OZ J vs F
 

Hi all -
Mrs CO FF and I are heading to Japan in January. The OZ award inventory is terrific, and the ANA award inventory is lousy, so it looks like we're on OZ.

The redemption difference is 30,000 miles/ticket each way to go F rather than J. How would people describe the biggest differences between the two cabins (A380 LAX-ICN and return) and experiences? Is the F lounge at ICN available for us on connection to Japan, even though our ICN-FUK segment is a 2-class J?

We are both pesca-vegetarians (we eat fish + vegetarian), if that matters...as in, we'll probably end up ordering special meals, but does F have caviar?

Thx.

All in all, I really enjoyed my F experience with Asiana over the J experience.

Here are some differences in no particular order, but I say if you have the miles, do it!

• In LAX - access to *A first class lounge - quiet and a la carte dining
• In ICN - personal escort from check-in counter to lounge (note that the lounge is not a huge upgrade from J - big difference is there is no crowd)
• In ICN - personal escort from F lounge to boarding gate
• fully enclosed suites
• better amenity kits (Ferragamo)
• Pyjamas
• more personalised in-flight service (had about 4-5 staff for 3 passengers!)
• F has caviar
• F has upgraded champagne (I believe Baron de Rothschild) and wine

Note that I do not know if you get F lounge access on your outbound flight.

Does the program you're redeeming through have mixed class awards or 1 way award pricing? If so, I'd do LAX-ICN-FUK in J and then the return in F (J in connection from Japan) to maximize the experience and reduce mileage cost.
LAX-ICN departs late night so mostly you'll be sleeping and on the return you leave ICN mid afternoon getting to experience the comfort of F class and the service taking your time with meals.

Yes, but it's nothing special.

OZ F is not amazing, but the suite is large and private and the service is quite nice. IMO It's worth an extra 30k for the extra space if you have the points to burn.

IF food service returns to normal before your flight.

I have used both with OZ and strongly believe that F is worth the additional miles. The first class suite on the 380 offers great privacy and a much better sleeping arrangement. The F lounge in LAX is small but very nice. The F lounge at ICN is nothing special in any way except for the personal representative who will guide you to your flight, including taking you directly to your F seat.

OZ has basically given up on first class.
I personally wouldn't bother with F on OZ.

They may not be innovative with F but I still think it's a solid product that's worth the premium on day flights. No, you don't get a shower, bar, or a Porsche ride to the plane. But the seat, service and catering are still a cut above J.

If OZ has basically given up on first class, then why are they currently spending money to build a new F lounge in ICN? They did decide to drop F on certain routes a while back, but at least to JFK and LAX it's still going strong from what I've seen, and I haven't heard any rumors that it'll change.

JFK and LAX get seasonally subbed with aircraft that don't have first class, and their F cabins are full of people using miles and people who score free upgrades: there is no reason for OZ to invest further in their first class product when no one buys revenue first class tickets.
The main reason OZ is building a new F lounge is to serve their frequent flyers with high-level status better, and not because they care about first class.
To me it is very clear OZ has given up on first class and their plan is just to operate their current first class product with minimal cost.

This may be true, but the extra real estate in F can still be well worth it. I found KE F totally underwhelming, too, but the space and privacy were totally worth the extra miles compared to a J award.

Then why did they change the rules starting the first of 2019, so that new Lifetime D+ members can no longer can access the F lounge based on status? And back some time ago, even regular D+, not even lifetime members could, but now cannot. They're reducing the ability of their frequent flyers to use the F lounge, not increasing it. The only reason I see to reduce it would be because they care about the paying F passengers, who likely complained about excessive numbers of people in the F lounge due to status and not flying F.

I know of a few people in Korea who have paid to fly OZ in F. Not that it's of any statistical significance, but there are some people who do pay for it. And I've seen Korean celebrities flying in F, which I presume have paid for it. I'd be shocked if high-paid executives for major corporations also don't fly paid F, at least some of them and some of the time.

In my mind, it's an issue of prestige. If KE offers F, and OZ doesn't, then OZ isn't as prestigious as KE, and OZ won't let that happen. So they do very much care about their F, even if there's not many routes they offer it on.

For regional F, completely agree. Have not experienced long haul F.

The unimpressive F lounge at ICN does not bode well, though.

According to press reports, both the F & J lounges are moving to new locations on 01-Oct-2018, so maybe the new F lounge will be something nicer?

Will try to share some photos of the new F lounge when I'm there next week.