Hello everyone and welcome back to another flight review. Today I'll be sharing a quick hop from Seoul Incheon to Beijing Capital aboard KE's A330. Although the flight lasted a short 1 hour 40 minutes, I thought I'd share my experience on a very positive (and classic Intra Asia) flight. There was a little misfortune but it had nothing to do with the airline or flight experience, but I'll add it in just as a heads up for anyone leaving from ICN. Let's get into it!
Today's flight departs from ICN Terminal 2, where Korean (and now Asiana) both fly out of. In case in end up at the wrong terminal, there's a free 20 minute shuttle bus service, you'll be in good hands. Quite a bit of traffic today being the end of a public holiday (May 5th children's day, I believe), taking around 90 minutes via uber from Gangnam.
The massive T2 checkin-halls feel extremely modern, spacious, and clean. We later learned almost all the traffic huddled around tax refund, which is a complete side quest I'll get to. Korean desks range from A-D, wich A being for prestige/first class and the others ranging from economy to bag drop/kiosks/ticketing etc. You'll likely need to visit a checkin counter despite the KE staff suggesting a kiosk, which didn't work for me
Here's the side quest: tax refund. Having done this in Europe, the process takes 5-10 minutes max. It only involves showing your receipts at a kiosk nd that's all. At ICN it's an entire different story (this was our first time, so lack of knowledge and confusion did play a part): First we had to line up for around 30 minutes at these kiosks to be told some items required manual customs checks. The customs told us we needed to checkin and receive boarding passes before they could inspect, which meant running over to the A desks and back here where the kiosks were located at the F desks which itself was a 20 minute walk.
Quick detour from our side quest, over to KE's premium A checkin area. I forgot to get a picture but this area was encompassed in a small separate structure and therefore blocks itself off from the terminal, a nice premium touch. There was no wait as over 10 checkin desks/agents were available.
Since the two of us booked the final two seats on the flight, we weren't sat together. Demand for today's flight was high as we booked nearly three months ahead. The agent offered access to any of the FIVE prestige lounges, the one nearest to our gate being the newly renovated (and one I highly anticipated). At the time, still with over two hours until boarding, I thought we'd have more than enough time to visit….
The premium checkin area.
The premium checkin's exit sends you right back into the main terminal, unfortunately no expedited/priority security check. Over on the very right side was the First Class exclusive gate, which I'm assuming would take you through private security.
Back now on the continuation of our side quest. With the boarding passes in hand, we returned to the customs officer and she inspected our goods and allowed us through security (which was a breeze).
inside, we were instructed to gate 225 to finalize our papers at the kiosk. only to be told we needed to first pick everything up around gate 249 AND visit another agent before then returning back to gate 225 to receive the tax return. Walking between the gates took 10 minutes but the line for the agent stretched over 100 people. Luckily we were able to skip the line since we finalized inspection before customs, but still needed to wait around 10 minutes solely due to a lady insisting to cut (which was literally only 2 people in our line) and essentially begging the agent to do hers first since boarding for her was at 19:10 and it was 19:08. Perhaps next time you could consider arriving earlier:/
My hope and belief of making the newly refurbished lounge dwindled with every extra step and every line cutter. I usually spend some time at a lounge before doing the pre-flight ritual of coffee+plane spotting, sadly it wasn't to be. I've heard wonderful things about the new KE lounge, hopefully I'll get a chance to review it next time.
Unfortunately, we needed to get to our gate as boarding began. I managed a quick tarmac shot of this new KE livery with the gorgeous Seoul sunset beyond.
To my delight, we too had a newly painted livery today, long overdue for our 25 year old bird.
Stepping on board, we were greeted by the crew and I mentioned planning to ask whomever would arrive beside my girlfriend if they minded swapping, but was told it was likely to be a family with a baby. I didn't want to ask the gentleman to my left since he had a window seat and both of us were in the aisle, but after mentioning there's absolutely no pressure and I just thought I'd (I even added that if I were him I definitely wouldn't swap) ask he was incredibly kind and insisted it was completely fine.
As we reunited, lets truly begin the actual flight review.
Being 25 years old, our bird was well and truly showing its age. What hasn't fallen off is the incredible leg space. Slippers were left in the forward seat pockets, and a pillow on the seat.
Fleece blankets were avialable upon request, fully stocked for such a short flight.
Apologies for the mess along the seat center. A small lamp is provided for each passenger along with charging ports in the center both near the armest and lower down near the life jackets.
Speak of antique, check out these reclining buttons.
Four windows, likely more than many long haul F products.
Dinner was on the agenda tonight, and menu cards were handed out. An extremely extensive drink menu on offer.
For dinner, there was a Korean and Western option, also an expedited meal if interested.
A week or so before the flight, we received an email with the option to pre-order. These were the options on offer. Keep in mind, the top two were offered on the menu card in flight.
Another blast from the past were these controllers, which were more responsive than expected. Given the short flight, I didn't end up using the IFE, there was also no WiFi available.
These headphones also went unused. I do like the branding.
The slippers were so comfy my girlfriend nearly reached the jetbridge upon arrival before realizing she forgot to change back:)
As boarding completed, the safety video began to play as the crew conducted final safety checks. A quick word on the three lovely ladies working the J cabin, all were incredible. Some more on them later.
After a short taxi, we blasted off at 19:55. 5 minutes ahead of schedule. An incredibly smooth takeoff, a stark contrast to what felt dangerously bumpy on a KE dreamliner I took earlier this year.
With less than an hour of flight time (excluding the time ascending and descending), the crew jumped into service with wet towels. I'm unsure what KE does to these but they have a scent to herbal medicine, not too strong to feel unpleasant but enough to remind you they probably are infused with magical healing powers.
We ordered one of each meal option. I opted for the Spicy beef bulgogi and she took the Seafood Gnocci.
Having eaten nothing but Korean food for nearly a week, I was ready to give it a break. But this was really tasty. The soup was the highlight, a classic Korean fermented spicy bean soup. The side dishes (other than the kimchi) could have used more seasoning, but overall a wonderul meal.
Her Western dish came with a choice from the bread baset and a salad. There was a lot of seafood embedded here, three scallops. three or four pieces of fish/squid, and a few shrimp. Very generous. I personally wasn't a huge fan of the strong tomato sauce, but she seemed to like it.
A glass of Glenfiddich on the rocks
Some fresh fruit was offered shortly after the meals were presented.
An area where the crew truly shined was when both of us inquired of some refills. The soup was so incredible I kindly asked if there were any more, and the same for her and the salad. We were a bit embarrassed when asking especially since the entire J cabin had finished eating by then, but the crew insisted there was no need to be shy and gladly agreed to both.
Speaking of the soup, KE always offers some sort of Korean soup with the Korean option. Although there may be instances where the Western choice is more desirable, I think I'll always stick to the Korean option for the soup alone. Previously, they stuck with a less saltier/spicy bone broth which was equally wonderful.
Her salad was immediately brought over and informed me my soup needed a few minutes to rehead. Incredible hopsitality!
While waiting for my soup, the crew returned with a small tube of Gochujang, a spicy sauce often used to mix bibimbap. and suggested we include it with our meal. Upon noticing we had finished off most of the rice, they instead insisted to bring it home to try next time we eat Korean cuisine. Again, wonderful crew.
My soup then came, piping hot. As good, or even better than the first bowl.
I must admit it felt quite funny being the only ones still eating ;). We eventually had to wrap things up as the PA announced descent beginning in a few minutes.
I took the time to do a quick loo visit, both availaible at the front and rear of the J cabin.
I was wonderfully surprised to see a plehora of amenities available for such a short flight. Namely, I had never before seen razors free on offer in a plane lavatory.
I did a quick shave before heading back!
A final note on the great crew today. As we still had multiple glasses from dinner, the crew suggested offering up some paper cups for descent. Furthermore, my girlfriend was infatuated with the Guava juice and the crew offered her another. Unfortunately, she apologized that its policy the can must be opened when offering it to passengers, so we couldn't bring it home. Nonetheless, incredibly enthusiastic crew going above and beyond.
We landed at PEK Terminal 2 a whipping 35 minutes ahead of schedule. T2 houses nearly all of the SkyTeam alliance, including Air France, Vietnam Airlines, KLM, and most of China Eastern's operations. It's also the primary hub of Hainan airlines featuring all its domestic and international journeys. I generally much prefer T2 to T3 mainly due to the far lower passenger traffic and not having to take T3's infamous tram.
We passed by the daily AF flight set for CDG, actually my first time spotting AF here at PEK.
