Introduction: A Quick Trip To Japan & Korea

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.

This wasn’t anywhere close to the wildest review trip I’ve taken, and by my standards it was even kind of tame. I flew a total of six segments, and covered just over 16,000 miles.

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In this series you can expect flight reviews of Alaska’s 737 MAX 9 first class, Korean Air’s 787-10 business class, Korean Air’s A321neo business class, Japan Airlines’ A350-900 first class, and Japan Airlines’ A350-1000 business class. There will also be reviews of several lounges, plus some hotel reviews.

In this post I’ll outline all the basics of the trip, and then I’ll publish the entire trip report series in the coming days and weeks.

Why I took this trip

This was a pure review trip, plain and simple. That’s to say that I took this trip exclusively to be able to review certain premium airline products, all while being away from home for as little time as possible. My motivation for taking this trip was pretty straightforward, as there were two new business class products in Asia that I really wanted to review:

• Japan Airlines is the launch customer of the new Safran Unity business class seat, and offers this on newly delivered Airbus A350-1000s
• Korean Air recently started installing the Collins Aerospace Horizon business class seat, and offers this on newly delivered Boeing 787-10s

I decided to just book a quick trip to Asia and back, given that I found good award availability.

The airlines I flew on this trip

I booked this itinerary as three separate tickets, so let me share the details of the tickets in the chronological order that I traveled.

To kick off the trip, I flew Alaska’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 first class from Fort Lauderdale to Seattle to Vancouver, in order to position for the rest of my trip. I found a reasonably priced first class fare, so booked the following for $674.98 (I credited the flight to American AAdvantage, to earn Loyalty Points):

10/05 AS517 Fort Lauderdale to Seattle departing 10:15AM arriving 1:59PM
10/05 AS1305 Seattle to Vancouver departing 2:59PM arriving 3:59PM

Next up, I flew Korean Air’s Boeing 787-10 business class and Airbus A321neo business class from Vancouver to Seoul Incheon to Sapporo. I booked this using Korean Air SkyPass miles, as I still have a sizable balance of those miles from back in the day, when the program partnered with Chase Ultimate Rewards.

I booked the following for 62,500 Korean Air SkyPass miles plus $308.10 in taxes & fees:

10/06 KE72 Vancouver to Seoul Incheon departing 2:30PM arriving 5:50PM (+1 day)
10/08 KE769 Seoul Incheon to Sapporo departing 12:35PM arriving 3:20PM

Lastly, I flew Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-900 first class and Japan Airlines’ Airbus A350-1000 business class 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.

I booked the following for 60,000 American AAdvantage miles plus $45.41 in taxes & fees:

10/08 JL526 Sapporo to Tokyo Haneda departing 8:05PM arriving 9:45PM
10/09 JL6 Tokyo Haneda to New York departing 11:05AM arriving 11:00AM

I’ll be ending the review with the transpacific flight, as I had some domestic travel I had to do upon returning to the United States, before going back home to Miami.

You might be wondering why I flew to Sapporo, since that’s a random turnaround point on a transpacific trip, since I didn’t stay there for more than several hours. There were a few reasons for this:

• Japan Airlines uses married segment logic for award availability, and there was only business class award availability on the flight from Tokyo to New York if I was connecting from Sapporo
• Korean Air flies its A321neos to Sapporo, which worked out great, since that is also a new aircraft for the airline, allowing me another fun review
• I’ve long wanted to fly Japan Airlines’ A350-900s, which are the carrier’s dedicated domestic aircraft, totally different than what you’d find on international flights

In addition to flight reviews, you can expect reviews of the following lounges:

• The SkyTeam Lounge Vancouver (YVR)
• The Korean Air Prestige Business Lounge Seoul Incheon (ICN)
• The Japan Airlines Diamond Premier Lounge Sapporo (CTS)
• The Japan Airlines Business Lounge Tokyo Haneda (HND)
• The Japan Airlines Sakura Sky View Lounge Tokyo Haneda (HND)

The hotels I stayed at on this trip

On these review trips, I spend most of my time in the air, and not in hotels. On this trip I had overnight(ish) stays in Vancouver, Seoul Incheon, and Tokyo Haneda.

In Vancouver, I decided to stay at the Fairmont Vancouver Airport. This is a convenient airport hotel, as it’s connected directly to the terminal. Not only that, but the property is legitimately nice, and I’m happy I had the opportunity to once again review a Fairmont property, since I don’t get to stay at many Accor hotels.

I then had a quick overnight at Incheon Airport, and decided to stay at the Grand Hyatt Incheon, which is quite convenient. This is a solid hotel, with a unique club lounge setup that I look forward to writing about.

Last (and also least), I had an overnight at Tokyo Haneda Airport. Last time I had an overnight at Haneda Airport, I stayed at the Hotel Villa Fontaine, which is the mega-hotel connected to the terminal. I’m always looking to review something new, so this time I decided to stay at the First Cabin Haneda, which is a cabin hotel. As much as I love Japan, I quickly learned that this concept isn’t for me, and it was a very short night. 😉

Bottom line

I had a fast but great trip to Korea and Japan, as I was able to check out two of Asia’s newest business class products — one exceeded my expectations, while the other left a bit to be desired. I’ll also have a review of Alaska first class, plus of several lounges and a few hotels.

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!