Review of Asiana Airlines flight from San Francisco to Seoul in Economy

AAR

OZ - Asiana Airlines

Flight taken on 18 December 2024
OZ215
12:10 12h 45m 17:55
Class Economy
Seat -
NGO85
837 · 109 · 4 · 25

Routing



Pre-Flight


We arrived at SFO at 10:15, less than 2h before departure since there was little incentive to arrive early and spend time in the UA Club. OZ currently shares Aisle 1 with the LH Group. We used the J queue and had just a short wait before being assisted.


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After getting our boarding passes, we turned to use the TSA PreCheck line, but we were held for 5 minutes since the CA crew had just arrived so they needed to process ~15 of them first before resuming processing passengers.


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A familiar Concourse G.


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UA Club


The UA Club had a sign up saying that they were not accepting any UA single day passes, likely since the lounge has to support all *Gs not flying in J/F at a peak TPAC departure block. Despite this restriction, the lounge was very full and we could only find a pair of seats to share for the 3 of us. It was very full, so won't photograph the seating areas. The small buffet area had a DIY pork sliders station, soup, and the standard cold selection.


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Drinks are available, but all alcoholic drinks need to be requested at the bar to encourage tips.


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The stereotypical UA Club catering was available, which ironically is well suited for kids (carbs, dairy, fruit).


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I just took an espresso and a bowl of the lemon chicken orzo soup they had.


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We left the lounge 10 minutes before boarding since our gate, G5, was next door to the lounge. Reaching the gate, our A359 is waiting below. Today we will get HL8360 that was delivered to OZ in April 2019.


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Down a level at the gate, the lines were already forming but no announcements were made so we hung out by the windows.


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The pilot was out doing his inspection.


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Checking ExpertFlyer, we would be confirmed having 3 empty middle seats in our row, the only empty seats on the plane. The return on investment is good for the extra cash paid out for Economy Smartium since OZ has always been very good at blocking seats next to their Diamond Plus and Platinum members. The Korean family on the other side of our row had done the same strategy and were equally rewarded.


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Boarding


We never heard any announcements, but the business line suddenly vanished the next time we looked over at the gate so we quickly went up to the counter before the economy queue started moving in. We were welcomed warmly on the plane by several crew and we get the first look at the Y cabin. The purple antimacassars/pillows denote Economy Smartium seats, which occupy the first 4 rows of the cabin.


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The Safran Z300 seats in the A350s are slight modifications of what they have in the A380s.


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Pre-placed on the seat are blanket, pillow, and amenity kit. I like how OZ gives good quality blankets and pillows with actual cotton pillow cases instead of the scratchy single use ones.


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The amenity kit, which contains slippers (J quality), eye mask, and dental kit.


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The pitch is what you are paying extra for in Economy Smartium, and the 36-37" they offer is excellent.


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The IFE on the A350s is larger than on the A380s and has the newer eX3 system on a 11" display.


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The headphone jack and USB-A port are located under the tiltable screen.


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A 110V universal outlet is located between seats.


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The seat back contents: duty free catalog, air sickness bag, and safety card.


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Headsets were pre-placed in the seat back pocket and have single use covers included.


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The tray table is bifold in design and was still wet with disinfectant so cleanliness is confirmed.


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The standard A350 PSU.


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Immediately after settling in, our FA came by to introduce herself, confirmed our son's CHML, and handed him a kid's pack.


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A map with reusable stickers.


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The origami will be less complex than NH's.


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Our view will be over the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB.


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Flight


We initiated our pushback at 12:20 and the safety video played.


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Taxing past UA domestic operations.


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Making our way out to runway 28L.


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We spooled up and took off at 12:37 on runway 28L.


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Goodbye SFO.


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Lifting up over South San Francisco.


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A clear day today with nice views over the city and bay.


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Downtown San Francisco.


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Golden Gate Bridge.


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Goodbye San Francisco as we start the journey across the Pacific.


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Registration check with OZ's iconic winglet/tail pattern.


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The IFE is projecting a very short 11:18 for our straight shot across the Pacific today (SFO and ICN have almost identical latitudes). Typical flight times are in the 12:00-12:30 range west bound.


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Just 20 minutes into the flight, I'm handed the CHML and told to wait before handing it to my son since the main is still very hot. The tray contained a potato salad starter, cheesecake for dessert, bread with butter, and chocolate brownie. They pre-serve water for CHMLs and then offer them other drinks with the main service.


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The potato salad starter.


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The main is chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, and steamed vegetables.


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The carts come down 30 minutes into the flight to start the service.


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The meal choices were bibimbap or beef stew so it is a simple choice. My bibimbap as delivered along with a glass of Spanish red wine.


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The soybean paste soup.


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Metal cutlery and condiments.


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Wet towel and bibimbap instructions in English/Chinese/Japanese.


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OZ's bibimbap has more ingredients than KE's.


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The small cup contains pickles and baby anchovies.


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The baby anchovies used to be only for J, so this is a nice addition to OZ's bibimbap offering.


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The beautiful J tableware is used to serve the Korean meals in Y.


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A satisfying meal.


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A small KitKat for dessert is poor considering the western meal gets a cheesecake.


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The FAs come back down the aisle offering more wine. Once the carts are retracted, they walk the cabin with tea and coffee from metal pots.


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The meal service was complete just 1:36 into the flight. The lights were dimmed and the FAs requested everyone to close the window shades despite this being a daytime flight.


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The cabin as it was prepared for darkness.


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OZ keeps their cabins on the cold side so the nice blanket was appreciated.


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OZ has Panasonic Wi-Fi, which was reasonably priced. There were no problems connecting and the signal was reasonably strong the entire flight despite being on the slower side.


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Like most Asian carriers, the IFE is a weak spot. The screen is large and crisp with responsive touch screen. The content is average, but they had a good dedicated kid's interface called Asiana Littles.




Standard A350 lavatories that were kept clean throughout the flight and feature L'Occitane hand soap and lotion.


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The crew came through regularly with drinks. They were also very responsive to call buttons.


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We didn't check the rear galley where the snack bar was setup, but the FAs in the forward galley kept offering us pretzels.


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Halfway through the flight, the FAs came down and handed out sandwiches and offered more drinks.


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The difference between the CHML and regular sandwiches is the removal of lettuce…


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About 2h before arrival, the lights started to turn back on as we reached the eastern coast of Honshu.


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Drinks were offered from trays first.


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A peek out the window as we cross Japan.


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The CHML was delivered first. Nothing says US catering like a bag of Lay's potato chips on top.


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The starter was cole slaw and the dessert was fruit.


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The main was pasta. The pasta was not very good, my son preferred my meal instead.


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The carts then rolled up the aisle to start the service, which is done from the rear of the cabin forwards for the second meal. The options for were chicken/rice or shrimp/pasta. The tray as received containing starter, main, fruit, and bread/butter.


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Metal cutlery from different generations.


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The smoked salmon starter.


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The main was chicken thigh, rice, and vegetables.


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The chicken was very juicy and tender, which definitely rates as one of the better chicken dishes I have ever had on a plane up there with OS. My son ended up eating almost the whole thing so I took his pasta.


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After the carts returned into the galley, the FAs came down offering coffee and tea.


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After the meal, we had the standard UNICEF ads and exercise video as the cabin was prepared for arrival.


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Our approach into ICN, there was a glitch on the IFE where the time to destination shot up.


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A hazy day over central Korea as we descend towards Incheon.


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A clear day, other than the heavy smog sitting over central Seoul.


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The Incheon Bridge signals arrival is imminent.


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Clearing the sea wall.


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And we touch down on runway 34L at 17:00, almost an hour early.


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OZ A380 taxing to the runway.


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Taxing back to T1 as the sun sets.


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CZ A320neo in PICC special livery taking off for its return to CAN.


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Some *A friends as well as 2/3 of the ME3 are present as we cross the western part of T1.


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CA A321. Again, not sure why CA uses KE for ground services at ICN since KE has no presence at T1.


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We eventually pull into our gate at T1.


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Our parking spot will result in a short walk to transit security.


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Goodbye OZ. Deplaning was quick through L1 after J cleared their cabin.


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We have just one section of moving walkway to clear to reach the transit security entrance.


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We took the bypass towards the transfer security, but were met with a wall of people and had to follow the queue all the way around back to the main concourse. It took ~40 minutes to clear the transfer security with only 4 lanes open and several hundred people in queue.


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I'll leave off this series here as we begin our layover in Seoul, thanks for stopping by!


Asiana Airlines, OZ215
Equipment: Airbus A350-900 [HL8360, delivered April 2019]
Departure: 12:10 (ATD: 12:37)
Arrival: 17:55 (ATA: 17:00)
Flight time: 11:23


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Display all

Product ratings

Airline

Asiana Airlines 8.6

  • Cabin9.0 / 10
  • Cabin crew9.5 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi7.5 / 10
  • Meal/catering8.5 / 10
Lounge

United Club4.3

  • Comfort4.0 / 10
  • Meal/catering3.0 / 10
  • Entertainment/wifi7.0 / 10
  • Services3.0 / 10
Departure airport

San Francisco - SFO8.0

  • Efficiency9.0 / 10
  • Access7.0 / 10
  • Services8.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness8.0 / 10
Arrival Airport

Seoul - ICN8.0

  • Efficiency4.0 / 10
  • Access8.0 / 10
  • Services10.0 / 10
  • Cleanliness10.0 / 10

Conclusion

OZ offers a great Y product and with their competitive fares to China/Japan represents excellent value from North America. It's certainly not JL, but is definitely competitive to BR/NH and I think their service level is still on par with pre-pandemic times. It will be disappointing to see them leave *A since it is another good option from the West Coast to Asia disappearing. Flying long-haul Y is never going to be glamorous, but being able to fly a 12h daytime flight and not feeling broken afterwards signals OZ is doing something right with their A359 hard product. The only criticism is that the seat could have better lumbar support, but that was fixed with the pillow. The OZ crew was friendly and efficient doing all service with politeness and smile, they were active throughout the flight offering drinks and snacks and were highly responsive to call buttons. The IFE is good quality for Y (resolution/size), but content is below average. Charging options (USB-A and 110V universal outlet) and Wi-Fi were sufficient. Catering ex-US is never going to be as good as ex-ICN, but the bibimbap was very good and the second meal was also very good. The CHMLs, the dessert for the first meal, and the mid-flight snack could be better.

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Comments (4)

  • Looks like OZ changed their catering for the worse... at least with the bibimbap. Back in July 2023 when I flew SEA-ICN, the bibkmbap came with a rolled egg patty as well as the pickles.

    • Thanks for stopping by. I don't think it has gotten worse, when compared to the trays I had LAX-ICN in 2015-2016 it is identical other than the omelet being replaced by baby anchovies (which I consider an upgrade). Considering the direction most other carriers have gone in the past 10 years, I think OZ has navigated tough times extremely well and has had excellent profits exiting the pandemic. It is just unfortunate KE struck when they were at rock bottom in 2019.

  • Fantastic report as always!

    Checking ExpertFlyer, we would be confirmed having 3 empty middle seats in our row

    Nice! Makes a big difference on a long TPAC. I also love to check EF obsessively 😆

    BA and IB also block middle seats next to Gold/Emerald pax in my experience, but it almost always fills up in the end.

    I like how OZ gives good quality blankets and pillows with actual cotton pillow cases instead of the scratchy single use ones.

    Ooh, that is fancy for Economy. AF and JL also use real cotton pillow cases in Y from experience, but those are the only examples I can think of.

    Immediately after settling in, our FA came by to introduce herself, confirmed our son's CHML, and handed him a kid's pack.

    I love that about Asian carriers! It really makes the flight more memorable for the kids. My son still remembers the gifts he got on JAL two years ago when he was only 3! OMG I can't believe it's already been 2 years since our Japan trip...looks like it's time another one 😄

    Beautiful views of SF on departure on a nice clear day! The meals look good as usual on OZ. The bibimbap always looks tasty and is seems like a safe bet.

    The difference between the CHML and regular sandwiches is the removal of lettuce…

    Wow, it's great that they bother doing a special meal for the mid-flight snack...especially since there's very little difference

    Overall a very solid long-haul Y experience, certainly superior to any North American carrier, and most European carriers as well, except maybe AF.

    Thanks for sharing!

    • Thanks for stopping by Kevin!

      Ooh, that is fancy for Economy.

      I would assume they keep them until the cabins are retrofitted with KE's product since they match the antimacassars and won't be immediately replaced with single-use to align with KE's offering.

      The meals look good as usual on OZ.

      Surprisingly, the meals have not shrunk in size during the past 10 years, so I have to commend OZ for not cost-cutting too much on the long-haul offering.

      Overall a very solid long-haul Y experience, certainly superior to any North American carrier, and most European carriers as well, except maybe AF.

      At least to mainland China, it is a big loss for Star Alliance since OZ has the strongest regional network compared to NH/BR and CA is poorly code-shared onto other carriers.

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