jacob_m

A short summary...

I have now flown slightly more than a third of this trip (37% of the distance to be exact).
I guess most “ordinary people” would be more than happy at this stage (and probably so would I) but as I wrote in the title this is about the craziest thing I have got myself into.
8 airlines out of 16 have been tested, but there is obviously more...

The next segment is Hong Kong-Seoul. I had initial planned to fly this segment in Air India first class. They have a really solid first class product with a proper first class suite in a light grey colour.
Air India flies Delhi-Hong Kong-Seoul three times a week and the flight from Hong Kong to Seoul departs at 8.05 am.
However the travel agent who helped me book the ticket could not manage to book flight AI 310. I called her back and asked her to try again but she said that the entire flight was zeroed out, alternatively the flight was blocked for bookings (which we both agreed made more sense).
Not much to do, she booked me on the Korean Air flight instead leaving just after noon. There were no flights on Asiana or Cathay Pacific with a first class cabin this day.

Out of curiosity I actually checked the Air India webpage, and Seoul was not even included as a destination. Eventually I found a press release saying they would start this route on 1 August.
During my transfer in Hong Kong on my way to Colombo I actually asked about it at the Air India ticket desk, but the agent there could not confirm the route had started, even though I could see it on the Hong Kong airport webpage.

Eventually I just let it go, in fact I was quite happy having a flight departing at noon rather than at 8 am.
I got a proper night’s sleep, got to spend an hour in the gym, and then had a relaxed morning at the airport. The next part is the longest on the entire trip, so the sleep was appreciated.

Also in retrorespective the flight to Seoul turned out to be yet another magnificent flight on Korean Air and I am more than happy I did not decide to skip it!

Check-in in Hong Kong

I took the free shuttle bus from the hotel and arrived at the airport just after 9 am. It was a very hot morning and I was extremely thankful for the a/c in both the bus and the terminal.



Korean Air check-in was located in check-in island G and opened exactly three hours before departure at 9.25 am.
There were five check-in desks, three for economy class, one for business/prestige class, and one for first class.
The woman at the first class desk had some initial problems with her computer so I joined the business class line and was eventually waived over to an empty economy class desk.
The check-in agent there was quite surprised to see me flying in first class and eventually had to ask the woman at the first class desk (when her computer was working properly) to print my boarding pass as she had no first class boarding passes at her desk.

She also rather unexpectedly asked me if I had arrived on Singapore Airlines the previous night. I told her yes and she then asked me if I still had the boarding pass, I got it from my bag and showed it to her.
Apparently, as she put it, they had checked me in without using the ticket. I asked her how that’s even possible and she said she really had no idea, she could not explain it either.
Well since you cannot skip a segment during a trip I guess she just wanted to be sure everything was in order.

My bag was tagged to Seoul and a yellow KE priority tag was attached accordingly. I was also asked if I was interested in their wrapping service which is free for first class passengers, but I declined.
I had initial thoughts about asking her to interline my luggage, but at the end I never did as the KE baggage tag only had space for three flights which was not enough to get it to the airport where I wanted to reclaim my luggage.

She gave me a quick description how to get to the Korean Air lounge and wished me a nice flight.

Pics
The very spacious departure hall in Hong Kong
Korean Air check-in

Lounge hopping in Hong Kong - on SkyTeam!

SkyTeam has a similar lounge policy to Star Alliance when it comes to using partner lounges, First and business class passengers have access to all SkyTeam lounges on the day of departure.

In Hong Kong there are in fact two SkyTeam lounges - the Korean Air lounge and the Air France L’Espace lounge.
Since I had nearly three hours until departure I decided to give the AF lounge a try, I knew there was a morning flight to Paris and the lounge would be open until 10.20 am.

Air France L’Espace Lounge, Hong Kong

The Air France lounge is located in the west concourse, in the same area as the UA, TG, EK and VS lounges.
Rather than walking through the massive terminal I used the underground train which is a much quicker option.

I arrived at the lounge around 9.50 am, most passengers on the 10.25 am departure to Paris CDG had already left the lounge, there were only about two passengers left.
I was greeted at the entrance and showed my KE first class boarding pass. The young woman immediately directed me to the Korean Air lounge, but I stayed firm and referred to the SkyTeam entry rules and said the boarding pass I had should give me access.
She eventually agreed but told me the lounge would close in just 25 minutes, but of course I could stay until they closed.



Once inside I realised it was a wise idea to be persistent at the entrance.
I had a vague idea reading that the food offerings in the AF lounge in HKG were pretty good, and that turned out to be very correct. I had not had any breakfast yet as I was not tempted to pay the inflated price for the hotel breakfast. However the gym visit in the morning had made me very hungry, so I was very much looking forward to get something to eat.

The breakfast buffet was very extensive including hot food (scrambled eggs, beans, mushrooms and some kind of potatoes), yoghurt, fresh fruits, cereals, sandwiches and several types of pastries.
There were also several types of freshly squeezed fruit juices and a very tasty coffee.

I made myself a very nice breakfast (trying to be quick before they removed the buffet) and had a seat at one of the tables.
The Air France lounge is a rather stylish lounge with an interior in light grey, light brown and mahogany, yellow decoration lamps and very comfortable armchairs.
The self-service buffet was very tidy and well-maintained and there was an extensive selection of reading material in the lounge, however not surprisingly most of it was in French.



I enjoyed my tasty breakfast, had another cup of coffee, and then left just as they were about to close the lounge.
It was absolutely worth the extra hike in the terminal and the argument at the reception to get inside the AF lounge.



Pics
The escalator to the lounges in the West Concourse
The entrance to the Air France lounge
Inside the lounge
Very comfortable armchairs
The self-service buffet
Hot food
Pastries and fresh fruit juices
Fresh fruits and cereals
Nice selection of beer and soft drinks
A very decent lounge breakfast
Great selection of newspapers and magazines

Korean Air Lounge, Hong Kong

I slowly walked back to the main tax-free shopping area just after immigration, this time by foot.
The Korean Air lounge is located to the right after immigration, opposite gate 15 and right next to the Singapore Airlines lounge (in fact I ended up using the SQ lounge WIFI in the KE lounge).



The Korean Air lounge was small and fairly unremarkable, nothing to write home about.
Interestingly there was both a business class section and a first class section in the small lounge. The sections were divided by a wall and there was a small metal sign indicating the smaller inner section behind the wall was only to be used by first class passengers.
Although anyone could technically enter the first class section the lounge agent actually kept an eye on it, two business class passengers had a seat inside and she politely asked them to move, which they did.

There was a small self-service buffet in the lounge with a limited selection of food and drinks.
The food selection included finger sandwiches, fresh fruits and pastries.



The business class section in the lounge had blue armchairs and glass tables and there were internet computers in a corner.

The first class side had brown leather couches and also a large TV showing one of the major news channels.
As I had a seat in the first class section the lounge attendant brought two trays inside with fresh fruits and some canapés. Nothing remarkable but slightly better than the regular buffet.



Interestingly as I was taking some photos in the lounge I was approached by the lounge attendant who told me I was not allowed to take photos inside. That had actually never happened to me before!
Ironically it happened inside one of the least impressive lounges on the entire trip, and I had already taken all the photos I wanted.

Pics
The entrance to the Korean Air lounge
The large business class section
The self-service buffet
A somewhat limited selection of finger sandwiches, pastries and fresh fruits
The first class section
Fresh fruits and canapés for first class

Next it's time to board Korean Air again where a crazy 7-courses lunch was waiting for me!

SAT Lawyer

A most excellent trip report.

If you don't mind sharing, what did the air travel portion of the trip cost you in terms of money and/or miles?

jacob_m

I don't mind giving some more details, however I think I will wait until the end when the entire trip and itinerary has been covered.

The ticket I was using for these segments was an IATA fare in first class from Seoul to Colombo.
IATA tickets are tickets not connected to a specific airline, so you can use all airlines that are members of IATA and fly any routing (there is just a maximum permitted mileage).

IATA tickets are usually extremely expensive, to the point that you won't buy one unless you are forced to. However this ticket was amazingly cheap, especially considering it was unrestricted, in first class, and covered a distance equivalent to a longer transatlantic flight.

Thor3

You did mention that your suitcase grew in weight during this trip. Dare you say how much weight you gained with all the good looking F class food that you were "forced" to consume?

vieri_c

the sri lankan lounge looks like a legacy from their emirates-managed day; similar colour scheme and decor, and layout of the buffet!

Pingtung

absolutely stunning trip so far, keep up these amazing trip reports ^

mjcewl1284

Great update! ^

glennaa11

I am enjoying your report very much. I would love to do this sort of thing one day I think.

I hope you manage to get on QR at some point in this trip.. Their C class on the 777 is pretty amazing.

jacob_m

Thanks a lot for all the nice comments! I'm glad you're enjoying it...

Actually my boss started staring at me when he was back Monday morning this week. Eventually he said "look at you, you have lost quite a bit of weight during the summer, haven't you?".

I guess even though the meals were extensive there was quite a lot of exercising between the meals. Running around airports, carrying a heavy suitcase and a heavy hand luggage, and of course some gym visits and some walking at the destinations.

I'm happy he didn't say the opposite though...

jacob_m

Time for another flight on Korean Air in first class.
After my previous superb experience with KE F-class I was actually looking forward to this flight, which turned out to be another very nice experience and a meal service that was nothing but a culinary feast.

The flight was initially supposed to be operated by a Boeing 777-300, however about two weeks before departure it was changed to a Boeing 747-400.


Korean Air FAs at Seoul ICN with their distinctive uniforms and hair pins

Boarding

After a slightly underwhelming experience in the Korean Air lounge I was at least happy about the location of the lounge, right opposite gate 15 used for the flight to Seoul.

Boarding started around 30 minutes before departure. First and business class passengers used the exit to the left of the podium and boarded the flight using the forward passenger bridge.
No wait whatsoever, in contrast to economy class.



I received a very warm welcome at door 1L and the young female FA showed me to my seat and also opened the overhead bin and offered to help me with my hand luggage.
I got the things I needed from my hand luggage and then settled in my seat 02A, which was to be my home during the next 3˝ hours.
A few moments later she was back again, addressed me by name (which they all did throughout the entire flight) and asked me if I wanted something to drink before departure.
I asked for a glass of water and was also offered a hot towel and a small package of macadamia nuts.

As in many first class cabins on B747 aircrafts there was a small buffet table where they had a decent selection of Korean, Chinese and international newspapers on display. However the FA was quickly back at my seat and offered to bring any newspaper of my choice to the seat.

The first class cabin had three rows with a 2-2 configuration, that equals to 12 seats in total.
The first class seat on the aircraft was the so-called “Sleeper Seat”. To put it simple it is not the oldest first class seat in the Korean Air fleet, but not the newest either.

I finished my glass of water while boarding continued two rows behind me, however the first class cabin remained dead quiet.
Eventually the “boarding completed” announcement was made, I had a look around and I was the only passenger in first class!

This was the third flight on this trip where I ended up being the only passenger in first class. I certainly don’t mind having some fellow passengers onboard, but as for the inflight service it naturally becomes extremely attentive and personalised when you are the only passenger.
I was a bit surprised as there were three more passengers using the first class section in the lounge, but maybe top-tier members are entitled to use it as well?!

Pics
The Korean Air Boeing 747-400 at the gate
Boarding has just started at gate 15, first and business class passengers use the left side
The first class cabin onboard and a selection of newspapers before departure
A glass of water and macadamia nuts

Hong Kong-Seoul/Incheon, flight KE 604 operated by Korean Air
Departure: 12:25
Arrival: 17:00
Aircraft: Boeing 747-400
Class: First Class
Seat: 02A

As the first announcement was to be made the female FA entered the first class cabin, went to the front and deeply bowed in front of the cabin, i.e. in front of me, as they made the welcome announcement.
Maybe all this bowing is a bit excessive, but as a passenger you feel both respected and appreciated. It is a small gesture that has so much meaning, and I find it very nice. ^

She passed my seat again and helped me with my personal screen as they would be showing the safety demonstration video, one of the drawbacks of having no overhead monitors.
The stupid part is that the monitor has to be stowed again straight after the safety video in preparation for departure.

We eventually pushed back slightly early at 12.20 pm and took off 10 minutes later from runway 25L.

Up in the air the purser on the flight passed my seat to introduce himself and welcome me onboard, a very nice man!
A few moments later the FA was back at my seat and presented me with the menu for today’s flight.
She asked me if I wanted something to drink in the meantime and I asked for another glass of water.

The young FA was absolutely charming and spoke quite good English. She asked me if I was only going to Seoul or if I was continuing somewhere else and I told her I was in fact continuing to Australia in the evening (although to avoid stares I didn’t go into detail about the upcoming itinerary... ).

Pics
Taxiing to the runway passing Cathay Pacific and Kingfisher aircrafts
Flying southwest of Taiwan

The menu

The first class menu was a rather sizeable nice-looking blue booklet.
The extensive selection of drinks was presented in a separate wine list.

Here is the menu for the flight to Seoul:

Pics
The menu and drink list

Why have a three courses lunch when you can have seven courses? Aka the meal service onboard

Well if a “light meal” in first class contains three courses (as on the outbound ICN-HKG flight) then a “lunch” certainly can’t contain anything less than 6-7 courses.

The menu was nothing but a culinary highlight and for whatever reason I decided to have all of it. I guess the main reason was that the menu had nothing I really wanted to skip, I was considering the soup for a while, but eventually ordered it anyway.

To save room for all this food I asked to wait an hour, just like I did on the previous flight, and that was certainly not a problem.
In the meantime my glass of water was kept refilled and I enjoyed some TV-episodes using the inflight entertainment system. I was also offered more macadamia nuts.

At 2 pm Hong Kong time the FA was back at my seat and asked me if I was ready to eat.
I was given a hot towel and then my table was prepared for the meal service.

They had two types of champagne onboard: Laurent-Perrier Grand Sičcle and Laurent-Perrier Cuvée Rosé Brut.
The Grand Sičcle is a very nice champagne (and certainly not the cheapest one around) however to try something completely different I decided to give the rosé champagne a try, which sounded very nice according to the description in the wine list.
It was nice indeed, lots of taste, and worked pretty well with many of the dishes I had ordered.

The first course was a delicious leek and beef brochette served with spicy ginger sauce.



Next the appetizer: angel prawns on citrus fruit salad.
I think this is a lovely food presentation, I was very impressed when it arrived and it even got the honour of being used for the title page of this report.
It was washed down with more rosé champagne.



The soup was an orange and beetroot soup



Next the salad: grilled chicken salad with Caesar dressing.
In normal circumstances this salad would have been enough as a lunch for me.
It was very nice but also incredibly filling. Gosh I was now starting to get really full and I had not even seen the main course yet.



There were three choices of main course and I could easily have chosen any of them.
Eventually the choice fell on the Korean Air signature dish “Bibimbap”. You get several bowls with rice, minced beef, vegetables and different garnishes and then you mix it together and add sesame oil and Korean pepper paste.
It is very tasty, the pepper paste will add most of the taste, so you can decide yourself how hot you prefer the dish.
The Bibimbap was served with tofu soup.



There was no way I could finish the entire Bibimbap and the contents in all those bowls. The FA even offered me more rice (and of course even more champagne, I have absolutely no idea how many glasses I had...).
Anyway, I had to tell them I had finished my main course and they cleared the table. I made a visit to the lavatory and took the opportunity to stretch my legs a bit and leave my stomach in peace for a few moments.

They were really feeding me well onboard and I think they had a really fun time seeing my reaction when every dish arrived...

Back at my seat I was offered fresh fruits or ice cream, or maybe both. Well for a reason I still don’t understand it ended up being both.

The fruit plate was a nice selection of fresh fruits including melon, strawberry and pineapple. Actually quite refreshing after the very filling meal.



Eventually the dessert arrived, the vanilla ice cream with raspberries and mango sherbet. It was delicious!



My table was cleared and I was offered coffee or tea and asked for a cup of black coffee.
Just as she delivered my coffee we started our descent, I had been eating for nearly two hours and we were already over Korean airspace.

I was nearly bursting afterwards, but other than that it was a wonderful meal!
I don’t think I have ever eaten a 7-courses lunch before in my life, so this meal was memorable just for that very reason.
The entire meal was very tasty and I thought the presentation was beautiful. Top marks! ^

Pics
Hot savoury
Appetizer
Soup
Salad
Main course
Fresh fruits
Dessert

The seat



A few words about the seat.
As mentioned earlier the first class seat on the flight was the “Sleeper Seat” which is neither the newest nor the oldest first class seat on Korean Air.
There are basically three generations of seats in use: the old first class seat (which I used on the previous KE flight), the slightly more modern Sleeper Seat (this flight), and the newest Kosmo Suite which is a proper suite.

In terms of cabin layout and seat design I would say the Sleeper Seat is quite comparable to the Lufthansa first class seat.
The Sleeper Seat was actually very comfortable in an upright position and during a night flight it can be reclined to a fully horizontal bed (which I obviously never got to try).
The seat pitch was very generous at 83” so legroom was not an issue.
On the Boeing 747 there were 12 seats in first class, three rows in a 2-2 configuration.

Pics
The first class “Sleeper seat”
Seat controls
Seat pocket
The first class cabin
Magazines available at the rear of the first class cabin

The inflight entertainment system



The inflight entertainment system was a very positive surprise, full AVOD onboard in contrast to the previous KE flight.
In first class the IFE was enjoyed on a 10.4” private LCD screen, another positive surprise was that the monitor was touch screen.
I used the screen to browse the menus, get information about the flight and pause and play movies and audio tracks. It worked very well! I hardly even used the regular remote control...

The selection of audio and video was not bad at all, perhaps not comparable to EK and SQ, but very decent with many options. There were also a few games and a nice flight map.
I watched an episode of Friends followed by the Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2009 from Oslo. The sound quality was reasonably good and I enjoyed the concert without any problems.

Pics
Inflight entertainment system
Watching an episode of Friends

Arrival in Seoul



Just as my cup of coffee had been delivered we started out descent to Seoul. The flight time was just above three hours but the flight passed in absolutely no time.

Before landing I was given yet another hot towel to freshen up a bit. I also asked the FA about a landing card for Korea since I had not been given one.
It turned out she had deliberately not given me one since I had told her I had a connecting flight, however she obviously didn’t know it was on a separate ticket and that I had luggage to reclaim and recheck.
Interestingly no health declaration card was necessary in contrast to my arrival in Seoul a few days earlier on Thai Airways. Are they only handed out on “foreign airlines”?

We finally landed 25 minutes early at 4.35 pm Korean time on runway 34. The weather in Seoul was nice and sunny but also very hot (33 degrees Celsius).

Safely parked at the gate I collected my belongings and made my way towards door 1L. The purser was there, smiling (like the entire crew onboard) and asked me if I had enjoyed my time onboard.
I gave my full compliments to the crew and told him the flight had been fantastic in every possible aspect, he seemed delighted hearing that.

They were very careful making sure I was the first passenger off the plane and even blocked the aisle to business class. The smiling and very charming crew all bowed a last time as I got off the plane.

A great advantage of getting off first is that you are also the very person to reach immigration where there was almost no line.
The female immigration officer seemed a bit suspicious of me and my “transfer to another flight” reason for entering Korea, once again in less than a week.
However after asking for the flight details of my connecting flight she stamped my passport and waived me through. No problems whatsoever!

Baggage delivery started quickly, my priority tagged suitcase was the fifth to arrive on the belt.
There seem to be two types of priority tags: blue ones used for business class and yellow ones for first class. However there were more bags with the yellow tags than mine, so I guess they are used for some top-tier members as well.

Pics
Approaching Seoul according to the flight map
One of the islands outside Seoul
Great scenery
Just landed at Incheon airport
The infield terminal with lots of nice widebodies

Verdict

All-in-all another delightful flight on Korean Air! However the seat and IFE were much better on this flight than the previous flight due to a newer seat and proper AVOD.

The meal service was nothing but a culinary feast! This is one of the tastiest and most extensive meals I have ever had and the Laurent-Perrier rosé champagne was also very nice and complemented the meal very well.

The service onboard was wonderful. Extremely attentive with a delightful crew serving in first class, it was all joy! The meal service was also very well organised, it was neither too slow, nor too rushed, just perfect!

Well done again Korean Air! ^ ^

Scandinavian

Very nice trip report with wonderful photos. Nice also that a lot remains.

A strange thing is the poor supply of beers on the various airlines.

Singapore Airlines First Class had Tiger and Budweiser. Incredible poor according to me. I would love to drink a good Barley Wine, IPA or Imperial Stout on board an aircraft. Perhaps in the future?

camsean

Really? I always think Colunmbo fells like a small country town. But I live in Jakarta I guess.

Was your trip a MR or was there a point?

jacob_m

That is actually very true! However I believe most passengers in first and business class simply don't choose to drink beer onboard (I have rarely seen it) so the airlines probably don't care much about what brands they have.

You mention SQ F for example. If you decide to fly SQ F (whether paid or award) you probably choose champagne or a decent wine to drink with the meal rather than a beer which you can get in a pub at home for almost no money.

However that could actually be a new business concept, "the best selection of beer in the sky".

I think the population in Colombo is about 1 million.
I thought the traffic was pretty bad, but surely there are worse cities in Asia.

Partly a mileage run, I did earn a decent amount of points both in Star Alliance and SkyTeam and also made use of some promos.
But the main reason was to have some fun and try some nice airlines, there are so many nice ones in the region. Travelling by plane within Europe is not very exciting nowadays.

jacob_m

Not much of a stop in Seoul this time either, just 3˝ hours between flights.
As I was continuing on a separate ticket I had to reclaim and recheck the luggage at Incheon. I could probably have asked KE in Hong Kong to interline my luggage, but as most baggage tags only have space for three flights it would not have worked anyway.

Time now to test Asiana in business class on a 10 hours flight between Seoul and Sydney.

Check-in



The Asiana premium check-in area was located in the western part of the massive terminal building at check-in island L. It was divided into a first class section, a business class section and an Asiana Diamond/Star Gold section.

I was checked in by an incredibly friendly and helpful check-in agent at one of the business class desks. She really went out of the way to provide excellent service.
She asked me if I had a visa for Australia, I told her I did not have one and did not need one as I would only be in transit in Sydney.
However very impressively she offered to help me with an application for an Australian visa, which is done by filling out an electronic form. She argued that there could be delays and in case I would miss the connecting flight I would not have to deal with visa matters in Sydney.
I thanked her very much for her kindness but said it was not necessary, however she was persistent and said it was not a problem for her, she just needed a few more minutes.
Eventually I simply could not decline her very generous offer and a few minutes later she confirmed I had a valid e-visa for Australia, valid for 12 months.
What a wonderful service! How many check-in agents in the world would voluntarily offer to do something like this? ^ ^

My baggage was tagged as requested and she attached as many as three different tags in three different colours. A red Star Alliance priority tag, a blue Asiana business class priority tag, and a yellow tag indicating my bag was to be transferred to another flight.
You would have to be blind to miss that suitcase and the fact that it needed some extra attention and priority...

I received my business class boarding pass for the flight (she could not check me in for the other flights, as expected) and also an invitation for the Asiana lounge.

All-in-all a wonderful start of my Asiana experience!

Pics
Asiana premium check-in area
Asiana business class and Star Alliance Gold check-in

Incheon airport

Both security check and passport control were very quick and I was standing in the transit hall within a few minutes.
Incheon is a very efficient and well-organised airport, it has actually become one of my favourite airports in the world!



I was still very full after the very extensive Korean air first class lunch so I had a long walk in the terminal to stretch my legs and digest some food before heading for the lounge.
In the transit hall they had a nice “show” demonstrating some Korean traditional dresses, which was fun to watch.

Pics
A demonstration of Korean traditional dresses in the transit hall
Asiana widebodies and narrowbodies on the apron
The spotless transit hall

Asiana Business Lounge, Seoul/Incheon

The Asiana lounge was located in the western part of the terminal building, on a balcony above the main transit hall.
The terminal layout is actually very well thought-out. Both the Asiana check-in, lounge and departure gates are located in the western part of the terminal, whereas the Korean Air check-in, lounge and departure gates are located in the eastern part (then all other airlines have to survive with what’s left in the terminal and use the gates in the infield satellite terminal).
Despite being a massive terminal building this division makes Incheon airport rather easy and straight forward to use when travelling on Asiana and Korean Air.



I presented my boarding pass and lounge invitation and was welcomed inside.
The Asiana business lounge is vast and very conveniently there was a map of the lounge just by the entrance showing the layout and the facilities.

The lounge was pretty crowded when I arrived around 6 pm, however the situation got a bit better an hour later. I found a seat reasonably easy though.



The lounge has an interesting interior with what looks like a library (which is nicely lit in the evening), there is also piano there and I have heard there is sometimes a pianist playing in the lounge (I was actually a bit tempted to have a seat myself as I have played the piano for nearly 20 years).

There was also a clearly separated restaurant part in the lounge with a large self-service buffet as well as a third section between the restaurant and the library with plenty of individual armchairs in front of two widescreen TVs.

The selection of food and drinks was OK but perhaps not spectacular.
There was some light hot food available, some salad, bread rolls and I believe some soup as well.
Very nicely I also found a tap with nice Korean beer and right below there was a fridge with chilled beer glasses.
I got some snacks, a beer and a cup of coffee from the buffet, had a seat in front of one of the TVs and checked my e-mails using the free WIFI.

The lounge had a decent apron view and I enjoyed watching the sunset over the airport.
The lounge also had a business centre, relaxing rooms, shower rooms and even a small conference room.

After spending nearly two hours in the lounge I left around 7.50 pm, at that time the lounge was considerably emptier than when I arrived.

In conclusion it was a nice lounge, but there are better lounges in the Star Alliance network in terms of food and drinks.

Pics
The small bridge leading to the Asiana lounge
The lounge reception
Lounge directory
Inside the lounge
The library
The self-service buffet area
Soft drinks
The restaurant
Several widescreen TVs
Evening ambiance in the lounge
Decent apron view

Boarding

The flight to Sydney was to depart from gate 43, just a stone’s throw from the lounge.
The gate area was very crowded, looked like the flight to Sydney was quite full.

Boarding started a few minutes later with priority boarding for business class and Star Alliance gold passengers using the exit to the right of the podium.
Inside the passenger bridge I was a bit surprised to find a manual check of all hand luggage at two large tables. I didn’t expect that for a flight to Australia.
As usual my hand luggage made their job easy and the search was over in 20 seconds.

I boarded the aircraft using the forward passenger bridge and door 1L and was greeted at the entrance and directed to my seat.
I was the very first passenger onboard, always a major advantage if you want to take cabin photos.



I had seat 04A reserved for the flight to Sydney. It was actually really hard to pre-book a seat on the flight, none of the major booking sites allowed me to pre-book a specific seat. Eventually one of the sites accepted my seat request of a window seat and assigned me 04A.
Apparently proper advance seat reservation is available on the Asiana webpage, but you need to be a member of their frequent flyer program to enter that part of the site.

Hot towels, international newspapers and departure drinks were offered in the cabin, the latter included a choice of water or champagne. I went for a glass of bubbly this time.
Landing cards for Australia were also distributed before departure.

The business class cabin ended up being quite full.

Pics
The Boeing 777 that will take me to Sydney
Waiting at the departure gate, business class passengers will board on the right side
The business class cabin
Welcome onboard Asiana

Seoul/Incheon-Sydney, flight OZ 601 operated by Asiana
Departure: 20:30
Arrival: 07:40
Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ER
Class: Business Class
Seat: 04A

Before departure a safety demonstration video was shown and the captain also welcomed us onboard and announced an expected flight time of 9 hours and 45 minutes.

Push-back right on time at 8.35 pm, a long taxi followed and we were eventually airborne at 8.55 pm from runway 15L.
We sat course toward the south of Japan, Pacific Ocean and eventually the east coast of Australia.

Pics
The flight map a few minutes after take-off

The menu

After take-off the menu was handed out which included the dinner and breakfast menu to Sydney, the drink list but also the menu for the return flight Sydney-Seoul.

Pics
The business class menu

Here is the menu for the flight:

A few minutes later the FA was back to take drink and meal orders for the dinner service. However afterwards she collected the menus again, which again annoyed me as I wanted to keep it as a souvenir to be able to post it in the report.
Later during the meal service I asked to have a look at it again as I wanted to read the wine descriptions, no problem! I took some photos of it at the same time and eventually nobody bothered to collect it and it ended up in my bag.
I guess the main reason for collecting it was to be able to use it for the return flight as well.

I asked for another glass of champagne before the meal and went for the western dinner option with beef.

Seat switch

A minute later the purser arrived at my seat and had a nice surprise for me.

Him: Mr jacob_m?
Me: Yes that’s me.
Him: I wonder, would you be interested in moving to another seat? We have three empty seats at the very front of the cabin, you will get plenty of space. Would you like to move?
Me: Oh that sounds very nice, yes sure! Thank you very much!
Him: You’re welcome, please follow me. I’ll help you with the hand luggage.

My seat neighbour just stared at me, just like several people around. The cabin was quite full and there were several other people he could have moved. I guess my Star Gold status made the trick.
I collected my belongings and moved to seat 1D and indeed got three seats (1D, 1E and 1G).
Very nice and so much better than being stuck in 04A. Especially during the night three bulkhead seats really made a big difference, I used the middle seat to sleep and was not bothered whatsoever by any movements or noise in the cabin.
Really great initiative by the purser! ^

My drink order was also redirected to seat 1D without any action whatsoever needed from my part. These small things really show the difference between a good and a very good airline.

My glass of champagne was duly delivered, they served the Charles Heidsieck brand onboard.
A few minutes later the table was prepared for the meal service with a white table cloth and we were also offered hot towels.

Meal service

There were basically three meal options in business class.
A western dinner with a western appetizer and two choices of main course, and a Korean dinner with just one option of main course.
Since I had a Korean main course for lunch I chose the western option this time.

The appetizer was salmon with pineapple and ham. Quite good! I was also offered a nice selection of bread rolls from a basket.
It was all washed down with more Charles Heidsieck champagne.



The main course was a choice between beef tenderloin and seafood paella, I had the beef. It was nice, the dish just felt slightly unspectacular.
The meal was served from a cart and on the cart they also had a very nice selection of different sauces. After the FA had presented the options I asked for some black sauce. She carefully asked if I liked the sauce on top of the beef, or beside it, before adding it to my meal. Nice!

I decided to have some red wine with my main course. There were three red wines available and the choice fell on the Californian Artesa Elements 2005.
The friendly FA offered me to taste the wine first, it was pretty nice, very much like the description in the wine list.



More wine and water were offered. Very nicely the crew remembered (or had notes of) what drinks I had chosen.
When I was drinking champagne they offered me more of it (it could have been white wine). When I switched to red wine there was absolutely no question later what wine I was drinking, they got the right bottle and went straight to my seat to refill the glass.
Again these small details really make the difference!

The meal tray was removed and a very nice fruit plate was offered which also included some nice small canapés. Bread and crackers were offered from a basket.
They also offered port wine as well as tea and coffee.

Finally the meal was nearly over, just the dessert left which was Häagen Dazs ice cream, a choice between strawberry and vanilla. There was supposed to be an opera cake as well, but I did not see it.
I also asked for a glass of Chivas Regal to finish off the meal and get a nice sleep after the meal service.

Pics
Appetizer
Main course
Nice fruit plate
Ice cream and a glass of Chivas Regal

The seat



The business class seat onboard Asiana is a lie-flat seat which has a 168 degrees recline.
Although lie-flat the seat doesn’t actually become completely flat, it’s still more of a reclined seat. No matter what I thought it was very comfortable for sleeping.
There is a photo below that shows the seat in a reclined mode.

There were five rows of business class onboard in a 2-3-2 configuration meaning 35 seats in total.

I changed to my ANA sleeper suit and reclined the middle seat 1E for the ultimate privacy and quietness. There were even seat dividers between the seats that I used and that screened off even more light and noise from my seat.

An amenity kit was offered before departure, a small bag containing the standard stuff. Slippers were also offered.
I was a little bit disappointed there were no proper duvets in business class, as is the case on some other airlines (for example TG, to mention a flight that has been covered in this report). On Asiana there were just regular blankets in business class.
Although not a big deal it still slightly reduces the experience of sleeping properly in a lie-flat (or fully flat) seat.

I slept really well onboard, I think I got close to 7 hours of proper sleep and was feeling surprisingly energetic when I got off the plane. This was nothing but a proper night’s sleep!
A time difference of only one hour between Seoul and Sydney surely also helped a lot.

There was an inflight entertainment system onboard as well. The IFE was an older non-AVOD version with a dozen movies running every two hours.
I made very little use of the IFE as I wanted to maximise my sleep onboard, I mostly used it to check the flight progress on the flight map.

Pics
The business class seat
Seat controls
IFE control
The business class seat fully reclined
The business class cabin
Amenity kit

Breakfast



Around 2 hours and 20 minutes before landing the lights were turned on and breakfast was served in the cabin.
Hot towels were offered followed by a selection of fruit juices.

A table cloth was laid on the table and then the breakfast tray was handed out with yoghurt and a fruit plate. The crew offered a selection of croissants, muffins and Danishes, however interestingly no bread rolls.
A moment later a very nicely decorated cart passed through the cabin with coffee and tea. Everything was served from proper pots.

The hot breakfast included a western option (shrimp omelette) and a Korean option (porridge). I had the omelette which was served with potatoes, sausages and vegetables.

More coffee was offered before the table was cleared.

I don’t quite understand why they had to serve the breakfast so early, something like 90 minutes before landing would have been more than enough.
Eventually I reclined my seat again and slept for another hour.

Pics
Fresh fruits
Hot breakfast

Arrival in Sydney

We started our descent around 7.15 am Australian time. I changed back to my regular clothes and stowed my hand luggage once again in the overhead locker.

Before landing the leading stewardess passed through the cabin and thanked every business class passenger individually for flying Asiana and to check we had enjoyed the flight. A nice touch!

During the descent and landing the flight map and the flight information were shown on the cabin monitors, however there was also a third page about the Skytrax awards.
Asiana won the award “airline of the year/world’s best airline” in the 2010 Skytrax awards, and there is no question they are very proud of this award (and of course deservedly so).
The award was mentioned several times onboard in many different contexts.

We finally landed at 7.49 am on runway 16R. Passengers sitting on the left side got a nice view of downtown Sydney during the final approach.

Pics
Just about to land, as shown on the flight map

Verdict

In conclusion it was an excellent experience and Asiana is surely a very nice and reliable airline.

The check-in process in Seoul was way above any expectations I had and the service onboard was also very nice and attentive. They addressed me by name several times during the flight and the meal service was very polished and well-organised. They never failed keeping track of meal and drink orders and my glass was never ever empty, they had full control!
The fact that the purser offered me to switch seat was a very nice touch and probably a recognition of my Star Alliance gold status.

The lie-flat seat was very comfortable and I got a well-needed proper night’s sleep onboard.

My only slight complaint is regarding the food. Well the food was perfectly fine, nicely presented and of high quality, however the options were just a bit uninspiring.
I made the same reflection when I flew Asiana last year, actually on the same route but in the opposite direction.

Other than that a great airline and a very nice flight. We might even get to see more of Asiana during this trip...

Thor3

You have made the Korean flight attendant service to be excellent. Any chance to get them to work to train some of the domestic legacy carrier FAs?

I can't wait to fly international on Korean Air