flygirl

Good morning

I am so surprised at how cheap the plane tickets to Bangkok appear to be right now. Why so cheap for such a long flight?

At any rate, I've never flown Korean Air before but I seem to recall buzz that it's a nice airline. This flight would be one connection only which means long legs - very long.

The longest flights I've done in coach were to Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires from IAD, and, Auckland from Los Angeles. They had to be 12 hours each, give or take. I survived. It wasn't the best night of my life, but I was fine.

I haven't looked into biz class fares to Bangkok yet. What is coach like, on Korean Air? Will it be a better experience than United (which is probably the South American trips airline I used)? Is it somewhat more comfortable to try to sleep in coach on this airline?

Thanks for any thoughts.

Prachuap

Economy seats are never much chop.

Sleep in economy seats? Very difficult. Dont know how anyone can do it.

simpsonc510

I used to pay under $900 for economy ORD-BKK, but nowadays the going rate is more like $1200-1400 and up (depending on whether prime season, when fares go up a lot). I have to agree with Prachuap about sleeping in an economy seat.... NO WAY. It's not happening for THIS frequent flier. As I age, it is getting so much harder to make the long haul flights in economy. I'll buy a business class ticket (yes it can be very expensive... at least 2-3 times the price of economy) but my body tells me that if I want to keep traveling to S E Asia, I'd best do it in a seat that fully reclines to a flat bed! Haha... (some say they take a pill to go to sleep in an economy seat... I am NOT a pill popper) I'm a 1K with United so I can sometimes get upgrades because of my status. A few years ago I would anxiously wait until boarding to plane to see if I could possibly upgrade to biz. Nowadays, I'm only paying economy if the upgrade is available AT BOOKING and it's a sure thing. But that is not happening much anymore. Boohoo! Anyway, off to Bangkok next week in 1st class!

Smeagol

RHKK who post on here often and goes to BKK every year has flown with them and I recall he was very impressed ( at least I hope I'm not getting mixed up) I'll drop him a note and ask him to look out for this thread so he can let you know how he found it.

Where are you coming from? Do Eva fly from your airport? Although their prices have risen their premium economy product is actually quite good and sometimes the price is not that much more than economy.

I have flown both Biz and PE with them and obviously whilst I prefer Bizz, PE is not bad at all( except the food, I' d give that a wide berth )

rhkkmk

Korean is now our #1 airline.. the flt to asia from jfk is superb, even in economy!! it's an A-380 with huge leg room and fairly wide seats.

the service is fantastic and the food more than adequate..

give them a try, you will be pleased.

their pricing is often good, esp. way in advance..

we do sleep with the aid of a pill or 2.

dgunbug

We are also economy fliers (unfortunately) and have flown with Korean air three times. It is our airline if first choice. The leg room is decent, the food good and service exceptional. Try getting seats in back few rows (check the configuration of flight). The flights we were on had two seat configurations only in the last few rows and there was more room there.

PaganiPilot

I used to fly ANA from IAD and the seats tend to run a little smaller than avg, imo. I tried Korean and liked it, but the food was just so-so tasting. The airport in Korea is newish and clean but very boring and little eating choices. I hear Emirates is excellent, and will be my choice when I return to Thailand. Good Luck..

progol

We used Korean Air this year for our trip to Bsngkok and return from Siem Reap. We were very happy with the airline and really liked Incheon Airport-- great wireless and several good services (free computers, sleeping areas, massage) for people in transit. Excellent customer service -- I had a number of questions concerning our tickets, and they actually CALLED me after receiving my emails! I was impressed!

We are economy flyers and manage to sleep some, but it is one of the real challenges of traveling to Asia from the US. The international flight was certainly as comfortable as any-- the only downside of the flight was the poor movie selection. But overall, the,experience was surprisingly good for a long haul flight.

kja

I flew Korean Air to/from Seoul in May; 14.5 hours each way in coach. I thought it much better than most airlines I have flown - a bit more space, a bit better food, a bit better service. I'm not going to say that either flight was "comfortable," but it could have been MUCH worse!

flygirl

Thank you everyone for the information! I will check out biz airfares but for a grand to go all the way to Thailand, wow.

dgunbug

We thought the airport was terrific. The lounges, transit hotel and free wifi were a pleasure.

rhkkmk

if you need a break or overnight the Incheon hyatt is very nice