Originally Posted by
Handcake
I got upgraded from Economy to Business this past October on the way from BKK to ICN. It was a crappy seat, in the middle of 3. It was an overnight flight, so as soon as we were in the air I put down the seat and slept. I didn't eat anything on the flight, so no idea if it was economy or business food that they were going to give me. I was upgraded at the gate, not when checking in.
The more I fly Korean Air, I feel they aren't moving fast enough to provide decent "extras" compared to other airlines.
The only reason I keep flying is I like the priority check-in, baggage and boarding from being morning calm.
However, I will be moving towards business class trans pacs in the future as I just can't stomach economy's uncomfortable seats and smaller spaces the older I get. With business, it doesn't really matter what you fly as long as the product is good. IMO Korean business sucks compared to many other airlines. Korean wants their premium to be first class, but that price range is really not in my range, and not worth it for me. Even looking at their best first class seats, so many other airlines do it better.
I'm not sure if I'll make it to 500k miles, as once I fly business class, I'll be looking at the best price/value.
I've been Morning Calm in the past, but basically decided to ditch KE. I never once got an op-up, and didn't really expect to, being Morning Calm members are a dime-a-dozen, and I was probably always way down on the list. I was flying KE and OZ about equally in the past, but have tried to stick exclusively with OZ these days and much prefer the difference in how OZ treats their valued members. I used the KE lounge one time, even though if I recall I had the choice to use it four times. The food selection I found to be extremely lousy, the lounge crowded, and I was more comfortable just going out and sitting near the gate. Then there's check-in, where it seemed like several times I waited longer in the Morning Calm line than passengers without any status.
But I think the last straw was when I burned some of my KE miles for an F ticket LAX-ICN. I'd already flown OZ F and several other airlines in F, so knew what to expect. It was the most disappointing F experience of all airlines I've tried. The lounge at LAX was a joke for being an F lounge. I realize at some airports airlines don't have much of an option if they're just outsourcing the lounge, but this was an actual KE lounge from what I understand. Second, I was extremely disappointed with the meal. All the servings were in tiny amounts and far inferior to OZ F, except for the caviar which I'd say was equal. Just prior to my flight, one of my Korean colleagues who flies KE a lot told me that I shouldn't waste my miles on F, and that KE C for long haul flights was just about as good. After flying in F, I'd have to agree with that assessment. Burning my miles for trips in F is one thing at the top of my list of FFP benefits, and if they have lousy or inferior F service, it's close to being a deal-breaker. Service and attitudes of the FA's in F was fine, no qualms there, it was mainly the food I was disappointed in. Though in economy, I much prefer OZ FA's service and attitudes.
So anyways, I was originally thinking of striving for 500K status miles each with KE and OZ, that way increasing my chances at upgrades no matter which of the two airlines I was flying. But I'll forget about status with KE in the future and only fly with them when there's no OZ or *A option. It's a shame because KE has flights to way more destinations from Korea than OZ does, but for my most common destinations both KE and OZ does, so it's not as bad as it could be.
Sorry if the rant is a bit off-topic for this thread. I've been meaning to post about my last experience on KE in F for a couple months, and this seemed like a good opportunity.