phatcow

to everyone fearing that DL would end the HKG flight early, doesent seem to be happening. Im on the flight back tomorrow and the plane is on their way to HKG now

gonna take some pictures if i notice anything different at HKIA for these final two days.

now the real question is how do i get to HKG next month on a plane with WIFI with a reasonable connection that i can book directly on delta's website.

flyerCO

Why does it have to be on dl.com?

phatcow

jinglish

Delta-coded/ticketed will get you 100% MQMs by distance and MQDs corresponding to the fare paid minus taxes. But MU and KE booked on their own codes will still get you a minimum of 100% MQMs and MQDs also based on a percentage of distance, which could be more or less lucrative than buying from DL (if the given flights are even offered as codeshares).

Zorak

Ticketing stock no longer matters. The only thing that affects which MQM/MQD chart applies is how the flight is coded.

Also, KE earnings are much better since the JV.

Also also, depending on your MQD situation and the particulars of the flight you might prefer to book MU/KE coded flights.

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...-partners.html

phatcow

wlau

I go to Taiwan a lot for work, followed by Japan, Hong Kong/ Shenzhen, and rest of China - pretty much every week it seems. Since last year's TPE cancellation, I have been on more and more non-Delta flights. Since May of this year, it seems every other flight I've take is on Korean. My admin just booked me DL-coded KE-codeshared flight on Jin Air to replace the SEA-HKG?! It will be my first LCC experience, wish me luck!

Another thing with ICN is that Terminal 2 is not an airport - it's a freakin' luxury shopping mall. I just came through it yesterday again and I was "assaulted" by duty-free shop employees spraying fragrance at me without consent... not in the store but out in the walkway. I even had a guy came up to me try to sell me Korean-brand men skincare. Talk about aggressive selling - it's like going to the US malls during Christmas... Unlike other airports, this is a "must-pass" corridor with no escape.

MSPeconomist

wlau

I spend a lot of times at NRT as well but ICN T2 has WAY MORE luxury brand boutiques than NRT. NRT pale in comparison. I was Facetime with my GF and she interrogated me why I was at the mall when I claim to be flying. T2 feels like a Southern California Mall or Rodeo Drive, except indoor.

They should spray the Scotch... I'd be all over it...

phatcow

Did you find that you are credited the same amount of dollars and mqms as previous, and are there any other above and beyond things that KE does due to elite status?

also is it true that KE does not have wifi at all on any plane?

wlau

It's not as simple as people are saying... KE ticketed flights are credit by distance (for MQD) and depend on the fare class, it can be as low as 5%. It has nothing to do with how much you actually pay. If the flights are in demand, you can have a very expensive ticket but low fare-class but get MQD credit much lower than the fare of your ticket, whereas the same flight DL-coded DL-ticketed is worth a lot more in MQD (in net fare minus taxes and fees). However, if the flight is very cheap but it happens to be in a higher fare class, you can come out ahead... MDM miles, you do get 100%, the big BUT is that you must buy the fare class listed on DL site. KE offer a lot of fare buckets, and many do not qualify for DL earning. I've learned this the hard way, i took an intra-Asia flight on KE, very expensive $800 USD for one-way economy, I got zero MQD and MDM because it was a fare class that is not on DL's earning list.

I've been on their B737 B747-8 B777 B787 A330 A380 fleet this year, and never seen inflight internet in any of my flights.

One thing to also know that coming from DL, you will feel hungry with KE. KE serve very very little food (in economy or business), so you should eat up in the lounge or bring snacks. They usually offer 3 meal options which include bibimbap as 1 of the 3. While bibimbap looks like a lot of food, it's just rice and chopped veggie and a teaspoon worth of diced meat, it also does not come with any sweet desert beyond the one tiny stick of pineapple. You will go hungry after just 2-3 hours... They also don't have liquors like DL> The western dishes offer a little bit more, mostly due to the sweet dessert - the main entree is small compare to DL's. No pre-meal snack/drink and beverage comes in a tiny cup. DL = big cup and FA fill it to the rim so they don't have to come back again KE = tiny cup and FA fill it to about 6/10, so that juice carton can last the entire service. The "full size" bottled water is basically the small bottle DL hands out in domestic first class. IFE is subpar, very little new content. The best attribute is the slightly better service than DL and wider seat pitch. I fly DL metal a lot, so many of the crew on the TPAC flight would say hi and offer extra services, I dont get this kind of service from KE beyond the hello from the parser for my STE+ status but most people find KE service better (I dont know why, perhaps people like being told NO with a smile versus just a straightforward no). Every economy seat on KE long-haul fleet is DL's Comfort+ with at least 34".

I emphasize on hunger because I am a light eater and even for me, I go hungry. There is nothing packaged you can take from the ICN lounges, so you gotta eat up in the lounge. I am sure others feel the same way, by the way how quickly people clean up the trays of food at the lounge when the kitchen staff brings them out. To give you some color on this, my coworker said "...the inflight meal tray feels substantial when it is handed to you, but then you realize most of the weight comes from the metal utensils..."

Zorak

... sure, one still has to look at the charts and compare whether it's more advantageous to book DL or partner coded. But it's still simpler to decide which chart supplies to what flight now than it was before.

discoseal

Don't think this was posted yet, but I guess it didn't really take CX that long to jump on this:

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_...h/seattle.html

BenA

wlau

I actually woudld consider CX because it's a true Asia gateway - hourly flights to Taipei, Tokyo, and frequent flights to Shanghai, Beijing and Seoul... I agree CX would do better because of the HKG hub. UA is going to win over a lot of business passengers in 2019. Half of my company is complaining about DL and talking about going over to UA. Flying A350 over B787 sure puts icing on the cake also for CX.