Rhymebroker

Hi Everyone,

I have a business trip coming up in early Jan. The client will pay for full-price Y to Chicago (returning from NYC). My travel agent just called me to say I could fly Asiana biz class via ICN for roughly the same price (JPY 300k).

I've never flown Asiana in my life, and from what I can see on the Asiana forum, biz class looks great if I happen to be on a flight with the new seats.

I know the NRT-ORD NH flights don't have the new Y class seats yet, but do they have any premium economy seats? If they do, and I'm flying full price, maybe I can get upgraded?

I was pretty happy with the new NH Y class seats on the JFK - NRT route, but I have no idea how they would compare with the older Asiana biz class seats.

IF there isn't a huge amount of difference, I'd much rather fly direct on NH, instead of doing the layover (three or four hours) at ICN both ways.

Q Shoe Guy

No brainer, Asiana C !

Simmo

No brainer! Asiana C all the way. Surely you know the right answer before you even wrote this post.

fumitani

Is this even a question? I won't think twice Asiana C all the way!!!! Yes you will spend extra hours transitting via ICN, but it's going to be 100% worth it

bobbybrown

I kinda like your travel agent. How about buying cheapest direct one and cash the fare difference for yourself? But if you don't like to transfer and if you can get premium economy (which is actually not available on JFK route at this moment), you can think of it. I've seen many people (incl. my mom) who rather fly direct Y than transfer C, even on TPAC. Business class travel is also tiresome, just less painful than Y.

BTW as all mentioned, Asiana C is as good as ANA, so you may want to try.

fly747first

Actually, Asiana is a 5-star airline, while All Nippon is a 4-star airline, so overall, Asiana is the better of the two.

To the OP: even in economy class, Asiana beats All Nippon by offering 34 inches of leg room versus NH's 31-32.

ORDnHKG

Why would you think there is not huge difference between premium economy and business ?

NH premium economy all you are going to get is a slightly wider seat, slightly more legroom, but everything the same as economy, e.g. meals.

OZ C class is not the new seats, but you get C service, C meal, a lot more legroom, a lot more recline.

Even if it is not OZ C class and instead UA C class, I would still take that for sure instead of NH premium economy.

Unimatrix One

Doesn't the OZ flight leave ORD at some horrible hour like 12 midnight?

The only circumstance under which I would take such a flight would be if I knew the seats were comfortable enough to sleep on. With angled flat seats, I find that the sleeping comfort is hit-or-miss. (JL's seats are good enough for sleep, but not the angled seats of LX, AY, or NH.) Reports on the OZ forum state that OZ's angled flat seats are among the least comfortable out there. For me, the prospect of boarding a flight at midnight for a 13-hour journey and being unable to sleep is simply unacceptable. I would rather take a daytime flight in premium economy.

I don't think OZ has the new 180-degree flat seats on this route yet, but hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong...

cheltzel

Th OP indicates they will be flying form NRT to ORD and returning via JFK.

The OZ ICN->ORD flight leaves late in the afternoon and arrives around 5:00 PM at ORD.

Personally I have flown on both flat and angled seats and I can sleep on both.

I find my comfort on the angled seat is based on how much you can customize how the seat adjust. I found I could adjust the OZ angled almost any way I wanted as far as angle, knee elevation, foot plate extension, etc.

Could the OP get a good fare on UA? The UA nonstop is on a 747 with the new lie-flat seats.

While the food and services on UA is not as good as OZ, it is a nonstop.

moondog

Surely, you have some idea about the differences between having your knees inches away from a fixed object and vegging in a Lazy Boy.

LAX

I wasn't sure if this was even a serious question at first glance. Like someone already mentioned, I would even take UA C (even old C) over any airline's Y. Obviously, if someone has reservation about connecting (ie: elderly, language barrier, etc.), then that's a different story.

LAX

ande777emt

Transferring through ICN is not a problem. ICN is a excellent airport and probably second best I've gone though (SIN is first). The OZ lounge also has daybeds as well and isn't too bad. OZ 235 out of ORD leaves at 1 AM, after a great meal you can get o good sleep and wake up fresh and ready to do business. I've taken Asiana to ICN 4 times in the last year, I'd highly recommend them over NH any day of the week. I think if you took them over NH Y, even though you had to transfer, you would be very satisfied with your decision.

schoflyer

I spit my coffee all over my iPad laughing at this post.
Of course the more people that are misled by this info, the more availability for me.

OZ C > NH Y = True

Simmo

Gosh i hope you are okay. I guess star rating as not everything in the airline business. I hope the OP ended up flying C!

Q Shoe Guy

Lost in translation!