JT00SWIM

Hi all,

I've been doing research on Korean air for a possible business or first class booking from hkg to ord. I have read multiple reviews that said Korean likes to keep their cabins at close to 80 farenheit and does not have individual cooling vents. I've also read that their seats are not truly lie flat as the headrest is angled up. Does anyone know if those above are true? It seems like quite an uncomfortable experience when the plane is that hot.

Expat2001

I don't know exactly what temp they keep the cabin at, but yes it is warmer than other airlines. It all depends on how you like it. I never felt HOT and I kinda like it as I am already wearing summer clothing, I do not have to change into long sleeves etc. I hate walking into those place with A/C at full blast.

Business class seats are definitely not lie flat. Little angled and you will feel like you are sliding down.

I just took Business class on KLM last week.
I was freezing. I had to change my clothes and used the blanket.
I extremely enjoyed the fully flat.
But I missed Korean Air's service.

So it's upto you!

MegatopLover

Hang on a second. Let's clarify that we're excluding from this discussion Korean Air's Prestige Plus seats installed on 747's and some 777-200's; those are the old lie-flat-at-an-angle that caused a goodly number of passengers to complain about "sliding down," though it didn't bother me much.

For the rest of the widebody fleet, Korean Air has Prestige Sleepers in Prestige (Business) Class. These seats have about 80" pitch and are advertised as fully flat. There *may* be a very very slight bend, but if it's there it's seriously less than 3 degrees and really not noticeable unless you're inspecting the seat and really looking for it very hard. The headrest it elevated from the surface of the seat, and that is noticeable by itself, but it disappears under your pillow. If--again, *if*--the seat is not perfectly horizontal and parallel to the deck, then it's very slight and the angle is no more than the angle of the aircraft relative to the ground in flight.

Basically, it's as flat as flat gets. It's not the same but also not materially different from KLM and Delta.

KE does keep cabins warmer than Delta but it's not sweltering and you probably won't notice much unless you're especially sensitive to ambient temperature.

JT00SWIM

Does anyone have an opinion on first versus business class? It's pretty cheap on miles either way (62k vs 80k), but their first class doesn't look that impressive either. I see one benefit is that the lounge in ICN is much better than the business lounge (although from reviews I've read, they're both pretty pathetic). I'm also wondering about the IFE as I've read several reviews saying that the IFE is quite limited and a lot of it is in Korean. Thoughts?

stargold

If you're on the Kosmo Suites (A380/77W), the F is miles ahead of J. Both in terms of seat and F&B.

The only case I would take J out of choice over F is when travelling with someone.

It's also one of the smallest differences between longhaul F and J that I know of, so I would definitely grab the chance. HKG-ICN-ORD is almost 20 hours travel time - you're paying less than 1k miles per hour!

bobbybrown

First class redemption is exclusive to KE skypass members, and very low loads. Should be really nice if the point difference by 20% doesn't bother you.

KE offers tons of hollywood movies, both classics and recent ones. Problem is that movie selections (among hollywood movies) toward what Koreans would love which is different from American's taste. And there are very little short programs (sitcoms or TV dramas) from the US. Even if there are, those are rather old contents.

JT00SWIM

What do you mean by F&B? And when you say you would only take J over F if traveling with somebody, are you referring to just the cost savings in miles?

stargold

F&B = Food and beverage.

The J seats are arranged in pairs. If you are not travelling with someone else, it is not so great to have a seat neighbour for the long flight when most airlines have single seats in J by the window. But if you are travelling with someone else, it's fine to sit next to them obviously.

000123UA

I'm booked in F on SEA-ICN-PVG in Sept (KE 20 SEA-ICN Sept 19 and KE895 ICN-PVG Sept 20). The SEA-ICN looks to be the 248 seat version of the 772ER, while the ICN-PVG looks to be the 261 seat version of the 772ER.

Am I right in my reading of this that the SEA-ICN will have the Kosmo Suite, same as the A380/77W, while the second flight would have the Kosmo Sleeper?

I had the choice of either the LAX-ICN 388 or the SEA-ICN on the 772ER, but elected SEA as the schedule was better and the seat appears to be the same.

Am I right that the only thing I'll be giving up by choosing the 772 is the onboard lounge the 388 has? Or are there other benefits of the 388 premium cabin experience?

I guess my other very subjective question would be whether you would choose the KE F experience over the SQ J experience assuming similar timing?

MSPeconomist

In business class, the A380 is 2-2-2 seating with front and rear bars, taking all of the upper deck. On other KE aircraft, the configuration can be 2-3-2 which I consider to be unacceptable for business class.

mtkeller

The A330 fleet is also 2-2-2, and the 748 will have 2-2-2 (or 2-2 upper deck) with aisle access for all. The new A333s coming online also have 2-2-2 with direct aisle access.

pk45cu

The B777-300ER and the 380s have proper flat beds, I did the former in Dec on LHR-ICN. They were fine.

As for cabin temperature, it was fine, not hot at all, even used their blankets when sleeping.

trigleek

I am flying JFK-ICN-NRT soon and was wondering if there are any "must-dos" to do in the KE A380 to maximize the experience?

SDF_Traveler

I will be flying on the A330-200 soon from LAX-ICN in J.

Equipment was listed as 777-300ER when I originally booked this weekend and it was a 777-300ER seatmap. Now the seatmap has changed to that of an A330-200 and the schedule on Korean's website indicates such.

I do notice there is an A380 leaving LAX 20 minutes prior. Any chance KE might let me switch to that at check-in? I am on an award ticket and KE62 was the only available option at the time of booking.

Any feedback re KE and service on the LAX-ICN route on the A330-200 flight KE62?

I have a 5~ hour layover at ICN -- is it worth booking the transit hotel or would the snooze area in the business lounge be fine? (assuming the prestige lounge @ ICN still offers the snooze area, been a few years)

SDF