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-   -   747-8 No Longer Flying ICN-SFO-ICN? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/korean-air-skypass/1864052-747-8-no-longer-flying-icn-sfo-icn.html)

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 7:16 pm

747-8 No Longer Flying ICN-SFO-ICN?
 
Hi all,

I received an email this morning informing me that my seat on an upcoming flight was changed due to an aircraft swap. To my dismay, the magnificent 747-8 was replaced by the boring 777-300ER.

I immediately canceled the reservation (the 747-8 was literally the only reason I booked this ticket), but upon searching for a new use for my miles, I came across something confusing. Specifically, while all SFO-ICN flights seem to have had the 748 swapped out for a 77W, the 748 still seems to be loaded for ICN-SFO. For example, the website shows KE24 flown by a 77W on January 4, even though the inbound flight is loaded as a 748.

I want to re-book on a route that will have the 748 (one of the JFK flights is now showing it), but I'm afraid that KE will change the schedule again and I'll once again have to pay the refund penalty. Any ideas?

MrJBoy Aug 29, 2017 7:33 pm

That seems correct...
My partner got notifications just right now...
He wanted to fly KE because of the 747-8.
That's why he booked the flights by miles.
Now he wants to cancel the award tickets, but those miles won't go back to Chase anymore...

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 7:34 pm

Of course, the phone robots were of zero help—they won't even waive the cancellation fee!

MrJBoy Aug 29, 2017 7:41 pm


Originally Posted by LeaveYourDailyHell (Post 28753090)
Of course, the phone robots were of zero help—they won't even waive the cancellation fee!

Did you buy the tickets or are they award tickets?

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 7:45 pm

They're award tickets. I thought it wouldn't be too much to ask them to waive the cancellation fee, since I'm stuck with the miles and will need to rebook travel on KE anyway. Unfortunately, all they seem equipped to do is read policy off a screen. They wouldn't even help me find other 748 flights for my dates!

eeflyer Aug 29, 2017 7:51 pm

Yikes, sorry to hear about that situation. That's unfortunate as KE was my best shot at the 747-8. It's a shame that they would not waive the cancellation fee. Did you escalate to manager? I haven't read KE's COC, but for some airlines, equipment swaps are counted as schedule changes and get change fees waived. Perhaps that reasoning would work with agents here?

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 7:54 pm

I escalated twice, actually, and both of the "managers" simply read policy off the screen. I tried to explain to them that if it was any other aircraft than the 747-8 (i.e. the flagship) I wouldn't be insisting, but that it was the entire reason I booked the ticket. They didn't care!

Merlinrnr Aug 29, 2017 8:08 pm

They fly the 747-8 to Vancouver so you could switch to that routing. That's what I did for September.

globetraveler Aug 29, 2017 8:17 pm

+1, the email only appeared to indicate a time change however upon looking into the reservation my 747-8 flights out of SFO in F have changed to the 777-300er. Furthermore ICN-BKK also has schedule changes- KE is running the 744 and A380 on that route now. Ugh I really wanted to fly the 747-8 and unsure what to do- our flights are on hold as an award and we have not yet transferred miles from Chase. Would it be worth flying down to LAX for the 380??

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 8:20 pm

It looks like VYR is a 789 in early 2018. The only NA city I can see for a 748 in January is JFK, but I'm scared to book now. Does anyone know when KE's schedules are finalized?

MrJBoy Aug 29, 2017 8:33 pm


Originally Posted by LeaveYourDailyHell (Post 28753277)
It looks like VYR is a 789 in early 2018. The only NA city I can see for a 748 in January is JFK, but I'm scared to book now. Does anyone know when KE's schedules are finalized?

I also want to know when KE makes a major schedule changes...

bobbybrown Aug 29, 2017 8:35 pm

SFO is swapped into 77W with the newest product, identical to 748, although that could be changed again.

Edit: don't believe me. It appears that there are one too many newer 77W routes (with Kosmo 2.0 & prestige suite). KE must be still finalizing the schedule.

LeaveYourDailyHell Aug 29, 2017 8:38 pm

It's not about the seat, though. The 747-8 is a completely different (superior) aircraft to the 77W, and provides a totally superior passenger experience, if only because of the upper deck.

Merlinrnr Aug 29, 2017 10:01 pm


Originally Posted by LeaveYourDailyHell (Post 28753277)
It looks like VYR is a 789 in early 2018. The only NA city I can see for a 748 in January is JFK, but I'm scared to book now. Does anyone know when KE's schedules are finalized?

Unfortunately, KE swaps equipment quite regularly. I've changed my reservation three times chasing the 747 as well. Hoping Vancouver works or next month.

And I know it's nice being on the upper deck of the 747 but the business hard product on the A380 can't compare to the hard product on the new 777s. So personally I'd rather stick with the new configuration 777 than fly down to LAX for the A380. But you also run the risk of last minute equipment swaps from the new 777 to the old 777. There was a report on flyertalk of that happening with the SFO route which is what prompted me to switch out.

ShortTermParking Aug 30, 2017 12:47 pm


Originally Posted by MrJBoy (Post 28753086)
That seems correct...
My partner got notifications just right now...
He wanted to fly KE because of the 747-8.
That's why he booked the flights by miles.
Now he wants to cancel the award tickets, but those miles won't go back to Chase anymore...

Same here. Booked with miles for an early-January flight ICN-SFO specifically for the 747-8. Not too many options for re-booking the award flight at this point (looked at ICN-LAX and SEA-LAX, too). Really disappointing to see the equipment change and hoping they don't downgrade to the old version.


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