Lovin' Korean Air

Took a long flight via Korean Air recently and I am just satisfied with it. First of all, as described by the ticketing office, the airline has enough legroom. I do not have long legs, but I do crouch and extend my legs a lot and always have stuff to put underneath the seats, so the need for space. Not only is it roomy underneath, the aisles and overhead bins also have good space. The curvature of the overhead bins were constructed in such a way that it does not look like it is sticking out or anyone can bump their heads into it.

My connecting flight was a nice experience- I got to see Incheon airport. It is clean and spacious, comparable to Hong Kong airport, which is my favorite airport. It is also very easy to navigate, wide spaces with bright lights, and wifi runs superfly for free :) On airplane mode, my Blackberry Messenger, Gtalk, and other networking sites ran well on my Blackberry phone.

With all the problems that airlines are experiencing right now, it is very fantastic that Korean Air just comes to the destination earlier than expected. My connecting flight brought me to Incheon Airport 20 minutes advanced. The next flight towards my actual destination was a 14 hour flight that still managed to arrive 45 minutes in advance. I was like, this is just a really nice change! I also arrived at an appropriate time of 7:45pm. Other airlines take you to your destination during midnight or dawn, but not Korean Air. I did not leave Manila at a very early time  either. My flight's ETD was 12:30pm which allowed me to leisurely go through the Monday morning Manila city drive.

When it comes to food, I specifically tried the Korean food they serve and I enjoyed it. They serve Bibimbap in both the connecting and the last leg of the flight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap) with this really nice spicy paste shown in the pic below. The paste is similar to Hoisin sauce but not as sweet and it is just a lil bit spicy, so don't get too scared with it.

The Flight Attendants of Korean Air are prompt and respectful. One even taught me how to enjoy Bibimbap - like how to eat it by mixing the veggies and meat with the rice, put on the paste, and do not mix it with the soup!

TV? no problem. You have your own in your seat. The movie collections are nice. I managed to watch 3 movies and 1 documentary. The Audio collection is acceptable, i navigated through it, although it needs more of the recent Western Pop. I did like their "relaxation" albums. You also do not need to bring a 2-prong adaptor (shown below). Just bring your favorite headset with a 3.5mm jack and you're good to go! They do provide headsets but I would recommend you bring your own if it is a long flight to enjoy the sound. I had my very own Action Fit Philips earphones that I use for running and I am so happy I did not bother to buy the more expensive Travel Fit Philips earphones because I do not need it. Any standard earphones will work as long as it si 3.5mm. Before landing, I turned on the skyview which shows the view of our landing. A bit blurred, but it is a nice thing to see.

I am proud of Cebu Pacific for how they land their planes. Korean Air is not so bad either. I did not experience any luggage falling off from inside the overhead bins, it wasn't a scary noisy landing, it was nice actually.

I called Korean Air 4 days before my schedule and the customer service officer booked me my seats for both the departure and the return flights. In case you're wondering, this was done for free. I did try the web check-in a day before my flight, and there is no need to print anything so it was pretty efficient. On the day of my departure, true enough, my seats were booked just where I want to be, including my connecting flight seat number.

I think I may have found a reliable airline (and cheaper alternative) for long flights, or possibly when I get to visit Korea! Korean Air is just superfly :)