Korean Air

I took a round trip from NYC — JFK to NAIA Manila, Philippines with stopovers at Incheon Airport in South Korea in January — February 2016.
I highly recommend Korean Air. Just about everything went right. As with most things, the most important factor is the people. The staff is polite, prompt, happy, well dressed, and speak in great English. The only downside is sometimes they passed over me when handing things out. Perhaps this was because I was in the window seat or maybe it was just me. But I would like to see better responsiveness. The food and drink is plenty and frequent and most importantly delicious. There’s a wide variety of beverages from beer and wine to tomato juice. The facilities were clean. For the 14 hour flight we were given blankets, toothbrushes, toothpaste, pillows, headphones, and slippers. The media selection was –excellent-​. I chose from very popular, recent movies like Steve Jobs, Sicario, Spectre, etc. Oh, and they were one of the cheapest airlines I found.
Overall, I will go out of my way to fly Korean Air on my next trip to the Philippines.
John

I book a flight with them 3 months ago to fly my parents from China to New York for my wedding. However, two weeks ago, they suddenly change the flight so my parents flight here won’t connect any more. Basically,
first leg: 10AM — 4PM on July 21^st, was 12AM –6 AM
second leg: leaves at 12PM on July21st.
Who the heck does that?
And when I called them, they told me I have to call my travel agency to get them to do it. And when I called, it turns out Korean Air didn’t even inform them about it!
Unfortunately my traveling agency (vayama from kayak) is equally shady, I called them the entire last week and they tell me they will resolve it the next day or in 2 days or next week but nothing got done.
There’s less than a month left and I might have to get another flight.
tl;dr screwed over my connecting flights and refuse to change it.

My wife and I booked these guys for our trip to the Philippines because a relative said good things about them. Our flight to the Philippines was great, the A380 was a really nice comfortable plane to fly on and the staff were very friendly.
If our return trips had been on the a380 this review may have earned 5 stars even with a 1 hour delay in leaving Manila. The problem was with the return flights, first to Korea and then to Seattle. Both of those flights were on Boeing 777’s. Both of those flights were hot as heck on the planes and there is no way to adjust the air coming to you. People around us on both flights were complaining and fanning themselves but the flight attendants who are all wearing very thin shirts never did anything about it. At one point in the flight I pulled my lightweight golf shirt off but left it hanging around my neck to cool off. This was after complaining about the temperature to the attendants several times. When one finally acknowledged me with my shirt off I simply said my pants are next.
When I googled around after I got home the AC system of the Airbus is said to be a much better designed system than the Boeing.
My wife is generally a cold natured person who is cold on the warmest of days was completely miserable as well.
We may fly Korean again but not on a 777 flight. 13 hours was the total time of the 2 flights and that’s a very long time to be miserable on a flight.

Don’t.
One of the world’s worst airlines for safety; and, pilot qualifications and training. One of the world’s worst accident records.
The cabin service may be very good and personable, but if the airliner doesn’t make it to the gate, what’s the difference?
The worst experience I’ve ever seen with my own two eyes was seeing a KAL DC-​10 stall about 220 feet off the airport surface at LAX, hitting the ground so hard that the outboard portion of the wings shattered on the runway. If that aircraft was ever returned to service, it was another miracle.
No, thank you.
I’ve refused to get on their flights. I strongly urge you to do the same.

Woah~~Nick L, a newb Unilocaler with two reviews complaining about Korean Air in New York and one for in Los Angeles definitely seems like a troll down there lol… Can’t trust people like that. Well, here’s my straightforward and BEST review on this superb airline!
–Friendly and Warm In-​Flight Service
–Clean, Well-​lit, and Spacious Airplane
–Great In-​Flight Entertainment System
–BEST In-​Flight Meal (Bibimbap owns mystery meat & pasta anytime of the day!)
–BEAUTIFUL and CLASSY Flight Attendants that look like models (no kidding!!)
Only downside is that it’s A LOT more expensive than other airlines to go to Asia.
I mean I once had to take United Airlines to get to Seoul since it was only $ 950
while Korean Airlines was $ 1850. Yikes~

have nothing nice to say about the services I have experienced with Korean Air.
My flight was booked and confirmed for Wednesday, Oct. 31, 2012 due to weather conditions I called your airline to check on the status of my flight… I was informed it will be canceled and that the next flight i can take is possibly the 12^th of Nov. That’s 2 weeks from my BOOKED date!
I have to called from this morning till now to re-​schedule. Flight was cancelled due to the Sandy Hurricane. Fine, this is understandable. How can they charge passenger for rescheduling. I want to leave on time but they cancel the flight and required passenger to pay the fare different? What a BS! I wanted to leave out from JFK asap and the representative told me will not be available until the 12^th of November? This gotta be a joke. Spoke to a lot of representative today and they spoke broken English with heavy Korean accent? Really? Spoke to so many Korean representatives and they told me no flight out from JFK. Earliest the 12^th! I checked online and there is seat available for the 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, etc. Obviously they are cheating! I called back and questioned them how come online is available but you told me you are not available.
Finally get to speak to their supervisor. (Joshua Bajar) or something like that… Told by the supervisor that I have to pay extra to fly out on the 8^th ($ 278) on the 6^th ($ 378)!! I Have to leave NYC back to Vietnam because my grandmother is ill and in the hospital!!! SO i agreed to pay the $ 278 to leave on the 8^th… I told him how important that I need to get to my final destination, Cannot afford to stay in NY for 12 days. He ended up telling me that — THIS IS YOUR BUSINESS. YOU PAY THE ESTRA OR YOU CANCEL THE TICKET! I am so speechless because I am soooooo fuc*ing mad! I felt like if you are not KOREAN. They will not help you! You take it or leave it! This is totally how i felt. I FEEL DISCRIMINATED by this KOREAN AIRLINE! I NEED TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE THAT SPEAK MY LANGUAGE!
I called again and hope to speak to Chinese Rep. Told to call back 6pm US Eastern time in order to speak to CHINESE Representative. For such a well known airline and there is time frame for customer to call in to speak to Chinese rep? Really? Unbelievable!
Finally, I get to speak to a REAL HUMAN that speak CHINESE and told her that I Felt DISCRIMINATED by your AIRLINE! You need to try your best interest to help me get out of NYC! I do not have to give her what’s the reason. She rebooked my flight and leave JFK on the 6^th without even asking for more money! I told her I already paid an extra $ 278!
I had to spend more than 6 hours to beg for the change with these KOREAN REP and less than 10 mins time for a perfect smooth change with this Chinese Rep.
My parents live in Vietnam and always take Korean Air. but after this. I will do all I can to prevent them from ever booking with your company again. I will also let everyone and their family/​friends know about this. … Flight booked for the 31^st of OCT… and now I have to leave a week after and pay an extra $ 278. thats after being told the earliest flight is the 12^th… You company deserves to be punished. I know I am just a nobody to you and your company but I am one less business you will get from now on. My family and friends will be made aware of this. This will be posted on all my social media sites to warn people what kind of business you people run!
Ideally I hope this email would wake someone up, but I bet it’s probably another Korean reading this…

I flew from Atlanta to Seoul-​Incheon, then to Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Yes, the crew is extremely courteous. Yes, there are many movies to choose from. Yes, the booze flows. However, the food was absolutely appalling. I usually love Korean food, but I did not like Korean frozen dinners.
I prefer Air France for the food.

Simply the best airline I’ve ever taken. Usually, tickets are expensive so I never get the opportunity to take KoreanAir, but back towards the end of summer, airline prices dropped and I was able to grab a KoreanAir seat with my husband. What is great about airline policy is that we can reschedule our flights with no charge. The website is a bit confusing and not working properly at times because I have to make sure I’m in the right region (America), but we’re still glad we managed to book the tickets. Checking in was OK, only I didn’t know much since staff automatically speak Korean first. Announcements were done very politely and professionally. I love the flight attendant outfits: a sky blue mini-​scarf tied to the side and a matching loop fastened to the back of all hair buns. Every flight attendant looks immaculate: neat, tidy, professional. All flight attendants can understand English. They even have Chinese-​speaking flight attendants on some flights where there are a lot of Chinese customers (i.e. Incheon to/​from Jeju) I can pick my seats online in advance unless it’s too close to the flight date by one or two days.
For international flight: I took JFK to ICN. The meals were delicious on the airplane with real metal utensils. I had fresh fruit, seaweed rice, bibimbab (veggies, rice, and spicy sauce), wine, etc. Every meal was delicious and I think you can’t go wrong ordering any type of meal. We get peanuts and drinks between meals and takeoff-​landing. Pillows, blankets, a bottle of Jeju water, and earphones are included. A vast movie/​TV section. I can watch up to three movies during this span of time between New York and Seoul, but I usually fall victim to sleep.
On shorter domestic flights: ICN to TAE. I see flight attendants put a sticker on the back of a seat to indicate to a sleeping person that they actually missed some free goodies such as a snack or a drink so when they wake up, they can hit the service button to get these items. TAE to Jeju Island (CJU) was great.
One thing that might bother me is that they request windows to be down when it’s night time and up during takeoff and landing. What if I wanted to look outside? The flight attendants are very strong about having the seats in an upright position as expected, except they are unusually careful to check that trays and seats are upright.
No matter what type of flight I am taking, there are usually newspapers available either before I board the plane or after I board the plane to grab some free newspapers to read in English or Korean. The bathrooms on the plane have lotions, toothbrushes with toothpaste. Awesome!
Being that I’m Asian looking, the staff always tries to communicate in Korean with me. I think it’s time for me to learn more Korean because I know I’d be taking KoreanAir again! I’m so much of a fan that I would consider buying a $ 25 stuffed KoreanAir plane as a souvenir (I didn’t, but I want to!)
PROS: premium image and reputation, delectable meals, lots of freebies included, totally worth the money, great experience
CONS: picky about plane windows

On record as my most expensive dining experience to date.
(1) Three-​course dinner
(1) Three-​course lunch
(3) Non-​alcoholic beverages
(1) Alcoholic beverage
(3) Film screenings*
(1) Awkward conversation
_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​_​
Total = $X, XXX.84** (including tax and tip)
Meal One
My Korean must have been horrible because my exchange with the flight attendant*** went something like this:
FA: «daeji (= pork) bi bim bop?»
me: «neh.» (= yes)
FA: «dae-​jeeeee bi bim bop.»
me: (louder) «OH K-​A-​Y.»
FA: (blank hard stare) «DAAEE-​Jeee– BEEEE-​BEEEM-​BOPP.»
Me: (finally getting it) «Oh. Bi Bim Bop please.»
exit scene.
In my defense, a marriage of spicy bbq pork and Bi Bim Bop – logical, ingenious, delicious, right? RIGHT? In any case, despite the either or trickery, my meal was surprisingly satisfying.
Appetizer: Traditional Korean seaweed soup served in microwavable single serve bowl that was shockingly NOT BAD for a packaged food product. Sure the broth was thin and watery, but the abundant seaweed and somewhat accurate flavors more than compensated for its humble presentation.
Entrée: Ceramic bowl of standard issue vegetables (no daeji, sigh) with an baby sized tube of red pepper paste, accompanied by a single serve package of steamed white rice. Again, surprising. The veggies were flavored well, and the microwaved rice was soft, glistening, and cooked fully through. Uncle Ben’s this was not, thank God. My only complaint would’ve been the child size portion, as I could have easily eaten two of these bowls. I lie. I could have eaten 4 of these bowls.
Dessert: A few underwhelming pieces of day old melon. Meh.
Meal Two aka «The amalgamation of all things wrong»
— 1 slab of salmon sashimi
— … atop a mayo laden potato salad
— French roll with butter
— 1 curry flavored chicken thigh served on a bed of steamed rice
— Chocolate marshmallow fluff over sliver thin slice of chocolate cake
Please see attached for photographic evidence.
I must have stared a full 5 minutes at my UN party of disparate food items. The potato salad looked inedible so after scraping off the last vestige of yellow neon mayo, I cautiously nibbled on the salmon. NOT BAD! Pretty fresh in fact, and may be the best sashimi I might ever have in Coach. As far as the other food items, let’s just stop while we’re ahead.
Conclusion: As far as airline food goes, I’ll take Bi Bim Bop any day, as KA more than exceeded my (basement level) expectations. And despite the abomination of meal #2, I have to throw a couple pity points to Korean Air, who clearly tries SO hard to cater to (and discern albeit unsuccessfully) western palates. Full disclosure: My dad may or may not own Korean Air; in my imagination he always does.
*paul rudd! i love you man. thank you for erasing the horrors of «Confessions of a shopaholic,» and «He’s just not that into you,» both lock in leads for this year’s Razzies.
**includes a free flight to seoul with your dining package
**korean air FAs: miss universe; legacy airline FAs: mrs.usa. it now makes sense why the guy friends «love flying asian airlines.»

In my experience, when I travel to the Philippines, I like to take Korean Air, primarily because the lowest quotes I’ve gotten for tickets from JFK to Manila have always been for this airline.
Good things about Korean Air: the price, and the Korean meals in flight, and the juices they offer (one of the juices they offer is guava, and yes, this is extra points in my book). Also, Incheon airport is new, and soo much more spacious than what I remember of Kimpo airport.
Korean Air has this frequent flyer program thing, and I’m trying to work towards getting a bump up in seating class.