Has anyone ever traveled with Asiana Airlines? Do they have a solid reputation? - I for one, have never heard of them before...
Thank you. I have read some reviews that say the seats are a little hard, and some that say not all flights have personal tv viewers and that the movies are on a loop, rather than on demand. Do you have any experience with that?
Hi,
Asiana (OZ) is relatively speaking new.. So it's not entirely surprising that you've never heard of them.. They are, in almost all metrics, an excellent airline.. Like the other major Korea-based airline, Korean Airlines (KE) they have both radically 'stepped up' their services both on the ground and in-flight.
OZ runs mostly new B772's for their long haul services, alternatively newer A330's.. So nothing 'ancient' there.. Their cabin service has won numerous high profile industry awards.. but as is common, the level of service is really most dependent on the 15 individual crew members assigned to your flight that day.. All their long haul fleet has in-seat IFE and the food is an option of Asian/Korean and Western/International.
Meals and beverages, including base liquors are free. If you're a mileage collector, OZ is a member of the Star Alliance (SA) program, so (almost) all OZ tickets can earn miles and be credited to any other SA member program.
Overall, they run a very, very good operation by almost all metrics.
As an added "bonus", by flying OZ (or KE as well) you'd transit in Seoul's new Incheon (ICN) airport, which is one of the world's best for passenger convenience and ease of use.
If you can find an OZ flight, and at a discount, you'd be doing, very, very well..
Travel Safe,
Edited: 12 years agoHi,
To address specifically the AVOD (or on demand) as aspect...
Yes, most of their long haul fleet is AVOD equipped.. OZ speaks to this here:
Asiana:
From the main page;
click on "Information and Services" at the top of the page,
on the next page, click on "cabin service by class" on the left side,
on the next page, click on "Travel Class" on the middle top header section,
on the next page, scroll down to the middle section that says "Other services"
Here they discuss what AVOD options you have and what current fleet is equipped with it... They also list the specific aircraft that have in-seat power as well..
Note that they list six (6) of their B772's (HL7739,7742,7755,7756,7775,7791) that are AVOD equipped, this is 6 of 11 currently in fleet.. All their A330's are equipped as well as all their pax-version B747's..
So.. If you're on a B772, the odds are about 50/50 that you'll be one that's AVOD equipped.. If you're on an A330 or B744 then they all have this.
Travel Safe,
Honestly, this is not the airline for a techie! (If you value your IFE above all else, I would take Singapore or another good 5* carrier.) The seats in economy are fantastic - extremely comfortable w/34" pitch on the 777, but it's that really special feeling of being welcomed on this airline that is simply missing on most other good airlines. I believe both Korean carriers must send their cabin crews to some sort of charm school - because it really shows. If you read the reviews at Skytrax, I don't know how you could fault Asiana. Asiana and Korean give complementary hotel rooms when the transit time at Seoul is greater than 8 hrs (you must request this service after booking).
Edited: 12 years agoThank you both for your very helpful replies!
<<Asiana and Korean give complementary hotel rooms when the transit time at Seoul is greater than 8 hrs (you must request this service after booking).>>
THAT is very good to know! Thank you daawgon.
<<Asiana and Korean give complementary hotel rooms when the transit time at Seoul is greater than 8 hrs (you must request this service after booking).>>
Agreed. That's very useful info. If true, OZ may well get my patronage to Bangkok, as the thing that's turned me off them was the 10 hour stopover on the return.
Hi,
The other perk is that *if* you've planned your sleep pattern right, you can turn that 8-10 layover in ICN as a mini dayaction (day vacation) since there is a very efficient train that goes right from the ICN airport and goes into town... When I jump on OZ or KE this is what I almost always do.. but to be fair, as an staff traveler, I don't get the hotel..
Travel Safe,
its got a 5 star ranking so cant be bad