Hi,

am planning a trip to korea but worry about language barrier. How widely is english used in Korea. Please advise and thanks so much. the other thing is, have anyone taken Asiana air before or korean air?

aud

My wife and I flew Asiana from LAX to Saigon via Seoul and return. On time, spotless, impeccable service. Excellent in all respects.

Asiana has an excellent safety record and is an economical carry with its hub in Seoul, South Korea.

If the US allows a carrier to enter its airpsace you can be pretty satisfied that it is a good carrier. Dont believe me? Ask the FAA!

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My wife and kids left on Monday for BKK on Asiana and everything was fine except for a bad small in the bathroom as reported by my daughter (10 yrs old). Compared to Singapore Air which we flew last year, they report that the in-flight entertainment was somewhat limited. The movies were either Korean TV programs or vintage US films. Nothing like a recent release or kid film. My son said he gave up after an hour trying to figure out how to play a video game in Korean. Fortunately they had their gameboys and a computer to play DVD's and games.
While in Korea for an extended layover, the airline gave them the option of a complimentary hotel room either going or on the way back. Since they were met by family, they didn't need it but it was a nice gesture for an eleven hour layover.
They report that Korea is the place to get glasses and contacts. Prices are very cheap, the quality is good, and the service is very fast- usually within the hour. Still difficult though to get around if you don't speak any Korean. Plenty of students are learning english, but not much evidence of that if you are trying to get around by yourself.

I found language somewhat of a challenge in my trip to Seoul. The bigger hotels and restaraunts were no problem (restaraunts often had an english translated menu). There was a fair bit of english tourist pamphlets and such available. Taxis were fairly cheap within the city, and while many drivers didn't speak english, I managed pretty well by getting someone to write down directions or addresses. I wasn't too anxious to try the subway; a big problem to me was that the unfamiliarity of the alphabet made it difficult to recognize place names. At least numerals were the same, so simple shopping wasn't too difficult.

Asiana and KAL seemed to be fairly decent on their international routes; similar to the big US airlines, but with an asian orientation. Singapore Air is definitely a notch above; sometimes they have good fares.