I fly from the West Coast of North America (Oregon) to Bangkok, Thailand at least 3 times a year. This trip report is a summary of the most recent trip. The thrill and glamor of travel vanished a long time ago. I look for reliable transportation at a fair price. Most of my FF miles are banked with Delta and I was able to fly them to Asia from the Portland gateway until Delta all but abandoned the Asia market. My last three transpacific trips have been with Korean Air, a Delta Skyteam partner. My journey was on a Korean Air ticket, purchased business class.
Korean Air has 3 West Coast gateways, SFO, LAX and YVR. I use SFO since it is easy to get to from Eugene, Oregon. To get to SFO I use a separate purchased ticket on UA. For some reason that works out for a cheaper total air fare.

UA 1467 EUG to SFO
July 6, 2002
Y Class

Check in was easy since Eugene is a small airport . The line was less than 10 min long to check in and less than 5 min long for the security drill. My suitcase was checked all the way to BKK. I have no status on UA and was relegated to the rear of the Y cabin on a 737. I was assigned an aisle seat, 13C. The flight was not fully booked and the middle seat was empty. The early morning flight left on time, 6:40 AM and arrived at the gate on time, 8:05 AM. The flight was a short hop down the coast with a surprise: a breakfast snack!! I have taken this flight before and was lucky to get beverage service. When I was handed the small box containing the snack (granola mix, banana and muffin) I asked the FA why the snack was served on this short flight. She smiled and said that the passengers liked it. I�m not certain that really motivated UA to offer the snack but it was appreciated. I usually buy a full American style breakfast waiting for the KE flight in SFO but between the snack and the airport lounge goodies I was able to wait for a full meal onboard the transpacific flight. UA has a monopoly on the this route, but this flight seemed nicer than ordinary; maybe it was the snack; maybe it was the empty middle seat; maybe I was in a good mood out of the office on vacation; maybe the FAs acted civil. A nice flight at a fair price. Departed and arrived on time, what more could you ask for?

KE 24 SFO to ICN
July 6, 2002
J Class

This flight leaves at 1 PM so I had five hours to wait. There is a short hike from the UA gates to the new international terminal in SFO. I stopped for a Starbucks coffee and then made my way to a news stand to purchase several magazines for the long flight ahead of me. The KE check in counters opened at 10 AM so I waited near the counters drinking the Starbucks and enjoying the UA snack. When the staff arrived I was checked in with efficiency. The routine questions were asked and the agent confirmed that UA had transferred the bag to KE. KE used a 777 on this flight the last 3 times I flew the route. For the summer season they upgraded to a larger aircraft, a 747-400. I was seated in the upper deck and was able to grab a window exit row seat, 20J.
KE would not pre-assign the exit row seat, they are held for assignment at the airport. I like the upper deck of a 747. It is a small cabin and seems serene compared to the main deck. The exit row is roughly in the middle of the deck and there is easily 10 to 12 feet between your seat and the row in front of you. The seat itself is not a state of the art business class seat with all the modern bells and whistles. It is as comfortable as a typical home chase lounge. The window seat upstairs has a nice sized bin between the seat and the wall of the aircraft that is a perfect place to store the small carry on bag and my shoes. The exit row is nice but not mandatory for a comfortable KE business class flight. No one on this flight used the aisle seat next to me so getting in and out of the seat was no problem. I have had a problem exiting a window seat on the 777 when the flight is full, your seat mate is sleeping and the folks in the row in front of you are also sleeping with their seat in full recline.
After checking in I went through security again. There was no line at 10 AM and the process was painless. KE shares a small lounge with Skyteam partner AIr France. Again, it is hardly a state of the art lounge. There were nice sized and clean restrooms, free telephone service, comfortable seats, a large screen TV, and a wide selection of beverages and snacks in the serve your self area. The food was upgraded since my last visit. In addition to sliced fruit, cookies, crackers, cheese and chips there were two trays of finger sandwiches. There were no showers, internet access or computers to use. As departure time approached the lounge filled up.
It is a 15 min walk from the lounge to the KE gate at the end of the terminal. The boarding area was chaotic. Once boarding began a gate agent saw my business class boarding pass and I escaped the Y mob jostling for position. The flight pushed back about 10 min late, but we arrived in Korea a few min early. The aircraft was clean and ready for it�s return home. After boarding and making my way upstairs, the FA helped stow my belongings and offered a pre departure drink. I requested orange juice.
There were 22 passengers in the upper deck. It seats 30 so there was plenty of room for everyone. This 747 had a restroom in both the front of the upper cabin near the flight deck and in the rear near the galleys. There was never a wait to use the facility and the FAs kept them clean throughout the 12.5 hour flight. This KE 747 did not have the same individual in flight entertainment system as the KE 777s have for business and first class passengers. There were 2 TVs hanging from the ceiling for the movies. There was no choice. You saw what everyone else did. I did not watch a movie on this flight. I noticed a nice touch about 6 hours into the flight when I got up and walked through the entire plane, except for the F cabin. There was available for upper deck passengers, a help your self beverage and snack service. The snacks were cookies, fruit, candy bars and such, while the beverages were water, soft drinks, beers and a few offerings of hard liquor. There was also a bucket of ice. This was a welcome service. KE serves water in a tiny thin glass that holds maybe 3 oz. I like to have plenty of water on these transpacific flights and have learned to bring my own bottle of water for times when I don�t wish to bother the staff. The serve your self concept worked for me. There were 2 meals between SFO and ICN. Generally the meals on KE are pretty sorry. Just some fuel to get you to your destination. The meals ex BKK and ICN lived up to this reputation. But the meal from SFO was much better than average. The menu is reproduced below.


Lunch

Appetizer
Smoked salmon and scallops, accompanied by a seasonal mix of garden greens. (The dressing choice was 1000 island or a Korean style dressing)

Main Courses

Special Korean Dish �Bibimbap�
A popular Korean specialty of steamed rice offered with minced meat and assorted vegetables. To suit your taste, sesame oil and Korean hot pepper paste are served separately. (Please mix all ingredients before eating)

Beef rib eye steak
Grilled beef rib eye steak enhanced by a green peppercorn sauce, complemented by Anna potatoes, carrots and broccoli

Grilled Sea bass
Grilled fillet of sea bass, accented by a lemon sauce, served with a pasta pesto, sliced carrots and asparagus tips

Fruit and Cheese

Desert-Apple Crumb (actually it was a apple torte in a flakey crust. Yummy)

I had the Grilled Sea Bass and was pleasantly surprised. The lemon sauce was under the fillet. The fish itself was grilled and firm. The vegetables were fresh and tasty. This was a better than average airplane meal. I have had the Bimimbap before. It is tasty and very filling. It is served in a large bowl of rice with the meat, soup and vegetables in smaller bowls on the side. The second meal was served a couple of hours prior to landing in Korea.

Dinner

Salad
Caesar salad tossed with croutons and parmesan cheese

Main Course

Traditional Korean Dish Bulgalbi
A traditional Korean preparation featuring marinated and broiled beef short ribs flavored with an authentic Korean Bulgabi sauce served with steamed rice and bok choy

Scallops with Szechuan Sauce
Scallops enhanced by a Szechuan Sauce, served with fried rice and kailan

Stuffed Chicken
Chicken breast stuffed with crab meat, complemented by a creamy white wine sauce, offered with tagliatelle, yellow squash and broccoli

I ate the the scallops and thought there were as nicely done as a restaurant


The flight arrived a few min early and although I got 4 hours of sleep on board, you still feel out of sorts after crossing the Pacific. Arrival at the new Inchon airport is near 5 PM the day after you left SFO. I was a transit passenger and my bag was checked to BKK so I went through a transit passenger security screening and went upstairs to the departure level. Other passengers continued to the customs and immigration screening. The new ICN airport is beautiful, bright, light and airy. It�s a substantial improvement over the old Kimpo airport. There are the usual international class duty free shops, money exchange booths, lounges, bars and a Western and Asian food Court. There are a modern KE lounges on the floor over the departure gates. There are separate lounges for 1st and Business class passengers. The large business class lounge is consistent with other modern lounges. There is a darkened room with sleeping chairs for passengers looking to nap; beverage and limited snack service ( finger sandwiches, chips and salsa, cereal, cookies and fruit. There are TVs, several computers and internet access. There are also shower facilities.
I had approx. 2 hours before my connecting flight to BKK. I showered and changed my clothes, checked the e-mail and left the lounge to board.

KE 653 ICN to BKK
July 7, 2002
J Class

This flight left on time but arrived 30 min early in BKK. The aircraft is a 777 and there was in-seat entertainment. The aircraft is configured for 3 classes of service but on the intra Asia regional flight only business and coach service is offered. But!! You can ask to be seated in the first two rows ( first class seat that almost reclines to a fully flat position) if on a paid business class ticket. The meal sucked. It was a similar to the KE meals I remembered. I ordered the Seabream and it was truly inedible. The soft mushy fish was in a heavy syrup like sauce. The salad and appetizer were fine, so I ate them, asked for the tray to be removed and tilted the seat back and got 2 hours of sleep on this 5.5 hour flight.

Dinner

Appetizer
Marinated scallop and cooked shrimp, smoked goose breast with walnut in artichoke bottom

Salad
A seasonal mix of garden greens served with a choice of dressings
Main Courses

Special Korean Dish �Bibimbap�
A popular Korean specialty of steamed rice offered with minced meat and assorted vegetables. To suit your taste, sesame oil and Korean hot pepper paste are served separately. (Please mix all ingredients before eating)

Beef Tenderloin Steak
Grilled fillet of beef complemented by a red wine sauce, served with Macaire potatoes, buttered snow peas and saut�ed baby carrots

Seabream Oriental
Stir fried seabream enhanced by an oyster sauce, garnished with bamboo shoots, black mushrooms, and red pepper juliennes, offered with fried rice and bok choy

Selection of Cheese and Crackers

Selection of Fresh Fruit

The landing in BKK was especially smooth and within 20 min of exiting the aircraft I was with my friends ready to attack BKK at midnight. Although KE�s check in counters and offices are in terminal 1 of Don Muang airport the aircraft parked at a gate at the far end of terminal 2. The time was spent hiking from T2 to T1. For some reason the immigration booth would not process the KE passengers. We were directed to T1,where the luggage was off loaded, and the immigration and customs check went quickly and smoothly.

The return on July 21 was pretty similar with these notes. The flight home (KE 654) leaves BKK at 1:20 AM. Ughh. It was the return leg of the flight that brought me to Thailand. I again got seat 1A up front and immediately turned off the light, declined the snack and pre arrival in Seoul full breakfast and slept. You arrive in Korea near 8 AM (2 hour time difference from BKK) and feel pretty beat. I went to the KE transit desk, got some vouchers for food and went then upstairs to the transit hotel. There is a transit hotel located at either end of the terminal. This hotel is a godsend. The cost is only $35 for a 6 hour block. I Showed and cleaned up then slept in a small but spotless room with individual controlled air conditioning and heating. I slept for several hours, watched TV, showered again and then checked out. I went to the food court and had a food court type western meal, then returned to the lounge for the flight to be called. The flight to SFO (KE23) was to leave Korea at 1640 and arrives in SFO shortly after 11 AM. I had less jet lag than usual which I attribute to sleeping well on board the aircraft from BKK and the long nap in the airport hotel. I was fatigued on arrival in SFO, where I still had a 3+
hour wait for the quick hop up the coast in a fully loaded UA 737 to Eugene, but after a good night�s sleep in my own bed I did not have serious jet lag after affects the following week at work.
In summary, don�t fear KE. It is not up to the standards of SQ, JL or CX, for top notch transpacific flight service and food. But, the business class fare is lower than on those other carriers. You accrue Delta miles for the journey and they get you there and back in a clean aircraft. The business class seat is comfortable. The FAs are attractive Koreans that don�t have the jail matron mentality that many American FAs present. Some of the KE FAs have a better grasp of English than others but not once did the KE FAs not try to make the flight a pleasant as possible. I�ll fly them again, same trip, same flights, in October.

Great report! Food sounds pretty much the same as before. I flew SFO-SEL 2 years ago in the main deck and last year HNL-ICN on a 3-cabin, 2-class 777. The SFO-SEL flight left at 1 a.m. or thereabouts. Anyway, am scheduled to fly to ICN next month on the 777. Although C on the 777 does have IFEs, I agree that rows 1 and 2 are heavenly.

BTW, do they still give out amenity kits? Pre-9/11, they gave out these wonderful kits but after 9/11 all I had was a choice of a toy airplane, tie, or picture frame.

Surprised to hear this. I thought that J class is cheaper out of Canada. Did you use a consolidator?

Congratulations on that. In the times that I�ve been well-rested at least a week before the flight, I�ve managed to sleep only 1-2 hours at most on the trans-Pacific flights from USA to Asia. However, about 30 minutes after arriving in NRT (in my case), I start feeling quite out of it.

Ouch! Were there any other later flights that you could have taken? This kind of discourages businesspeople going to the US to fly KE because of the long layover in SEL. When I fly on NW�s BKK-NRT-DTW, my layover in NRT is just 50 minutes! To say the least, you can call this a late night, whereas NW leaves around 6a. That�s called a bad night�s rest.



Thanks for the report.

- Pat

[This message has been edited by Wiirachay (edited 08-12-2002).]

I enjoyed your report. I have a couple of questions if I may:

1.Do you use a consolidator to purchase the J tix? What range pf prices are you seeing? (If I may be so rude!)

2.Also, what hotel do you use in Bangkok (if you do not stay with friends)?

Once again, thanks for the report on Korean - we do not see too many of those on FT.

Shink

Amenity kits were not offered. KE had offered amenity kits that were presented in a small cotton/velvet-like sack with a draw string. In addition you had a choice of the toy 747, neck tie or pewter picture frame. Post 9/11 I got one toy/model airplane last September, but post 9/11. Now neither the amenity kits nor the in-flight gift were offered. When I received amenity kits I usually give them away, although the 1st class amenity kit on SQ by Bulgari is one I retained. The bathroom on the KE flights were well stocked with toothbrushes and toothpaste, razors, skin moisturizers and fragrances. Each business class seat has a pillow, blanket and a pair of flip-flop like slippers.

The ticket price. Has anyone followed the thread on this board about reveling secrets? OK, here is my secret. Buy the ticket in Bangkok, round trip to the USA. That will require buying a one way ticket to BKK. Then find a good travel agent in Thailand. My rt ticket in business is about $1500 on KE. It was about $1200 but KE raised the fare in July and the dollar took a dive against the Baht in the last 60 days. A good travel agent can find similar fares on ANA, Asiana etc. There are also deals on NW or UA in both business and first but I do not remember their exact fares, but they were all less than those offered in the States. These fares are only offered from Bangkok to the gateway city. I find it cheaper to just buy a Y class ticket from Oregon to a gateway. This makes it easier on the Thai travel agent who then only has to deal with the international ticket.

I was interested in Delta miles so I use KE. With the business class of service bonus of 25% and a 100% bonus as a Gold Medallion, I usually pay for three trips and get one for free. It works out to a little more than 35,000 miles for the round trip. This strategy will only work if you intend to return to BKK. I get the return ticket to BKK �open� and just call the airline and reserve a seat when it�s time to go back.

Two years ago, 3 times a week, there was a 8 AM KE flight to SEL from BKK, which arrived from India. This was when Kimpo was still used for international flights. It has been discontinued. Now KE offers 2 daily flights to ICN from BKK. One leaves at 1:20 AM and the other leaves at 2 AM. Pick your poison. If you are going to LAX there is a 10 AM KE flight, but it stops in NRT. The non stops all leave in the afternoon. I tried to sleep one trip in the KE lounge, nap room. I simply could not get a nice deep sleep. For only $35 Air Garden transit hotel works really well. The KE after noon flights to the USA arrive before noon on the west coast about the same time as the UA and NW flights that leave BKK around 6 or 7 AM and connect in the NRT hub. The connection in ICN does make the trip back to the US longer and there are certainly advantages in using NW, UA or JL for the same day connection at NRT. ANA�s flights also leave BKK around midnight, unless you use their code share with UA in the morning, resulting in a long layover at NRT for the afternoon (Tokyo time) flights to the USA.

I have a condo in Bangkok and don�t use a hotel. I�d suggest selecting a hotel based on when you need to be in Bangkok for work or vacation. The traffic is soooooo bad that getting from one place to another takes a lot of time. There are plenty of on line Thailand hotel discounters that offer very attractive rates.

Excellent report, bescobar. I enjoyed reading about KE and was surprised that KE has B747s without personal IFE. Do you know if all of their B747s have no pIFE or only a few (older) ones?

I recall flying KE from LAX in Dec 2000. If I remember correctly, that flight was a 747-400 with in seat flight entertainment in business class. All of the 777 's I have flown with KE have have it.

<<There are plenty of on line Thailand hotel discounters that offer very attractive rates. >>

Can you please list some web sites?

Try: http://www.asiatravel.com/thailand.html
or planetholiday.com

there arre others..try a google search