Did three Korean Air flights over a two week trip and came away with mixed feelings.
Status recognition was actually nice. Crew acknowledged my Platinum status on two of the three flights, which doesn’t happen that often and was appreciated.
SkyPriority worked perfectly. Check in was smooth and bags came out first every time.
Hardware was rough. All three aircraft felt old. Only one had seat power, only one had IFE and it was very dated, and none had WiFi.
Lounges were the biggest letdown. In Seoul we only get access to the standard business class lounge, which is fine but nothing special. Narita was comfortable but food was weak. Jeju was honestly terrible and shouldn’t even be called a lounge.
Cabin crews were excellent across the board. Professional, polished, and clearly well trained. Easily the highlight of flying KAL.
Overall this trip reinforced for me that oneworld is still the strongest alliance in Asia for top tier status. Emerald access to JAL, Cathay, and Qantas first class lounges is on a completely different level compared to SkyTeam or Star, where even top status doesn’t get you into the best lounges.
0