Korea and Back: 4.5 Days Away DL Y
Nov 19, 2014, 12:22 pm
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Dl 198 icn-sea
DL 198 ICN-SEA
We headed to the airport using the Limo Bus which was nice and easy since it picked passengers up directly from our hotel. Putting the charges on the hotel bill also meant that I earned points on them!
Check-in was quick through the Priority Lane, and we were told about the KAL Lounge in the Concourse Terminal that we could access; however, being on a Gold Medallion Challenge technically I'm not allowed access to partner Skyteam lounges so we didn't go. They also gave us a very big "priority boarding" card which was interesting. We had to do some shopping anyways so we spent the 45 minutes we had before boarding to shop around the duty-free. Good prices on liquor and cosmetics, I picked up a bottle of Glenlivet The Glenlivet Master Distiller's Reserve for half of what a bottle of Glenlivet 12 would've cost me back in Vancouver! ^
First time I've seen actual Sky Priority boarding cards
"Royal Family Parade" through ICN. Interesting for the transit passengers I guess...
This flight was pretty much the same as the outbound minus the volcano, as we took a pretty southerly routing according to the map. The crew was a bit more brusque during this leg but they were still quite nice. The food was either bibimbap again or roasted chicken, which we both chose this time. Again, the flight was not very full and that meant that people got a row to themselves to sleep or at least a couple of seats. I got squished by the girlfriend as she tried to snuggle into me while sleeping.
Meal on the plane - roasted chicken
Pre-arrival snack meal
Something interesting was the very strong winds on this last day that we were in Korea. It was basically pushing the plane around as we took off for some very interesting sensations. Tailwind speeds were quite high and we arrived a bit early. However, the landing in Seattle was in some very strong crosswinds and the plane was clearly crabbing in sideways for a landing. When we touched down the passengers clapped as it was quite the descent… things were rocking and rolling. Thank you to the skilled pilots on our flight!
We headed to the airport using the Limo Bus which was nice and easy since it picked passengers up directly from our hotel. Putting the charges on the hotel bill also meant that I earned points on them!
Check-in was quick through the Priority Lane, and we were told about the KAL Lounge in the Concourse Terminal that we could access; however, being on a Gold Medallion Challenge technically I'm not allowed access to partner Skyteam lounges so we didn't go. They also gave us a very big "priority boarding" card which was interesting. We had to do some shopping anyways so we spent the 45 minutes we had before boarding to shop around the duty-free. Good prices on liquor and cosmetics, I picked up a bottle of Glenlivet The Glenlivet Master Distiller's Reserve for half of what a bottle of Glenlivet 12 would've cost me back in Vancouver! ^First time I've seen actual Sky Priority boarding cards
"Royal Family Parade" through ICN. Interesting for the transit passengers I guess...
This flight was pretty much the same as the outbound minus the volcano, as we took a pretty southerly routing according to the map. The crew was a bit more brusque during this leg but they were still quite nice. The food was either bibimbap again or roasted chicken, which we both chose this time. Again, the flight was not very full and that meant that people got a row to themselves to sleep or at least a couple of seats. I got squished by the girlfriend as she tried to snuggle into me while sleeping.
Meal on the plane - roasted chicken
Pre-arrival snack meal
Something interesting was the very strong winds on this last day that we were in Korea. It was basically pushing the plane around as we took off for some very interesting sensations. Tailwind speeds were quite high and we arrived a bit early. However, the landing in Seattle was in some very strong crosswinds and the plane was clearly crabbing in sideways for a landing. When we touched down the passengers clapped as it was quite the descent… things were rocking and rolling. Thank you to the skilled pilots on our flight!
Nov 19, 2014, 12:24 pm
#17
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
Dl4646 sea-yvr
DL4646 SEA-YVR
This time around, we got the upgrades! However, the seats were separated. We didn't care - we were so tired that we basically slept. There was approximately a 30-minute ground delay as one of the overhead bins couldn't be closed due to a broken support or something similar, and we had to wait for maintenance to come over and fix it before we could fly.
Seats were normal F recliners though legroom wasn't great on this CRJ700. Mini water bottles as we boarded and then whatever PDB's you wanted.
The crew on this leg was terrific - very personable, kept on trying to get us to drink more alcohol while we were waiting. The passengers in front of us must've had 4-5 Bloody Marys each. Again, strong winds in Seattle but not too bad, and Vancouver was calm when we landed.
This time around, we got the upgrades! However, the seats were separated. We didn't care - we were so tired that we basically slept. There was approximately a 30-minute ground delay as one of the overhead bins couldn't be closed due to a broken support or something similar, and we had to wait for maintenance to come over and fix it before we could fly.
Seats were normal F recliners though legroom wasn't great on this CRJ700. Mini water bottles as we boarded and then whatever PDB's you wanted.
The crew on this leg was terrific - very personable, kept on trying to get us to drink more alcohol while we were waiting. The passengers in front of us must've had 4-5 Bloody Marys each. Again, strong winds in Seattle but not too bad, and Vancouver was calm when we landed.
Nov 19, 2014, 12:40 pm
#18
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952
END
CONCLUSION
And that's the end of the trip report! If you've made it this far thank you for following along!
We survived our first flights together (yes, really!), first Trans-Pacific trip together, have not tried to kill each other, did not have any mental breakdowns during the trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely!^ It was barely enough time to scratch the surface of Korea, and we will probably be back to explore more later.
Actually, we're taking a(nother) trip in just 5 days - starting on the 24th of November! This one is truly world-spanning, and will be OUR FIRST TIME IN F!!!!:-:^^^ Originally scheduled to be a RTW trip based on a EY F boo-boo fare out of CMB, it ended up being not-quite-a-RTW due to the fact that we're not crossing the Pacific at all, but crossing the Atlantic twice. It is in fact more distance than going RTW would have been...
Here's the original routing: CX F to SIN, and then UL Y + EY F back to YVR (eventually). Outbound is red, inbound is blue.
Had to move it up due to the announcement of my cousin's wedding (3 months after I booked) in Singapore happening 3 days before we were originally arriving there - CX didn't have space available, so ended up going with AC J + SQ J via NRT.
And then, I said screw it, let's go all out, so I bought some extra AS miles and found availability on EK F to SIN after many HUACA with AS agents who were very patient with me. This ended up being YVR-SEA-DFW-DXB-SIN-CMB-AUH-JFK-DFW-YVR 
The GF is calling me many names and thinking I'm crazy at this point, but she should already know that after 3 years together. 
So... expect another TR from me in December after I get back. This took a lot more effort than expected! Thank you for reading, and safe travels!
And that's the end of the trip report! If you've made it this far thank you for following along!
We survived our first flights together (yes, really!), first Trans-Pacific trip together, have not tried to kill each other, did not have any mental breakdowns during the trip and enjoyed ourselves immensely!
^ It was barely enough time to scratch the surface of Korea, and we will probably be back to explore more later.Actually, we're taking a(nother) trip in just 5 days - starting on the 24th of November! This one is truly world-spanning, and will be OUR FIRST TIME IN F!!!!:-:
^^^ Originally scheduled to be a RTW trip based on a EY F boo-boo fare out of CMB, it ended up being not-quite-a-RTW due to the fact that we're not crossing the Pacific at all, but crossing the Atlantic twice. It is in fact more distance than going RTW would have been... Here's the original routing: CX F to SIN, and then UL Y + EY F back to YVR (eventually). Outbound is red, inbound is blue.
Had to move it up due to the announcement of my cousin's wedding (3 months after I booked) in Singapore happening 3 days before we were originally arriving there - CX didn't have space available, so ended up going with AC J + SQ J via NRT.
And then, I said screw it, let's go all out, so I bought some extra AS miles and found availability on EK F to SIN after many HUACA with AS agents who were very patient with me.
This ended up being YVR-SEA-DFW-DXB-SIN-CMB-AUH-JFK-DFW-YVR The GF is calling me many names and thinking I'm crazy at this point, but she should already know that after 3 years together. So... expect another TR from me in December after I get back. This took a lot more effort than expected! Thank you for reading, and safe travels!
Last edited by roastpuff; Nov 19, 2014 at 12:58 pm Reason: added pictures, more detail
Nov 19, 2014, 4:23 pm
#20
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Posts: 4,578
Nov 20, 2014, 10:27 pm
#22
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
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Posts: 27,597
Korea and Back: 4.5 Days Away DL Y
Great report! Have a fun time in Singapore. Keep in mind that after intl F, it'll be impossible to fly Y again!
Nov 21, 2014, 12:23 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: YVR
Programs: Marriott Gold
Posts: 952