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Still no info on a new KE lounge at the new ICN Terminal 2?

Still no info on a new KE lounge at the new ICN Terminal 2?

Old Oct 16, 2017, 8:54 am
  #1  
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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?
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 1:28 pm
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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.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 3:23 pm
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Originally Posted by bobbybrown
But then, KE isn't famous for its lounge.
Indeed.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 5:04 pm
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Originally Posted by bobbybrown
But then, KE isn't famous for its lounge.
Thats why I'm curious... We're flying first class on KE from SFO to SGN with a 5 hour layover at ICN next April, I'm hoping that KE takes to opportunity to up their lounge game with Terminal 2.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 6:12 pm
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Originally Posted by kaskade916
Thats why I'm curious... We're flying first class on KE from SFO to SGN with a 5 hour layover at ICN next April, I'm hoping that KE takes to opportunity to up their lounge game with Terminal 2.
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.
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Old Oct 16, 2017, 6:35 pm
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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...
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sol95 is online now  
Old Oct 16, 2017, 7:17 pm
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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...
This. It would be interesting to know their reasoning regarding why they do not, especially in light of recent changes, like the KE Web site overhaul, the new terminal coming online, and so forth.

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.
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 3:29 am
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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...
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.
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 4:20 am
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Originally Posted by zippy the pinhead
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...
This. It would be interesting to know their reasoning regarding why they do not, especially in light of recent changes, like the KE Web site overhaul, the new terminal coming online, and so forth.
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.

I know the airlines are exploring it at the moment but I don't expect things to change in a hurry.
Originally Posted by warrenw
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.
Early morning (in time for all the 9am departures) in particular is often pretty awful with the queue for security extending out of the security entrance. Either you have just been lucky, or your flights have not been near the busiest security entrances.

It's never LAX TBIT horrendous, but it's also nothing like a good priority security lane either.
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 4:43 am
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Originally Posted by warrenw
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 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?
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 2:53 pm
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Originally Posted by stargold
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.
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.
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 3:27 pm
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Originally Posted by stargold
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.
Very very well said. I know where it's from - hyper-competitivity. Koreans can't watch those born rich succeed while they try hard to earn lots of money so that their kids/grandkids born rich.
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Old Oct 17, 2017, 4:22 pm
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Anyone know if there will be a transit hotel in the new T2?
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 12:09 am
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Originally Posted by zippy the pinhead
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.
There's an old Korean saying: Your stomach hurts because your cousin bought some land. And it's just gotten worse with the rich-poor divide after the 1998 crisis.

Originally Posted by sol95
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...
T2 will have priority gates for security and immigration, and when it was announced that it would be so the outrage from the peanut gallery was quite amusing to say the least.
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Old Oct 18, 2017, 11:10 am
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Originally Posted by corbomite
There's an old Korean saying: Your stomach hurts because your cousin bought some land. And it's just gotten worse with the rich-poor divide after the 1998 crisis.
Koreans have a lot of wise old sayings, but that's a good one.

Originally Posted by corbomite
T2 will have priority gates for security and immigration, and when it was announced that it would be so the outrage from the peanut gallery was quite amusing to say the least.
Was this reaction captured anywhere? Source? Link? Very interested.

Perhaps KE will approach this indirectly, "we're in T2 with the other Sky Team players, they wanted it, it wasn't our fault."
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