My wife and I fly internationally at least once per year. We have flown on many different airlines. On our recent trip to Vietnam, we flew Korean Air from the United States to Vietnam with layovers in Korea both directions. We also took a couple of flights within Vietnam on Vietnamese Airlines. This is my opportunity to share my observations about Korean Airlines.
The flight from New York to Seoul, South Korea is the longest single flight we have ever taken. Our flight to China was close at thirteen hours. But the flight to Seoul was fourteen hours, twenty minutes. That is a lot of time on an airplane. When I booked our flight, we were six months out. As such, I had the opportunity to pick any seats in economy. With the help of seatguru.com, I was able to find the most leg room on the aircraft. I think it was seat 49D. There is no 48D. So you basically have two seat lengths in front of you.
That's what I call legroom!
The flight attendants were all young and mostly female. They were all exceptionally beautiful. And extremely attentive. The flight attendants were adept at handling passengers, getting people on and off the aircraft, handling special situations and actually serving the people in the cabin. On our flight on El Al, we didn't get near this type of service. The food was good, the seats as comfortable as it gets in economy class (which is to say, not comfortable).
One thing I liked about Korean Air is that they make everyone raise their seat forward when meals are served. The food was pretty good. And it is much easier to eat a meal when you don't have the seat in front of you jabbing your gut. The international flights include beer and wine with the meals. I happen to like bibimbap. That was served as our first meal. It wasn't nearly as good as restaurant food, but it was tasty for airplane food. I washed it down with a pleasant Korean beer.
Bibimbap and beer
The flight to Vietnam was on a smaller aircraft for a five hour flight. That aircraft wasn't quite as comfortable, but passable for the shorter flight. Of course, I didn't have the extra legroom, either. A couple other amenities I liked about Korean Air were the seatback entertainment at every seat. You can watch whatever movie you want. The selection was pretty good (this is becoming standard on most long distance flights). They also provide a small hygiene kit with toothpaste and toothbrush and paper slippers. On the fifteen hour flight, I needed to get up and walk around to get my circulation going. The aircraft is pretty big, so you can actually stretch your legs a bit. The crew did not seem to mind people doing this. One nice thing about the longer flight was the Duty Free Shop located at the back of the aircraft. I have never seen a full shop on an aircraft.
Duty Free Shop at the back of the airplane
I bought the tickets on Korean Air through a tour company. Because they were booked through a third party, the price was steeply discounted. We flew round trip to Vietnam for under $1,000 per ticket. I believe they were around $800. The flight was as comfortable as one could expect for economy class on a fifteen hour flight. It wasn't enjoyable, but it was tolerable. The staff was incredibly friendly, professional and service-oriented. The amenities were as modern as I have seen. The flight was uneventful and smooth. We didn't hit any crazy weather. If I have the opportunity to choose Korean Air again in the future, I will. This was one of the best experiences I have had on an international flight.
