I'm a SkyMiles peon who flies on KE as I live in Korea. I am completely spoiled. I have no concept of business class (Except what I've seen), but I am always EXTREMELY comfortable in coach (BUT BUT BUT do NOT fly left side window seat for day flights to ICN... HOT! HOT! HOT! from the sun).

There is enough room for me to kick my legs out under the seat and I'm 5'11. The seat reclines quite far and the headrest has the tips that move in so you can angle your head. I always pull about 5-7 hours of sleep on ATL-ICN/vv.

They are always gracious and polite for ANYTHING. Even during SEVERE EXTREME turbulence, they held that cart down and squatted in the aisle with elegance.

And I second ordering the Korean option. Always way better. And, from what I'm told and experienced, upgrades are EXTREMELY rare unless you pay the miles for them or coach is WAY oversold.

They do protect their SkyPass elites. Like to the point of the first half of the plane is for them for advance seat selection.

And yes, seat selection is only done at 30 days from your first flight out (but you can select both legs' seats) online OR over the phone. Weird, but it's how they roll. You CAN sign up for SkyPass, add your res and just change it to SkyMiles once you've accomplished your business, though.

Also - insider tip. If you are booking an Intra-Asia flight (ex ICN-SGN RT), Select Korea as your home (and you best be on IE as their website is WEIRD...all Korean sites are) and your flights will be about 300 cheaper than selecting the US as your home.