mikesaidyes

So I recently flew ICN-BKK round trip for a bday getaway. As a Korean Air flyer, I haven't actually flown OZ in over 5-6 years and even then it was only to Tokyo. Some observations as an active participant in the Korean flyer community and I'm so curious of everyone's thoughts:

1) Is it just me are the A380 upper deck Y seats ROCK HARD? Like I get Korean's fondness for FIRM seats, but damn it was kind of totally unpleasant for five hours. I have never felt that uncomfortable on my ICN-ATL long hauls of 13-15 hours in all my life lol.

2) THE FOOD. Like genuinely, it was awful. I had always heard that KE had better planes and product but OZ had better food and soft service. Now Im like uhhhhhhh ... DID I JUST EAT? From ICN it was some bland cous cous with "chicken steak" and some bland tomato sauce and dry potatoes. Now, I don't expect economy food to be amazing, but gah was this just not fun to eat. I really didn't want bibimbap bc I eat it all the dang time and I live in Korea so it's not like "The event" it should be haha.

3) The movie selection is just as bad as Korean Air it's true.

Really was looking forward to more from Asiana. But I can say - THEIR CAKE IS STILL AMAZING lol. I remember it on my Tokyo flights too. You can't get cake that moist anywhere in Korea on the regular as is, how do they do it?!?!

stupidhead

Asiana's catering really went downhill ever since they changed caterers about 4 years ago.

I guess nearly going bankrupt and getting gobbled up by the competition (Korean Air) isn't great for morale either.

sol95

Can't comment on short haul Y catering. But earlier this year, got back from a trip in J on SQ, JAL, UA, and OZ long haul and KE short haul.

While they were just one off flights in J with airlines coming out of covid, out of all the J flights, OZ meals were the best. They were back to their highs of about 5 years ago, and it was no competition. And yes, even better than JAL out of NRT. I'll be on another roundtrip in J with SQ later this year, so will see how SQ catering has progressed. To be fair to SQ, the catering was out of EWR, and I believe they're notorious for being pretty bad. Also, the KE short haul meal was, imho, almost inedible.

All this to say that I think it's going to take a while for catering standards to stabilise as airlines come out of covid.

mikesaidyes

My CEO student is OZ Platinum and he said recently he flew KE J and it blew OZ out of the water in every way haha.

SanDiego1K

And here I was delighted to find Asiana award space. Is business class as bad? Hard seats? Poor food quality? Set my expectations, even if low, please.

sol95

Did you read the whole thread, or only the OP comment?

Note my reply below, which I think answers your questions

kaku_jinbutsu

I just did OZ101, NRT-ICN, in Y yesterday and I can echo some of the comments here. The catering situation was dire: just one choice of chicken �teriyaki� over rice. The thick, brown sauce that covered the meat was tasteless, but the meal mercifully came with a sachet of Korean pepper paste, so I just scraped off the brown sauce and slathered on the gochujang, making it passable. Aside from the main the meal came with a small egg custard and a waffle with a cup of water. In the past, I remember two meal choices in Y (with at least bibimbap as an option), but maybe that�s no longer the case in short haul Y. Anyway, I was glad I snacked a bit in the lounge before boarding.

The seat (I think A330?) was certainly firm but was fine for a flight of this duration (2hrs and 15 mins). Although, I�m not sure if it�d be too comfortable traveling farther afield.

On the positive, the service was gracious, attentive and we arrived bang on time.

mikesaidyes

I shouldn't have spoken too soon - the 777 to SYD was just SHOCKING lol with the phone/tv remote combo and even the credit card swipability and the TV....Very early 2000s. Food much better (Korean both directions) and the staff was actually GENUINELY friendly.

Gasolin

I usually prefer OZ but I haven't flown OZ for 2 years so who knows. Are you saying the flight to SYN was even worse in your experience mikesaidyes ?

mikesaidyes

The food (Korean) was much better to SYD and back - but the plane was LAUGHABLY bad. Flight attendants though were genuinely nice, compared to fake nice on KE that I usually experience haha

stupidhead

I'm surprised the OZ still has their 777s. I would have thought they would be exiting the fleet as the A350s come online.

Some of the old 777s are awful in the back of the bus with older seats with the smaller screens.

Gasolin

I mostly fly OZ from JFK to ICN R/T and within Korea. The JFK flight is usually pretty good, but I mostly flew J in recent times. Maybe things have gotten worst in the last 2 years.

thereisnoaddress

I flew OZ NRT-ICN yesterday in business class (old first class) and got the bibimbap. The rice was genuinely rock hard and not edible, no matter how much sesame oil I added to it. Even my UA IAH-NRT route had much much better rice. As a Korean airline with catering from Japan, I thought Asiana had absolutely no excuse

ttuna3

I seem to remember that a lot of the NRT-ICN are the matching ICN-NRT turning back. It wouldn't surprise me if they just double cater those especially since they're using wide bodies on that route.

yoonland

I remember when OZ was miles and miles ahead of KE in every aspect, including catering and seats. That has all changed, OZ planes and seats are becoming very outdated and the food speaks for itself. KE isn�t getting any better either, espically considering how bad my last flight is. Sad that OZ went from being the worlds best airline, to an very mediocre airline