Korean Air

After a 4 hour flight from Manila to Inchon and a 6 hour layover I boarded the plane to see my window seat taken by a family with children. They pointed to the child and not wanting to be inconsiderate I took their middle seat in another aisle. I told the hostess I wished a window seat. She said she would get back to me after boarding. Even after I was served a special dietary meal and explained this isn't my seat and I was still waiting for a window I was never moved or given an explanation. Last time I use this airline.

Flew BNE-ICN-LHR return in Economy class. Overall I was very impressed with this airline. Aircraft were modern comfortable and clean on all sectors. Cabin service was wonderful regular drink runs and food was tasty. Normally 3 dinner options which is a plus. Meals served with stainless steel cutlery and hot towels distributed before dinner which is fantastic. IFE had a wide selection and ICN is the best airport for transit. All flights on time and bags available promptly. I fly regularly and Korean Air is among the best in Economy class.

Paris CDG-Seoul-Sydney-Seoul all flights very nice. Great food attentive crew comfortable seats and good entertainment system. They even offer a hotel night on long layovers such as the one on the way back from Australia. Korean Air is definitely among the best airlines in Asia and an excellent for flying to Australia.

Incheon to Paris on 27 May 2013. Very old 744 with small seats and poor legroom. I thought KE had moved these ex Chinese Airlines aircraft's on. Cabin crew spoke little English and no French and went about their duties like robots. Will avoid if this is the best they can offer.

KE2708 747-400 Haneda to Gimpo. Business Class. A 2 hour flight where the standard of service for business class was very poor. The forward cabin has comfortable pod seats that offer comfort and I understand lie flat capabilities are organised in a 2-3-2 configuration. The cabin was not full and on boarding the greeting was friendly. A soft drink was offered pre-take off but then it was not until 40 minutes into the flight that any service was offered. Hot towels came and then the trolley served lunch. No pre-dinner drinks no alcohol of any sort on the trolley and when I asked for a wine I was told only red wine was available one type in 375 ml bottles. Drinkable but not memorable. Replenishment was on demand. Compared to subsequent regional flights of less time on MH and SQ (the latter outstanding) Korean Air business class falls well below an acceptable standard. I would not risk a long flight with them in case it was the same. A 3 hour flight a few days later was little better.

ICN-HKG KE613 A330-300 Business class. Having experienced a very poor flight with Korean a few days earlier I hoped that the longer sector would enable KE to lift their business class service. It was better in this 3 hour flight but well below other regional airlines charging similar fares. The 330 was relatively new and the pod seats set in a 2-2-2 configuration. The seats seem the same as the 747-400 and appear quite acceptable. Pre takeoff soft drinks only followed more quickly this time by hot towels after takeoff. The crew again were polite and courteous in greeting and approaching you as a valued passenger. When asked for our pre-lunch drinks and eating choices the Champagne listed on the wine list was "not carried on this flight". Hardly a "normal" business class. Wines were served from a bottle this time and there was a choice of white and red and spirits if required. Inflight entertainment was broad and acceptable. However this flight proved to my satisfaction after my earlier shorted flight that KE is at best a 3 star airline in its business class and that unless its fares are lower I would chose a different carrier. 2 years ago on an Asiana flight from Shanghai to Taipei the latter's standard were far superior.

BNE-ICN-LGW then PRG-ICN-BNE return. I didn't actually get to fly the LGW leg as the flight was cancelled and Korean put me on Qantas to LHR via SIN (which was a much more expensive fare) at no cost to me. Return flight PRG-ICH was in a B747 no problems whatsoever. Then nearly 36 hours layover at the Park Hyatt Incheon (fantastic) and the the ICH-BNE leg was on a new plane. Extra pitch on both planes was really appreciated and cabin crew could not do enough to look after passengers. Entertainment was great. Am returning to London in June and am flying Korean again.

Customer Service is a 0. Two weeks ahead of a long planned trip they made a schedule change that only gave us 45 minutes in Seoul to make our connection to Bali. This not being allowed by them they wanted to put us on a much later flight that would have caused us to miss a day in Bali. After 3 days (9 hours documented) with the agent and Korean Air they basically would not move our tickets up because they would have to upgrade a 50 minute flight segment to first class because there was only one economy seat left. They take the requirement literally that all they have to do is put you on the next available flight with no consideration for your needs. We had to take a refund pay $700 more and we are not even sure we are on the same flight because they advertised two flights at almost the same time on the same plane. Having traveled I have never been treated so poorly.

Consistent friendly and efficient service. Crew are very pleasant always smiling. Cutlery provided in economy class is stainless steel a big departure from plastic usually provided by many airlines.

BKK-ICN vv on refreshing and kept-clean 777 cabins. Seats are fairly comfortable however a bit rugged for medium haul flights. Crews seemed courteous and attentive but needed for requests thrice for a cup of water missing from catering (and twice and the other leg). Crew English proficiency needs improvement. Food was fine. Incheon outbound departed 40 min late in accusation of a missing passenger and congested traffic. To sum up hard products are fine and consistent service improvement is needed however.