gabbysz

Can anyone provide me with a good source for a vacation packager in Korea. I would like to book a combined hotel air bewteen Seoul and Cheju (and would like a good deal). Also thoughts on Hyatt vs Lotte vs Crowne Plaza vs Ramada Plaza?

Thanks!

moondog

if you're flying from the us on oz or ke, you can add cheju for a small (<$100) surcharge. what do you want to do in cheju?

gabbysz

Tour the island and see the sights. We are told the island is beautiful. Since we are travelling Continental/NWA an add on is not possible. Do you have any suggestions for sights?

mosburger

There should be loads of Korean travel agencies in NYC offering Jeju package tours. It's the number one holiday destination in Korea by far and you have something like 20 daily scheduled flights there from Seoul alone. I think a good start would be to contact the KNTO office in NYC (Ok, NJ ) at:

Korean National Tourism Office

Address
Two Executive Drive, Suite 750, Fort Lee, New Jersey 07024, U.S.A.

• Tel
(201) 585-0909

• Fax
(201) 585-9041

• Toll Free
1-800-TOUR-KOR(EA)

• E-mail
[email protected]

Jeju has many things on offer: Sandy beaches in the south where the aforementioned resort hotels are located, the Mt. Halla National Park in the centre, caves to explore, folklore villages, the world class Nine Bridges golf course, really fresh seafood all over the Island...

One thing I have enjoyed in Korea is to book a taxi for a sightseeing tour for a set fee. The concierge at your hotel can surely arrange this and you just arrange meeting point and time with the driver at each location. Jeju has decent public transport but mainly between Jeju city and the resorts on the southern coastline.

Please do remember that there are also direct flights at least from Osaka, Tokyo, Beijing, Shanghai and Hongkong to Jeju. It's not necessary to fly to Seoul first to get there.

FTraveler

We did this in September. Stayed at the Hyatt Cheju and arranged a whole day of sightseeing by taxi with the concierge for the three of us. Set fee was $80. We saw only the things that interested us, stayed as long as we wanted, stopped where we wanted and ate where we wanted. It was money well spent.

N227UA

I can't say about other things due to lack of knowledge, however in speaking of daily flights between Seoul and Jeju, I believe there are at least 70 flights each way. I see that Asiana has 30 flights, and I assume that Korean Air has more flights than Asiana.

N227UA

As CO flies to only NRT and HKG in Asia, it looks like NW is your option.

NW flies to Seoul-Incheon(ICN) and Busan-Gimhae(PUS) in South Korea.

You can purchase a ticket to either ICN or PUS, and an additonal ongoing KE ticket to CJU.

Since KE is a ST partner of NW and CO, you can earn some extra miles too.

Have a fun.

mosburger

Mian Hamnida I didn't realize there were so many flights to Jeju, that looks like a subway schedule.

gabbysz

bump!

jpatokal

I'm considering a visit to Cheju/Jeju later this year as a part of an RTW. I hate package tours and will travel independently every minutes of way. I don't speak a word of Korean, but am reasonably fluent in Japanese, which I'm told helps -- how hard is it to get around and communicate?

mosburger

Jeju has had two major visitor groups since ages, Korean honeymooners and Korean and Japanese male bonding groups coming for Golf, hunting and more nocturnal pleasures. Now they are ( fortunately ) going upmarket and aiming at individual travellers too instead of just the package tour buyers. With Japanese and some basic Korean you should be able to enjoy the Island to a considerable extent although I think you would cherish your trip more if accompanied by a fluent Korean speaker.

Btw, the beaches at the Southern tip of Jeju are something special as you can view former Mongol rock fortresses while walking barefoot through the sand.

johnkennett

Flights with KE or OZ are the same price, Weekday flights are the cheapest, (Mon to Thu) are about US$65 each way, Fri-Sat-Sun are about $75 each way.
If you fly with KE you can fly business class for about $20 more each way. This will get you lounge access in GMP- free broadband internet computers, drinks and snacks.

There is no meal or snack service on any Korean (KE/OZ) domestic flight, in any class.

The flight from GMP takes 1h05m, and if you leave from PUS, it is about 45min, and a little cheaper.

There are international layout flights some of the day, and some domestic lay out. If you fly on the 777 or A330 with KE it will have the international F cabin (58" and 62" pitch), then J (50" and 45" pitch) and Y (33-34"). Pay for business class, and you may end up with the F seat- as for the front row at C/I. Domestic business has between 38 and 40" with 737's (500,800,900) and A300. The Y pitch varies from a tight 29" to 32". Ask for the exit row, they often are empty!

We went to Jeju 4 years ago, for 5 days, in winter. Nice snow on Mt Halla, just after the snow festival finished, but it was still set up.

I hear that the Hyatt is nice there, though we stayed at a local place, as we had booked a few days before Chinese NY, and were lucky to get anything!

jpatokal

I don't doubt it, but at the moment I don't know any Koreans, and calling my nonexistent Korean "basic" would be unwarranted high praise. But thanks for the info, I figure even sign language will suffice in a pinch for getting up Mt. Halla

powerplantop

You may want to look at this site Korea National Tourism Organization

Rothsix

Don't miss the "Anti-Japanese War Museum" I thought the name was a little rough around the edges myself, but it was interesting.

Rothsix