corbomite

Korean airlines have always been stingy with the champagne and the fact that OZ is doing some serious cost-cutting doesn't help either

hsumh316

Only thing I can say, if it isn't a list published by Asiana themselves, I don't know how it can be a downgrade. Anyway, sorry to hear you are disappointed.

I flew HKG to BKK on Royal First and back. I was supposed to be on the A380 both ways but they swapped planes both ways to the old 747-400. Hard product on that one was horrible but soft product was excellent.

Buster CT1K

Sorry to hear about your experience. OZ has always had a problem with the F super-premium champagne. They board too little of it.

dsantos08

Yeah it was just upsetting because Asiana used to serve the following 2 champagnes in first:

- Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 2000 (~$200)
- Charles Heidsieck Blanc des Millenaire 1995 (~$250)

Then they recently downgraded to:

- Baron de Rothschild blanc de Blanc (~$120)
- Laurent Perrier Brut (~$40)

What was most upsetting, is that the flight attendant said they only stocked a fully booked first class cabin of 12 passengers with ONE bottle of the Baron de Rothschild. I know Asiana is doing some cost cutting, but stocking the first class cabin with only one bottle of the already downgraded premium champagne is ridiculous. And what's even more ridiculous is that their secondary champagne option was a $40 dollar champagne.

For comparison, we flew EVA business class into Asia and they had free flowing Veuve La Grande Dame for the entire 14 hour flight. And that flight was 50,000 points less points for each of us... And the service was warmer and more personalized IMO.

EVA also had hot Singaporean seafood noodles, ramen, and a cheeseburger as snack options during the flight. Asiana first only had ramen, soup, and cold sandwiches for snacks.

Asiana first also has beefeater gin as their only gin offering. Ok end of rant.

CalRef

Has anyone used OZ F recently and can comment on the champagne served? We have used them 3-4 times and always enjoyed all of the Pol Roger we wanted. I would hate to see that nice part of the F service eliminated.

GreatBigBertha

I was in F on OZ 222, ICN-JFK, on sunday feb 5. The champagne offerings were exactly as described by the original poster. The "good" champagne was finished rather quickly, so I guess they only load one bottle of that.

Tokyoite

Avoid OZ unless its the only award space available. EVA/ANA are much better in biz class.

meanie.me

Was flying OZ March 2016 on ICN-FRA route. They had only 1 bottle of Churchill among 4 passengers, which we finished quite fast.
The more hilarious part, they also had just 1 bottle of first class red and white wines, which we also sipped fast during 11h flight.
Further we were offered business class wine . We were trying to make it all the way to economy class served wine!

It was upsetting, but hands down, OZ has the most delicious food! Their bibimbamp is hard to beat.

Further on champagne, in Jan 2017 we took SQ SIN-CGK morning flight, and were initially offered orange juice. I asked if there is any bubbly (we didnt expect any at all), and they offered us Krug or Dom. Surely we said Krug, but FA returned saying they carry no Krug, and can offer us only Dommy. It smelled a bit of a bulls**t, but they opened 2 Doms for us on 1.45h flight.

Next flight was TG, which also offered Dom. It was 3 bottles for full cabin and further they switched to something else, cheaper, but pretended it was Dom (but stopped serving from the bottle in front of you, and were bringing you glasses).

Generally, most of *A are reducing on their bubbly offering.

I was even wondering if before the flight I could notify OZ that me and my friend are alcoholic sponges and they shall carry more bubbly, but not sure its even possible

Any ideas?

durberville

Flew OZ222 ICN - JFK on February 26 in First Class. Very poor experience:

- As noted, champagne was very meh. Two bottles of the Rothchild were stocked for a nearly full first cabin. The other bottle was Laurent Perrier, which is a poor choice for business, let alone first.
- FAs offered terrible service. Didn't once refill anything during the course of the flight, spent 2-3 hours having a loud conversion in a middle suite (3 FAs, including the purser), waking every passenger up.
- Food was very blah. They didn't cater very much of the menu, and even our pre-ordered meals were not as described.

chinatraderjmr

Can't you drink all the DOM or your favorite wines ar home or in restauraunts???? Is the kind of champagne an airline serves really a deciding factor?? I would bet anything that the kinds of liquor offered is ONLY a factor for people on award tkts. I fly EK 3-6 times a month and they serve DOM as well as Hennessy Paradis (which I believe is the most expensive bottle in the sky. It's quite interesting to see who is just as happy with XO back in the lounge and who asks them to walk a glass of Paradiis from the front of the plane to the back. I get a sense of who's flying w miles & who's paying cash. The passengers paying cash rarely if ever go thru the trouble of having the Paradis walked back to them. It's an airplane & while quality of food is understandably important on long haul flights, IMO people using miles make way to big a deal of what liquor or wines are served (unless it's total crap of course). Blue Label, DOM & Paradis are nice but totally unnecessary as a deciding factor of what airline I fly. I find that most of the people I know who normally fly F on paid tkts don't even give it a thought.

dsantos08

I understand your point but some people don't have an endless pool of points or cash to be able to fly premium cabins very often. So these first class flights are often an experience in which, as trivial as it may seem, the food and liquor selection are important. And if the point redemption amounts are the same for different first class cabins, then each airline's respective food/drink selection will be a huge deciding factor into which airline I book.

Again, it's all about personal perspective. If I was flying premium cabins multiple times a month, then I agree these things would seem trivial.

mainbill

Unless OZ states in it's policy that it will treat revenue vs award w/ different service in F, why should OP's award ticket make a difference in his complaint?
Do award ticket holders deserve less service?
Is it ok if revenue passenger make a fuss about the drink selection?

chinatraderjmr

I never said anyone using points does not deserve to be treated as well as anyone using cash. That was not my point at all. My point was "most people" who pay for tickets AND fly often don't choose an airline based on what kind of wine it serves. People flying w miles are much more likely to make a big deal over something many find trivial (such as what wine is served). It's been my experience that people who fly long haul F often (mostly business people) choose an airline based on schedule & comfort......... as I mentioned, I fly EK back & fourth between the US & DXB on average twice a month and have NEVER met a full F passenger who chose EK cuz they serve DOM & Paradis but I have met many people flying w miles who chose them for just that reason (and the shower of course).

I've been flying Etihad more & more on my JFK trips. The wines & liquors don't hold a candle to EK but you get to a point where flying F is no longer an "experience" but just a chore. Etihad has full beds in F (not seats that turn into beds) & I'll take comfort & sleep over a better wine any day. Just my opinion but NO, I never said people on points deserve anything less then people using $$

SvenB1414

Does anyone have recent menus / drink lists for LAX-ICN (westbound)? Have an upcoming flight and wanted to see if the downgrade in drinks is still the case.

Thanks,
Sven

1353513636

No answer but I would honestly be more worried that they've cut back on food offerings than hopeful that they added back the old champagne menu.