108 reviews
This report is a continuation of this nearly month long journey combining work and leisure that will take me >24,000 miles.
After 2 weeks in Veneto for work, it was time to move onto the next stop on this journey. I needed to get to Shanghai to join up with Mrs. NGO85 for a week in China for vacation. So instead of heading back to LAX, I needed to find a way to get from northern Italy to Shanghai. There was a direct MXP-PVG flight on CA at that time operated by their A359, but I did not feel like driving 3 hours back to Milan and preferred to look for something ex-VCE. There of course is the obvious LH/OS/LX options, but I preferred to take the road less travelled and book with my FFP carrier OZ on their summer service VCE-ICN. The only issue is that this is only 4x weekly service so I had to leave on Friday instead of Saturday, which posed some issues to ensure a timely arrival at the airport. The VCE-ICN-PVG routing was booked as a one-way ticket with a very competitive fare.
The routing for this series is as follows:
This report will be on OZ's old Smartium product on their long-haul configured B772s. Gonna miss these drab yellow/brown cabins… At the end will be an Udine tourism bonus.
The day of departure, my journey starts as I collect my family truckster at 14:00 to start the ~1h drive along the E70 to VCE. I reached the airport at 15:10 and had to return the rental car in the parking garage, before rushing to the OZ check-in counters.
I was able to be quickly helped in the Business Class line with a 3rd party agent, but as often is the case, my visa situation is scrutinized with a one-way ticket into China despite having a 10-year L visa. I show my onward e-ticket for departure from PVG and after conferring with the OZ manager was handed my boarding passes.
With boarding passes in hand, I used the Fast Track line to quickly clear security, go through the duty free gauntlet, and quickly head up to the Marco Polo Lounge to get light nourishments having missed lunch.
From the lounge's observation deck, below is our B772 being prepped for the return to ICN. Ours was the only plane in the non-Schengen zone. The AA/DL/UA/AC flights all leave around lunchtime so no other heavies in the afternoon until the ME3 arrive.
Once the go to gate flashed in the lounge, I went down and cleared immigration in the tiny non-Schengen zone of VCE. It was filled to the brim with Korean tourists heading home.
Asiana Airlines, OZ 532
Equipment: Boeing 777-200ER [HL7755, delivered June 2007]
Departure: 16:45 (ATD: 17:13)
Arrival: 10:50 (ATA: 10:57)
Flight Time: 10:44
Boarding was organized, but slightly delayed due to our inbound aircraft's late arrival from ICN. I joined the Business Class queue and headed down into our B772 featuring the older version of the Smartium cabins. The welcome on board through 1L was very warm as expected on OZ and I was walked to my seat by an FA who placed my suitcase in the overhead bin for me and helped me settle in.
I have extensively reviewed this rather drab looking hard product (here) so will not repeat the seat tour now. Knowing this cabin well, I claimed 6A, which is the last window seat in the J cabin.
Pre-placed on the seat were pillow and blanket. The amenity kit, slippers, and noise-cancelling headphones were pre-placed on the ottoman. The IFE is a decent size, but not very good resolution and features the "middle" generation interface and moving map.
The cabin is just drab looking. The yellows and browns on these seats can probably hide almost any imaginable stain though^^
As I settle in, the purser comes up and thanks me for my OZ status and hands me the menus along with a choice of PDB. I will take the champagne.
Since we boarded through 1L, the entire cabin passes through J en-route to Y so it is quite noisy/hectic during the boarding process. I can comfortably say that this route is really catering Korean tourism, I was likely the only passenger not returning from vacation. It was a full load in Y and J so clearly a lucrative route for OZ pre-COVID.
We pushed back late and did the short taxi from the non-Schengen gates to Runway 04L.
And away we go…
Lifting up over the green Veneto countryside in Spring.
As we rise up over the cloudy skies over Austria, let's take a look at the menus for this flight.
The dining menu shows that we will have 2 meals, dinner served on departure and brunch prior to arrival. As always on OZ, the Korean option is either bibimbap or ssambap and the Western menu has 3 choices of entree. I like how they also change the starters, soups, and desserts based on the Korean/Western choice you make. For brunch, there are also 3 choices of entree (1 Korean and 2 Western).
The drinks menu.
The amenity kit containing L'Occitane products. It has everything you need and the lavatories are also well stocked with mouth wash. A pen is not included in the amenity kit, but is handed out with the immigration documents.
As soon as released, the FAs are into the cabin to start aperitif service by cart and take meal orders as the linens were laid. I took a cocktail and water, which were served with the canape: Beetroot Mousse with Smoked Salmon, Hummus Tart. The beet mousse and smoked salmon were good, but I don't care for the piece of generic sandwich bread it was served on. Similarly, the tart was devoid of any pronounced flavor that one would expect for an amuse bouche.
Since I went for the Korean option, bibimbap, I was given the Korean starter: Prawn with Pine Nut Dressing. It was only one prawn, but the presentation was interesting since they served the dressing in a hollowed out red pepper.
After the starter was cleared, my soup was brought out: Rice Porridge with Pumpkin "Hobakjuk". I love their tableware, it will be sorely missed once OZ kicks the bucket. Drinks were promptly refilled after each course was brought out.
The bibimbap was handed out next along with a dried pollock soup. While technically the same in all 3 classes (F, J, Y), there are some subtle differences in the ingredients to slightly differentiate the cabins.
After the tray was removed, I was handed the Korean dessert. It is a chestnut jelly, which was good. The packaged rice cake is just an unnecessary addition that looks out of place with the rest of OZ's catering.
The western dessert was then brought out along with coffee/tea service. The apple and almond tart was simple, but good.
After the dinner service, the cabin was prepared for sleep. I stayed up and watched some movies with the limited selection OZ has. The FAs were regularly in the cabin offering drinks.
As I mentioned earlier, the bathrooms are well stocked with L'Occitane products, mouth wash, and additional tooth brushes.
I slept for about 4 hours and woke up while the cabin lights were turned on for the brunch service over central China halfway between Xi'an and Beijing. Again, the linens are laid and the table is set as breads are offered from a basket. I like how OZ does coursed service for both meals and doesn't just use trays for the pre-arrival meal.
The starter is brought out: Baccala Salad, Cod Mousse. I normally detest baccala, a specialty of Vicenza, but this was palatable.
After the appetizer was removed, I received my entree: Rice Porridge with Chicken. A very comforting dish on the stomach after a long flight and the best course of the flight.
Breakfast concluded with a cup of fruit and more coffee.
The rolling mountains north of Beijing. I wasn't able to spot the Great Wall unfortunately.
We made a S-bend around Beijing and Tianjin to approach Seoul over Dalian.
As we began our final descent into ICN, the connecting flight information popped up after the pre-arrival exercise video. The rest of the flight was likely Korean tourists returning from vacation, my flight is the only one that pops up for connections.
Final descent into ICN.
We land on Runway 15L along the cargo operations, which leaves a short taxi back to Terminal 1.
We pull into our gate as the snake is ready to bite us.
I was quickly off the plane through 1L and joined the long queue to do the transit security that is necessary to re-enter the terminal for transits. It took ~30 minutes with all of the regional flights arriving, which is where I will leave of this series. Thanks for stopping by!
OZ will always have a soft spot in my heart, they will be missed once they are finally absorbed into KE. Their onboard service is usually meticulously done by very good crews. The criticisms are obviously the aged hard product/IFE and the tiring Korean catering (how many times can you eat bibimbap?). I certainly don't regret taking them over LH/LX/OS due to superior catering and crews. Overall, a very nice long-haul that met all my needs.
VCE:
- Very small, functional airport.
- The Marco Polo Club is generally a very nice place to spend an hour (don't arrive early). It has a nice observation deck, but lacks a lot of amenities (showers, for example) and hot food options. The only nice part is the barristas that control the Lavazza flow, who will prepare any drink you like.
OZ:
- The cabin on this B772 has definitely seen better days. The color palette is very unappealing, but the seats are generally comfortable and the window seats are private enough. OZ's bedding is above average. The amenity kits are very nicely stocked and the slippers are good quality (+0.5).
- The cabin crew was excellent. Warm greetings and farewells, walking passengers to seats, kneeling to take orders and talk to passengers. Service was attentive, drinks were always kept full, and I never had trash laying around my side table.
- The IFE is old, has poor resolution, and is not a touch screen. It has the basic flight map and limited movie/TV selection. Totally fine for a redeye, but could be an issue if you fly frequently.
- The catering was excellent. If you don't fly OZ often, the occasional bibimbap hits the spot. The meal is nicely coursed and trays are only used for the bibimbap due to the large number of condiments. The pre-arrival meal is also coursed and includes both a starter and entree, which is much better than what is offered by European carriers. The only criticisms are the packaged rice cake and lackluster amuse bouche.
ICN:
- Transits are generally easy, but the transit security can get backlogged with concurrent wide-body arrivals.
2 Comments
Oooh nice! I'll be looking forward to checking that out next summer. Looks like the Marco Polo lounge is also used by oneworld carriers (probably by everyone it seems).
It's almost camouflaged in that sea of yellow of the cabin lol
I hate when they do that. Not because I'm a snob who doesn't wanna mix with Y pax, but just because it's a pain to get myself and, usually also my kid, settled in when there's 200 other pax streaming past you blocking the aisle. When you pay for J, you expect a more relaxing experience from airport to boarding to landing.
The catering looks absolutely exquisite! Oooh a proper canape service--it seems so foreign now in these pandemic times (I still hesitate to say post pandemic cuz it's not gone away yet).
I've always heard that it's the same in all cabins and yet i would never hesitate to get it if flying in J...it looks soooo gooood!!!
The brunch also looks fantastic. Breakfast can be so boring on planes on Western carriers, but I always love brunch on flights to/from Asia.
Aside from the sad yellow of the cabins, everything seems top notch on this flight. Definitely worth the detour over CA nonstop.
Thanks for sharing!
I think everyone uses the Marco Polo Lounge nowadays, there was a ST Lounge, but it looks closed post-COVID (and end of AZ). The Lounge is good, but can be really crowded when all the TATLs depart. The observation deck is a nice amenity especially if you are there in the morning and can watch the sunrise over the skyline of the city across the lagoon.
Can't comment on F since didn't try it, but J/Y does differ slightly in both portion size and some extra condiments. Overall, OZ's catering is usually good on long-haul, whereas on regional flights its usually so-so for Asian standards. A coursed pre-arrival meal is a stark contrast from what you see on TATLs^^
I'm going to assume these OZ B772s will disappear during the merger or get converted into regional aircraft. They are old cabins, but they don't necessarily look to be in worse shape than TG's cabins.
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