transit in ICN
 

Hi everyone,

My teen son and i will be travelling to Saigon from Seattle by Asiana. We will have 10hrs+ transit in ICN (Seoul). Does anyone know if the ICN airport provides free internet access and where to find them? My travel agent suggested us to buy admissions to its HUB lounge. I'd like to pass it If there is a free lounge with internet access and svae that $$ for extra food. Please help. Thanks in advance:)

You might check with Asiana directly and see if you will be provided transit accommodations....

I flew through there from SEA to MNL and on the return, arrived in ICN at 5 am and didn't depart until 6:00 pm. Was provided a free transit accommodations at the Hotel June.

There is free wi-fi access in the airport... (so they say)
but I could never get it to work.. It's part way out both of the departure halls, there a internet lounge area with wireless and wired available.

Here's a link to the tourism board.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_5_1.jsp

It should be -- the last time I transited via ICN, I shared the transit hotel shuttle with a guy flying pretty much exactly the same route as the OP. Even lunch at the hotel was included.

Thanks dmills1956 and jpatoka, my travel agent said this year Asiana's black out dates for day-use hotel run through the end of August so they will not offer one this year. I will check with Asiana directly to see if it's correct and if they still provide a day tour since 10 hours seems unbearable for a teenager. I have checked the link to the tourism board. it's very helpful. Thanks dmills1956:)

I overheard one of the other fliers that day also mentioning that they had a choice of a day hotel room or a day tour of Seoul.... and they had taken the tour, which they said was very good.

Their flight had arrived around 9 am, whereas my flight had arrived at 4 am.
I don't think the tour started until 10 am or so...

I just returned from Vietnam on Asiana, and used all the facilities at ICN. You want to head on up to the 4th floor to find the free computers, TV lounge and the HUB lounge. Problem with the computers in the free area is that they're frequently set for Korean keyboard script, and you have to get help - we had no problem after we found airport personnel - I used them to upload photos to my blog. I also used the HUB lounge ($35. for unlimited use, food and liquor). The food was fair - a fair selection of both cold and hot items, ice cream, limited selection of booze w/ice, still wines and plenty of soft drinks/mixers. They also have an entire row of HP computers to use, 2 large screen TV areas + plenty of seating, and a good view of the main airport down below. Look for signs to the Transit Hotel or Asiana First Class lounge - also on the 4th http://www.wellss.com/hublounge/

I went in Feb/March and I did get the day-use June Hotel for the second year in a row (this time I just got a regular room - last year I got the deluxe one w/computer and super deluxe bathroom).

Photos of the Hub Lounge at my blog:
http://sea2009.travellerspoint.com

By the way, Asiana's US website still advertises a 40% discount to the Hub Lounge with a valid boarding pass (I was denied the discount) - if you talk to Asiana, you might ask them about this.

Thanks Daawgon:) The HUB lounge looks very nice. However, I will look for an airport guy and try the computers in the free area first. If it’s unbearable then I will proceed to the HUB lounge. If I understand you correctly, you were denied the 40% discount, did they say why?

Pics found on Google.
http://www.kimchi39.com/entry/HUB-LOUNGE
Never been there personally, so I can't comment.

Hi Daawgon. Somehow, I missed this information. If the HUB lounge services include complimentary meals along with free refreshments besides internet services and free showers then $35 (excluding 40% discount) is actually a good deal. I would feel more secure and comfortable in this area than in the public one. Thx.

I just flew back about two weeks ago. There is free wifi available throughout the airport, offered by naver. You have to click agree to terms and click on next to get it to work. If you have your own laptop/pda/wireless device, there should be no problems. I was using my iphone via wifi without any issues.

I can't remember if the airport has 110 plugs, but you can always bring an adapter if you decide to go the wifi route.

Thanks. We will bring our wireless laptops so free wifi available throughout ICN would be great. i tried to connect once at Sea-Tac airport without success so I stopped trying at any airport. At ICN, how did you get to "naver" to agree to their terms? is it listed under wireless network connection window?

Maybe this is a dumb question, but i have no idea how to solve this problem. Actually i have a transit at ICN arrived at morning 7:00 by SQ, and need to waiting for another flight to China at 6:00 PM by China Southern Airline. The problem is if i want to enter the airline lounge as early as possible, suppose the counter of CSA not allow to check-in before 3 hrs, how can i do?

If I recall correctly the airside transit counters handle all airlines, and I did find an open one upstairs by the lounges open before 6am (the main ones were unstaffed at the time, but should be open by 7am). Thus, as long as luggage has been checked through to the final destination, getting a boarding pass for the connecting flight before the airline's own landside counters open should not be a problem.

The screeners at the security checkpoint will ask to see an e-ticket printout before letting incoming transit passengers into the departure area, if the connecting boarding pass has not been issued. As mentioned in another post, those screeners, especially the early morning shift, are ruder than their normally pleasant counterparts at the normal landside-airside checkpoints.

As for wifi access, most AP's at ICN are open. I imagine those that require agreeing to terms will redirect to their home page on your first browsing attempt, as is the norm.

ICN is a good airport, lots of shops, good restaurants at reasonable prices, and a good transit hotel - just in case you want to shower and take a nap.

Thanks for your information. But the problem i think is i cant check-in my luggage on SQ to final destination China due to different group of airline. Isn't ICN airside transit counters can help me to transfer my luggage to other airplane so i even no need to clear the Immigration ?