Still no info on a new KE lounge at the new ICN Terminal 2?
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: SFO/SMF
Posts: 90
Still no info on a new KE lounge at the new ICN Terminal 2?
Now that it looks like the new Terminal 2 is opening up in a couple months at ICN I'm surprised to find no info on a new lounge for KE. Anyone hear any news or info about it yet? Or are passengers going to have to head to Terminal 1 for the lounge?
#2
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: IND
Posts: 2,003
I wouldn't worry. T2 is opening early next year (Jan or Feb 2018), and since it's being delayed, KE has a plenty of time to prepare the lounge. DFS is the reason for T2 delay - I believe everything else is all set. I read somewhere that the new lounge will be larger than T1 one. T1 (main terminal) KE lounge will close as soon as KE leaves.
But then, KE isn't famous for its lounge.
But then, KE isn't famous for its lounge.
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: SFO/SMF
Posts: 90
#5
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: ALL Gold, MPC Silver
Posts: 175
Unfortunately, a good lounge product has never been a priority for both the airlines and the passengers here. I really wouldn't keep up my hopes.
#6
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SYD
Programs: OZ Platinum LifeTime; DL PM; QF Gold; VA Gold; HH Diamond; IHG Diamond
Posts: 1,126
I know it's entirely normal to dream with eager anticipation about all the minute details of a special trip. but with KE's new lounge, I'd suggest:
A) Don't get your hopes up about a radically different lounge. There's no reason, currently, for KE (& OZ) to up their lounges.
B) If it's the same standard as the current lounge, you're not missing out.
C) If it's better, maybe even significantly so, then you win out.
Either way, speculating about something we don't know, and so driving up your own expectations of the experience will only lead to disappointment.
More than the lounges, I wish KE (and OZ) would do something to pressure ICN about priority gates through security and immigration...
A) Don't get your hopes up about a radically different lounge. There's no reason, currently, for KE (& OZ) to up their lounges.
B) If it's the same standard as the current lounge, you're not missing out.
C) If it's better, maybe even significantly so, then you win out.
Either way, speculating about something we don't know, and so driving up your own expectations of the experience will only lead to disappointment.
More than the lounges, I wish KE (and OZ) would do something to pressure ICN about priority gates through security and immigration...
#7
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 858
KE carries more passengers than Asiana and gets a larger portion of their passenger revenue from the US, but it looks like they were losing money in 2016. Maybe if Asiana wanted to compete more effectively against KE, they might participate in Pre-check? Looks like they were making money in 2016.
#8
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Seoul
Programs: None anymore
Posts: 983
I mean, I would totally love a dedicated priority security but it's already so efficient.
But now that I think about it, you can get that if you're coming in from Seoul station. Go through immigration at Seoul Station and that lets you take the crew security entrance at Incheon.
#9
Join Date: Jul 2000
Location: AUH
Posts: 8,245
Originally Posted by sol95
More than the lounges, I wish KE (and OZ) would do something to pressure ICN about priority gates through security and immigration...
I know the airlines are exploring it at the moment but I don't expect things to change in a hurry.
Why? I've gone through at every different time you can imagine, early morning to late evening, and it rarely takes more than 10 minutes to get through security and immigration combined.
I mean, I would totally love a dedicated priority security but it's already so efficient.
I mean, I would totally love a dedicated priority security but it's already so efficient.
It's never LAX TBIT horrendous, but it's also nothing like a good priority security lane either.
#10
Join Date: May 2012
Location: SYD
Programs: OZ Platinum LifeTime; DL PM; QF Gold; VA Gold; HH Diamond; IHG Diamond
Posts: 1,126
Why? I've gone through at every different time you can imagine, early morning to late evening, and it rarely takes more than 10 minutes to get through security and immigration combined.
I mean, I would totally love a dedicated priority security but it's already so efficient.
But now that I think about it, you can get that if you're coming in from Seoul station. Go through immigration at Seoul Station and that lets you take the crew security entrance at Incheon.
I mean, I would totally love a dedicated priority security but it's already so efficient.
But now that I think about it, you can get that if you're coming in from Seoul station. Go through immigration at Seoul Station and that lets you take the crew security entrance at Incheon.
I too have gone through at every time you can imagine, and my experience is quite different to yours. Off the top of my head, at least 1 in 4 times, security and immigration takes quite some time.
And if you're travelling in peak periods like the recent chuseok extended break or the december/January peak, there's no way you're going to get through in anything close to 10 minutes.
This is not a new thing - Security Lines at ICN - Advice?
#11
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 858
The concept of people being treated preferentially through security and immigration for having spent more money is quite incompatible with the mindset of many Koreans. On a Korean forum, a travel forum no less, there were still a surprising number of people who strongly believed that you shouldn't be able to "buy your way" through faster security and immigration, which they perceived to be part of "public infrastructure". To them, security and immigration seem to be the last bastion of "equality" which needs to be protected at all costs, even if it means ICN lagging behind just about every other major airport in the world.
Korean language is all about stratification by age and/or social position; I think it's safe to say that marriage in Korea, for many, has an aspect of matching individuals from similar strata, and so on.
#12
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: IND
Posts: 2,003
The concept of people being treated preferentially through security and immigration for having spent more money is quite incompatible with the mindset of many Koreans. On a Korean forum, a travel forum no less, there were still a surprising number of people who strongly believed that you shouldn't be able to "buy your way" through faster security and immigration, which they perceived to be part of "public infrastructure". To them, security and immigration seem to be the last bastion of "equality" which needs to be protected at all costs, even if it means ICN lagging behind just about every other major airport in the world.
#14
Join Date: Jan 2017
Programs: ALL Gold, MPC Silver
Posts: 175
This is interesting, and I have to admit, a little surprising. Do a majority of ROK citizens truly think this way? Egalitarian admission to university on the basis of merit is easy to understand, likewise, a conscription process which makes it difficult to shirk, but airport security lines? Hard to fathom.
Korean language is all about stratification by age and/or social position; I think it's safe to say that marriage in Korea, for many, has an aspect of matching individuals from similar strata, and so on.
Korean language is all about stratification by age and/or social position; I think it's safe to say that marriage in Korea, for many, has an aspect of matching individuals from similar strata, and so on.
I know it's entirely normal to dream with eager anticipation about all the minute details of a special trip. but with KE's new lounge, I'd suggest:
A) Don't get your hopes up about a radically different lounge. There's no reason, currently, for KE (& OZ) to up their lounges.
B) If it's the same standard as the current lounge, you're not missing out.
C) If it's better, maybe even significantly so, then you win out.
Either way, speculating about something we don't know, and so driving up your own expectations of the experience will only lead to disappointment.
More than the lounges, I wish KE (and OZ) would do something to pressure ICN about priority gates through security and immigration...
A) Don't get your hopes up about a radically different lounge. There's no reason, currently, for KE (& OZ) to up their lounges.
B) If it's the same standard as the current lounge, you're not missing out.
C) If it's better, maybe even significantly so, then you win out.
Either way, speculating about something we don't know, and so driving up your own expectations of the experience will only lead to disappointment.
More than the lounges, I wish KE (and OZ) would do something to pressure ICN about priority gates through security and immigration...
#15
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: Left Coast
Posts: 858
Perhaps KE will approach this indirectly, "we're in T2 with the other Sky Team players, they wanted it, it wasn't our fault."