*A ICN layover lounge?
 

I'm traveling to Mongolia next week and connecting in ICN with a four hour layover. SFO->ICN is on UA biz class but ICN->ULN leg is Korean Air economy.

Is there a *A lounge or other lounge I can use as an arrival lounge even though I'm continuing on a KE flight?

I am UA 1K and have UA Club membership but no Skyteam status.

*A lounge access is based on the departure flight, so no lounges for you to access with UA J, status, or UC membership. If you have Priority Pass, there seem to be a ton of options though.

There is a hotel in ICN in the secured area. It's between $50-$60 for 6 hours. It's a real hotel room - bed and a private bathroom - and very clean. It's nice to be able to lie down for a while after a long flight. I recommend it.

https://www.walkerhill.com/transithotel/en/

there were no OZ flights to Mongolia?

Unfortunately, as is, you don't have any access to a lounge based on status or cabin class.

As mentioned earlier, you'll have options if you have Priority Pass.

However, the big wrinkle, even if you can access a lounge, is that the earliest they open is 5am for the OZ J lounge. My understanding is that the SFO-ICN flight usually arrives quite a bit earlier than the scheduled arrival of 4am, meaning you've got upwards of 2 hours of dead time EVEN WITH lounge access. Making matters worse, most of the shops and food outlets in the airport will be closed too. I have heard there is a 24hour food outlet, but I think that's about it when it comes to things that are open...

My suggestion? Go to the free shower and take your time...

I have transited in ICN many times going to and from Mongolia. I have always used the Hub lounges. They are either pay for use or are available through several credit cards. I always got in free with my Diners Card. There are other pay for lounges, one associated with the hotel. All cost $30 to $35. The Hub lounges can be busy at times.

There may have been OZ flights but they either didn't line up with my schedule or were much more expensive (which was the case last xfer I did at ICN with OZ vs KE).

My SFO-ICM flight arrives at 3pm and ICN-ULN departs at 7:15pm so even if I don't have lounge access, there's enough to keep me busy for a few hours since I will likely have to pick up and recheck my bag which will take some time. (If I recall correctly, UA no longer checks bags through to non *A airlines on a separate ticket...?)

Your trip must be just before the big schedule change.

If you don't have Priority Pass, I would advise not to bother with paid lounges.

If you want a shower, there's a free one for transitting passengers. While I haven't used it, by all accounts, it's easy, clean, and surprisingly good.

For food, ICN is one of the rare airports where not only are the food offerings pretty good, but they don't charge an arm or a leg.

OP is flying with UA from SFO-ICN, there is no schedule change on that flight.

Also, the public showers I don't think open until 0700 so they would be useless for 4am arrival but could be useful for OP.