Is there any point you would be willing to pay to fly business class? For my husband and me, our breaking point was a 14-hour flight to visit our daughter in Korea for a ridiculously short time. The possibility of being able to lie down and get eight hours of real sleep on the plane meant we could add a day to our trip, and spend more time with our daughter. The pampering on Korean Air made this splurge completely worth it. Here’s why.
When it comes to flying, we don’t usually think “luxury.” But Korean Air proved me wrong on a recent trip when I opted to fly business class. Sure, it cost me a bit more, but I think of it as an investment in my well-being, for I left the 14-hour flight feeling rested, even pampered. Want to know why I enjoyed my Korean Air experience? Here are five reasons why I’ll be booking business class again:
Your Seat Lies Down Flat on Korean Air
In business class on Korean Air, you can recline your seat completely, so you can lie down flat. With a real heavy blanket and a pillow, stretching out flat means you can actually get a full night’s sleep on a plane.
Plus, seats are built to give you some privacy. New Korean Air planes even have high dividers that cocoon your space in privacy and comfort, like your own private pod. I’m a champion sleeper on a plane, but even I can’t pull out more than 5 hours of light sleep when I sit up on a long plane ride. On Korean Air’s business class (called prestige class), I stretched out flat in my pod, shut my eyes, and didn’t wake up for 8 solid hours.
Delicious Food on Korean Air
Can you believe these are photos of food served on a plane? You get to choose your meals in Korean Air business class. Freshly baked croissants for breakfast, served warm with sliced oranges and melon. Smoked salmon with horseradish cream, tofu with fresh vegetables, shrimp with eggplant. Bibimbap, a classic Korean dish of sticky rice topped with vegetables and kim chi, spicy fermented cabbage. Bread served warm with lunch and dinner. Chocolate chip cookies hot from the oven, that I enjoyed so much the flight attendant brought a second plate. (Note: all cookies had nuts, so if you’re allergic to peanuts or tree nuts, you would need to let them know in advance.)
Korean Air served delicious food that I’d happily eat in a restaurant. And on real dishes, with a tablecloth!
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Korean Air Pampers You
Service on Korean Air makes you feel like royalty. Flight attendants could not have been more attentive. Before I flew Korean Air, I had no idea what was missing from my life: hot steamy towels, distributed every few hours to clean my face and hands. Between hot towels, Korean Air provides you with moisturizers and a spray pump of water to spritz your face and mist the air you breathe. No need to dirty your socks during the flight; Korean Air provides slippers.
It’s a little thing, but periodically being offered glasses of champagne, water, or orange juice – in real glasses – was a small pleasure that helped pass the time on a 14-hour flight. And since I drink tons of water on a plane, that also helped keep me hydrated.
Access to Airport Lounge
Korean Air business class tickets gave us access to a lounge at JFK Airport in New York that had that had comfy chairs and Internet access. That alone made the airport wait enjoyable. The lounge also provided enough cheese, wine, and other snacks that we didn’t need to scrounge dinner at the airport. Even though our midnight flight began with dinner, we ate in the lounge so we could skip the plane meal in favor of going straight to sleep.
Plane Seats Adjust, Without Bothering Anyone
You can adjust your footrest separately from the back of your chair, so you can configure your Korean Air business class seat in just the way you like it. Sit with your feet up, recline your seatback, you decide. All without bothering anyone in front of or behind you, because how you configure your seat makes no difference to anyone else’s space.
Korean Air is Now My Favorite Airline
Arriving in Korea after a full night’s sleep meant we were ready to tackle the amazing Seoul subway and start exploring, the moment we arrived. While it cost a lot, flying business class was the right decision for us, since it essentially added a day to our very short visit to Korea. And the attentive service and delicious food made the 14-hour flight feel like a splurgy part of the vacation. Korean Air is now my favorite airline.
Have you ever splurged for business or first class? Was it worth it for you? Tell us in the comments.
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My daughter in law, son and I flew business (Prestige) in Feb. 2016
Your description of service was right on – we were so disappointed when we landed in Vancouver, BC and boarded our flight home.