Doug_1970

No, sorry for the confusion. I was just warning the op about your DMZ recommendation. Or rather pointing out that he may not find it to be a fun day out for the family

I have nothing against the DMZ tour in itself, just that if the op has never been to South Korea before, it would be a shame to spend most of it gawping at a depressing reminder of the Korea War (as interesting as that it). If he was spending 3 or 4 days in Seoul, then yes, it would be good to go as part of a general Seoul sightseeing experience. But I'm not sure that making it the only thing to see on a stopover is a good choice.

It's a bit like somebody having a 12 hour layover in Paris, having never been to France before, then spending all of it at Disneyland Paris. Although I expect that Disneyland doesn't have quite such a monopoly on grey concrete than the DMZ, and that they're more relaxed about the dress code.

I hope that the op resurrects this thread after making his trip, and tells us what he did do, and what he thought of it.

jsnearline

If we change our minds when we get to ICN and want to do the city tour instead, can we do that or will be locked into our day use hotel reservation?

jsnearline

I may just change the ticket to return MNL-ICN in the afternoon, pay my own way for a hotel downtown, and then go ICN-SFO-DEN the next day. That would give me 23 hours in Seoul. I know I'd be giving up the free day use hotel if I do that, but the idea of doing two overnight flights in a row just isn't sitting well with me. I'd rather have a little time to check out Seoul than be stuck in the day use hotel with my two year old climbing up the walls while Mommy and Daddy are trying to sleep.

Doug_1970

^ Seoul's great. (Obviously taking into account my DMZ comments)

jsnearline

It seems I can't do anything to change the return as our class of service (V) is now completely sold out on all of the alternate flight possibilities I posed to OZ reservations. So it seems my choices are:

1. Keep the reservation as is and hope my two year old doesn't have a complete meltdown on the way home (I can't imagine the ICN-SFO flight is going to be much fun).
2. Pay the change fees and a big fare increase to re-issue the tickets with a stopover or a shorter connection in ICN with a return routing through LAX. I'm told either option will cost me about $1200 additional to do.
3. Forfeit the cancellation fees and rebook on another carrier - this oddly enough seems to be cheaper to do than option 2.

I really like the OZ product and I really can't beat the fare we got, but I'm still having a major case of buyer's remorse right now. I know it's my fault that I booked the tickets before being absolutely certain I was ok with the return schedule, but when I did so, I was left with the impression that the return would be easier to change if necessary than is turning out to be the case. Part of this may stem from the fact that some of the OZ US reservations agents don't seem to have a very firm grasp of the English language and things may have gotten a bit lost in translation.

A_Lee

Even if there was availability, I don't think V tickets allow for a stopover in ICN. That was the case when I checked into them a couple years ago. Check the restrictions on your ticket and see if that's still the case. If so, forget about trying to change your existing ticket.

jsnearline

When I booked the tickets, OZ reservations told me I could do a stopover at ICN for $100 more per ticket if I changed my mind and wanted to schedule a stopover after ticketing. When I talked to them today, they told me that if there were seats available in V class I would have to pay for each ticket the $100 stopover charge plus additional taxes plus the $100 re-issue fee. So, it's twice as much as they told me originally but the catch is there is no V class seat availability now as they've all sold out in that class, so the only way I can change it is to pay the fare difference and the re-issue fees. Hence my frustration with getting different stories depending on which reservations agent I get. The OZ agent today even tried to tell me that rescheduling the MNL-ICN leg for an earlier flight would count as a stopover even though we'd be in Korea for less than 24 hours. I called them on it and after talking to a supervisor they came back and said I was correct but there are no seats in V class on the earlier flight.

I would have thought they would jump at the chance to have me switch to the earlier flight as it would mean OZ no longer would have to provide the day use hotel. Then again, I've given up long ago trying to figure out the airlines' logic.

jsnearline

After trying again to see if there was any way OZ could change my return and still no luck at all, I cancelled the booking. The OZ agent told me she really couldn't blame me. She told me she has a three year old and wouldn't want to put them through the ordeal of two nights in a row of flying and the long ICN layover either. Too bad she wasn't the one who set up my reservation in the first place as she might have talked me out of it before I set it up initially.

So, I'm now out $425+ in cancellation fees but OZ didn't seem to leave me with any other option.

Lesson Learned: Never buy an itinerary you're not completely comfortable with no matter how good the price is or how much you like the airline.

DaddyRabbit

ICN is a great airport. Just a short walk from the KE Business Lounge on the second floor is an in-airport hotel that rents for only about $10 U.S. per hour. Why not check in for showers and some relexing and sleep for your child?

jsnearline

The problem would have been that my two year old would have slept some on the plane but my wife and I would not have and we'd be trying to get some rest while he's crawling up the walls in the day use hotel.

For better or worse I opted to rebook on UA and PR DEN-YVR-MNL. The service won't even be half as good as OZ, but it's hard to argue with nonstops between YVR and MNL. I would have stuck with OZ though if they could have found some way to let me change the tickets without charging me $1200 additional in airfare and change fees.

foothill

Make sure to arrange the hotel beforehand. Last month I was told the hotel was full and since I didn't have a "reservation" for it from OZ, out of luck. Flying to the Philippines sure is a pain on *A (and you need to book via agent to avoid V fares to get 100% EQM).

jsnearline

After cancelling the ticket last month (because OZ wouldn't let me change the MNL-ICN segment to the previous day), I pleaded my case with OZ Customer Relations asking them to waive the cancellation fees because I bought the tickets with the assurance I could change the return one time for free but reservations wouldn't let me do it when I tried to. To my pleasant surprise, after a two week investigation, customer relations granted a full refund, telling me that their investigation showed the reservations agent had not provided me sufficient information regarding the fare rules (specifically the limitations on V class) before I made the booking. It seems there is an advantage to booking direct with their reservations line like I did as all calls are recorded.

I cannot remember an airline EVER taking responsibility in a situation like this. In those cases where I've had occasion to contact an airline's customer relations office, I usually get a reply saying that it was my fault but as a gesture of good will, they would offer some sort of compensation. The fact that OZ would take outright responsibility like that gives me a lot of respect for them. Unfortunately I won't be going OZ this time, but will certainly give them another look next time round.

izzik

Just as a side note.. the Asiana business lounge has some free luggage storage "lockers" (think tall, skinny wardrobes that fit a rollaboard and coat). If you are thinking of a day trip to Seoul and you have access to the OZ lounge, this is a nice perk. The storage lockers are secure (you can set a 4-digit password).

I just did a short daytrip into town as part of my 12 hr layover @ ICN.
Definitely recommend the T-money card if you plan on taking the metro/airport train.
The Family Mart convenience store on the Arrivals level sells the card.

After getting to Gimpo station, Line 9 has an express train that comes every 20 minutes.. try to catch this one instead of the local, mainly because sitting through 20+ station stop announcements is a killer. Didn't get a chance to try the airport limousine.