After flying with Asiana Airlines recently in their business class, I feel compelled to share my experience. It wasn’t the best business class experience which was made worse by the stopover in Seoul, and I think the airline need to sort this issue out as it puts a dampener on the entire journey.
Flight Review:
Airline: Asiana Airlines
Route: Sydney (SYD) – London (LHR)
Flight: OZ602 and OZ521
Aircraft: 777-200ER and A350-900
Class: Business Class
Depart: 09:15 SYD
Arrive: 18:50 LHR
Duration: 42 hours
Krisflyer Miles Earned: 13,220
The journey did not get off to the best start as Sydney’s Star Alliance lounges are not great and in desperate need of a refresh. You can choose between the Air New Zealand lounge and Singapore Airlines’ Krisflyer lounge. I tested both out and neither were particularly good, but the Air NZ one was slightly better than the Krisflyer one.
Boarding was quick and easy, and the staff on this flight were gracious and very nice. They really could not do enough for us. Asiana’s business class offering is…how do I put this…beige. Very beige. It feels quite basic but is OK if you want business class on a budget as it’s so much cheaper than other Star Alliance airline’s business classes. I guess this is why it’s so much cheaper.
I was impressed with the food, and although the wine list is small, they’re actually very good and I enjoyed their house red. The entertainment system however is lacking, with very few ‘Blockbuster’ options (even worse than Singapore Airlines’, which has far less than the likes of Emirates and Cathay) and also very little in the way of music.
We finally landed in Seoul around 6pm, and then had to go to the transfer desk to be told which hotel we would be staying with. You must stop overnight in Seoul when flying from Sydney to London with Asiana as there are no other flight options, and Asiana advertise a 4 or 5 star hotel for business class passengers. Unfortunately this wasn’t actually the case, and I was offered either a random hotel in Seoul itself, or two hotels outside in Incheon.
The Seoul hotel was out of the question as soon as the staff told me the transfer shuttle wouldn’t be arriving for another hour and a half, so I was forced to choose between one of the Incheon hotels if I wanted to get to the hotel, check-in, have dinner, and get to sleep all within a reasonable time. Trying to decide between Best Western (I personally have never heard of a 4 or 5 star Best Western?) and Howard Johnson – which is joined up with Days Inn – was tricky.
I ended up choosing the Howard Johnson, and was disappointed when I arrived to see they had put me in the Days Inn section of the hotel. They also informed me that if I wanted to use any of the gym and pool facilities I would have to pay extra. Apparently it’s standard for them to put Asiana passengers in the Days Inn rooms, which is certainly not what Asiana is advertising to its business class passengers.
On the flight from Seoul Incheon to London Heathrow I was disappointed that I had to keep getting up for water. On a long-haul business class service you should not have to constantly ask for water. I also found that there wasn’t a lot of food offered on this leg.
Overall I found Asiana Airlines to be very disappointing and I would not fly with them again nor would I recommend them. Their business class is just not as good as others, it’s not worth the price despite them being much cheaper than other airlines. The long journey and downsides to the flight made the whole experience very tiring and it certainly wasn’t enjoyable in any way.
Let us know in the comments if you’ve flown with Asiana and what you think of them?
Read other flight reviews:
Flight Review: United Heathrow to Newark