Is it possible to guest an economy passenger into Business class lounge in Seoul
 

Greetings,

I am flying on Asiana 235 from ORD to ICN in Business class. He is in economy. We have a 5 hour layover before continuing on to NRT. Is there a procedure or pass I can pay for to guest him into the business class lounge?

If you have star alliance gold status you can guest 1 person into lounge. If he is *G then he can access in his own right even though flying economy.

Neither of us have that status
 

Thank you.

Theoretically your friend can pay 30000KRW to access the business class lounge if (s)he is departing with OZ. Having said that, I have never seen anyone actually pay at the counter to obtain access to the lounge. This might be a somewhat unusual procedure for the lounge attendant.

The reason you haven't seen anyone pay at the counter for access (and that I haven't either, for that matter) is that it's just not worth it. For 30,000 KRW, you can get a decent meal for 2 people, even at airport prices, that is much better than what is offered in the OZ lounge.

For many Korean passengers, there are also a lot of other non-airline lounges to which they might have access, e.g. through their credit card. I haven't been to one of those yet, but I'm told the Hyundai Card lounge has much more food available. The same applies for passengers in general with priority pass.

We are not so interested in food there are many restaurants
 

The few lounges I've been in are usually more comfortable than the gate area. And they have outlets for charging. Iirc this lounge has showers. So even though it's poor quality in relation to other lounges, imho it might be better than the alternative in a 5 hour layover from 4 am to 9 am.

Basically to sum things up, if you have Star Alliance gold status, you can guest one person into the lounge regardless of the cabin you or your guest is flying in.
If you do not have Star Alliance gold status, you cannot guest anyone into the lounge even when you are flying in business class.

There are contract lounges at ICN which anyone can use for a fee.

Or, you can try and make friends with someone with Star Gold at the bottom of the escalator and get them to guest you in. I've done that to some people on occasion when I was previously a Star Gold. A long shot but it works sometime.

This might be the best solution
 

I'll look these up and make a decision. Is there one that would work well for a 4 am arrival into inc from Ord with 9 am departure to nrt?

Thanks

They probably won't be open at 4am, but perhaps 5am?

5 am is fine
 

By the time we get off the plane and find it it will probably be close to 5. We will probably be prospecting for edible food too.

Since you're connecting on OZ, you'll be in the Main terminal. IMHO that OZ lounge is nice. It has been expanded to encompass what was also the OZ FC lounge, which has moved. I was there in November for a three hour layover and found the food decent and was quite comfortable. It used to be rather crowded, but after expansion it was just fine. OZ website states it opens at 0500.

I don't think that's correct. From memory, the first class lounge has always been where it is. prior to the expansion of the J lounge, when the entrance for both lounges was via walkways over the lower level, i'd always take the left side walkway to enter the first class lounge.

Nap Rooms
 

It's been a while since ive been into the OZ J Lounge - but are there any nap rooms now? I have a 7 hour connect at ICN.

Or are those partitioned Massage chairs still my best bet?

Thanks.