohemian cafe.

The fare was from ICN to APW. Obviously it was originally priced in Korean Won, but I believe it should equal something like 2500 USD. Because I exceeded the maximum mileage there was also a surcharge.
Indeed it's rather individual what one considers to be "reasonably priced", but most generic fares I have seen for routes of a similar distance have been 2-4 times that amount.
It was really great to be able to try so many airlines since I normally only fly a handful airlines within the Star Alliance.

I made exactly the same reflection. I think the selection of beer and wine in the NZ lounge was OK (red wine was better in the past though I think), however the selection of spirits was nothing to get too excited about.
The drinks selection in the Emirates lounge was a delight though!

Next installment should hopefully be up tonight. The trip was 12 days in total.

Kiwi Flyer

The AKL int lounge refurbishment is finished and yes it does look better in real life. It is vastly better than it was before the refurbishment.

jacob_m

Another early morning departure

5.45 am and my alarm clock went off, another early morning and another day in the air. At least I have a more gentle alarm tune nowadays
A quick shower, some final packing and I was ready to leave.
As I was staying close to the Sydney central station there was only a short walk to the airport train, very appreciated this early morning.
I caught the 6.38 am departure from the central station and arrived at the airport at 6.50 am with over two hours before departure, plenty of time for a long breakfast in the lounge.

The international departure hall was rather crowded, there were many flights leaving around 8-9 am.

Pics
Early morning at Sydney central station
Waiting for the train to the airport
The international departure hall
The departure board, busy morning at Sydney airport

Check-in at Sydney airport

The Asiana check-in area was located at the far end of the departure hall. A man was standing at the entrance and briefly went through the usual security and liquid regulations before letting me pass.

Two business class desks were open with no one in line for any of them.
The middle-aged female check-in agent operating the right one was most friendly and pleasant and greeted me with a cheery good morning. Apparently she had been at the airport since 5 am in the morning (I was not envious).

I placed my bag on the belt and gave her my booking confirmation. My next question to her was going to be the possibility of interlining my luggage since Seoul was not my final destination but the connecting flight was on another ticket.
However she must have been an excellent mind-reader, before I even got the chance to say anything she rather surprisingly asked me “so Mr jacob_m, do you perhaps want your luggage tagged to somewhere else?”.
That question was certainly not expected, but I fetched the second booking confirmation from my bag and mentioned I indeed had a connecting flight and a layover in Seoul. After some typing a baggage tag was printed and she specifically showed it to me to let me see all flights and dates were correct. Not a thing to comment about!
Really great! I had enough time for immigration and reclaim and recheck of luggage in Seoul, but this certainly made things easier. ^
My luggage was also tagged with an Asiana business class priority tag.

Asiana does not provide the opportunity to pre-book seats onboard, not even in business class, a second good reason for showing up quite early at the airport.
I always prefer window seats to be able to take photos (especially when travelling to other parts of the world) and because it is easier to sleep in a window seat. She gave me seat 02A for the flight which I was happy about.
Finally she also gave me an invitation to use the express lane at passport control and security as well as a departure card where she had nicely completed my name, date and flight number.

Overall a very nice and positive check-in experience.
As I left the check-in area I suddenly remembered I forgot to give her my SAS frequent flyer which I knew was not in the reservation. This was easily sorted out and they printed a new boarding pass for me where both the FF-number and the standard SK*G were clearly visible.

Pics
The Asiana check-in area
Signs for business class check-in
Very friendly staff at the Asiana business class check-in

A very appreciated fast track lane at security

There was a huge line for the passport control which stretch through half the departure hall, or so it felt.
I did not see any signs for the express lane so I asked one of the officers in charge of the line and she escorted me through the small corridor to a rather well-hidden express lane counter, which I would never have found on my own.
About two people were in line at the express counter in contrast to the 100+ in the regular line, very nice!
The whole immigration and security process was over in less than five minutes, much appreciated!

I had a look around the transit hall before heading for the lounge. I think the transit hall in Sydney is quite pleasant with a decent number of interesting shops.
I ended up being a small wine rack with a very nice typical Australian design.

Pics
My Asiana boarding pass and the express lane card
The rather nice transit hall with a good selection of shops
The transit hall, following the sign for airline lounges

Air New Zealand lounge, Sydney

Asiana uses the Air New Zealand lounge in Sydney, one of my favourite lounges in the world.
The lounge is located one floor above the main shopping area.
A friendly female lounge dragon greeted me at the reception welcomed me to the lounge. For Asiana passengers they had passenger manifest at the reception desk so she made a tick next to my name.

The Air NZ is really pleasant, it has a very nice and relaxed but still elegant design with comfortable seating and a great apron and runway view.
The selection of foods and drinks is also very good. This morning a decent selection of breakfast dishes were on offer including hot breakfast (sausages, scrambled eggs), yoghurt and bowls with fresh fruit.
But best of all, my favourite part of the breakfast buffet, there was a pancake machine!
I have actually never seen or used one before, I did not even know they existed.
You take a plate and place it to the right of the pancake machine, then you press a button, and after about three minutes it delivers two freshly made pancakes on the plate, and they tasted pretty good too!!

Drinks are pretty good in the lounge as well, however as it was still morning I stuck to orange juice and a few cups of coffee.
Later during the day there is a good selection of beer, wine and soft drinks. The selection of spirits is OK but they could have provided some better well-known brands instead of some cheap ones they had.

I made myself a rather decent breakfast and had a seat by the window to look at the action on the apron. A Singapore Airlines A380 had just arrived and was pushed back to a remote stand, shortly afterwards the Asiana B777 arrived that would take me to Seoul later on. The turnaround time must have been not more than 90 minutes of this aircraft.

The lounge also has a pretty good business centre as well as free wifi. I turned on my laptop to check my e-mails and made an initial try with the username and password they had in the NZ lounge in Auckland (which I, for some reason, still remembered), and actually it worked.

Pics
The entrance to the Air New Zealand lounge
The nice lobby (and an SQ B744 pushing back in the background)
Inside the fantastic lounge
Plenty of seating
Some seats are located by the window with a fantastic apron view
The self-service buffet area
Excellent selection of breakfast dishes
The cool pancake machine
Drinks selection
Red wine and spirits
Beer, white wine and sparkling wine
The business centre
A Singapore Airlines Airbus A380 seen from the lounge
The Asiana B777 has just landed

Boarding

Gate 54 was used for the flight to Seoul, a small and completely inadequate gate for all the passengers waiting to board the Boeing 777 (which was not full but had a decent load).
Boarding started at 8.45 am, 25 minutes before departure, with priority boarding for people who needed assistance followed by business class passengers (not sure if they mentioned Star Gold).
As usual I was one of the first passengers to board, rather intentional as it makes it far easier to take photos of the seat and cabin.

Interestingly while waiting at the gate I also noticed the flight was code-shared with Qantas. That did not really add up since Asiana is in the Star Alliance while Qantas is part of One World. Also then it would have made more sense to let Asiana premium passengers use the Qantas lounge, which was not the case.

Pics
The Asiana Boeing 777 seen from the gate area
Waiting for boarding to start at the gate
A crowded and completely insufficient gate area

Welcome onboard

I was greeted at the door and directed to my seat, before I had hardly made it to my seat a second FA approached me and offered to take my jacket.
There was only one passenger bridge in use so all passengers boarded the aircraft through door 1L and had to pass through the business class cabin.
Pre-departure drinks were offered, standard selection of water, orange juice and champers. They served the rather tasty Charles Heidsieck onboard, nice!
The FAs were helpful and helped passengers with their hand luggage whenever needed.
Newspapers were available at the gate but a second run was made in the business class cabin before doors were closed.

Pics
An Asiana flight attendant welcoming business class passengers onboard…
…while another one is helping passengers store their hand luggage
Welcome to Asiana
A glass of champagne before departure

Sydney-Seoul/Incheon, flight OZ 602 operated by Asiana
Departure: 09:10
Arrival: 18:45
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200
Class: Business Class
Seat: 02A

Pushback was done at 9.15 am, pretty much at scheduled departure time.
Just like on Korean Air there was a little “ceremony” to welcome passengers onboard. After the doors were closed and the safety demo was about to start all FAs went to their designated positions facing the passengers, a bell then sounded and all members of the crew bowed simultaneously.
I don’t know if this is something commonly done in Korea, but no matter what it looks very elegant and feels very respectful and accommodating.
An animated safety demonstration video was shown on all screens and the purser also welcomed us all onboard, mentioning that the flight time to Seoul was expected to be 9 hours and 45 minutes.

Another interesting episode was spotted outside my window, in this case about a rather charming member of the ground crew who probably assisted with pushback of the aircraft.
After he confirmed to the captain with a hands up the aircraft was ready for taxi he stood at attention and bowed to the captain. Afterwards he started waiving to the passengers and continued doing so until the entire aircraft had passed.
How thoughtful! There is a photo of him below.

We finally took off at 9.30 am from runway 34L.

Pics
The ground staff man waiving at us
Safety demonstration video
Passing the international terminal, anyone knows what airline the aircraft to the left belongs to?
Taxiing to the runway with the Sydney skyline in the background
Lining up for departure

The menu

Two meals would be served during the flight, a brunch service just after take-off and a more extensive meal service (lunch) around 2½ hours before landing.

The business class menus were distributed, a rather nice-looking one with a nice drawing on the front.

Pics
The business class menu

On offer on the flight to Seoul were the following:

First meal service - Brunch

Hot towels were offered to all passengers and then the tables were set for the meal with white tablecloths.
The brunch service consisted of a fruit appetizer followed by a main course and dessert.
The fruit appetizer was very good and the presentation was quite nice.
As main course I chose the pan fried dory with potatoes, pretty good although perhaps not spectacular.
I had a few glasses of the nice Charles Heidsieck to accompany the meal.
Finally as dessert they served a very yummy hazlenut cake as well as coffee and tea.
Overall a nice brunch service, just perfect after having had breakfast in the lounge two hours earlier.

Pics
A lovely smiling flight attendant offering hot towels in the business class cabin
Fruit appetizer
Flight attendants offering drinks in the cabin
Main course
Dessert and coffee

The seat

The Asiana business class seat is a rather standard lie-flat seat with a 50” seat pitch and 20” seat width.
It is quite similar to the Turkish Airlines seat (reviewed earlier in this report) and other airlines like SAS and Lufthansa.
I quite like the seat though, reasonably advanced with many options to find a good position, whether you want to sleep, rest, slepp, or sit upwards during a meal service.
Since this was a daytime flight I never tried to recline it to a bed, so I can’t comment on that part.
The seat also had in-seat power which I made use of for my laptop, worked just fine except that I needed to use an adapter, but that’s quite usual.

Business class on the Boeing 777 has five rows with a 2-3-2 configuration making that 35 business class seats in total.

Some amenities were available at the seat upon boarding on a small shelf just below the TV-screen, the amenitites included slippers, eyeshades and socks.

Pics
The business class cabin on the Boeing 777
The business class seat
The seat controls

The inflight entertainment system

Here is a major disappointment, there was no AVOD onboard. I know Asiana has installed AVOD on some planes, including some Boeing 777s, but this was not one of them.
The inflight entertainment system was rather deceiving since there was a fairly attractive menu with both a video and an audio option.
When selecting “video” the system took you to a second menu with some info about the movies on offer, however when you finally selected a movie the movie did not start from the beginning, instead you had to realise it was a VCR playing.

Other than about 10 movies there were a few interesting documentaries and news reports that I watched. Fortunately I also had my own laptop with me with several movies to watch, the in-seat power supply worked very well.
I watched the newest James Bond movie during the flight, Quantum of solace.

Pics
The inflight entertainment system
Selection of movies
The business class cabin darkened

Some nice views outside the window

This was a daytime flight departing at 9 am and arriving at 7 pm meaning it was daylight outside during the entire flight.
Despite being a daytime flight most window shades were lowered in the cabin during the flight, however I kept my window shade open (or partly open) to let my body adjust and to avoid getting problems sleeping later on.
As a consequence I enjoyed the great view outside the window during the flight.

Around 2-3 hours after departure from Sydney we passed the north-eastern coast of Australia with a magnificent view from my seat.
I am pretty sure what I saw was the famous Great Barrier Reef. If anyone knows something else, please feel free to enlighten me, some of the photos I took are available below.
But the area was just beautiful, absolutely spectacular!

After leaving Australia behind we crossed Papua New Guinea, unfortunately it was rather cloudy so I did not manage to see much of this to me rather unknown island.

A large part of the flight was rather bumpy due to turbulence so the seatbelt sign was turned on and off quite a few times during the flight.

Pics
The wonderful Australian coastline
This must be the Great Barrier Reef, looks wonderful!
Second photo of the Great Barrier Reef
And some more nice islands

Mid-flight snacks

Halfway to Seoul the flight attendants passed through the cabin with a trolley offering a mid-flight snack, a choice between a fruit plate and sandwiches.
I chose the very fresh fruit plate and also asked for a glass of red wine, which was both provided and refilled several times.

During the flight several drink rounds were made of water and orange juice, I am sure the flight attendants passed at least 6-8 times between the meals.

Pics
Nice fruit plate
Flight map showing we are crossing the Pacific Ocean on course for Japan

Second meal service - Lunch

Around two and a half hour before landing the second and main meal service was performed in the cabin.
Hot towels were again distributed followed by white tablecloths on the tables.
Nice canapés were offered from a large tray followed by drinks. Having tried one of the French red wines with the mid-flight snack I decided to try the Californian wine this time.

Next the tray with the appetizer was handed out, I chose the second option with chili chicken breast and crabmeat, which was delicious.
A bowl with fresh salad was also on the tray and several rounds with many types of bread in a basket were made by the crew.

There were three choices of main course. Beef tenderloin and roasted chicken breast as the western options and Bi-Bim-Bab as the Korean option.
I usually enjoy trying the local cuisine, but since the Bi-Bim-Bab was the dish I had on the Korean Air flight between Seoul and Nadi I went for the chicken instead. OK although nothing spectacular.
Very nicely the flight attendant distributing the main course had a large selection of sauces and spices on her trolley and added the tomato sauce to the chicken at my seat, very elegant!

A nice cheese and fruit plate was then offered. Crackers were offered from a basket and passengers could also take carrot and leek sticks from two glasses.

Finally the dessert cart passed with coffee, tea and liqueurs.
The dessert was a rather tasty chocolate mousse. I also had a cup of coffee and decided to try a glass of the port wine they had on offer, which ended up being two glasses.
The meal service was rounded off with petits fours.

Pics
Canapés and a glass of red wine
Two flight attendants serving pre-meal canapés from the cart
Appetizer
Main course
Nice cheese and fruit plate
Dessert, coffee and a glass of port

The inflight service

The service onboard was attentive, friendly, elegant and professional. In one word - a delight!

During the meal services the meal order was taken once and the drink order once. After that they knew exactly what each passenger was eating and drinking, there was not even the slightest uncertainty what red wine I was drinking and I never had to keep track of that myself.
Sometimes an FA would come out of the galley with one bottle of wine, go straight to my seat to refill my glass, and then return to the galley.
Somehow they also figured out exactly when my glass would be nearly empty, so none of my glasses of water/wine/champagne were ever empty during any of the meal services during the flight, except when I declined another top-up. Amazing! ^
When passing through the cabin with the trolley I know they had a small piece of paper with notes, but it was so well concealed between bottles and utensils that I don’t think I would have noticed it if I had not looked for such a paper.
The feeling was that they knew exactly what was going on and in spite of having probably 25 business class passengers to serve the service felt surprisingly attentive and personal.

The meal services (and in fact the whole flight) were extremely well coordinated with optimal time between drink rounds and the different courses during the meal services.
During the second meal service my seat neighbour had ordered a special meal and after the appetizer plates had been collected one of the FAs came to his seat and told him his special meal was delayed and would unfortunately take another 8 minutes (no more, no less). She apologised but still hoped that would be OK (he did not seem to mind at all).

Hot towels were also provided at least 5-6 times during the flight.

The flight attendants were just lovely. Friendly and courteous making you feel very comfortable during the flight. No request was ever too much trouble.

Arrival in Seoul

We started our descent somewhere over the Korean peninsula.
During the descent the purser passed through the cabin and personally thanked each passenger for flying Asiana and to check we were happy with the flight. ^
I told her it was my first ever flight with Asiana and that I was more than happy with the flight and service and would certainly not hesitate to fly Asiana again.
The purser seemed genuinely happy hearing me saying that.
Jackets were also returned during the descent to speed up disembarkation after landing.

Because of a wind from the south (meaning landing from north) we had to fly around the entire bay which made the flight slightly longer.
At 6.30 pm we finally touched down on runway 15L at Incheon airport, a grey and rainy Incheon airport.

Just like on previous flights a health declaration form was distributed to all passengers during the flight.
At the gate a team from possibly the health department greeted us and asked us to see our completed health forms before letting us pass.
One of the questions on the form was the countries visited during the past month. With all countries I had visited during the past days I was naturally selected for a secondary screening and just like in Apia they checked my body temperature, but (fortunately) there was nothing to comment about.

Pics
Nice view during the final approach…
…although unfortunately rather grey and rainy weather
Thank you for flying Asiana, see you again
A rainy terminal at Incheon airport with several Asiana aircrafts
The Boeing 777 seen from the terminal, it will depart for LAX in a few hours

Conclusion

The flight with Asiana was simply a delight.
The service onboard was just great. Very courteous, attentive and professional with lovely smiling flight attendants who really made me feel at ease.
Both food and drinks were also very good although some main courses were perhaps a bit basic for business class. The food was tasty and filling though with generally a nice presentation. The meal services were also extremely well coordinated.
The seat was the standard lie-flat version, which I personally think is quite comfortable. Only real drawback onboard was the lack of AVOD.
This was my first flight with Asiana, but I would certainly not hesitate to step onboard an Asiana flight again, just too bad they don’t really fly any of the routes I usually fly.

mad_atta

Another nice instalment, I do like Asiana - their service is so courteous and eager to please. (I've flown the SYD-ICN-SYD route a few times, usually in Y, and one Y class memory stands out - I had slept through the meal service and awoke once we were already south of Brisbane on approach to Sydney. A sticker was stuck to the back of the seat in front of me, saying something like "Sorry you were asleep during the meal service, please ring the call button if we can serve you." Thinking I might at least get a glass of orange juice, I pressed the button. Literally 5 seconds later an FA was there, asked me what I would like. I then very optimistically asked whether perhaps there was still time to get the hot breakfast - and within another 30 seconds or so one was placed in front of me. Very, very impressive. By contrast, flying SQ business class, in a similar situation (but with more time left to run in the flight) all I was offered was a sneer and a coffee and croissant.) I do think their food and wine lets Asiana down a bit, especially in J - they take their spirits seriously, but the wine tends to be bland and the food not much better than Y class. But the service makes up for it all...

MrSydney

Fantastic report. I will be flying that same sector in December in J so that really has given me the heads up. I will be stopping overnight at ICN the onto LAX on the 747.

I know what you mean about Gate 54 at SYD..very confined.

The Air New Zealand Lounge at SYD really gets a good rap on FT doesn't it?

jacob_m

The service on Asiana was absolutely fantastic, absolutely flawless!

I had no problems with the wines I tried (although surely there are better brands out there) but I agree the food could have been slightly better, at least the main courses, although tasty the options were perhaps a bit basic.

Indeed so, but it does have everything I am looking for in a lounge. Courteous and helpful staff, nice interior, superb view, comfortable seats, good business centre/free wifi and usually an above-average selection of food.
The selection of spirits had declined a bit though, unfortunately.


Currently working on the next instalment, I might be able to get it posted already tonight.

`X'

Mate awesome trip report.

In answer to your question of what the mystery airline is.

The Aircraft is CS-TMT Airbus A330 operated by "Strategic Aviation" although its still in the old HiFly colours.

They pretty much do Charter work for the Australian Defence force and other stuff although they just bought out a small Charter company over here and are expanding more. Its a very regular vistor!!

NoY

What a delight your trip reports are, your enthusiasm is infectious! Looking forward to the next instalament ^

stargold

What a fantastic series of flights, jacob_m! I'm really enjoying reading about all the flights and your writing style is very nice too. Glad to know you enjoyed the OZ C experience - they are definitely one of the best C products overall in Star, in my opinion.

Just a small question: Is there a particular reason you put the photos as links instead of wrapping it in [IMG] tags? It's normally easier if the pictures all load at once rather than having to click on each one...

Thank you again and looking forward to the rest!

jacob_m

Thanks again for some nice comments (including some comments I have received in private messages).
It takes a massive amount of time to write everything and organise and upload photos, so it's nice to hear you enjoy it.

Well there are two options, either to have the photos in the report or to use links, and I can definitely see benefits of both.
The main reason for choosing the latter is that I have nearly 500 pics in the report so far (Photobucket says 485 pics) and I am just afraid the report would get ridiculously long if all pics were to be included as well, I feel it's really long enough as it is.
Also as I spend a fair amount of time on the text it is not really my intention for it to become a photo report people just browse through to look at the photos. I quite enjoy reading detailed well-written reports myself.
But it's all about personal taste really. I might try a different layout next time, we'll see...

jacob_m

I had a five hour layover in Seoul before my connecting flight to Istanbul was due to leave.
I was very happy the check-in agent in Sydney had been kind enough to through-checked my luggage so I would not have to bother about that in Seoul. It saved me the hassle to deal with immigration and customs and then having to reclaim and recheck my luggage, and frankly (although I never go the chance to check) I wonder if Turkish Airlines check-in would be open already 4-5 hours before departure. That could have been a boring evening!
Only thing needed was a boarding pass and to have my baggage number entered in the booking.

Transit in Seoul

I noticed the transfer security almost immediately after stepping off the plane from Sydney. After showing my booking confirmation to the officer and passing a rather thorough security screening I took an escalator up to the departure level.
There was a transfer desk nearby called "transfer desk D" which was manned by Asiana staff, very convenient since both TK and OZ are in the Star Alliance, or so I thought.
It turned out they could not help me and directed me to, what I understood as, "transfer desk A". A quick look at the terminal map and there was indeed a transfer desk A, at the other end of the rather sizeable terminal building.
The transfer desk A was completely deserted though, it seems like this desk was not in use as there were not even any timetables or airline flags on the desk.
With still no boarding pass in my hand I headed for the next transfer desk called transfer desk B which was used by Korean Air and Skyteam partners.
Of course the lady there could not help me either but at least she clearly told me to go to the A-concourse where there should be a transfer desk.
I suppose that’s what the first agent also meant, "transfer desk in concourse A" instead of "transfer desk A".
All this would not have been much of an issue if I had not had a hand luggage packed to the breaking-point in one hand and a few shopping bags in the other hand, but that's exactly what I had.

The A-concourse is a satellite building located in the middle of the apron. I believe it opened just 2-3 years ago and is used mainly by foreign carriers, i.e. carriers other than Asiana and Korean Air.
To get there you need to take an underground train and you won’t get access to the A-concourse unless you have a boarding pass for a flight departing from that concourse.
I showed the bouncer girl the booking confirmation for my Turkish Airlines flight and mentioned “transfer desk in A-concourse” and she did not seem to disagree and let me pass. Seems like I was finally on the right track...

There was indeed a transfer desk in the A-concourse, however they told me they would not start checking in Turkish Airlines passengers until 9 pm, it was now a few minutes past 7.
That itself was not a problem to me, the problem was rather getting lounge access since I wanted to have a cup of coffee (and preferably a shower) and was definitely not tempted to walk around the terminal for another two hours with all my hand luaggage waiting for the transfer desk to open.
He told me to just show the booking confirmation at the lounge and didn't think access should be a problem.

Pics
The spotless transit hall at Incheon airport
The A-concourse

Asiana lounge, A-concourse, Seoul/Incheon

The Asiana lounge was located one floor above the main departure level accessible using an escalator.
The very friendly lounge agent fortunately did not argue at all about lounge access, the booking confirmation printout was sufficient except that they had problems finding my name on the printout.

The lounge was very empty this evening, I don’t think there were more than 10 passengers inside the business class lounge (there was a first class section as well).
The lounge was on the whole quite OK with comfortable seats and several TVs (again covering the death of Michael Jackson). My only complaint about the lounge is that it was slightly dark, a part of the lounge was also blocked off for renovations so I am not sure if this was the final state of the lounge or just a temporary set-up.
Since this was the lounge in the A-concourse used mostly by Star Alliance carriers other than Asiana there is obviously a main lounge in the main terminal building, which I actually passed. Possibly that lounge would be nicer (which I can imagine it is) however I realised getting back to the main terminal building would probably be tricky since arriving and departing passengers are separated, so I decided to stay in the A-concourse lounge.

The lounge had a somewhat average selection of drinks and food. Food consisted of cold cuts like potatoes with herbs, pasta salad and vegetables.
There were also instant noodles, breads, soup as well as some Korean sweets/desserts on offer.
I believe they might have served more substantial hot food earlier but had already removed it.
The drinks selection was OK with a good selection of soft drinks, one type of red wine/white wine/pink sparkling wine and the standard selection of spirits.

Having walked through the entire terminal (twice!) searching for a transfer desk with increasingly heavy hand luggage I was happy to notice signs for showers in the lounge and asked the attendant if there was a shower room available, which there was.
The shower room was very nice and in absolute spotless condition with all kinds of amenities available from shaving kits and soaps to conditioners and toothbrushes. ^
A few minutes later I was feeling like a new person fit for a few more hours of travelling. I returned to the lounge and made myself a light evening meal as there were still a few hours to go before I would get a proper dinner on the plane.

As I mentioned the lounge on the whole was OK, but in the battle between Asiana and Korean Air (the two main Korean carriers) I think I will have to give the lounge award to Korean Air which had a far more superior lounge at Incheon airport (reviewed earlier in this report).
The food in the KE lounge was much better and the interior and atmosphere much more pleasant in my opinion.

Otherwise I think Asiana is a fabulous airline and other than the lounge being a bit dark the lounge attendants were most friendly and helpful and really went out of their way to provide a good service in the lounge.
Being a coffee addict there were obviously a few cups of coffee consumed in the lounge, which the attendant took notice of. When it was time for her to clean the coffee machine (which would take around 10-15 minutes) she specifically came to my seat and informed me about that, which was great!
Another great thing was that the girl at the reception desk had remembered my problems with getting a boarding pass. A few minutes after 9 pm she came into the lounge, approached me and kindly informed me the transfer desk for Turkish Airlines was now open so I could go downstairs to get my boarding pass.
Very nice! This is what five star service should be like! ^

Pics
The entrance to the Asiana lounge in the A-concourse
Inside the lounge
Nice seating and TVs
Overlookng the self-service area
Food and snacks
A closer look at the food offerings
Beer and soft drinks
Wine and spirits
The dining area
Another photo of the dining area
The very nice shower room

At 9.30 pm I collected my belongings in the lounge and headed for the transfer desk where the monitor now also had a Turkish Airlines logo.
The check-in process was rather quick and straight-forward but I was a bit surprised my pre-booked seat assignment had disappeared and seat 02K had been given to someone else, I got 03A instead.
Interestingly the man also printed a personal lounge invitation for me, not exactly needed, I have it at home as a souvenir now.

I had a walk around the transit hall, the selection of shops was not as good as in the main terminal building but I ended up buying some rather interesting Korean ginseng candies, which I still haven’t tasted, should be quite interesting.
I returned to the lounge where the reception girls recognised me and just let me pass. I spent the last hour in the lounge having drinks, watching TV and checking my e-mails using the free wifi in the lounge.

Boarding

The terminal was nearly deserted when I left the lounge at 11.20 pm, there were only two remaining departures this evening - Emirates to Dubai and Turkish Airlines to Istanbul.
Boarding started at 11.30 pm at gate 109 with priority boarding for business class passengers and Star Alliance gold card holders using the exit to the right of the podium.

According to my booking confirmation the flight was to be operated by an Airbus A330, but from personal experience aircraft changes do happen from time to time on TK and at the gate there was now an Airbus A340 instead.
I usually don’t take notice and keep track of the aircraft registrations of the aircrafts I fly on, but in fact I learnt during this trip that all TK Airbus A340s have names of Turkish cities, the A340 that would take us to Istanbul this evening was named Mersin, a city located on the Mediterranean coast in southern Turkey.
By a coincidence I took a photo of the A340 aircraft on the outbound leg where the name was also visible, and it turned out I was flying back on the same aircraft.

Pics
Only two flights left of the day: EK to DXB and TK to IST
The A-concourse heading for the gate
The gate, business class passengers use the right exit
The Airbus A340 at the gate. “Mersin“ is the name of the plane that will take us to Istanbul

Welcome onboard

Business class passengers used the forward passenger bridge leading to door 1L where I was greeted and directed to my seat where another FA offered to take my jacket.
The load in business class on this flight was very light and in combination with being one of the first passengers onboard I could take quite a lot of photos without disturbing the other passengers and the crew.
Only 12 seats (out of 34 seats in total) were occupied on this flight and naturally the seat next to mine remained empty.

Pre-departure drinks were offered, the standard water, OJ and bubbly. As on my previous flight all drinks were rather elegantly prepared at the bar counter in front of the business class cabin.

Health declaration forms were also handed out (I was starting to get used to these now). However the main purpose of the Turkish one was not to ask questions about the passenger's health and any possible symptoms of the flu but rather to get full contact details (permanent, temporary, and even next of kin) so they knew how to get in contact with us in case there would be incidents that could be traced back to this flight.

Turkish and international newspapers were also offered as well as the nice red L'Occitane amenity kit and white slippers.

The usual safety demonstration video was shown, the Turkish Airlines version is very long and extremely thorough, especially as everything is shown in both Turkish and English.
A man is also translating everything into sign language and really has to work hard with his hands and arms as the woman speaks very fast.
Pre-recorded announcements were also made in Korean.

The purser also wished us welcome onboard and told us the flight time to Istanbul was expected to be 11 hours and 25 minutes. She also mentioned we would fly at an altitude of 44,000 feet (which sounded very high).

Pics
The business class cabin onboard
The business class bar
A glass of bubbles before departure
Safety demonstration video, also in sign language

Seoul/Incheon-Istanbul, flight TK 91 operated by Turkish Airlines
Departure: 23:55
Arrival: 05:50
Aircraft: Airbus A340-300
Class: Business Class
Seat: 03A

The final pre-departure checks took more time than usual and a few minutes after scheduled departure the passenger bridges had not even been retracted yet.
I could see a rather impatient and nervous gate agent standing inside the passenger bridge and I realised something was not in order.
A few minutes later the captain informed us they had an error indication in the cockpit and had called for a flight mechanic. Sitting on the third row only a few meters from the cockpit I could see most of what was going on.
After a few more minutes wait and the flight mechanic finally arrived with a large folder under his arm where it said Airbus A340.
They closed the curtains to the galley and cockpit so no idea what they did in there, but after a few more minutes he came out and left the plane and it seems like the problem was fixed.

At 00.25 the doors were finally closed and we could leave Seoul as the last departure of the day.
I can imagine the ground staff were very relieved. Having to spend half the night at the airport dealing with angry passengers or having to find hotel accommodation for 200 passengers at 1 am was probably not something any of them wanted.

A rather slow taxi to the runway threshold followed and after an arriving cargo aircraft had vacated the runway we were finally airborne at 00.45 from runway 15L, almost an hour late.
During taxi and take-off we could once again enjoy the captain’s view on all monitors in the cabin which was very nice.

Pics
Pushback, with a night view of the terminal building
Take-off seen from the captain‘s view

The menu

As it was already 1 am the meal service started almost immediately and the menus were handed out, again personalised menus in a nice silver binder with my name on top of the a la carte page.
On the right side they had inserted the breakfast menu where passengers choose what they want for breakfast by ticking a box next to the item.
The FAs usually collect the form after the meal service is finished before passengers go to bed.

Pics
The menu

Here is the dinner and breakfast menu to Istanbul as well as the drink list:

The meal service

The food onboard was simply a culinary feast and the selection was most impressive!
Turkish Airlines has some of the best food I have ever tried in the air and with a slightly different presentation I would definitely compare it with some of the food I have had in international first class. It is just very good!

A female crew member passed through the cabin to take meal orders for the starter and main course and also asked if we wanted soup. She also took drink orders at the same time that were prepared at the business class bar.

Next the tables were set with white tablecloths. Hot towels were offered and another female flight attendant passed through the cabin with nice champagne cocktails and a nice selection of canapés.

As starter I chose the roast beef with vegetables which was served with three very delicious side dishes including sautéed beef and cucumber and white eggplant salad.
Breads were also offered from a basket and I tried a glass of the French Bordeaux wine with my meal.

As main course I chose the Sis kebab beef brochette with eggplant purée and rice which was absolutely superb, it was so good I could have asked for a section portion, but as it was also very filling and I was starting to feel rather full I dedided not to.

The tables were cleared and the dessert cart passed through the cabin, again we are really talking about some real culinary highlights.
The dessert buffet had everything from green tea ice cream to fresh tropical fruit, Turkish desserts, cherry almond tarte and chocolate banana tarte.
Just the ice cream was interesting enough - green tea flavour! How often do you see something like that on an airplane menu? Or in any restaurant/bar/cafe for that matter? I had never tried it before, but I can tell it was exquisite!
It is a shame I did not take a photo of the cart as it was quite something, however I did take a photo of the cart when it passed a second time offering petits desserts and coffee, tea and liqueurs.
I had a hard time to choose among the desserts and actually asked the FA to put a bit of (nearly) everything on my plate, which ended up being two plates as everything could not fit on one plate.
I skipped the coffee though and really could not manage the petits fours after everything I had already eaten. My stomach was nearly bursting after the meal service.

Pics
The TK champagne cocktail and canapés
Appetizer, very nice!
Main course, also very nice
Dessert and fresh fruit
A closer look at the delicious desserts
A flight attendant serving coffee, tea, liqueurs and petits fours from a cart

The service onboard

Despite a nice meal service with some really great food I regretfully cannot say the same thing about all parts of the service.
I don’t like complaining about service for the sake of complaining, I really don't, but the service onboard just was not up to par and a slight contrast to the service on the outbound leg and an even bigger contrast to the flawless Asiana flight a few hours earlier. But let’s stick to the facts.
First of all when taking meal orders the FA asked if I wanted to soup, the asparagus soup sounded nice so I told her yes please.
After the tray with the starter had been removed the main course arrived almost straight away, but no sign of any soup and no explanation/excuse/comment whatsoever about it.
I thought for a second if I should perhaps ask what happened to the soup but decided not to as I had already got my main course, it was late and I did not want to wait another ten minutes for them to prepare the presumably forgotten soup.
I tried to recall the moment when the meal order was taken, if there could have been a misunderstanding, but I really can’t see that actually happened.
My second complaint is the complete lack of top-ups of beverages. Everything except for the initial drink order had to be asked for and that included a second glass of wine and a second glass of water.
To me it’s quite remarkable that during a two hour meal service nobody even thought about asking me if I wanted anything more to drink, not even when the glasses were empty.
OK I can possibly understand the wine since it was very late, but the water? Even on the shortest routes I have flown with the most rushed and basic business class service onboard they tend to at least top-up water since it’s a well-known fact you need to drink a lot of water when flying.
Maybe I’m picky, but there shouldn’t have to be empty glasses during a main meal service on a longhaul business class flight, especially not with a 35% load.
Although the crew was quite friendly the service felt badly organised, rushed and somewhat amateurish from time to time. A real shame since the hard product and the food are very good!

The seat, and time for some sleep

The seat was very nice and spacious and the blue pillow and duvet were soft and comfortable. As the adjacent seat was empty there was certainly no lack of space during the flight.
The Turkish Airlines seat is not fully flat but lie-flat but I still found it very comfortable when reclined.
I had no problems whatsoever to sleep onboard and got about seven hours proper sleep and was in surprisingly good shape when I got off the plane (given the circumstances...).

I reviewed the seat quite thoroughly on the outbound flight Istanbul-Seoul, but due to the light load I could take a few more photos during this flight which have been posted below.

Pics
The Turkish Airlines business class seat
The seat control
Passengers getting some rest in the cabin

The inflight entertainment system

Again very good, full AVOD with an extensive selection of movies, documentaries and music.
I watched the movie “New in town” during the meal service, partly fun, partly stupid, but it worked quite well at 1 am after a few drinks.
The cockpit cameras are also a nice feature, although using them only really make good sense on the ground and during climb/descent.

Pics
Press any key to start the inflight entertainment system
The main menu
The selection of Blockbuster movies
ABBA Gold - Greatest Hits

Breakfast

Two hours before landing the cabin lights were turned on and the crew started preparing for the breakfast service.
Personally I think they could have waited a bit longer, 60-90 minutes before landing is quite optimal so passengers can sleep a bit longer. The breakfast service is usually rather quick anyway.

Tablecloths were again laid on the tables and hot refreshing towels and fruit juices were offered in the cabin.
There was a breakfast form to complete before going to bed and I think the concept worked very well. I am sure there are always one or two persons on every flight who prefer to wait until the morning to decide what they want for breakfast, but for me it was not at all a problem.
In contrast I think the breakfast form made the breakfast service both quicker and smoother for both the crew and the passengers, it is in fact quite cool when the FA comes to your seat in the early morning with your individual breakfast tray.

For my cold breakfast I had chosen a strawberry smoothie, plain yoghurt and black coffee.
The breakfast tray also contained a plate with fresh fruits and some cheese and cold cuts. The crew made several rounds with warm breads.

For my hot breakfast I had chosen the crepe with scrambled eggs with potatoes, green grilled pepper and cherry tomatoes, which was tasty and filling.

Tables were cleared and hot towels were again offered in the cabin.
Just like on all other overnight flights during this trip I had brought and used my grey ANA sleeper pants during the night to sleep more comfortably.
So after the breakfast service it was time to change back to my regular clothes and I also took the opportunity to freshen up a bit after a long night.

Pics
Flying over Georgia, soon time for some breakfast
The business class cabin coming to life
Cold breakfast: Yoghurt, fresh fruit, coffee and a smoothie
Hot breakfast

Arrival in Istanbul

We started our descent somewhere along the northern coast of Turkey, with the slow descent rate of the Airbus A340 it takes a fair amount of time to bring this aircraft down from 40,000 feet.
My jacket was returned and I collected my belongings for landing. When retracing my seat somehow my seatbelt got stuck in the seat mechanism, I thought that would be easy to fix but I eventually had to give up and two flight attendants were needed to get it up so I could be properly fastened for landing.
Despite a somewhat late departure from Seoul we arrived nearly on time in Istanbul just after 6 am.
We made our descent over the Asian part of Istanbul where I could spot Istanbul Sabina Gokcen airport (also used by Turkish Airlines for domestic flights) before we made our final descent over the sea for runway 36R at Atatürk airport where we landed at 6.05 am, 15 minutes behind timetable.

Door 2L was used for disembarkation, right between business class and economy class, and quite nicely two flight attendants were blocking the aisles so business class passengers could get off first.

Pics
Early morning somewhere over Turkey
Approaching Istanbul according to the flight map
The Asian part of Istanbul. You can spot Sabina Gokcen airport in the photo, the second airport of Istanbul used mainly for domestic and charter flights
Lots of vessels anchored outside Istanbul
Second before touchdown, the view from the cockpit
Nice sunrise after just having landed at Istanbul Atatürk airport

Conclusion

Turkish Airlines is on the whole a very good airline and they are struggling hard to become a premium carrier and should absolutely get credit for that, however they also need to make sure their service concept is consistent.
Although the food onboard was quite amazing and the seat, cabin interior and inflight entertainment system perfect and spotless the service left some parts to be desired.
Personally I think the FAs are perfectly capable of providing a world-class service, TK just needs to work on the coordination onboard and a try to better divide tasks and areas of responsibility between the crew members.
There is no point to have four FAs delivering meals if no one takes on the task to check if glasses are empty. It’s all about focusing on the details really!
I’m sure with a growing network and an increasing number of passengers they will eventually grasp these smaller details as well.
I will definitely fly with them again if the price is right and the timetable appropriate.

Kiwi Flyer

Huh? I have gotten seats pre-allocated on all my Asiana flights.

Much like the JL codeshare on NZ to/from Japan, it is because Qantas do not fly to Seoul.

Gatwick Alan

[QUOTE=Kiwi Flyer;12040304]Huh? I have gotten seats pre-allocated on all my Asiana flights.

You must tell your secrets, I havent managed to get my seat pre-allocated either.

Jacob_m, I always enjoy your reports and this is another brilliant read.