Wondering - Korea Air

@Erwendo1

You are better off booking your flight directly with the carrier rather than through a third party website in case things go wrong. Moreover the ticket code comes higher up the pecking order if there are upgrades to be had.

Two good reasons for booking with Korean Air: it came in at number 10 (out of 100)  on the Skytrax international airline rankings in 2024. Incheon aiport which is the Seoul hub you will connect through regularly ranks in the top three behind Hamad (Doha Qatar) and Changi Singapore. Its a popular connection hub for many of our American friends flying the red eye from the west coast.

Tip: make sure you enrol in their frequent flyer programme

Seoul is a lovely city. I stopped over for a few nights on my way to the Phils once.

@Lotus Eater

Thank you so much - very helpful

Respectfully

Dave

@Cherryann01

Excellent! Thank you

Dave

I do use Skyscanner myself and have booked through them before but agree with Lotus Eater about being better to book directly with the airline. Skyscanner gives you price options but then redirects you to a company like Jetsbroad and i did have problems with them one time. Normally Skyscanner will give you about 3 such options to choose from with prices. Beware of extras you may need to pay for.

I flew Korea Air many times, especially when I was working in South Korea. There are a couple things that stand out. One is the frequent flyer miles could only be used for travel. I cashed in over a million Delta and other US airline miles for  good stuff when I retired including the laptop I'm typing on. But that is only a small issue for me.

I always booked business class on the non-stop flights from Atlanta, Georgia to Inchon so I don't know if the upgrade made a difference but after a 90 day assignment in Korea in 2015 I wanted to take a couple week vacation and fly to the Philippines. My wife had traveled with me to Korea and after a week proceeded on to the Philippines.  I called Korean Air to ask how much it would cost to delay my return flight a couple weeks and was told there was no charge. I was told to simply not show up for my scheduled flight then call and reschedule. It may be important to book travel directly with the airline to do this which I always do anyway.

The return trip was interesting since we both had to travel back to Korea to catch my flight. We left Leyte on a Super Cat and spent the night in Cebu. Next morning we flew to Inchon on Cebu Pacific and spent the night in Korea then flew to Atlanta the next morning, 3 days travel. I flew business class and my wife flew coach.  My parking fee at the Atlanta airport was over $1,000 but I expensed it.

When my wife traveled to the US for the first time the only ticket available on any airline at the time was a first class ticket on my flight so it was pay back in a sense. She had upgraded travel on that flight and I had upgraded travel on this flight.

I have only flown Korean Air once and it was last year.  Great service, good food, seats about as cramped as usual.  The one negative, they changed planes and moved me to a different seat.  I had an upgraded bulkhead window seat.  They moved me to a bulkhead middle seat.  What the F**k.  That was a dick move but otherwise it was a good flight from Vancouver and then on to Cebu.

I booked directly with the airline and if the price is similar I always book with the airline for the same reasons mentioned above.

Safe travels,

Donald

My wIfe and I just took Korean Air from Chicago to Manila with a stopover in Inchon.  We booked directly with the airline mostly because we were bringing two dogs.  The service was great, food was OK.  The airport in Korea was a fine place to transfer and people there are very helpful and polite.

I flew back on EVA and while they were OK, I'd say Korean was a better carrier overall.  In December I'll be trying another carrier for the first time:  Starlux. 

@kjwilde

In December I'll be trying another carrier for the first time:  Starlux.

And you won't be disappointed. A new full service Taiwanese carrier recently launched and receiving some great reviews not least on their inflight music menu. My premium smooth jazz feed from Radio Tunes in New York is one of their providers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZITCLaAwBEs

I wasn't super impressed with EVA.  Best I can say is the plane made it to it's destination without incident.

    I wasn't super impressed with EVA.  Best I can say is the plane made it to it's destination without incident.
   

    -@kjwilde

As the late great Irish comedian Dave Allen said in one of his jokes - When I fly, 3 things I want to know. Will the plane take off, when it is up in the air, will it stay in the air and when it comes down is it coming down where they say it will come down.

Everything else is a bonus to me. They all have entertainment systems on long haul flights and I am only 5'7 so legroom is never a problem.

@Cherryann01

LOL. Fond memories of Dave Allen.

Everything else is a bonus to me. They all have entertainment systems on long haul flights and I am only 5'7 so legroom is never a problem.

Yes but have you ever flown Business class Cherryann? Of course on a short haul flight its a waste of money but on a long haul flight, over say 8 hours, being able to sleep in the 'prone' position (and I mean sleep as opposed to catnap) in a bed which mitigates the jetlag is more than just a bonus I can assure you. And you don't have to suffer the compressed dried out cardboard egg sandwich (omelet) for breakfast either. Most Expat Forum readers arriving in the Philippines will be in the air for at least 15 hours.

Talking of arriving at Ninoy Aquino International in Manila some important airport updates readers should know. There is a proposed terminal shakeup as San Miguel Corporation is set to takeover the operations of NAIA from September 2024.

There is a reassignment of terminals to 'decongest' the airport. Philippine Airlines (PAL) will be the exclusive user of Terminal 1, its international flights  are moving from T2. T2 will become the home for PAL & Cebu Pacific domestic flights. T3 will accommodate International carriers and T4 will now serve Air Asia flights.

The above is unwelcome news particularly for long haul international travellers many of whom have enjoyed using T3 (the best of the bunch) and being able to 'interline' with Cebu Pacific to their domestic destination. NAIA is a deceptively large airport and moving between the terminals at peak traffic is a nightmare. Yes there is a terminal transfer bus but it cannot be relied on - like just about everything else in the Philippines. Just as I was getting used to T3 and its best kept secret 'Runway Manila' Shush don't tell anyone.

Erwendo1 - In my experience, buying directly from the airline is better. But may not always be at better or equivalent price.

If I buy air ticket direct from the airline, I get better rebooking service in case the flight gets delayed/cancelled. I also get upgraded if flights are overbooked. This year, I bought air ticket from Travelocity for my wife. She went to Philippines for her ailing grandmother. She passed while waiting at the gate on her return flight to the US. She did not fly. I asked Travelocity and Cathay Pacific for a refund reasoning death in the family. Cathay Pacific said they approved the refund but need seller (Travelocity) to return the money. Travelocity acknowledged approval of refund but said I need to get the refund from Cathay. Had to wait >30 minutes everytime i call Travelocity. There is no other way to reason with Travelocity on their online app. I do have an account with Travelocity. Travelocity gave me the runaround to giving up this quest.

Anyway, here's my opinion:

If the flight goes without a hitch, it does not matter where you buy your air tickets. But if there will be delays or flight cancellations, you're better off holding tickets sold by the airline.

This coming December, my whole family of 4 are flying to the Philippines for vacation. I bought all tickets directly from United. Never again Travelocity.