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mikesaidyes
Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Location: Sanbon, South Korea
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 Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:42 pm Post subject: Your Opinion: Why Is Korean Air SO EXPENSIVE? (And More) |
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I'm dying to know. Is there ANY real reason? That whole "quality" thing Koreans rave about?
I have a small accruement of SkyMiles (22k) and am dangerously close to a free ticket. I'm trying to stay in SkyTeam and with Korean you get 100% of the miles. China Southern and Eastern and Air China are only like 40%.
So I'm torn. Do I pony up $200 more than other carriers (Asiana) for the Miles?
In theory, the "free flight" I'll get in the future would be valued at like $200-300 anyway so the math works.
OR do I just join SkyTeam (I'm already with Continental from YEARS ago but only have like 100 miles leftover) and fly Asiana since I may very well be flying them home next year?!
Thank you for letting me nerd out. As this is a travel forum, I hope my fellow travel nerds will offer valid opinion hahaa. Spare me any douchey comments, please. |
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mikesaidyes
Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Location: Sanbon, South Korea
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| Posted: Sat Oct 22, 2011 10:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Also, I'm planning on Beijing during winter break. I'm guessing the holiday is why it's expensive? Fly out on Christmas Eve, return NYE. |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:04 am Post subject: Re: Your Opinion: Why Is Korean Air SO EXPENSIVE? (And More) |
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| mikesaidyes wrote: |
I'm dying to know. Is there ANY real reason? That whole "quality" thing Koreans rave about?
I have a small accruement of SkyMiles (22k) and am dangerously close to a free ticket. I'm trying to stay in SkyTeam and with Korean you get 100% of the miles. China Southern and Eastern and Air China are only like 40%.
So I'm torn. Do I pony up $200 more than other carriers (Asiana) for the Miles?
In theory, the "free flight" I'll get in the future would be valued at like $200-300 anyway so the math works.
OR do I just join SkyTeam (I'm already with Continental from YEARS ago but only have like 100 miles leftover) and fly Asiana since I may very well be flying them home next year?!
Thank you for letting me nerd out. As this is a travel forum, I hope my fellow travel nerds will offer valid opinion hahaa. Spare me any douchey comments, please. |
the award flight could be valued at more than 200-300. hell, i had to pay around 174usd on my "free" ticket that i just got via korean air but the flight would have cost me close to 800usd so i'm not complaining.
if you are a hypermiler and travel alot do NOT use korean air at first. they have the most insane frequent flyer program in the entire industry by a country mile. first put your miles into a delta frequent flyer account until you get skyteam elite status and then start a korean air account.
if you are just a standard travler then just keep piling your miles into the korean air account and don't stray.
having been on most major airline carriers, it's in my opinion and the industry in general that korean air and asiana along with a few other asian airlines are an order of magnitude better than the rest of the industry. i gladly pay the premium to fly kal or asiana on long hauls as their service is unbeatable. |
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mikesaidyes
Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Location: Sanbon, South Korea
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:18 am Post subject: |
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| Honestly, for the china trip I'm gonna save the $300 difference and just fly China Southern. It's only 1,000 Miles RT which is nothing in the scheme of things as far as miles go. For Bangkok in January, definitely Korean Air. |
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wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:49 am Post subject: |
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| mikesaidyes wrote: |
| Honestly, for the china trip I'm gonna save the $300 difference and just fly China Southern. It's only 1,000 Miles RT which is nothing in the scheme of things as far as miles go. For Bangkok in January, definitely Korean Air. |
for short haul flights (anything under 6 hours) the value proposition versus benefits of taking an expensive flight just to stay with a certain carrier goes down drastically. if i were you i'd also fly china southern to china. i fact i am going to beijing in january and will also most likely be taking china southern.
as for bangkok it's debatable but one of the low-cost carriers such as cebu pacific or air asia could be a good choice for the standard traveler. however for a hypermiler we don't get mileage, boarding priority or lounge access on those airlines which makes it absolutely not worth it. plus the seat selection, trying to find promo seats and nickel and dimeing piss me off to no end and i just can't be bothered with it.
it all really does depend on what type of flyer you are and how much flying you plan on doing. for example i got a flight on kal to phuket for next week and bought a ticket for a friend at the same time, but seeing how they do not travel often i got theirs on air asia because it was cheaper and because they are coming from another country. |
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sugarloaf82
Joined: 21 Dec 2008
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| Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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| If you really want to build up some Delta/SkyTeam miles you should sign up for a Delta Skypass AmEx card. Usually you will get 25-30,000 bonus miles for signing up for it. Then if you do end up staying a few years and traveling to and from the States on Korean or Delta you can really build up miles. It's been worth it for me and I've taken a few free trips around Asia and in the US when I'm visiting home. |
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mikesaidyes
Joined: 26 Apr 2011
Location: Sanbon, South Korea
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| Posted: Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:24 am Post subject: |
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I'm not a hypermiler by any means. I just happened to get lucky and hit Europe, DC, NYC and Puerto Rico from ATL all this year... and then I got miles for my flight here to Korea haha. Other than that, I fly normally like once a year.
Sugarloaf - tragically, I can't do SkyMiles AmEx. AmEx threw me one of their Blue Cards in college so I burned a hole in that thing FAST and damaged credit many moons ago haha. My dad does that and he's at like 80,000 in like a year or two alone haha. |
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young_clinton
Joined: 09 Sep 2009
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| Posted: Sun Oct 30, 2011 1:37 am Post subject: |
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| Korean Airlines is as nice as they come as well as the international terminal at Incheon international airport. If you take Korean Air make sure you have an ongoing ticket, because for some idiotic reason they won't just make you sign an affadavit like other airlines, they make you get an ongoing ticket. |
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hagwonnewbie
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
Location: Asia
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| Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2011 8:04 am Post subject: |
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You can earn skymiles by doing surveys or visiting websites
Go to flyertalk.com forums I think it is. Then search for delta or skyteam.
I just got 500 miles for adding some toolbar thingy |
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