Originally Posted by
fifty_two
For an av-geek or someone doing a run , i would say go with SV , but as goldorak said , its a business trip and you should go for less worse option
You are on business trip , if the company that requires you to fly to ICN cant accept 400$ , then they shouldnt send people on business trips to south korea cause they know nothing about prices there and you shouldnt accept such trips at all
You might enjoy it cause both are legacy airlines but when it will be same trip with low cost carriers , trust me , it wont be funny anymore
Both use the skyteam lounge operated by IGA , which is quite ok for 2/3h max , they made few improvements recently but in general its nothing compared to TK of course
i like the b787 of SV and the new jeddah terminal and the SV lounge , but beware that during the night it can get cold there and service is reduced
For KE no idea , havent tried yet
yeah - the AV geek in me would have tried SV if it was a lazy vacation, (plus, ironically, I'll earn more xp status on Flying Blue) but work efficiency takes precedence in this case.
As for the travel grant, it shouldn't be a problem. It's just that they have a hard limit (~$1700), and sometimes will give you even less if they feel that your entire trip "shouldn't have to cost so much" (eye-roll). We can choose our airlines/hotels, but they are stingy in general (I am a university professor, so I need to deal with the university department which deals with budgets). It's not them sending me out; it's me getting an invitation for a professional talk and presentation. The inviting institution pays me, but travel is not covered (very common in academia! you've no idea how cheap they can be). Thus, the necessity for a travel grant from my own university.
I've been to all of the lounges at IST (since I work in Turkey). I fully agree with you about the ST lounge; it's a bit small and not really comparable to the TK one. Ironically though, the food is more delicious, but that's personal preference.
Anyways - thanks for all the insights! I think I'll go with KE this time around.