Korean Air or Asiana Airlines?

[Firestorm]

I'm going to Pattaya in November and have narrowed down the choice of airlines to Korean Air and Asiana Airlines. I prefer to take the more comfortable airline of the two. Asiana Airlines is about $200 cheaper than Korean Air, but the Korean Air flight lands in Bangkok an hour earlier which gives me more time to party my first night in. Which airline would you recommend?

Edited May 7, 2011 by Firestorm

[Freeze]

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines.

 

I took Korean Air from Atlanta through Seoul to Bangkok during April, easy flight, have a cab waiting and a destination - no problem.

Tip the cabbi 300 baht and he'll love you for it.

[On Borrowed Time]

if you're tall, would be worthwhile checking out the legroom between seats.

 

Asiana is supposed to have pretty good legroom for us tall people. (but Korean not too bad either)

[wetwillie]

I use Asiana and have friends that go Korean. From what I can tell they are very comparable. Asiana's mileage program isn't all that great. As a matter of fact they screwed me out of making Diamond for a couple hundred miles. If you are getting a discounted ticket with them you only accrue @ 70% of actual miles + bonus miles depending on what level you are in. Cattle car is still cattle car I don't care how nice the airline is. Unless you're sitting in Business or First it is a miserable flight so I'd go with the cheaper one. Thats at least 6 ST's on the 6.

 

You can compare the two here.

http://www.seatguru....information.php

Edited May 7, 2011 by wetwillie

[Firestorm]

I use Asiana and have friends that go Korean. From what I can tell they are very comparable. Asiana's mileage program isn't all that great. As a matter of fact they screwed me out of making Diamond for a couple hundred miles. If you are getting a discounted ticket with them you only accrue @ 70% of actual miles + bonus miles depending on what level you are in. Cattle car is still cattle car I don't care how nice the airline is. Unless you're sitting in Business or First it is a miserable flight so I'd go with the cheaper one. Thats at least 6 ST's on the 6.

 

You can compare the two here.

http://www.seatguru....information.php

Thanks for the link it was very helpful comparing the two airlines. According to the stats, there is hardly a difference between the two, I think I'm going to save money and go with Asiana Airlines. Hopefully, I won't suffer from jet lag and the 10:10pm arrival gives me enough time to pick-up a girl in Pattaya for the night.

[On Borrowed Time]

Hopefully, I won't suffer from jet lag and the 10:10pm arrival gives me enough time to pick-up a girl in Pattaya for the night.

 

You'll be fine at that time. My flight always arrives in Bangkok around 11pm. I have a car waiting for me and the trip that time of night takes about an hour and 30 minutes. If immigration goes fast for you, which it will, as I find 10pm is pretty quiet, (11pm is busy as a lot of flights arrive between 10:45 and 11:30pm), then you'll probably arrive in Patts on midnight or just after. After a quick shower, you'll be ready to hit the gogos at 12:45, giving you a couple of hours to find your girl for the night.

[paulpatts]

You'll be fine at that time. My flight always arrives in Bangkok around 11pm. I have a car waiting for me and the trip that time of night takes about an hour and 30 minutes. If immigration goes fast for you, which it will, as I find 10pm is pretty quiet, (11pm is busy as a lot of flights arrive between 10:45 and 11:30pm), then you'll probably arrive in Patts on midnight or just after. After a quick shower, you'll be ready to hit the gogos at 12:45, giving you a couple of hours to find your girl for the night.

 

 

I have flown with both and can recommend Korean Air over Asiana Airlines

[Firestorm]

I have flown with both and can recommend Korean Air over Asiana Airlines

Thanks for the recommendation! What's the main reason or reasons that you like Korean Air over Asiana Airlines?

[PattayaFanatic]

Korean air review

 

http://www.pattaya-addicts.com/forum/topic/63843-review-of-korean-airlines/page__p__999560#entry999560

[Crash]

The flight attendants on Asiana tend to be younger and from a variety of other Asian countries. That's not to say the KAL staff are not hot - because they are!

[joe_momma]

I've flown Aisana twice (RT) - food is not super good (sorry - crappy Korean themed food is still crappy) - but the staff is pleasant and planes are comfortable (as one gets in coach). Still have to recommend EVA (from the west coast of the US) - better food, shorter layovers, and just a little smoother all around.

 

(Cannot recommend PAL - the 12 hour layover in Manila was terrible. The Japanese carriers rock, but terribly expensive flight fare wise and while in Japan.)

[ric]

I used to fly both Asiana & Korean Airlines from LAX to BKK, but their layover in Incheon was just too long for me. They are both great Airlines & received awesome service from cute flight attendants. I agree, all Asian airlines are great except PAL. I flew with PAL once & I was very disappointed because I was expecting good service for the price I paid. it was the worst Asian Airlines I ever flew because of the bad service and the flight attendan'ts not so great attitude. Maybe because I'm Filipino.

[Firestorm]

Well, I received good news & bad news today. First the good news, my boss finally approved the extra day off prior to my vacation, so I get to spend an extra day in Pattaya. Since there was no clear cut choice between Asiana & Korean Air, I decided to save the money and book my flight with Asiana Airlines. Now the bad news, I just found out that Asiana raised their price $100 today. I swear, I have the worst luck! My trip isn't until November, is there a good chance of the price dropping back down or should I just purchase my ticket immediately?

[Crash]

I would wait.

[wetwillie]

I am currently waiting for my Asiana conection in Korea. I rescind my reccomendation of Asiana. The last two flights I have taken with them have been Romper Room part 1 & 2. This trip had kids running up and down the aisles and screaming the whole flight. 14 hours of sheer hell. The little demons and their mom fell asleep for an hour or two and I came real close to banging into the back of their seats to wake them just to give them a taste of their own medicine. Calmer head prevailed, barely.

 

I am drowning the memory in the lounge right now and all will be forgotten by midnight after I hit town. lol

[Clayferd]

Korean Air has the most attractive stewardess', I swear they must have to go through a physical evaluation before they are offered the job. I can't vouch for Asiana Air though.

[jasonbalmer]

I've flown both and didn't see much difference. Yes, Asiana seemed to have younger flight attendants.

 

I thought Asiana treated me a little better at checkin (gave me lounge access simply because I was Star Alliance Gold even though I was on a cheap coach ticket)

 

Depending on your situation it may be worth noting that Asiana is in Star Alliance, KAL is not.

[Firestorm]

It's booked!!! I changed my mind today and picked Korean Air. When I checked the airfare today Asiana fare was $20 higher than the last time I checked while Korean Air's price dropped $10. So I decided the $70 difference was worth it to arrive in Bangkok a hour earlier, not to mention the shorter flight time. I did however run into a couple of concerns when booking my flight directly with Korean Air on their website. The first problem was Korean Air only allows 22 total characters for your first, middle, & last name, but says that you are required to use your full name exactly how it reads on your passport. Since I have a long name, I had no choice, but to use my middle initial instead my full middle name. Do you think this will cause a problem with TSA? The other concern was, that when I sent my payment, I noticed that their website wasn't secure. Of course I didn't realize this until I already hit the send button. Should I be worried?

[Crash]

As long as your surname is in there they are not too fussy about the rest. This is normal, many people can't get their whole name in.

 

Very surprising that the website is not secure though!

[Firestorm]

As long as your surname is in there they are not too fussy about the rest. This is normal, many people can't get their whole name in.

 

Very surprising that the website is not secure though!

That's a relief, one less thing I have to worry about. I was surprised too, I would've never expected a major airline not having a secure website. I usually check these things before I make a purchase over the internet, but failed to do so this time. I was shocked when I saw http instead of https and I paid for the ticket with my debit card, so I'm even more paranoid about it.

[kanoguy63]

bought an open end ticket from Asiana because they were cheaper and then had a nightmare of a time trying to get the return leg scheduled when it was time to come home because they had already been paid. I'll never use them again.

[mikea]

My experience on Korean Air was excellent. I flew from CHI and the service was great. There were comp drinks through out the trip. No salty service like Delta. I will always fly Korean to the far east.

[twistedmike]

Although I've never flown Asiana, I did just fly on Korean Air from Altanta, GA (USA) to Bangkok via Seoul but three days ago.

Aside from the tediousness which a 15 hour flight can contain, I must admit that the service was good and I was overall satisfied with the pricing at the time of purchase as well. The additional 5 hour flight from Seoul to Bangkok was likewise satisfactory, so I feel you made a wise choice given the alternatives.

 

Peace,

TM

[metter2009]

Both are top notch airlines. You will not be disappointed with either.

[philobert]

flown them both. asiana hands down, wins every time.

 

just my druthers if asked.

 

cheers

 

bert