Seoul Incheon Airport

✅ Trip Verified | Eat/drink before coming to this airport during non-peak hours. Arrived at around 9pm on a Sunday for a midnight departure. Check-in and security was not too bad at this time of day but I have recently experienced worse waits so increase your level of generosity for longer security queues. However, the worst part of ICN is in the airside where there is absolutely nothing for passengers at non-peak hours. Due to security checkpoints you would not be able to bring anything to drink into the airside and suddenly you cannot find anything at all, leaving you unable to eat/drink until you board your flight (there are a tiny Starbucks and a Dunkin Donuts with unending lines for desperate passengers for something to eat/drink, but you would have to make 20-minute round trip walks from your gate just to be in line for a cup of coffee if your gate is far away from these two shops). Shopping is appalling as only one or two duty-free shops are open past 10pm and people have to line up to be admitted to the stores as very limited staff manages the store during this time. There are plenty of luxury brand outlets but do not even bother as they are all closed, leaving a grand hallway with nothing open for you on the side. Sorry to see that my home airport is slipping in terms of everything.

Not Verified | (Terminal 2) This has got to be the most boring airport ever. All luxury brands and nowhere to buy reasonably priced last minute gifts or souvenirs - or anything really. Food options are scarce. Can't even find any snacks! On the plus side, toilets are clean.

✅ Trip Verified | ery quiet, clean and calm. Simply but beautifully designed. I found the staff here quite friendly. Free wifi is excruciatingly slow. Food choices extremely limited. You know it's poor when Starbucks starts looking good. There's a noodle place that's great if you like clams, because every item has clams. The non-Starbucks coffee place has an ordering screen in Korean only; if you don't know Korean you join a long "quick order" line. Why this in an international airport? An 8-hour layover here is not something I want to do again.

Not Verified | Terrible untrained staff make security a nightmare. Everyone is on their own routine and they get in each other's way and contradict each other constantly. They have no idea what is approved and what is not. Many rescans with no problems found. Total time waiting joke of security. While the terminal has lots of needless luxury brands, good luck finding bottled water. It's all image with no substance. Terrible airport.

Not Verified | Beautiful airport! Well designed and laid out with good accessibility. But an airport is only as good as its screening points IMO and in that department Incheon sucks big time. Poorly trained staff cause unnecessary delays with long line ups a result. Common sense is in short supply with these folks. The scanner operator continually lost track of bags and their associated images requiring rescanning. The group was disorganized and acted unprofessionally. They confiscated a set of nail clippers purposely designed to meet ICAO standards for length of blade. These folks treated it as though it was a sword! Tried to convince the vacuous looking supervisor that I had just come from 3 other airports within 22 hours that had accepted the device as safe for transport in the cabin. No luck. I was tempted to point out I could do more damage with my ballpoint pen in my pocket which passed inspection than I could with my nail clippers but - no luck. Moral of the story either pack things like this in your checked baggage or avoid going through Incheon which would be a pity. Maybe some day they will train the scanners how to do their jobs with a smattering of common sense thrown in.

Not Verified | Terrible for people with dietary restrictions. I had a 22hr layover at Incheon but the only vegetarian/vegan food I was able to find was a small pot of fruit and bag on nuts from Starbucks. I was absolutely starving by the time I boarded my 2nd flight. I asked the help desk if there was anywhere with vegetarian options and she just said very bluntly, "No, this is an Asian country". I understand that vegetarianism is not big in South Korea, but there are millions of vegetarians and vegans in Asia. It's shocking that a huge international airport like Incheon would have zero options catering to them in 2022. There's also no convenience stores where you can buy a bottle of water, snacks or travel essentials like plug adapters. It's all just luxury goods, liquor and makeup shops. It really feels like they've put all their effort into giving the impression that it's a nice fancy airport, but put zero thought into the actual needs of travelers.

✅ Trip Verified | You can’t even buy bottled water. My arrival to ICN was speedy with a warm welcome. However, when it was time for me to leave two weeks later, I had a less than positive experience. Security was quick and easy, but after security I struggled to find the most basic facilities here. They have the same three restaurants dotted around the terminal, a pho place, a stew place and a pork cutlet restaurant. Apart from that there are a few dunkin donuts, but that’s it in terms of food. There are no convenience stores and I had to search the whole terminal for an hour and a half to find one place that sold bottled water (yes, one shop in the whole terminal sells water). As for snacks, don’t bother unless you want a 20 pack of luxury biscuits. This place sorely needs a 7-11 or at least some vending machines. The shops also only advertise their prices in USD for some reason, and not KRW, which makes things confusing, especially if you don’t know the exchange rate between the two until you go to pay. The other reviews of this airport are correct in that unless you want to shop for luxury goods, there is nothing to do here. It’s really disappointing, especially for an Asian country, as they usually have great airports, and it’s a shame that a city like Seoul that has everything, is serviced by an airport that has nothing.

✅ Trip Verified | I am an amputee, above the knee, and carry a small allen wrench for the various screws on my prosthetic leg. The security detail at screening took due to "being too long". This is nuts. Fly all over and this is a safety concern to me now without what I need to adjust my leg if needed. Watch out if you are coming here. This is neither wise or making things safer! Where does the madness end?

Not Verified | Agreeing with another reviewer who said you cannot find needed items for travel, here. They are more concerned with looking world-class than providing a comfortable experience. I forgot my hat, and hoped to pick up a souvenir hat. No, those nicknack travel souvenirs they once sold are now gone. Replaced by more and more Gucci, Prada, MCM, overpriced alcohol, etc. This airport was much better 10 years ago. Now it is just superficial and a long, uncomfortable walk past stores that make you feel depressed because you'd never bother to buy anything there.

Not Verified | Everyone there was super friendly and nice. I had a lot of difficulties with my quarantine housing and they all did their best to help me every step of the way. Staff stayed with me for 3 hours trying to resolve my problem any way he could! It was much appreciated and I don’t think I would have figured anything out without him.