SFOrunner

I'm glad I check FT as often as I do. I'm flying SFO-ICN on 1/18/18 and ICN-SFO on 1/28/18, and I too specifically booked my flights to fly both directions in F on the 747-8. Unfortunately I do not haveucj flexibility to delay travel as I'm meeting a friend in Japan, and his travel is booked too.

I received an email from KE a day or two ago notifying me of a five minute change to my return flight, but it did not make any mention of an aircraft swap. Pretty disappointed, but on the bright side, now I can devote the entire labor day weekend to researching everything there is to know about the 777-300ER. :/

SFOrunner

This helps explain where some of the 747-8i's are going:

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/...as-of-30aug17/

http://www.routesonline.com/news/38/...as-of-31aug17/

eeflyer

Unfortunate, Malaysia, Singapore, and Rome. So no NA routes on the 748 anymore? I vaguely remember YVR having it, but a brief search looks like it's going to be on 787s now.

Voldoo

I was upset about this as well! My GF and I are going to Koh Samui in January and were scheduled to fly the 747-8 from BKK to ICN onto LAX the next day. Found out two days ago they switched the aircraft to a 747-400.........W.T.F.?!?!?! We had transferred 190,000 Sapphire points just so we could fly the new Suites!

For what it is worth, I spoke with an agent and she was kind enough to let me switch my flight from BKK:ICN to KUL:ICN which flies the 747-800. They waived any change penalties except for the obvious difference in taxes. Thankfully there is a direct flight from USM to KUL on Bangkok Air, otherwise I would not have done this.

warrenw

Interesting. The good news here is at least most of the 77W's have the new business class product.

I'm not surprised about KE switching out the 748, because they went from one frequency daily to SFO to twice daily, and are doing so with 77W's.

I'm sure we will see more 748's in the summer season in 2018 going to the US.

HawaiiO

During the summer, KE also flies a 747 to Seattle, making it two flights a day.

Mintycat

Just got swapped to the old 777! We leave in 3 weeks so I probably won't be able to do anything about it. Keep this in mind if you fly SFO - ICN.

globetraveler

I'm still showing the new 77W for my SFO-ICN flight in November.

SFOrunner

Regarding KE being notorious for equipment swaps...

Knowing what I know now, I'm not sure if I would have booked my trip with a different airline, but it certainly is disappointing that they swap as often as they do. Like so many frequent fliers, I booked my trip (SFO-ICN-CTS, NRT-ICN-SFO) under the assumption that I would be flying on the 748. Fortunately for now I am still in the Kosmo Suite 2.0 on the new 777, but I'm still nervous that it could be swapped yet again.

Step it up KE!

Mintycat

They've swapped my 2nd leg about 4 times now, and each time I have to log in and select new seats, but it's not nearly as annoying as being switched to the old business class product on a long haul flight.

I also wouldn't have booked with Korean air knowing all this now.

frequentflyer11111

I'm in the same boat...flying SFO-ICN-BKK in early November. Both legs swapped (now 77W and A380). Super bummed.

brosnan6

Something triggered me to check my January reservations for ICN-SFO and I could have sworn that when I booked it was on the 747-8 as well but I see the 777 now. I remember the schedule change email a while back but didn't realize it was also an aircraft swap! I didn't care so much about the plane type as much as the first class product -- we really wanted the Kosmo suites 2.0.

When I click on the aircraft link from my reservation it takes me to the 777 seat map with the new layout but how can I confirm if this is actually the case? It looks like the fleet info page it takes me to for the 777 has 2 tabs, one for 291 seats and the other for 277. It automatically selects the 277 seat tab when clicking from my reservation -- does this mean we have the 2.0 suites?

The ICN-SFO flight was actually less convenient for us but I booked solely cause of the new F suites. Is there any way to tell which other of the North America flights operate with the new F suites? Would love DFW to be on that list!

SFOrunner

Check the seat map in your reservation details - The 777-300ER with Kosmo Suites 2.0 has a galley and lavs between Rows 7 and 8. Business Class is also a 2-2-2 configuration.

The `old` version of the 777-300ER has a galley and lavs between Rows 8 and 9, and Business Class has a 2-3-2 configuration.

brosnan6

Hmm, not sure I can tell what the case is by looking at the seatmap. It doesn't give me the option to check the row numbers/layout for any other classes of service since I'm in F. Tried adding the screenshot as an attachment, does that help at all?

I tried doing a new booking to see if I could figure it out there but KE doesn't seem to show you a seatmap during the booking process like many other airlines to

SFOrunner

Do you have your Flight Number and Departure Date? I would probably go that route and look at the seat map online, through their reservations system.

***EDIT*** Ooops, did not see the date and time at the top of the screen shot! Sorry about that!