Is a 45-minute connection in Seoul (ICN) sufficient?
Jul 7, 2019, 11:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 2
Is a 45-minute connection in Seoul (ICN) sufficient?
I'm a US citizen flying from Xiamen, China (XMN) to Seoul (ICN) to Atlanta (ATL) on a single Delta itinerary with a 45-minute connection in ICN. Will I be able to make this connection?
Since I'm just making a transfer in Seoul, do I need to go through immigration or security? My flight is in a couple of days, but it looks like my inbound flight (KE 888) is arriving at Gate 245 today and my outbound flight (DL 26) is scheduled to depart from Gate 253. Looking at a map of ICN, those are both in Terminal 2 (and Korean Air and Delta are both listed as operating out of Terminal 2), so will I just stay in that terminal and make the connection similar to how I would make a domestic connection in the US?
If my inbound flight gets delayed or I run into any other issues, will I run into issues staying in a hotel in Seoul and taking off the next day? (I think this should be fine, since it looks like folks with a US passport don't need a visa if staying in Korea less than 90 days.)
Since I'm just making a transfer in Seoul, do I need to go through immigration or security? My flight is in a couple of days, but it looks like my inbound flight (KE 888) is arriving at Gate 245 today and my outbound flight (DL 26) is scheduled to depart from Gate 253. Looking at a map of ICN, those are both in Terminal 2 (and Korean Air and Delta are both listed as operating out of Terminal 2), so will I just stay in that terminal and make the connection similar to how I would make a domestic connection in the US?
If my inbound flight gets delayed or I run into any other issues, will I run into issues staying in a hotel in Seoul and taking off the next day? (I think this should be fine, since it looks like folks with a US passport don't need a visa if staying in Korea less than 90 days.)
Jul 7, 2019, 11:16 pm
#2
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Yeah, no problem entering Korea and in fact there's a nice Grand Hyatt very close to the airport (and IIRC also a Design Hotel associated with Starriott/Bonvoy), although many of the other airport hotels are quite far.
My *guess* is that you would need to go through airport security (but not immigration or customs) to connect from a KE flight from China to a DL flight to the USA, but I'm not sure about this aspect of the new terminal.
If you're concerned about the connection, you could check whether there are any later DL or KE flights to the USA (or maybe to Canada) on your travel day. KE operates some flights at times that are very different from DL's schedule, or your ATL flight could simply be one of DL's earlier departures. Don't assume that you would have to wait a whole day at ICN.
My *guess* is that you would need to go through airport security (but not immigration or customs) to connect from a KE flight from China to a DL flight to the USA, but I'm not sure about this aspect of the new terminal.
If you're concerned about the connection, you could check whether there are any later DL or KE flights to the USA (or maybe to Canada) on your travel day. KE operates some flights at times that are very different from DL's schedule, or your ATL flight could simply be one of DL's earlier departures. Don't assume that you would have to wait a whole day at ICN.
Jul 9, 2019, 12:26 am
#3
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programs: KE Skypass Morning Calm Member, OZ Club
Posts: 2,352
You’ll be fine. Delta and Korean Air are in the same terminal and sell MANYYYY connections like this every day. If you are slightly delayed or worried, you can show your boarding pass/itinerary and the staff will let you skip the transfer security line. That being said, T2 is not that busy these days as it’s a new terminal with just Korean Air and a few other airlines.
And yes
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