Spoiled…maybe? I think Saturday was my first business class flight over 4 hours without lie-flat seating in over two years. I flew Asiana from Bangkok (BKK) to Seoul (ICN) and then from ICN-JFK. I think I normally wouldn’t have cared so much (yes this is a relatively short flight), but the fact that the flight departed at 11:55pm and then flew for the better part of the night (when I wanted to be sleeping) until reaching Seoul made the non lie-flat seating a bit annoying.
I remember these “near-flat” seats from my multiple Delta 767 flights to Europe prior to 2012, the old KLM WBC seat, and Korean’s old Prestige seat. Of course, as the seating was 2-2-2, this meant I also had a seatmate. The most annoying part though was the fact that the cabin was 22 degrees C (72 Fahrenheit)…it was hot. When I asked the flight attendant if she could turn the A/C on, I was told that the cabin is maintained at 22C for the flight segment.
All that said, the Asiana service was fantastic on both flights. There was a flight attendant cleaning the bathroom after each passenger used it, constant passenger comfort checks with someone walking around at all times, great food, and just general friendliness. On the shorter BKK-ICN flight, each time I would toss and turn in my non lie-flat seat, the flight attendant would stop by and ask if I needed anything. After about the 3rd time I told her that I was fine and just toss and turn a lot.
The newer Business Smartium Class on the JFK flight was fantastic. Full trip reports for both flights coming up, but I’m happy that this points and miles game allows me to fly lie-flat business or first more often than not on the real long-haul flights!
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5 comments
Adam,
I wish I had that lie-flat slanted seat last month!
I flew Asiana from Siem Reap in Cambodia to JFK, connecting in Seoul. The long leg was in their new 777 renovated first class suite, which was fantastic, but flying REP-ICN was in a 737, and although I sat in the front in business(there was no first), the seat was typical of domestic first that barely reclined at all.
My five+ hour flight left at midnight, like yours. Anyway, the super-nice bed on the connecting flight made up for it.
New OZ seating is great. Asiana (and most Asian carriers I have found) keep the aircraft way too warm!
This is not necessarily an “old” seat – most Asian airlines, including SQ and TG, operate different business class products on regional versus long-haul flights… Not really any different from domestic flights in the US. You won’t get a lie-flat seat for a four hour flight either…
The business class is OK. But way better than U.S. based airlines. I would go for F anytime, if I were you. Their new first class product was fantastic: http://www.tprochina.com/?p=61
The new business class seat look really good on its colour