Asiana SYD - ICN business class review

[Chicken]

Just did OZ602 on 2024-10-01 , from Sydney to Incheon.

Paid 104000 SQ miles + AUD $154.61

Scheduled 09:30, push back 09:28, then stuck in traffic until 09:48

I have never been on Asiana, nor South Korea (but North Korea twice, in 2018 and 2019). Guess it's time to go, especially with Asiana being swallowed up by Korean Air, gotta go before they disappear.

 

[Chicken]

 

[Chicken]

What I really like about these OZ seats is the design and construction of the foot well. It's square, it has 2 levels of usable spaces, is wide, and the edge (the leather bit) doesn't fall off. This is much better that the design and construction of Singapore Airlines.

What I don't like about these OZ seats are:
- no storage space, as in seat pockets.
- tall foot wells also means that the 'table' next to you is very tall.
- not herring bone layout means I was far away from the windows.

Also, it took me a while to work out that the partition vertical thing next to TV was actually a table. The table itself is not possible to be moved back or forward, but what you would do is to move your whole seat back or forward, like in a car.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Thanks, am doing this next year myself and there are very few comments here on AFF about it.

 

[Chicken]

Thanks, am doing this next year myself and there are very few comments here on AFF about it.

I flew into Korea on Asiana, but I'll be flying back on Korean then Garuda via Jakarta

 

[Chicken]

Our plane took off, went through my seat pocket, OMG, I'll talk about it later.

Before I had the opportunity to switch on the TV, I was asked what I wanted to eat.

Few minutes later, lunch turned up. What the? It's like 10 AM in the morning.

So this flight had a schedule of 09:30, and expected length of 10 hours 30 mins.

I left home and took the first bus at 05:50, managed to walk through the gates at Wynyard station a few minutes before 06:30, being the cut off time from off peak to peak fare. Arrived at the airport at 07:30 (train to Mascot then bus to airport). My point being, I was hungry by the time after cleaning security. I was sent to Air Kiwi lounge (because Singapore lounge was closed for renovations), and I ate all their fruit salad and 4x mini croissants and egg and bacon.

I didn't check my watch when the starter dish was brought to me, but my watch was showing 10:37 when the main dish was brought to me. Korea is 1 hour behind Sydney during Sydney winter, so I was having lunch at 10:30 Sydney time / 11:30 Korea time, when I was still full from breakfast at Air Kiwi lounge.

Wasn't very happy with that.

 

[Chicken]

Options for lunch: western or Korean


Dinner (they call it snack, I call it dinner, you'll see from the photos later)

 

[Chicken]

Both my friend and I selected western (bimbimbap felt too dry for having to get up early for a flight), and both of us selected duck.

Here comes the salmon salad.



And here comes the duck.


See how thick was the duck steak? Have you seen anyone cooking a 2cm thick piece of square duck? It didn't end well. It was so tough, neither my friend or I finished it. I could hardly cut it with the knife, I just got tired from cutting it honestly.

I skipped the cheese plate cheese cake, I wasn't interested by that stage.

 

[Chicken]

All the alcohol

 

[Chicken]

Snack, or what I call dinner, was served just before landing. I took the seafood option.

The potatos made this meal very filling, hence it was more than just a 'snack'.

 

[SeatBackForward]

Options for lunch: western or Korean

Hmm, as someone not fond of seafood (or Duck, close enough to a swimming creature!) - the special meals are starting to look tempting.

 

[Chicken]

What's in the stack of booklets?



No free Wi-Fi, need to pay.

This is also an A350-900



Why so thick?



Over 209 pages of shopping?

 

[frodo]

I left home and took the first bus at 05:50, managed to walk through the gates at Wynyard station a few minutes before 06:30, being the cut off time from off peak to peak fare. Arrived at the airport at 07:30 (train to Mascot then bus to airport).

OT but since your trip started at 5.50am, the train transfer would have been counted as off-peak even if you tapped on after 6.30am.

Back on topic, from the pictures I feel like the seat isn't as well designed as similar styled seats like the ones on the emirates A380, EVA 787s and even the QF seats.

 

[Chicken]

OT but since your trip started at 5.50am, the train transfer would have been counted as off-peak even if you tapped on after 6.30am.

I have tested this previously: you only retain your peak or off peak if you are not changing mode, e.g. if I change from one bus to another bus. It's not retained if changing mode, e.g. bus to train.

Back on topic, from the pictures I feel like the seat isn't as well designed as similar styled seats like the ones on the emirates A380, EVA 787s and even the QF seats.

Yes, on a certain level. Thing is, I value the comfort of my seat when flying J, as in how my body feels, and I honestly feel that this seat is comfortable with sitting or laying flat.

 

[Chicken]

All the alcohol and smokes like the 80s, plus all the fancy electronic cigarettes, and dietary supplements which Koreans are also obsessed with.



We know Koreans drink a lot, but you can go to work the next day if you get this. Just put this gummy in your mouth, chew it and hang over will be gone.



What on earth is this Aussie 'honey fresh breathe oral spray'. No idea.



What is 'capsule cigarette'???



One stick, two flavours. Wow

 

[Chicken]

In summary, I would fly Asiana again, as I think the seat is less messy (I seem to have technical problems with SQ seats, and their seat or mattress protector seems to move and I would have to adjust it frequently), and they have great foot well. I am willing to give up on seat storage space.

I may not recommend OZ to others though, as their meals and meal times are not good. If I were to fly this schedule again next time, I maybe tempted to stuff myself with food in NZ lounge in Sydney, then skip the first meal onboard.

---

End of trip report