First Class vs. Prestige Class
 

Hi all,

In January, 2018, I am planing on heading to Hokkaido, Japan for some waist deep powder skiing!! I will be using miles for both directions: SFO-ICN-CTS on the way there, and NRT-ICN-SFO back to the States.

The outbound flight, SFO-ICN is scheduled to be on a 777-300ER, and the return flight, ICN-SFO, is scheduled to be the 747-8i.

I would definitely like to be in First on the 747-8i for 80,000 miles, but I'm wondering if I should settle for Prestige on the way there, in the 777 (for 65,000 miles.)

If you could only do first in one direction, would you choose the 747-8? Is Korean Air first class significantly better than Prestige?

For what it's worth, the cost of the round trip in First is ~$16,000, which comes out to a nice 10 CPM after spending 160,000 points.

Thanks!

You can click on the airplane in the itinerary and it takes you to the seat options, with full descriptions of Prestige and First.

Typically, the First Class seat is a few inches wider and longer, but the real difference is a privacy door/shield. Again, there are clear pictures of this on the KA website.

Unless you are concerned about people snapping your picture and posting it to facebook, save the miles, Prestige is just fine, and typically with lay flat seating.

The 777 out of SFO also has Kosmo 2.0 F so I would say it's worth the extra 15k points.

If you want to save on Skypass miles, I would say stick with Prestige on the 777, and First on the 747-8. The 747-8 First experience is more special in that you're in the nose of the plane, whereas First in the 777 is still nice but I wouldn't necessarily pay the premium over Prestige. I think the advantages of First over Prestige are a wider seat (with a door), more personalized service, and pajamas, but I have received better service in Prestige than First, so YMMV.

That sounds like great advice!

One last question then - Can I book an open-jaw using miles in two different cabins? e.g. SFO-CTS in F, and NTR-SFO in J?

Or do I need to book two separate one-way reservations? From what I can see on Korean Air's website, it only allows me to select one single class of service.

You should probably call Korean Air - I don't think open jaw is possible with online bookings, and I'm not sure what routing rules are for award tickets.

One other possible consideration is that the outbound will be a longer flight, roughly an hour difference, compared to your return.

Lastly (not sure if it's good advice or not, but more matter of preference), if you're returning to work after vacation then consider that. My preference would be to be more refreshed and ready whereas on my way to vacation I can afford to be incrementally less refreshed.

Which company u fly again? i tried first class lufthansa.

Flown both and can tell you
 

Have flown KAL hundreds of times, most their fleet types and classes, including the new 747-8i. Fact is 1st class cabin has not been improved as much as business has, still a very fine experience but just a few inches wider seat, you won't feel that difference much, slightly bigger screen and exactly the same menu! but nicer silverware.

1st class Kosmo suites' "walls' are so low, when you are seated upright you can see the cabin, however the 747-8i business class is brand new and one of the very best in the industry; fully walled all around, if you seat next to the window all you can see is the window, your screen and walls, almost absolute privacy, the only person you'll see is your flight attendant, lays fully flat, very comfortable, not worth the extra miles for first class where you are not getting much more. In the 777 however you still have the older version of the prestige sleeper seat, still lays flat, a very short privacy screen and a cumbersome hop over your neighbor to go to the washrooms in mid-flight if you are flying window seat. Hence my recommendation, use 1st in the 777 (the Kosmo suite here does not close completely but is a large comfy pod), and you'll be more than happy in business in the 747-8i.

Thanks Jetman.

I went ahead and booked both directions in First. Here is my itinerary:

SFO-ICN - Seat 2A on the 747-8i
ICN-CTS - Seat 9E on the 737-900ER (No availability in First)
NRT-ICN - Seat 2A on the 777-200ER
ICN-SFO - Seat 2J on the 747-8i

My trip isn't until January, 2018, so I won't have a trip report until then!

I did end up calling Korean Air to book my flights as it wasn't showing my routing online because the ICN-CTS leg didn't have any availability in 1st. And also, I will be returning to work the next day after landing on Sunday, so the advice to get sleep and be well rested is well received.

Thanks!

To be fair, that can happen on any airline. Sometimes the more junior cabin crews in business are far more willing to run the extra mile.

Just curious, seems like a lot of people have been booking seat 2A. Why not 1A? Thanks in advance.

-PK

Planning on booking a return F award ICN - ZRH for this winter. Since the flights to Zurich in December are expected to be operated by a 777-200ER, the difference from Prestige to First are significant.

HOWEVER, KE swapped last minute most of this summer's operations to Zurich to a 789-9, so I wouldn't be surprised if it happens again, especially that it's a 789 again from January.

If it does end up being a 789-9, with the same Prestige and First seats, would KE accept changing my booking to Prestige?