roastpuff

Introduction and Planning

This is my first ever trip report, and I'm happy to be able to contribute to the FT community at large by providing it! First, some background. This trip was an impulse purchase when the Delta Canadian TPAC mistake fares popped up - the price was too good to pass on, and since it included Canadian cities, I didn't have to do any positioning! I bought two tickets around the Remembrance Day weekend (Veterans' Day for you Americans) and figured out a time that was good for both I and my girlfriend to take off work. Total cost was $510CAD per person, which is incredibly cheap! This was a quick and dirty trip that honestly left me pretty exhausted - and didn't leave us enough time to scratch below the surface of Seoul for more interesting things. There's still so much out there for us to explore that I'm sure we'll be back... and possibly flying in a better class of service next time.

I was thinking of doing a Hyatt Diamond trial as well, which meant that I ended up looking at Hyatts, and found a good BRG at the Grand Hyatt Seoul. Due to difficulties obtaining another similar hotel status (CapitalOne was very un-cooperative in my attempts to get the IHG MasterCard!) I ended up doing the Hyatt Platinum trial via my SPG Gold status. I double-checked the booking a few weeks before departure, and I was able to find an even better BRG deal, so I cancelled and re-booked under the new rate. Total was $750 for 4 nights at the Grand Hyatt, which I thought was a decent deal. I would have loved to be able to stay at the Park Hyatt but unfortunately there was no BRG deals there and the rate available was well over twice what the Grand Hyatt BRG ended up being. That's okay - it just means that I will have to come back to stay there another time, and to come back to Korea to visit the places that we missed this time around!

I was trying to find a good FFP to credit the flights to - I would've done Alaska but they didn't want to status match my CX Gold (I don't blame them!) but I managed to get a Delta Gold Medallion challenge so I credited to Delta in the end. Hopefully this also nets me some SPG points (yay Crossover Rewards!) and the status can be used for other matches in the future.

Below is a map of the trip, which is exceedingly simple in comparison to the next two that I have lined up.



INDEX

1. Introduction and Planning
2. DL 4653 YVR-SEA
3. Delta SkyClub SEA
4. DL 199 SEA-ICN
5. Grand Hyatt Seoul
6. General Korea Sightseeing
7. DL 198 ICN-SEA
8. DL 4646 SEA-YVR
9. Conclusion

farbster

looking forward to reading. thanks for doing the TR.

roastpuff

DL4653 YVR-SEA - CRJ700 Economy Comfort

Our first flight was at an incredibly early time on 0800 hours which meant that we had to be at the airport around 0600 hours to complete the check-in, security and immigration pre-clearance procedures. Thanks to my Delta Gold Medallion challenge and the accompanying ST Elite+ status, we checked in via the Sky Priority desk, and proceeded to security. Unfortunately, my girlfriend does not have NEXUS/Global Entry just yet - though she is in the process of getting approval - so we could not use the GE machines to skip the line. Thankfully it wasn't that busy and we were through quickly, even though I had been selected for extra screening. We hadn't had breakfast yet, and so we proceeded to the Plaza Premium Transborder Lounge at YVR. We were the first ones at the lounge, and we had our pick of seats, ending up with window seats overlooking the incoming processing area for CBSA. The lounge had two hot dishes as well as the usual toast/cereal/fruit options, and we had ourselves some scrambled eggs and breakfast sausages. Nothing special to speak of - just the bog-standard institutional kind. After some coffee and relaxation time (actually, we were busy getting hyped up for our first international trip together!!!) we left just as the lounge was starting to get busier.

Delta's gates at YVR were at a semi-satellite building that certainly seems half-formed/pre-fabricated. There wasn't much to speak of except for a café/kiosk type of store, and some seats. Unfortunately since the flight was surprisingly full today, we didn't get an upgrade for the 25-minute flight over. Our aircraft was already at the gate, and boarding was called on-time. This flight was operated by a CRJ700 with 9 first class seats (which we didn't get to sit in!) but we were seated in the second row of Economy Comfort (complimentary for Gold Medallions and above on North American itineraries) which wasn't a bad place to be. The plane was quite old - it felt old, looked old, and the seats felt old and were not functioning properly. I couldn't keep the seat upright and it reclined whenever I rested my back on it. No refreshment service in Economy for this short leg, but First did get a drink and a snack from the snack basket. It was a very short flight as it went up to 19,000 feet, cruised for 10 minutes, and started descending again almost immediately. In SEA, we had a little wait as our gate was still occupied by another plane which eventually pulled out.

I didn't take any photos for this part, unfortunately. But I don't think you guys are really looking for photos of a tired CRJ and pre-fab terminal buildings anyways.

roastpuff

Delta SkyClub SEA

Now, I didn't realize this, but DL GM's get SkyClub access on international itineraries and can guest someone in. When I got to the SkyClub I was ready to bring out the Amex Platinum to get in, and to pay the $27 fee to bring my girlfriend in, but the kind gentleman manning the front desk corrected me and told me that I got access by being a GM. We proceeded in to find that the lounge was already nearly full at 9AM! It was definitely hopping there. We finally managed to snag some seats and found some nibbles in the form of cookies and muffins. I got myself some coffee, and took a quick peek around to find that the SEA SkyClub is quite small indeed! There wasn't much to speak of in terms of refreshments, and the seating was packed together quite tightly. The other lounge that I've been in while transiting SEA was the AS Boardroom and that was a significantly more spacious lounge with two levels and hot food options (including an automatic pancake machine!). Hopefully if Delta decides to expand SEA into a major hub once the fight with AS ends they will expand the SkyClub.

No photos here either as I was way too shy to take a picture of the club as it was mostly full.

roastpuff

DL199 - SEA-ICN A330-200 Preferred Seats
After some FT browsing for me (and general browsing for her) we proceeded to the gate, where our A330-200 was waiting for us. There was a Sky Priority boarding call right after BusinessElite had boarded and we went on-board to our assigned seats 15H/J. These seats were not Economy Comfort (I didn't want to shell out for them even if they were discounted 50%) but they were part of the 'preferred' section that Medallions got for free. The pitch was pretty good as we were not very tall (5' 8" for me and 5' 1" for the girlfriend) and the width was pretty good as it tends to be wider on Airbus products than Boeing planes by a smidgen. They had 9" touch screen IFE, USB port to charge your portable devices and a universal power port down below between the seats. We had 2 seats together by the fuselage as the A330 was laid out in 2-4-2 configuration, and the flight had a relatively light load - perhaps 60% in Economy. There were many seats free, and people did have rows to themselves where they could stretch out and sleep lying down.


A sister plane to the one that we would be boarding


Legroom shot

Economy in Delta gets a mini amenity kit that they call the sleep kit, which consists of a plastic eye mask, earplugs and headphones to use with the IFE. Not great, but the fact that they even gave these out was impressive to me. Menus (actual printed menus in an USA carrier!) were handed out shortly after as were Korean immigration forms. The door was closed in short order and then we were taking off quite quickly after an interesting taxi where I spotted the Horizon Q400's painted in various collegiate colours as well as two Disney 737's from AS. One was the Genie Make-a-Wish plane, and the other was the Magic Kingdom one I believe. Hot towelettes were handed out prior to the meal service, which was performed shortly after take-off - roughly 15 minutes after the seatbelt sign went off. The menu was either a Korean bibimbap or beef stroganoff with pasta, and we both went with the Korean dish as I was curious how good Delta's ethnic food would be on a flight to Korea. The verdict was that it wasn't bad! Portion was of a decent size, the food was quite tasty (although the gojuchang pepper paste helped!) and we were happy to have a taste of Korea on the start of our trip.


Sleep kit


Menu for the flight


IFE Screen


Bibimbap dinner

The lighting was lowered after the meal service, and most people used the IFE or went to sleep. We both watched a few movies, as it was a chance for me to catch up on some new releases that I had missed. Delta's Delta Studio IFE is quite good, with a varied selection of new and old movies/TV shows, and the touchscreen was good with a HD resolution and responsive controls. The only hiccup was that my GF's screen refused to turn on towards the end of the flight, but we weren't watching the IFE then so we didn't really care. The seat padding wasn't really conducive to sleeping as I found it quite hard compared to others, but the blanket was appreciated by my girlfriend. The FA's did water runs quite regularly which was appreciated, and they left a full-sized bottle of water with each passenger after the meal run which was very nice and useful during the night. The crew for this flight was friendly but not overly warm. Service levels were good in general. Something that was not mentioned until later was the fact that we had to take a detour around the Kamchatka peninsula as a volcano eruption (smoke plume?) had caused ATC to re-route our flight as a precaution. So we arrived roughly 40 minutes late which was no big deal.

The mid-flight snack served was an ice cream sandwich, which was nice though not very filling. There was a snack box served at the end of the flight with a hot sandwich and a yogurt. Landing was uneventful, and soon we were at ICN! I was very excited looking out of the window as there were rows upon rows of Korean Airlines and Asiana aircraft - a far cry from the usual sights that I see at YVR. Some more carriers that I don't see often were there as well - Qatar, Emirates' A380 (that's next - REALLY REALLY soon!) as well as Etihad A330 (also REALLY REALLY soon). We connected with a jet bridge promptly and the deplaning process started quickly.


Pre-arrival meal


Soon my pretties... soon!


Certainly different than YVR/SEA's line-up of aircraft

We got through immigration with minimal questions, and collected our baggage. Now this is where it gets annoying… I had pre-ordered an EG SIM card to use in my phone while we were there, but I had no idea where the pick-up location was (which was the K-books store). After some wandering around, we found an information booth which directed us to the correct location. Afterwards, we were trying to find the GS25 convenience store for a T-money card which is very useful in Korea, though that took us a little while as well. After that, we finally got tickets for the KAL Airport Limo Bus to our hotel though we missed the previous bus by minutes and had to wait a good 30 minutes for the next one. By the time we got on that bus we were so tired we basically conked out and napped on the way to the hotel.

roastpuff

Grand Hyatt Seoul


Sign at the front of the hotel


Stock image of the hotel exterior - it certainly is grand!

When we arrived at the Grand Hyatt we immediately had bellmen helping us to the check-in desk. They were very swift and efficient, and didn't even leave us any time to try and tip them - though that's not the usual practice in Korean culture. In fact, during our stay in Korea the only time we tipped was with our food tour guide for exceptional service. The check-in desk was very formal and polite with their English, which was to be the case throughout the hotel when we encountered English-speaking staff. As Hyatt Platinum, I got a very minor upgrade from a Grand Queen to a Grand King which has a little more room compared to the original room booked. The hotel décor in the lobby was quite "grand" as was the outside façade, and the lighting was quite dim in order to set the mood. The style was that of a 90's Asian 'grand' hotel, but you can tell underneath that the hotel's bones were quite ready for a refresh. Our room showed some wear and tear, and the alarm clock was a cheap one that you would find at the dollar store! The climate control couldn't really keep up with the sun streaming in as well - I would've not liked to be there during the summer, and I found out that our room was at the cooler side of the hotel!

The bathroom was quite small, with a combination shower/tub. The amenities was Cornelia Signature which were unremarkable. It was nice of them to provide amenities such as combs, razor, toothbrush and other items without having to request it from housekeeping. The bed was quite comfortable - or maybe we were perhaps simply too tired to notice. The view was that of the city, which was quite nice, but mountain view rooms have an impressive view of Seoul Tower (though they do get warmer from what I am told).


Dimly lit hallway


Grand King Room - still small, but enough space for a couple


Bathroom sink and toiletries


Bathtub/shower and toilet

Breakfast buffet was at the Terrace Restaurant and quite nice, with a good selection of cold and hot foods, as well as Western or Eastern styles. The juices were quite fresh and very good, and the presentation was compelling as they were basically resting in a block of ice that had holes carved out for the jugs. Omelette station as per usual and then a hot meats station where they heated up hams and sausages and German meatloaf. There are other restaurants at the hotel which are supposedly quite good but I did not get a chance to try them out.


Enclosed patio at the Terrace Restaurant

There are two shuttles at the hotel with two destinations that I knew of - perhaps it does other places as well? The shuttles were very useful to get to starting points and particular areas as the hotel itself is situated on Namsan Mountain which is a ways away from the nearest subway. There's one stop in Itaewon and one stop in Myeongdong, both of which are very busy tourist areas.

montezume

Great so far - makes me regret not jumping on those fares

krazykanuck

I take it by the fact you're posting this, that the two of you are still together and survived your first TPAC flight in economy?!

roastpuff

Yes, we're still together and survived our first flight together! In fact we're about to embark on a massively more ambitious trip: YVR-DFW-DXB-SIN-CMB-AUH-DFW-YVR on a combination of AS F, EK F, UL Y, EY F and AA F. I thought doing an economy trip meant that she would appreciate EK F a bit more!

Thanks for the kind comments so far guys. I'll have more up tomorrow.

apodo77

That's how I try to sell economy to the Mrs. Well done. ^

We just did DFW-DXB-BKK-DXB-DFW in EK F and y'all are in for a treat. Hope you enjoy the flight and service as much as we did.

roastpuff

Sightseeing in Seoul
Just to give a quick highlight of the sites that we visited, we went to the following places:

Seoul Tower (aka Namsan Tower) as well as Namsan Park by hiking up the mountain to where the tower was. It's not as especially dangerous or strenuous hike as it is all paved. Very beautiful area, especially in the fall as the colors of the trees create very pretty contrasting foliage. If you prefer less physical exertion, the cable car or the complimentary shuttle buses can bring you up quite easily. There is an observation deck there as well as restaurants that you can have lunch at while enjoying the view. Also, there is a loo with a view for the men where the urinals look out over Seoul while you do your business.


Namsan/Seoul Tower as we approach it


Namsan Tower love locks - these are ours!


Loo with a view

Ongo Food Tour - we decided to do a food tour as neither of us spoke Korean, and it's really hard to figure out which of the restaurants were good ones. The biggest surprise of the trip was bumping into… not ONE… but TWO… other Flyertalkers that were on the same food tour! And they had also flown here via the Delta deal as well. I mean what are the chances?! Here's a shout out to goldendragon88 & JohnDoe123 who were both awesome guys and so much fun to hang out with. I have a group shot I will post at the end of the TR... We had our own Mini-Seoul DO The tour itself was great, with lots of little hole in the wall places that we would have never had any chance of finding. The food was delicious and the drinking games were amusing.


Yukhoe - basically Korean steak tartare


Authentic Korean BBQ - using charcoal


Seafood tteokbokki - also had "royal" style but I have to dig up the photos


Dog Soup Cafe - we didn't go in!

Myeongdong - can you say shopping? This place is a shoppers' paradise. Anything you can think of you can probably get it here. We ended up getting some snail slime face masks to bring home to give to people, as well as going to the tourist information centre to take pictures dressed up in Korean clothing. At night there are lots of food stalls here so it's fun to explore too! The large department stores are in this area if you love name brands and love to shop.


Food stalls in Myeongdong

Itaewon - this is the 'international' district. Not to my tastes… too many tourist trap shops and American/European brands running around. Fun to visit though!

Dongdaemum/Gwangjang - great markets to visit and so incredibly busy. Gwangjang has a great many numbers of food stalls that try to get you to sit down and have a meal right there and then. Awesome place to visit, get curious, have a random dinner by pointing at food and finger signs, and then going to another stall to repeat the experience. Also very fascinating to walk around and see what the grocery stalls sell.


Gwangjang market - so incredibly busy! Lots of food too


Mung bean pancakes - Bindaetteok


Sundae (blood sausage), innards and kimbap (mini rice rolls)


Various meats for sale

Cheongyecheon - the stream that runs through the city. We went at night due to a lantern festival happening. Very pretty, but also incredibly busy. I heard it's quite nice during the daytime as well and less of a moving river of humans.


Some of the lanterns

DMZ - unfortunately when we went they closed the JSA due to possible military action. However, we did get to visit the 3rd tunnel, Dorasan observation post and a couple of nearby places. Very good tour that's informative and gives you greater understanding of what the Korean people have gone through.


View from Dorasan Observatory


Third Tunnel Placard

Dog Cafe - these are becoming more popular for Korea, where the cafes host dogs that roam around freely for you to play with. You buy a cover drink, and you can buy treats for the dogs to get them to come to you. If you are a cat person, there are cat cafes available as well.


One dog just literally sat on the table


This one was more cuddly!


Many breeds and sizes

There are other places that we visited (the many palaces, the National Museum) that I did not include to keep this post brief.

roastpuff

Thanks! Good to know I'm following the approved FT formula for convincing SMWBO/SO's/GF's/etc.

I'm looking forward to it - it's happening in less than a week! I'm so excited!^^^

HangukStyle

Nice TR, thanks for posting

apodo77

Only disappointing aspect of the trip is the lounge in DFW. It is nothing special and doesn't even have liquor for cocktails.

If you have access to AA in Terminal D (we did) it is a far superior lounge.

Have fun.

roastpuff

I've got access to the Centurion Lounge which I hear is also very good in Terminal D.