Asiana A380 First Class Los Angeles To Seoul

We flew the A380 ICN-LAX at the end of August. I thought everything was great...from the food (had the Western option), service and the suite. I do agree about the IFE...just terrible. I also thought the pillows were too small. Luckily, our flight was only half full so i took the pillows from the other unoccupied suites and piled them up.

This was our first time flying on Asiana and their ground service at ICN is not so good compared with other Star Alliance members like Thai, Singapore and ANA. That being said, I would definitely fly Asiana again.

Ben, do you agree about their ground service at ICN being left a lot to be desired?

I am glad that you like my country food. I hope you have had a good flight.

I enjoyed my flight very much and the things I might complain about are hardly serious issues:
1. I agree the pillows are too small.
2. The cabin was too warm for my taste.
3. Boarding at LAX left much to be desired. I have no such complaints about ICN.

There actually is another lavvie in the front of the FC cabin. It's behind the curtain and up a few steps, directly across from the stairway to upper deck. It's small and doesn't have the Evian Spray, but still usable.

I hope you had the caricature team on your flight - it was a fun little memento.

Hey,

It was a nice surprise to find that we were on this flight together. Thanks for the tour of the LAX lounge and and pouring us champagne. I think you were more familiar with the place than the staff.

We didn't get caviar on the flight. The attendant explained that they didn't load enough when they left Korea. She said they only had enough for 6. (Evidently all the caviar they serve is brought with them when they fly out of Korea.) The flight attendant gave a very heart-felt apology to both my wife and me individually. They also ran out of the Korean meal but the FA brought me one from business class in addition to the western first class meal. I tried my wife's Korean FC meal of bibimbap and short rib and it was almost identical. The canape and shrimp are probably the main difference between the two.

I tried the USB option where you can supposedly view pictures and listen to music on your USB device, but it didn't work. I tried a USB stick loaded with pictures, video and music and it never recognized it. I also tried plugging in my android phone which should show up as a drive, and it never worked either.

My seat wasn't solidly connected to the floor I think because it kind of rocked if I pushed back on it.

As for the entertainment system, I was fine with it because the movie selection was pretty recent. There were at least half a dozen movies that I was interested in. The touch screen controller worked pretty well too. There were some US TV shows but they weren't listed under TV. I can't remember exactly where they were, but it wasn't intuitively categorized.

I tried the seat-to-seat calling feature. I had to first enable it on my wife's controller. Her controller rang but I couldn't tell where the speaker and mic were so we couldn't really "talk" over it. I don't know if other classes have the feature too. Seems like an odd feature though. I didn't try the seat to ground calling feature.

There was a second bathroom in FC. It was at the very front using the same stairs that get to the cockpit. The FAs said it was small and recommended that I use the big one.

The touch screen seat adjustment controller isn't placed in a convenient spot. You definitely need to detach it to use it.

Im booked on OZ201, from LAX to Seoul, this coming Friday and, except for the IFE, this feedback pretty much meets my expectations, though my A380 experience on Koran Air was not nearly as good as Ben's (I had the western meal and the steak was inedible). That said, I certainly hope there are a few good movies to help pass the time, as I find I'm too psyched up to sleep.

fwiw, Most of your meal looks the same as you would get in OZ J (except the caviar and shrimp)... Bibimbap looks the same, as does the Korean dessert, turnip rolls, and the soup.

"Maybe other people enjoy getting on their knees? I don’t…"

you just disappointed half of your loyal readers!

@ John -- Yup, totally agree. In the past I've been escorted to the gate at ICN when flying Asiana first class, but in general Asiana's ground services aren't very good, in my opinion.

@ Holly -- I've heard about the caricature team, but didn't get them, unfortunately. Seems like such a cool idea!

@ Bob -- It was great running into you! Ouch, didn't realize they had run out of food, guess I got lucky (at your expense).

Interesting, didn't realize the cockpit lavatory could be used by passengers.

Enjoy your time in Japan!

Did you pre-order your bi-bimbap?

Also, I guess times are tough for Asiana and don't give out a departing gift anymore? I flew them earlier this year(April) and didn't get a links of business card holder or any other trinket.

@ Mike -- No gift anymore as far as I know. I didn't pre-order. I believe that's only possible when departing Korea, no?

So bottom line -- Korean Air A380 first class > Asiana A380 first class on this route, correct?

Was the IFE selection of US movies terrible?

As I'm on LAX-ICN in January on the A380 in F, I was hoping for a bit more. Thanks for the review, I'll be prepared.

I'd gladly go on my knees Ben 😉

Since I assume you didn't pay cash for this flight, which mikes did you redeem?

@ Diamond Vargas -- That's a toughie. The Asiana seat is definitely a lot more private, and the Star Alliance Lounge at LAX is a *LOT* better than the SkyTeam Lounge LAX.

So I do think I slightly preferred the Korean Air soft product, though the Asiana hard product and lounge are still a lot better.

Not sure...

@ beachfan -- I didn't think it was very good, though I'm also not a movie person. My attention span lasts for a sitcom at most.

@ Chris -- I redeemed Avianca LifeMiles -- heck of a deal!

Can you pick the size of your pajamas in first class? I'm 5''9 so not sure if i'll look like i'm wearing a snuggy

@ JC -- Yes, they have different sizes.

Would love to see a detailed ranking/comparison of all the a380 first classes once you've completed your trip report for Qatar. Would be cool to have a ranking for all different aspects of the flight, for instance seat relaxed setting, seat for sleeping, cabin/plane amenities, food, service, design, etc.

Thanks Lucky.

You got a laugh from me when you said you don't watch TV. True in the contest of a hotel review, but any fan of Real Housewives of Anywhere can't deny watching TV.

@ beachfan -- Touche! 😉

@ Jeremy -- Have plans to do just that! 🙂

Too bad Asiana can’t fully deliver the top First experience thats within their reach. I’ve also found their ground customer service to be weak. Their ground services used to be incredible; but Asiana has really cut costs in this area also eliminating Asia-regional First that included agent services upon arrival. Sad waste of the upstairs lounge - no bar or self-serve snacks. First/Business bars are fantastic for meeting people.

Are employees taking the caviar? Surely Asiana can acquire caviar in LA. The pre-order menu is only out of Seoul - it used to be both gourmet Chinese and Korean, but now only the latter.

I had flown the Asiana A380 on two sectors. HKG - ICN and ICN -LAX, though it was in business class. Have to admit the HKG-ICN sector had the best service of any airline/route I have travelled. Then again it could have been due to flight being quarter full. The service on ICN-LAX was slow. My only negative feedback was I had specifically ordered the western dessert to accompany my Korean meal and Asiana made a stink about it. Either way still look forward to board an Asiana flight soon, they're one of my fav products out there. Glad you still enjoyed your flight Lucky. If you get a chance, check out the Conrad Seoul sometime. Would like a review from you if possible. Enjoy

@ Bill - What agent services upon arrival are you talking about ? I had been flying OZ F multiple times when F was still 2+2 in the 747, when there was still a SQ lounge in the main concourse in ICN (The SQ lounge now re-open at concourse A), never once had agent services upon arrival ! The only ground service is agent escort you from the lounge to the gate at ICN ! The upstairs lounge is very similar to what TG has for the 380.

The pre-order Chinese was implemented later on, it wasn't there from the beginning when all long haul routes were served by 744 and 74M. To me it was rather strange to have pre-order Chinese on a Korea base airline anyway, as even for flights to HKG, the meal choice is always Korean and Western, never Chinese.

"Maybe other people enjoy getting on their knees? I don’t…"

You can't just always receive you know... Have to give sometimes too. 😉

Well, it's good to see you finally have something nice to say about China Southern...

Is it just me or does the Asiana website (flyasiana.com) NEVER work? I've actually considered flying them for SFO-ICN, tried on three separate occasions to book on their website, then gave up and booked SQ instead.

You sure you're most critical of the ones you love most? I don't see you being so critical with Lufthansa 😛

@ Pete.th -- Because there's nothing to be critical of. They're perfect. 😉

"Maybe other people enjoy getting on their knees? I don’t…"

LMFAO this had me rolling, cmon Ben we all know you love doing precisely that. no need to hide it anymore.

Lucky, did you experience the cattle call boarding at LAX? I was really surprised they mixed F, J, and *G into a single, very long line, with OZ ground staff policing it and literally barking at pax. Not at all the right way to start the journey.

Agree with your comments overall. Service was gracious and charming. The only part of the meal service that blew me away was the caviar. Snack of spicy noodle soup was pretty tasty, too.

Loved the *A J lounge at LAX. Much nicer than the F side.

So if you were flying from ICN to another city, and you had to choose between flying on Korean or Asiana...which would be your choice?

@ Kacee -- Boarding was an absolute mess, worse than I've seen anywhere else in the US. Have quite a bit to say about that in the full trip report. Agree, not a good start to the experience!

@ halapeno -- I'd probably give the slight edge to Korean Air. But they're both so excellent that it's tough to say with certainty.

Lucky,

I flew the 777 this Feb, and i didnt receive a gift from them, did you get one on this flight?

@ Ginny -- Nope, I think they've discontinued them.

I can't believe I'm just reading the review today (not sure what I was doing Oct 5th) --- but I have to ask this question! Did the flight attendant kneel on her knees and close the suite doors when she presented you your pajamas? I cannot help but have that image in mind from a few months ago.... is it safe to say that advertising promo photo was photoshopped? 😉

@ Joey -- Haha, I think it is safe to assume, unfortunately. No kneeling!

@ Lucky -- how was the cabin temperature, in your opinion? And if traveling onto Tokyo, would you take Korean because they seem to fly better planes ICN-NRT/HND?

P.S. Pillows are so tiny!

@ Ivan Y -- The cabin temperature was actually not too bad, I thought, surprisingly.

Lucky,

If you have to choose between Asiana First on A380 (ICN-LAX) or ANA First 777-300 (NRT-LAX), which one would you pick?

@ Ching -- I'd have to go with ANA.

Ben,

Thanks for the Asiana first review. Have you experienced Business class on the Asiana A380? I am deciding between two sets of flights to get from BKK to PHX. Overall schedule is similar (about 22 hours), but unsure if the transpacific leg would be better on Asiana in Business (day time flight) or United in GlobalFirst (night time flight).

BKK-ICN-LAX-PHX (Asiana A380 ICN-LAX)
or
BKK-HND-SFO-PHX (United GlobFirst HND-SFO)

Which would you do? Thank you.
Tom

@ Tom Perica -- Haven't done business on Asiana, though all else being equal I'd probably choose United in your shoes, for the more comfortable seat. That assumes the BKK-HND flight is operated by a plane in a longhaul configuration.

Lucky, Which would you rather recommend, Asiana Suites or Korean Air First Class? Looking to fly to Hanoi from LA via ICN.

Sorry, just saw reply above to my question.