Welcome to my next trip report series, covering the recent review trip that I took to North Asia, to check out two of the newest business class products there are.
Continue reading: Introduction: A Quick Trip To Japan & Korea
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Doing a trip around Asia next year from Europe through the same airports and likely the same airlines - can’t wait for your full reviews, Ben 🙂
Did you not go to the First Class lounge in HND despite your Oneworld Emerald status?
I've been really impressed by luggage forwarding services in Japan
Tried Yamato myself, shipping a big 48pounds piece of luggage from HND airport to my hotel in Kyoto for just 17 USD.
why can't we have something like that in America?
Because one man couldn't stand Ben reviewing what he found to be most convenient or logical, Ben had to took two trips in a short time period.
And he still thinks that he's right and considers himself a long-time loyal reader.
Looking forward for this series anyways. This series will cover the products I've been looking for the most.
He messed it up but at least it's here now.
Compared to the US domestic flights it definitely is.
But sometimes, or at least in economy it isn't always a "pleasure".
For eg, if you fly ANA btwn Tokyo and Okinawa, then good luck - flying with 500 people on a 25 y/o 777-300, with a lot of crying babies and toddlers for 2.5 hours wouldn't be so fun.
Of course still better than the mess of the US domestic flights and might even seem like a silly b*tching.
But this is not what they or even their neighbors used to be. Just sad.
Or at least it becomes better with JAL.
Their domestic fleet is better than ANA imo.
We don't have a labor force at that salary range who would care to provide 75% of the services let alone strive for 100% like the Japanese. Our labor force can't be bothered to even come close to working their 40 hr weeks or refrain from stealing other people's properties or fling peoples bags because the employee had a bad night with the baby momma of his 9th child.
The JAL lounges are called the Sakura Lounge and the Sakura Lounge Skyview. There are no "Business Lounge" by name.
They are of course both lounges for business class passengers.
I wish an everyday person could find a F flight for 60000 AA miles without having to know about things like 'married segments'. The bloggers make all of this seem so easy.
He could have visited but since he recently already visited/reviewed it, did the other lounges for sake of review purposes
This was a J flight not F. But you just try a bunch of different things and usually can find something.
I take it you’ve been to Seoul many times. The nut rage incident is one of my favorite stories. I hope they make an ACI episode.
Ben do you ever hop into a taxi and go stay in Seoul ? Incheon seems to be a long ways from the city. I’m going to Seoul next month and there are some
hip neighborhoods . I’m looking at staying at the Pacific hotel or the Plaza lol.
Take the A'rex (airport train) instead, they take you to the Seoul Station in 30-45 minutes (bit longer for local train) and they're on the cheaper side too. Riding a cab from there to all the way to the Seoul downtown would be pretty expensive.
While Mason is usually taking everything too far, actually he's correct this time. HND-OKA usually takes 2hr30min-2hr40min.
Looking forward to the details review of these segments. Especially the one you mentioned "from Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda to New York. I booked this using American AAdvantage miles, though I should mention that I upgraded that first segment to first class with cash, as Japan Airlines has a lucrative domestic upgrade program."
Could you briefly talk about this lucrative first class upgrade of an award ticket, as we are flying a few business segments in March, April and would like to explore this facility.
Thanks
I’m hoping whatever you do daily for work, you make seem easy.
Maybe be thankful for the effort they put forth and be thankful we have the ability to learn and research based off of their exhausting work…I sure have!
Wasn't a shot at Ben...if it weren't for Ben, I'd never have known about married segments in this particular case. Like I said, the everyday user just isn't easily aware of the tricks.
Unfortunately plane tickets are limited in inventory, which means in so far as there’s more demand than supply, it will always either be easy to figure out (which means more people fighting for the available spots, hence hard to find), or less people figure out how to find the relevant tickets and there are more available spots for those that do know.
Tl;dr: there is no free lunch.
Ben, next time you travel to Korea, please try Seoul Station City Airport Terminal. I write this comment everytime you post about Korea. Please!!!! I don't want you to keep suffering from the ridiculously long waiting line for security check at ICN.
You can check-in and check your luggage at Seoul City Train Station, take AREX train to ICN, then clear security checkpoint dedicated to City Airport Terminal users, crews, diplomats and Passengers with reduced mobility.
This is the only way at ICN to clear security check in 5 minutes.
Not many foreigners know about this trick. Once you experience it, you can never check-in at ICN. This is as convenient as TSA Pre.
FYI:
https://www.airport.kr/ap_en/1420/subview.do
I agree, City Terminal works great for the lines, but there are some caveats. You have to arrive at least 30-40 minutes before your train because of the inconsistent lines(You also have to board immediately after check-in). Also to note is that hours are limited and that only Korean carriers plus LH are available.
Hello! You're right that the AREX is super convenient and saves a lot of time, but based on my countless journeys flying out of the airport I've never stood in security long enough to be annoyed. It usually takes around 5 minutes or shorter.
It could be that I'm always lucky, or maybe it's because I fly out of T2 all the time but I did use T1 last June flying Malaysia, and I was out of security in like 3 minutes.
But yeah, the AREX is definitely awesome if your hotel happens to be in that area(which I assume is the case for many foreigners, but not Ben since he will probably stay at the Park Hyatt or JW Marriott if staying downtown). Other than that, it usually takes the same or longer to go to Seoul Station than waiting for check in and security.
I really love the Mondrian Hotel in Seoul. Nice rooms, great breakfast and the best gym and pool in any hotel I have been to. No clue what a hip neighborhood is supposed to be. I have been traveling to Seoul for work for the last 30 years and never thought that any neighborhood is "hip".