Review of Asiana Airlines flight Chicago Seoul in First

Airline Asiana Airlines
Flight OZ235
Class First
Seat 2A
Aircraft Boeing 777-200ER
Flight time 13:05
Take-off 03 Dec 12, 12:50
Arrival at 03 Dec 12, 16:55
OZ 106 reviews
Quirrow
By 17141
Published on 9th November 2013
photo 8326476052_f410068a10_c
Chicago O'Hare Terminal 5

Once I arrived at Terminal 5 in O'Hare, I went on searching for the Asiana check-in counters and was greeted with a long queue. I thought it was for the Asiana flight but turns out it was for the TACA flight, and Asiana had someone to make sure no Asiana passengers were in the midst of the queue. Check in was efficient and fast, lady who checked me in was pleasant, and my my heart skipped a beat when she told me I was the only one in First Class today. 8 suites all to myself, how wonderful! The confusing part of the check in process was the depositing of my snowboard which I had to drop at the end of the terminal. However the vague instructions given by the agent left me a bit lost. When I asked another airport employee, I was given a wrong direction, so it was really some time lost.

photo 8326474890_195cd046ce_c
Checking-in at O'Hare

Security had a long queue, but with the First Class boarding pass, there was no wait at the priority lane and I was through in 15 minutes. The first lounge I passed by was the Swiss lounge which is shared with Cathay Pacific. I was rejected entry into this lounge because I think it was occupied by guests on the Cathay Pacific flight and was directed to the SAS lounge beside gate M13, while my flight was departing from M12. Thus I was able to spot the beautiful Asiana 777 on the way to the lounge.

photo 8325417639_857f42b034_c
Asiana Airlines Boeing 777-200ER

The lounge had pretty basic snacks, though they had Danish biscuits, which I particularly fancy. I had some potato chips as well to go with it. The lounge itself was pretty small but was not packed. In terms of decor, the Maple Leaf Lounge in YVR was better furnished as the SAS lounge feels like the cafeteria in Ikea. Wifi in the lounge was adequate but there was no English magazines, as all are in Swedish except for the SAS magazine. In the lounge, the check in agent came over and called for my name, as it turns out I had to move to seat 2A due to an electrical glitch in seat 2K. I was half expecting an escort into the plane though, maybe all this 'First' thing is just getting into my head…

photo 8326477474_3bfb216323_c
Asiana Lounge Invite

photo 8325419929_c664dbf0ae_c
The Dining Area

photo 8325420443_38563675d7_c
iMacs in the Lounge

photo 8326479710_81b05e6bf0_c
Lounge Snacks

Boarding was announced in the lounge around 11:30, and the boarding was nearly done when I exited at around 11:40. Only one entrance to the plane, and turning left at the jetway is always special for me! The first thing one notices is the 32 inch TV, largest in the skies I believe… Upon taking out my iPad and headphones, I was immediately helped by 2 flight attendants! All this attention is the drawback when you are the only passenger in First. The ambience is so quiet that it feels like I am ensconced in a private jet. The seat and the ottoman is so wide it takes a stretch to get the slippers, Bose headphones and the amenity kit already placed on the seat. Next up came one attendant who introduced herself as Ms Bang and the other being Ms Kim. She welcomed me to the flight. Next Kim got around to offer me magazines. All of them knelt when asking if I wanted something and it just feels awkward for me… I am pretty sure I was already red-faced at that stage… Then Ms. Bang came over with 2 sizes for pyjamas (large and medium), I think I should fit with medium. And then she came over again to ask me what drinks I would like. No alcohol is served on the ground, but they have ginseng tea with honey, and I would take that since its special! Ms Kim actually came over and poured honey to the tea while holding the tray! Amazing training! As Ms. Bang cleared my tea, I was offered another one but I declined.

photo 8326480464_e46816c60e_c
First Sight of the Suites

photo 8326480850_f5411f2c0b_c
Seat or Suite 2A

photo 8325423229_5f1d705ab6_c
Ottoman and 32-inch TV

photo 8325423631_bb3a03a091_c
Ginseng Tea as Welcome Drink

After asking me about my destination, Ms. Bang came and prepared a customs and immigration form for me to fill. Great service so far as the two took care of all the details to make this flight as comfortable as possible. I checked out the rest of the plane and took more photos while waiting for the pullback. All the photo taking led to one of the stewardess volunteering to take a photo of myself in the suite, and who would say no to that? Long queues at O'Hare on a Monday afternoon meant a slow wait for take off and it wasn't until 12:34 that we took off.

photo 8325424039_d243057b8f_c
Amenities onboard - Slippers, Amenity kit, Bose Headphones and Pyjamas

photo 8325425303_c1f4f64376_c
The Seat in the Suite

photo 8325424477_2853c217a7_c
Touch Screen Suite Controls

Take off was pretty quick and we were off above the clouds! The cloudy day in Chicago meant that there wasn't much views to be had on take-off. Immediately after the seat belt sign was turned off, the senior purser came over to close all the windows, and the wonderful Ms. Bang came over to provide the menu and explain that first class passengers can order the meal at anytime and i went ahead for the meal to be prepared in half an hours time. I chose to mix and match the order taking the Korean course with an additional cheese cake dessert. Whilst waiting for the meal, i played around the seats and the senior purser spoke with pride of the new plane.

photo 8328916011_cacf887bfc_c
First Class Menus

photo 8328916209_8e52738422_c
Front Middle Seats

I also explored the first class lavatory a bit before meal service started. It was small like any other lavatory, and a far cry from the one in the 747 of Cathay's First Class. There was ample amenities stocked inside including toiletries from L'Occitane and their Green Tea fragrance. It was an ample space to freshen up I guess, though they only had one lavatory for the whole cabin of 8 in First, with a separate lavatory for crew only.

photo 8336007174_23a41ffb55_c
First Class Lavatory

photo 8336007660_fa32a5b072_c
Lavatory Amenities

photo 8329975424_8f56ca7594_c
Seat in Full Recline Bed Mode

One of the things I enjoy most flying is being able to watch movies while having the meal. And in Asiana Suites, this is done in full HD with their 32-inch screen. Thus I started watching The Bourne Legacy with the commencement of meal service.

photo 8328917637_f45de16d5c_c
HD Movie with Fine Dining on a Jet

Started the meal service with dates and pine nuts, and I had more ginseng tea with honey! Perfect combination ever! Next came the caviar service, and the generous portions with a mother of pearl spoon surpassed Cathay's caviar offerings. I ordered champagne with the caviar and Ms. Bang actually proactively offered both the Taittinger and Pol Rogers, with my taste buds preferring the latter. After the amazing caviar, the prawn appetizer with pine nuts was somewhat disappointing!

photo 8328917149_a15b5e11de_c
Starter of Dried Date, Ginseng and Pine Nut

photo 8329976634_198d033f21_c
Caviar service will all the Sides

photo 8329977052_91fc2dc3b1_c
Shrimp Appetizer with Pine Nut Dressing

However the next Korean starter of Pumpkin porridge is actually more like pumpkin bisque and it was delicious and served to warm the taste buds. This was a good soup to follow on to the next course of Bibimbap with Bulgogi short ribs, which was a very filling main course. The bibimbap is very tasty though the short ribs was somewhat tough and taste a bit like jerky. I've definitely had better short ribs in Vancouver!

photo 8329977312_b52d5712cd_c
Korean Pumpkin Porridge Hobakjuk

photo 8329977872_a417443ee9_c
First Class Dining of Korean Bibimbap

photo 8328919875_4bc501cbce_c
Korean Galbi BBQ Short Ribs

The side dishes of kimchi, egg rolls, seaweed and sweet anchovies was a nice accompaniment as well. I even asked for more seaweed to snack on. I had both the Korean and western desserts and it comprised of three plates, namely fresh fruits, Korean traditional sweets and the cheesecake! Paired with the icewine, it was just heavenly!

photo 8328919677_993ff26187_c
Korean Side Dishes

photo 8328920107_262499c145_c
Pouring Pol Roger Cuvee Sir Winston Churchill 1999 Champagne with the meal

photo 8328920343_210d0dacd7_c
Fruit Platter

photo 8329979276_96a5bda49b_c
Korean Traditional Sweets

photo 8328920799_479e034b4e_c
Cheesecake with Blueberries

photo 8328921009_9d878858ea_c
Jackson-Triggs Vidal VQA Icewine 2008 to end the meal

Finally, Ms. Kim came over with truffles and offered me their whole selection of teas! That is what I call great service, though being the only passenger with 2 attendants definitely helped. The whole experience till this point was flawless, and definitely better than my Cathay Pacific First experience.

photo 8329979938_2d823ea283_c
Tray of Tea Selection

photo 8328921505_13c4d80f84_c
Pralines at the end

Finished watching The Bourne Legacy after the meal, and Ms. Bang offered to make up the bed if necessary, while I gave the idea of using 1A as the bed, so that left my seat as the lounge. After the meal, I walked around the aircraft as I felt so full, and took this opportunity to try out an empty business class seat. The business seat is definitely adequate though its quite narrow and loses out to the one by Cathay. Or maybe the First Suites just distorts my perception of reality… The flight is quite packed though there are still empty seats in certain rows. Economy is in 3-3-3 seating, and seems to be quite spacious, similar to Cathay's new economy seats.

photo 8328922407_7df0d7de36_c
Flight path after the meal

photo 8336008200_43057e8a80_c
Turn Down Service

photo 8334951251_b58c010987_c
Asiana Business Class Cabin

I changed into pyjamas after the meal and found medium a bit small, thus ended up with a 'Large' pair of pyjamas. The drawback if I could say any was the suite was just too spacious, and the seat was a bit firm. This meant trying out the various seat functions to get the optimum seat settings, which was easy enough with the touch screen pad. The seats and suites controls are accessed easily enough from the LCD screen, and the touch screen worked well, while the entertainment touch screen controller is separately found under the left armrest.

photo 8328917397_541419dc9c_c
Touch Screen Controllers

Just before I settled down in the other suite, I also asked for playing cards or postcards and Ms. Bang came back with an array of goodies including kids cutout boards too. There are lots of storage within the suites for all these goodies, and apparently there is also a pop-up minibar section beside the TV, but it wasn't filled during this flight. Another thing I liked about the suite was the ambient lighting around the suite which does make a difference for reading, lounging, snacking and sleeping. On the right side was a light screen the size of a tablet and a reading light with an air nozzle. At the back of the chair there is also another light which can be controlled to brighten up the surrounding.

photo 8325426263_1c991eb0bd_c
Lighting and Air Nozzle of the Suite

photo 8336009482_c4ca6a4886_c
Asiana Kids' Pack

photo 8334954459_3837133624_c
Contents of the Amenity Kit

I took a nap in the prepared bed on seat 1A and had a nice 3 hours sleep. The new plane allowed Asiana to decorate the ceiling with LEDs to resemble a starry sky. Upon waking up, the flight was closing in on the international dateline and there was views of the ice shields near the North Pole. Wonderful scenery kept me awake.

photo 8334954789_75f3b76344_c
Starry ceiling after dimming the lights

photo 8336010980_41a8dd2c5a_c
Somewhere near the North Pole

photo 8334956109_e98afd40fb_c
Sunset or Sunrise?

Ms. Kim seems to be on duty now as I do not see Ms. Bang around, and Ms. Kim came over offering snacks but I requested for some chips, not something that Asiana puts on the first class menu, though she went out of the way to get me some from the business class cabin. It came with the chocolates that I chose during the order. With the snacks, I continued to watch another movie, this time round choosing Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3, which was funny. I guess the value of first class is the ability to be like being in your own home while travelling halfway across the globe. I went back to catch another hour of nap time after the end of the movie. It is really difficult to sleep much with the day departure, similar during my first class flight to SF from HK on Cathay.

photo 8336011652_46efd44581_c
Snacks of Chips and Pralines

There was more beautiful tundra scenery as I looked out. It should be said at this point that on flights headed to Seoul, the K seats offer much better views.
There's still some time for a nap and I went back to the confines of my suite in 1A.

photo 8328922657_5ca4e38aae_c
Suite Signs

photo 8334957903_594c10f238_c
Mountain Ranges of Siberia

photo 8334960411_455e068ff3_c
Asiana First Insignia on the Blanket

photo 8334960931_3c8149782c_c
Aisle of the Suite Cabin

A short nap later, I awoke and returned to seat 2A before Ms. Kim enquired if I would like the second meal to be served. We are now approximately 3 hours away from Seoul. I decided to order a main course from the dinner menu as i was interested in the lobster. However Ms. Kim needed to check if she could do that, I guess she was the junior attendant in the cabin. The senior purser which is a male never did introduce himself though. He was just staying in the galley reading newspapers. After checking that she could serve me the lobster for breakfast, she proceeded to take the side orders. I decided also to have Shin Ramen as I am a big fan of the Korean spicy noodles! Since the ramen was meant to be a snack, I was served that first. I slurped it down heartily while watching another movie - The Expendables 2!

photo 8334961309_575d3226aa_c
Movie Options

photo 8334961605_cce1ab665e_c
Shin Ramen Snack

After the snack of noodles, it was time for the lobster. Maybe I was full from the snack or the dinner was just too damn good, but the lobster was a disappointment in comparison. I kind of regretted ordering the lobster for the snack. The white wine served was nice enough to go well with the lobster though! Another fruit plate followed at the end of the meal and I asked for more icewine to go along with it.

photo 8336017058_328d38862c_c
Meursault 1er Cru Clos Des Poruzots 2009

photo 8334962249_0b0a088203_c
Lobster Main Course

photo 8334962659_bf88bbbc31_c
Fruit Platter

photo 8334963341_4350f42a2d_c
Array of Beverages

The second meal service ended with more beverage glasses as that befitting of a first class meal. It was just relaxing for the rest of the flight as we cruised past Northeastern China. The flight on Asiana also meant we needed to do a circuitous routing to bypass North Korean airspace. That must have added an hour or so to the flight time which meant more cabin time for me! I don't mind it at all when I have all 8 suites to myself! The route also showed me another part of China I've yet to see before. Basically the route that the plane took was like watching Discovery when you look out of the windows! So this was another thing I do enjoy on long-haul transpacific flights, especially when going through the polar routes.

photo 8334963793_1c5fd97ba4_c
Snow blankets most of Northeast China

photo 8334964399_8d0d1031fc_c
Luckily the pilot did not set it on autopilot or else we would fly past Pyongyang…

photo 8336019794_b00fdc3952_c
Rural Towns of Northeast China

photo 8336021262_d9eb82ef2a_c
Mountains of Northeast China

As we approached Incheon, the cabin windows were opened, letting in the warm glow of the sunset. The clear weather gave nice views of the islands around Incheon and was a fitting end to a great flight. But service have yet to end, as Ms. Bang came back to offer a pre-arrival beverage. Cathay First does not offer this except for a bottle of water, and I thought this was a mice touch in First Class. I got more ginseng tea as i watched the landing video showing how to relax the muscles and massage oneself after the long flight time. Another great touch by Asiana showing this video! The landing itself was one of the best I have experienced in a very long time, but then again, being upfront means landing is particularly smooth! The flight crew also made sure I was the first off the plane at the end of this long flight!

photo 8336023480_1ed13ded46_c
Route bypassing North Korean Airspace

photo 8336023882_cffb9f460c_c
Suite Doors

photo 8336024586_0957166e22_c
Finishing off the pre-arrival drink

photo 8336024972_62b4ec85b1_c
Views on Descent

photo 8336025690_ae36224718_c
Warm glow in the Suite Cabin

After disembarking, the queue for immigrations was not too bad, and it was actually quite fast. By the time I was out on the baggage claim, both my bags have been pre-loaded onto a baggage cart just waiting for me to roll it off. All in all a very pleasant experience on arrival, as it is to be expected in many Asian airports.

photo 8336026510_5beabaeb9d_c
Landing at Incheon

To recap, the flight is probably one of the best I had and I particularly enjoyed the huge TV and the attentive service by both stewardess during the flight. I would probably rate it a perfect 10 flight, and if I really want to be picky, I could probably say some parts of the meal was not that nice. But it is an airplane, you just don't expect them to serve food as good as those on the ground right?

photo 8334971955_91ea920a03_c
Thank You for Flying Asiana

photo 8336032422_a8de39480d_c
Asiana Boeing 777-200ER at Incheon
See more

Verdict

Asiana Airlines

9.0/10
Cabin10.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi8.0
Meal/catering8.0

Chicago - ORD

6.6/10
Efficiency6.5
Access6.0
Services6.5
Cleanliness7.5

Seoul - ICN

9.1/10
Efficiency9.5
Access8.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness9.0

Conclusion

Related

12 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 92264 by
    K2World 2191 Comments
    Wow really impressive. What a pleasure to be the only one in the cabin.
    Your pictures are as always beautiful. Thanks for this FR.
  • Comment 92271 by
    hhamon 290 Comments
    Thank you very much for this report. I didn't know Asiana Airlines had a such great hard product in First and Business class cabins. They both look great.
  • Comment 92278 by
    indianocean SILVER 7572 Comments
    What a wonderful report and great first class trip.
    Thank you for sharing.
  • Comment 92291 by
    lagentsecret 12186 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR

    One could expect more than SK lounge for a first class pax

    Great to be alone in the cabin

    Seat seems to be really large and comfortable

    I'm amazed with the use of pine nuts in the food : amuse bouche, appetizer and ribs.

    Was the food choice on par with NH ?

    Appetizer, ribs or lobster don't look appetizing



    • Comment 283891 by
      Quirrow AUTHOR 155 Comments
      NH definitely has much better food in my opinion, but I do like the Korean noodle onboard OZ. Pine nuts is frequently used in Korean cuisine I think, hence its application in the meal. But like you mentioned the appetizer, ribs and lobster was sub-par.
  • Comment 92311 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Beautiful report! Thanks for sharing. Asiana's First class suite looks a lot like Swiss' F if I'm not mistaken. Great all around product. Your pictures are simply gorgeous!
  • Comment 92366 by
    Quirrow AUTHOR 155 Comments
    Thank you everyone for your comments! OZ definitely has a good First Suite and I think they are going to move to this configuration for their future First!
  • Comment 92386 by
    KL651 TEAM 4534 Comments
    Thanks for this report.
    Though the suite looks very modern and confortable, I find the colours and patterns pretty average and certainly not premium looking.
    Also except for the caviar and lobster, nothing in the ingredients looks really fancy, they also serve bibimbap and bulgogi in Y and C.
    Fortunately the attentive service makes up for all these little details.
    • Comment 283995 by
      Quirrow AUTHOR 155 Comments
      The outstanding feature in the First Suites is probably the attentive service, and they claim to have the largest TV screen in any commercial airline. I do think it is true since the movie experience I had was in full high definition! I do think they have some of the best variety of alcoholic drinks (very nice champagne selection and dessert wines) and an excellent choice of tea and coffee too! Even though they have a Bibimbap service in Y and C, I do believe the difference lies in the side dishes and some additional courses like the soup and appetizers.
  • Comment 92442 by
    A380B77W 4295 Comments
    Thanks for this amazing report :)

    The pictures are awesome, beautiful :D !

    Really good catering and nice First Suite with OZ !
  • Comment 92482 by
    mynameismud 852 Comments
    You really have some great photo skills !
    Where are you snowboarding ? In Korea or somewhere else ? A couple of photos such as a touristic bonus are also welcome.
    Thanks for sharing.
    • Comment 283996 by
      Quirrow AUTHOR 155 Comments
      I was actually on my way to Niseko in Japan for the snowboarding trip with friends. I did post photos and did a write-up on snowboarding in Niseko on my blog for those interested to know: http://quirrow.wordpress.com/2013/03/06/snowboarding-in-niseko/

Login to post a comment.