Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

05-15-2009 11:12

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/05/119_44951.html
Korea's 2 Major Airlines to Hike Int�l Fares

Korea's top two airlines said Friday they will jack up airfares for international flights in June to make up for rising costs and prop up tumbling earnings.

Top carrier Korean Air Lines Co. said it will increase passenger fares for routes to the United States by 10 percent, while planning a 5-percent raise for flights to destinations in Europe.

Asiana Airlines Inc. said it will bump up fares for U.S.-bound flights by 10-15 percent, with a 5-10 percent hike scheduled for flights to Europe.

The two carriers had frozen international airfares for more than two years.

[wylies99]

But, based on the exchange rate, the actual prices will be MUCH higher, OR the prices, based on the prices two years ago, were MUCH TOO HIGH, to begin with. .

[crossmr]

I think they're already jacked up..
55 minute flight to busan, $198 CAD
80 minute flight to Fukuoka $387 that's a damn expensive 25 minutes.

[Ilsanman]

Everything here is a rip-off.

[thurst]

air travel in general is a ripoff, i remember back in teh day it was like $400 to go from jackson, ms to atlanta, ga...60 min flight.

train >>> plane, if there's an available route.

[bogey666]

[Robot_Teacher]

Korea is an exception since it operates in a vacuum. While flights are totally on sale worldwide, especially in the West, Korea is rocketing up. I can see how it's playing out due to economic protectionism. Korea's main focus is take in money even if the world is on sale like the way it is right now due to global economic downturn in these changing times. This is Korea's golden age.

[Unposter]

There are usually alternative airlines to choose from on most international flights. And, as someone else said, airline prices have actually gone down since the economic downturn.

The only people who have to take KAL and I guess Asiana are mono-lingual Koreans and buy-Korean only consumers. For many international flights KAL is generally more expensive than other airline. I assume it is because they have a fairly guaranteed market. For example, my brother-in-law who lives in America wanted to fly his in-laws from Korea to the U.S. He ended up paying more to KAL because his in-laws cannot understand and speak English (They are really old) and needed some special assistance. These are the types of people who have to fly KAL regardless of price.

It is a little bit like those stupid "foreign-only" taxis in reverse. If you do not know how to get around in a non-Korean environment, you better take KAL and a Korean tour guide.

It is yet another good reason to learn English.

Much of the "rip offs" in Korea would be eliminated by improved information flows that would come through international sources. Of course not all, as Korea has more than its fair share of protectionism, too. But, I think if Koreans were more aware of prices and values outside of Korea, you would see a change in pricing.

Another factor you need to consider is that Korea is still considered a "savings society." As long as Koreans regularly save money, they are going to be able to pay higher prices such as when things go from 1800 won to 2800 won. In non-saving economies such as the U.S., people would have to make harder choices because if they pay that much more for that product they would have less to spend on other things. In Korea, it generally means that you save less.

I believe that in the end, "saving economies" will prove to be too inflationary to remain and eventually prices will outstrip savings. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to "save" is to have government programs or financial instruments which cannot be touched for any reason until retirement (or alternatively in case of extended job loss) because if we let that money go back into the economy too easily, it will only cause inflation.

I think Korea will pay dearly for having saved cash.

[Unposter]

There are usually alternative airlines to choose from on most international flights. And, as someone else said, airline prices have actually gone down since the economic downturn.

The only people who have to take KAL and I guess Asiana are mono-lingual Koreans and buy-Korean only consumers. For many international flights KAL is generally more expensive than other airline. I assume it is because they have a fairly guaranteed market. For example, my brother-in-law who lives in America wanted to fly his in-laws from Korea to the U.S. He ended up paying more to KAL because his in-laws cannot understand and speak English (They are really old) and needed some special assistance. These are the types of people who have to fly KAL regardless of price.

It is a little bit like those stupid "foreign-only" taxis in reverse. If you do not know how to get around in a non-Korean environment, you better take KAL and a Korean tour guide.

It is yet another good reason to learn English.

Much of the "rip offs" in Korea would be eliminated by improved information flows that would come through international sources. Of course not all, as Korea has more than its fair share of protectionism, too. But, I think if Koreans were more aware of prices and values outside of Korea, you would see a change in pricing.

Another factor you need to consider is that Korea is still considered a "savings society." As long as Koreans regularly save money, they are going to be able to pay higher prices such as when things go from 1800 won to 2800 won. In non-saving economies such as the U.S., people would have to make harder choices because if they pay that much more for that product they would have less to spend on other things. In Korea, it generally means that you save less.

I believe that in the end, "saving economies" will prove to be too inflationary to remain and eventually prices will outstrip savings. I have come to the conclusion that the best way to "save" is to have government programs or financial instruments which cannot be touched for any reason until retirement (or alternatively in case of extended job loss) because if we let that money go back into the economy too easily, it will only cause inflation.

I think Koreans will pay dearly for having saved cash (as it permeated all levels of society). If some people save money in the U.S., it does not have the same impact as a society full of savers.

Value is created by having something that others want.

I think this was also part of the problem and the illusion of investing in the stock market. A lot of people were arguing and many more people were believing that it was near guaranteed wealth building. I remember reading many articles about how being a millionaire was a matter of choice - you just had to have the discipline to save a certain amount of money and invest it long term (with compounded interest) and when you retire, you will have all this money.

Great. Unless everyone does it. If everyone has that kind of money, inflation would go through the roof and all that money you saved wouldn't be worth much. It could make your quality of life worse not better. But, I don't think we will have to worry about that in the U.S. We may have to worry about that in Korea - unless inflation or the economic bubbles consume it all first.

[andz22]

I've been looking for flights back to ICN from LHR and each of the korean airlines are quite a rip off, I mean Asiana quoted me around �1,039 (for an economy seat) whilst korean air quoted me �799.

I may instead choose to fly finnair which have prices of around �470, or better still Turkish airlines who currently have a deal on from london heathrow, manchester and birmingham, I know flights from LHR-IST-ICN return cost �352

so in general I won't fly with either of the korean based airlines outside of korea, plus asiana has a messed up website! but thats just my thoughts

[GoldMember]

Years ago flew a few times from Busan to Osaka. Paid 250,000 won for a 40 minute flight. Only about a dozen people on the plane.
Do short haul flights with AirAsia, or Tiger Air, and pay like $100 for a round trip and the plane is nearly full. Wonder who is making more money?

[b-class rambler]

[rkc76sf]

Ten years ago I paid about $800 for a flight to Atlanta, two years ago I paid $1500, and just last week I paid $750, so the price actually went down alot, thanks to the economy and dropping gas prices.

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]

[Mr. BlackCat]

Not everything is a rip-off here, but the airlines certainly are. I've never seen a good, or even acceptable, price from Korean Air or Asiana. Often times Air Canada, JAL or one of the American ones will offer the route at half the price. Like another poster said, I believe it is because they have a captive audience. I teach advanced Korean adults, many of whom have travelled pretty extensively. When talking about airlines they told me that they would never even consider taking anyting but Korean Air or Asiana if given the option (they have flown others, but only within Europe or other countries). They even admitted that if the Korean Air flight was too expensive they would rather stay home than go with another airline. I think it's a mix of nationalism, lack of information and fear of the unknown. I showed them online how much they were really losing on each flight and most of them were just shocked, even outraged.

Korean Air and Asiana both offer pretty good service (though Asiana screwed me over the one time I flew with them), but I don't think it's worth $500-$1000 more. And most other Asian airlines have similar or, in my experience, better service! I'd gladly take Singapore Air with a layover, and I've heard Cathay Pacific is the same.

When I tell my co-teacher how much I pay for a flight home with another airline, or how much it is to fly within North America, she literally doesn't believe me. I had to show her online. Now she's a bit more critical of the prices she's offered here. I did my part educating Korean consumers!