Free lunch Korean style: SIN-ICN-SDJ and back, OZ/SQ J
Feb 10, 2004, 4:18 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Free lunch Korean style: SIN-ICN-SDJ and back, OZ/SQ J
First a disclaimer: my company is too cheap to pay J for work, I'm too cheap to pay J for fun, and Asian airlines aren't too keen on op-ups so I rarely end up in the front of the plane -- SQ PPS Solitaires may wish to take everything I say with a grain of salt. But I'm happy to use points for upgrades or J awards, and since I had a trip to Japan coming up and 45000 SAS Eurobonus points burning a hole in my account...
My destination was Sendai (SDJ), an industrial northern Japanese town that would be a byword for boredom (think New Jersey) if not a large number of hot springs within striking distance. My only *A choices for getting there were the obvious ANA (NH) and the less obvious Asiana (OZ), which flies from Seoul once per day and, as it turned out, with much better timing if connecting from SIN. I booked early and even scored the return ICN-SIN leg on SQ!
Enough foreword, on with the show...
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 15, 2004).]
My destination was Sendai (SDJ), an industrial northern Japanese town that would be a byword for boredom (think New Jersey) if not a large number of hot springs within striking distance. My only *A choices for getting there were the obvious ANA (NH) and the less obvious Asiana (OZ), which flies from Seoul once per day and, as it turned out, with much better timing if connecting from SIN. I booked early and even scored the return ICN-SIN leg on SQ!
Enough foreword, on with the show...
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 15, 2004).]
Feb 10, 2004, 4:56 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
I arrived at Changi an hour before departure. Four desks were open for my flight and there was absolutely nobody checking in, but I headed for the J counter anyway and, after a modicum of confusion ("where on earth is SDJ?"), I had my tix and headed to the lounge.
Asiana's J pax share the "SATS Premier Lounge", a fully generic airport-operated lounge for 10+ companies. It's nothing to write home about (Flyertalk's a different story
), but I had 20 minutes to grab a bite to eat -- salmon sandwiches: good, dim sum: horrid; serves me right for trying the food at 11 PM when it's been sitting there for most of the day -- and something to read before heading off to the gate. Maybe someday I'll learn that "Last call for immediate boarding" means there's still an easy 15 min to while away... but on schedule I boarded:
OZ 352 SIN-ICN J B767-300
I'd been warned about OZ 767s earlier on FT, and with reason: these are pretty crappy planes for long-haul, esp. overnight. Seat recline is equivalent to SAS E+, and there's no PTV even in Y. Even the livery looks dingy. I ended up in seat 1A, meaning I had the bulkhead again my feet -- my seatmate Mr. 1B was smarter and snagged 2B when nobody showed up in 2A/B. Load was perhaps 50% in J, maybe a little higher in Y.
[Ed: the plane was supposed to be a 747, which would have been a bit better, but evidently it wasn't meant to be... the inflight entertainment guide indicated that they fly both planes to SIN and the 747s have PTVs at least in C.]
This was also my first OZ flight, and I have to say the staff uniforms are remarkably unattractive: the coarse grey fabric with military stripes for rank looks more like a North Korean carrier, and I was half expecting them to wear little Kim Il Sung buttons on their lapels. That said, staff were reasonably attentive and professional, although the Korean accent with its inherent inability to distinguish L and R was cute. I also found the Korean habit of writing Japanese labels and text with Chinese traditional kanji (hanzi? hanja?) odd, but I guess this makes text 80% comprehensible for both markets... like Japanese, the spoken announcements were interminably verbose, but seemingly even more so because (unlike Jp) I couldn't understand a word except the -hamnidas and -sumnidas at the end.
We got served a glass of OJ on boarding and, other than a hot towel, that was it for the evening, not even drink service. Changi looked very pretty during takeoff, and after nearly an hour of blather the lights were turned off, although the overhead TV directly in front kept flashing like a strobe in my face for another hour.
Despite my best efforts -- I'd been warned to sleep well by my Japanese welcoming committee, since I wouldn't be getting any sleep the next night -- I managed to sleep perhaps 2-3 hrs total before breakfast service at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM SIN/5:30 ICN time. (I woke up once and saw the plane passing over HK and the Pearl Delta, wow!) A white tablecloth was laid out and fresh fruits, yogurt, a selection of breads and a preselected dish were served; I'd opted for the lor mun kai, a giant sticky rice dumpling with chicken, mushrooms and gingko nuts, not bad at all with a dab of chili sauce... but a little odd to combine with a croissant, strawberry yogurt and coffee. I think Mr. 1E, who ordered ramen noodles for breakfast, chose better. Once again, drinks were limited to OJ, coffee and tea -- if you wanted anything else you had to request it. If they're going to wake me up at 4:30 the least they could do is give me a glass of bubbly, dammit!
ICN, Asiana Business Lounge
We landed on schedule at 7 AM on the dot. It was my first time in Korea (and thus ICN), the airport in its size and ultra-modern design reminded me of KUL... although the scaling was a little more humane and there were a little more people about. Tax-free proved a total washout, I went looking for a simple scarf but the cheapest I could find was US $90 -- and that after a 30% discount! All prices were denominated in dollars, not a bad move given that the won is one of those currencies with at least 3 zeroes too many.
So I headed to the OZ biz lounge (where I'm typing this now), and this place is excellent. It's huge, it's stylish, and it has everything you need to kill a few hours and then some. I partook of the free shower service, which gets you a private bathroom that could easily be out of a quality hotel, nibbled some of the many snacks on offer and then plunked myself down at one of the many (~10) Internet PCs on offer. This place also doubles as the *A Gold lounge, and it gradually filled up as the morning progressed... it'll be interesting to see how the SQ lounge compares. And how does OZ manage to differentiate the F lounge -- champagne in addition to cognac?
The story continues next Sunday...
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 10, 2004).]
Asiana's J pax share the "SATS Premier Lounge", a fully generic airport-operated lounge for 10+ companies. It's nothing to write home about (Flyertalk's a different story
), but I had 20 minutes to grab a bite to eat -- salmon sandwiches: good, dim sum: horrid; serves me right for trying the food at 11 PM when it's been sitting there for most of the day -- and something to read before heading off to the gate. Maybe someday I'll learn that "Last call for immediate boarding" means there's still an easy 15 min to while away... but on schedule I boarded:OZ 352 SIN-ICN J B767-300
I'd been warned about OZ 767s earlier on FT, and with reason: these are pretty crappy planes for long-haul, esp. overnight. Seat recline is equivalent to SAS E+, and there's no PTV even in Y. Even the livery looks dingy. I ended up in seat 1A, meaning I had the bulkhead again my feet -- my seatmate Mr. 1B was smarter and snagged 2B when nobody showed up in 2A/B. Load was perhaps 50% in J, maybe a little higher in Y.
[Ed: the plane was supposed to be a 747, which would have been a bit better, but evidently it wasn't meant to be... the inflight entertainment guide indicated that they fly both planes to SIN and the 747s have PTVs at least in C.]
This was also my first OZ flight, and I have to say the staff uniforms are remarkably unattractive: the coarse grey fabric with military stripes for rank looks more like a North Korean carrier, and I was half expecting them to wear little Kim Il Sung buttons on their lapels. That said, staff were reasonably attentive and professional, although the Korean accent with its inherent inability to distinguish L and R was cute. I also found the Korean habit of writing Japanese labels and text with Chinese traditional kanji (hanzi? hanja?) odd, but I guess this makes text 80% comprehensible for both markets... like Japanese, the spoken announcements were interminably verbose, but seemingly even more so because (unlike Jp) I couldn't understand a word except the -hamnidas and -sumnidas at the end.
We got served a glass of OJ on boarding and, other than a hot towel, that was it for the evening, not even drink service. Changi looked very pretty during takeoff, and after nearly an hour of blather the lights were turned off, although the overhead TV directly in front kept flashing like a strobe in my face for another hour.
Despite my best efforts -- I'd been warned to sleep well by my Japanese welcoming committee, since I wouldn't be getting any sleep the next night -- I managed to sleep perhaps 2-3 hrs total before breakfast service at the ungodly hour of 4:30 AM SIN/5:30 ICN time. (I woke up once and saw the plane passing over HK and the Pearl Delta, wow!) A white tablecloth was laid out and fresh fruits, yogurt, a selection of breads and a preselected dish were served; I'd opted for the lor mun kai, a giant sticky rice dumpling with chicken, mushrooms and gingko nuts, not bad at all with a dab of chili sauce... but a little odd to combine with a croissant, strawberry yogurt and coffee. I think Mr. 1E, who ordered ramen noodles for breakfast, chose better. Once again, drinks were limited to OJ, coffee and tea -- if you wanted anything else you had to request it. If they're going to wake me up at 4:30 the least they could do is give me a glass of bubbly, dammit!
ICN, Asiana Business Lounge
We landed on schedule at 7 AM on the dot. It was my first time in Korea (and thus ICN), the airport in its size and ultra-modern design reminded me of KUL... although the scaling was a little more humane and there were a little more people about. Tax-free proved a total washout, I went looking for a simple scarf but the cheapest I could find was US $90 -- and that after a 30% discount! All prices were denominated in dollars, not a bad move given that the won is one of those currencies with at least 3 zeroes too many.
So I headed to the OZ biz lounge (where I'm typing this now), and this place is excellent. It's huge, it's stylish, and it has everything you need to kill a few hours and then some. I partook of the free shower service, which gets you a private bathroom that could easily be out of a quality hotel, nibbled some of the many snacks on offer and then plunked myself down at one of the many (~10) Internet PCs on offer. This place also doubles as the *A Gold lounge, and it gradually filled up as the morning progressed... it'll be interesting to see how the SQ lounge compares. And how does OZ manage to differentiate the F lounge -- champagne in addition to cognac?
The story continues next Sunday...
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 10, 2004).]
Feb 11, 2004, 12:13 am
#3
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,341
Thanks for the report! Asiana's uniform is not that great (Korean Air too... )... I am glad that you like OZ J lounge... it is a fantastic lounge and think the F section possibly gets a more comfortable sofa setting, but not much difference... I think OZ is going to the 2-class way soon.
For your inflight experience, I find it quite unacceptable not to at least do a drinking round. One of the negative aspects about OZ is that they really follow the book strictly. They serve meals at the exact moment perscribed by the company. If there is a light load in F or J, F/As at AA/UA/CX will postpone it a bit... since serving a half full J cabin does not take much time. It is a two course affair. Using common sense, I think a beverage service should at least be offered, but don't hesitate to ask and to use the call bell.
Look forward to the rest of your report!
Carfield
For your inflight experience, I find it quite unacceptable not to at least do a drinking round. One of the negative aspects about OZ is that they really follow the book strictly. They serve meals at the exact moment perscribed by the company. If there is a light load in F or J, F/As at AA/UA/CX will postpone it a bit... since serving a half full J cabin does not take much time. It is a two course affair. Using common sense, I think a beverage service should at least be offered, but don't hesitate to ask and to use the call bell.
Look forward to the rest of your report!
Carfield
Feb 11, 2004, 2:09 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: HKG
Posts: 1,077
thanks for the report. must remember to check out the OZ lounge at ICN next time. where exactly is it located? i always end up at the SQ lounge, which, to be fair, is probably one of the nicest/best-run Silver Kris lounges outside SIN...
Feb 15, 2004, 1:41 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
milehighj: the OZ lounge is located at the opposite end of the terminal (gates 1-10), where the KE and OZ flights leave from.
On with the story!
OZ 152 ICN-SDJ J B767-300
And onward onto what looked like exactly the same plane... except that it wasn't (sole giveaway: magazine holders in row 1 were a different model). Even the passenger density was equally poor, with not even 50% this time. But now I snagged seat 2F, the evil twin of seat 2A (at least on 767s), and it is indeed the best of the J world with good leg room and reclinability... not that either is really needed on a 1:50 flight.
This time OZ was kind enough to serve real champagne (Piper-Heidsieck Brut, claimed the menu) before takeoff, and accompany it with the sweet sounds of... Korean rap? I'll be kind and refrain from speculating why it's abbreviated "K-RAP", but AK still takes the musical cake for playing "I Shot the Sheriff" during landing.
Takeoff was a few minutes late due to a queue, the sun was up now and it looked cold out there... but everything was enveloped in fog and soon we were above the clouds.
An early lunch was rolled out, and this time I have a menu too:
Grava Lox with Green Salad
Beef Short Rib "Bul-Gal-Bi"
A Famous Korean Beef Dish Served with Sweet Soy Sauce, Accompanied by Steamed Rice,
or
Grilled Scallop and King Prawn
Served with Nantua Sauce, Presented with Saffron Potato, Asparagus and Carrot
Mandarine Cream Cake
Choice of 3 reds and 2 whites, I picked the beef and had a red wine chosen for me. Lots of meat, but the entire entree was quite mild-tasting, and I only realized a little too late that the innocuous toothpaste tube sitting by the side in fact contained dochujang, the fiery Korean chili sauce. D'oh! My second mistake was ordering a glass of "Sandeman Port" (said the menu, evidently a cheap ruby) as an digestif. Based on the taste the bottle had been opened 5 years ago when a sozzled Englishman boarded the wrong plane by accident, and had sat untouched ever since, slowly oxidizing. Blech.
And now my sole small but real gripe for this flight: it would be oh so nice if OZ either used common sense or, even more simply, didn't discriminate. Not only was I the sole visible furriner (near 2 meters and blond) on a rather strange route, I grabbed a Nihon Keizai Shimbun on boarding (as you do) and spent most of the beginning of the flight reading Japanese. Did the crew take a hint? Care to guess who was not given chopsticks for his meal, while everybody else got them? Care to guess who was not offered green tea when the stewardess went around with the pot, when even my seatmate got some? When I politely suggested that ano, o-cha itadakitai n' desu ga, miss Japanese FA stuttered out that the pot she was holding contained "Japaneezu guriin tea". Yes, that would be why I just asked you for it. Grumble.
Ah well, shikataganai (lit. "there is no way to do it", all too common a phrase). By this time we reached the coast of Japan and I was treated to a beautiful view of Japan's Snow Country, plus a FedEx plane zooming past nearby in the opposite direction. The plane landed on time, I was the first in Immigration's foreigner queue (the second being a Korean Buddhist monk!), and after my means of earning living were checked, my itinerary queried and my pockets patted down, I stepped out into the crisp Japanese winter to meet the welcoming committee.
Not too far from SDJ, East Naruko Onsen Hot Springs
The Tohoku Shinkansen is fun, outdoor hot springs surrounded by snow are fun, Hanagaki's junmai-daiginjo sake is fun, and that's about all I can say in a family-friendly publication.
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 15, 2004).]
On with the story!
OZ 152 ICN-SDJ J B767-300
And onward onto what looked like exactly the same plane... except that it wasn't (sole giveaway: magazine holders in row 1 were a different model). Even the passenger density was equally poor, with not even 50% this time. But now I snagged seat 2F, the evil twin of seat 2A (at least on 767s), and it is indeed the best of the J world with good leg room and reclinability... not that either is really needed on a 1:50 flight.
This time OZ was kind enough to serve real champagne (Piper-Heidsieck Brut, claimed the menu) before takeoff, and accompany it with the sweet sounds of... Korean rap? I'll be kind and refrain from speculating why it's abbreviated "K-RAP", but AK still takes the musical cake for playing "I Shot the Sheriff" during landing.
Takeoff was a few minutes late due to a queue, the sun was up now and it looked cold out there... but everything was enveloped in fog and soon we were above the clouds.
An early lunch was rolled out, and this time I have a menu too:
Grava Lox with Green Salad
Beef Short Rib "Bul-Gal-Bi"
A Famous Korean Beef Dish Served with Sweet Soy Sauce, Accompanied by Steamed Rice,
or
Grilled Scallop and King Prawn
Served with Nantua Sauce, Presented with Saffron Potato, Asparagus and Carrot
Mandarine Cream Cake
Choice of 3 reds and 2 whites, I picked the beef and had a red wine chosen for me. Lots of meat, but the entire entree was quite mild-tasting, and I only realized a little too late that the innocuous toothpaste tube sitting by the side in fact contained dochujang, the fiery Korean chili sauce. D'oh! My second mistake was ordering a glass of "Sandeman Port" (said the menu, evidently a cheap ruby) as an digestif. Based on the taste the bottle had been opened 5 years ago when a sozzled Englishman boarded the wrong plane by accident, and had sat untouched ever since, slowly oxidizing. Blech.
And now my sole small but real gripe for this flight: it would be oh so nice if OZ either used common sense or, even more simply, didn't discriminate. Not only was I the sole visible furriner (near 2 meters and blond) on a rather strange route, I grabbed a Nihon Keizai Shimbun on boarding (as you do) and spent most of the beginning of the flight reading Japanese. Did the crew take a hint? Care to guess who was not given chopsticks for his meal, while everybody else got them? Care to guess who was not offered green tea when the stewardess went around with the pot, when even my seatmate got some? When I politely suggested that ano, o-cha itadakitai n' desu ga, miss Japanese FA stuttered out that the pot she was holding contained "Japaneezu guriin tea". Yes, that would be why I just asked you for it. Grumble.
Ah well, shikataganai (lit. "there is no way to do it", all too common a phrase). By this time we reached the coast of Japan and I was treated to a beautiful view of Japan's Snow Country, plus a FedEx plane zooming past nearby in the opposite direction. The plane landed on time, I was the first in Immigration's foreigner queue (the second being a Korean Buddhist monk!), and after my means of earning living were checked, my itinerary queried and my pockets patted down, I stepped out into the crisp Japanese winter to meet the welcoming committee.
Not too far from SDJ, East Naruko Onsen Hot Springs
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
...yume no tochuu, kimi no kokyuu...
</font>
...yume no tochuu, kimi no kokyuu...
</font>
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 15, 2004).]
Feb 15, 2004, 2:31 am
#7
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
But all good things must come to an end, so soon enough it was time to take that final bus to Sendai Airport and get ready to hurtle through the cosmos in a pressurized aluminum tube.
SDJ, in loungless limbo
Sendai Airport is small and accessible, but check-in was quite the little clusterf*ck -- it took a moment before I realized that the huge mob at the entry to the check-in area was a tour group getting their baggage X-rayed, and smart FTers with carry-on only could breeze (or just squeeze) past. There were two people ahead of me in OZ's J line, but one had a massive mountain of luggage and processing it took 15 minutes.
To compensate for the lack of a international biz lounge, OZ proffered a Y1000 ($10) coupon for use in any airport restaurant/cafe. This doesn't go too far in Japan, esp. in an airport, but the coupon plus Y29 were enough for a cappucino and a plate of zundamochi, a Sendai specialty consisting of glutinous rice balls with a dab of salty-sweet nuclear green edamame bean paste. This may not sound terribly appetizing, probably because it isn't, but then again, the other thing Sendai is locally famous for is grilled slices of cow tongue.
Once through immigration facilities are limited to a duty-free shop and a cafe. I opted to scarf down my last set of sushi (slurp!), and soon enough it was time to board...
OZ 151 SDJ-ICN J A321-200
Hey -- different plane! Not necessarily an improvement though, I even overheard the check-in lady refer to it as as hijou-ni semai ("horribly tight"), but J wasn't too bad as it was configured 2-2, instead of the sardinelike 3-3 in the back. I got 2F again, now with less legroom but quite acceptable width. The amenities or, rather, lack thereof was identical (no PTV etc). The plane was, AFAIK, 100% full in both J and Y, at least partly thanks to the aforementioned tour group.
The takeoff path was rather weird, to avoid slamming into the mountains the plane did a sharp curve to head over the ocean, and then a much gentler curve 180-deg curve back to aim towards Korea again. A glass of champagne this time too, but also a baggie of roasted macadamia nuts -- yay! The FA and I rewarded each other with smiles after she bravely attempted to pronounce my last name and did a passable job to boot. Soon enough it was time for what the menu called a "snack" but which was a full-blown lunch:
Smoked Salmon with Green Salad
Braised Beef
Served with Korean Style Sweet Soy Sauce, Accompanies by Steamed Rice, Snap Pea and Potato Ball
or
Poached White Fish
Rolled with Green Cabbage with Cream Sauce, Presented with Parisienne Potato, Broccoli and Carrot
Cheese Tart
Beef and FA's choice of red again: Kenwood Zinfandel from sunny Cali was nice with the macadamias but not too nice with beef. The entree was remarkably similar to the last one, but much aided by liberal application of dochujang. A glass of Benedictine D.O.M. was also a considerable improvement over 5-year-old non-vintage port.
The flight took 2:40 this time thanks to head winds, 10 minutes longer than scheduled, but this didn't cause much in the way of turbulence except right after takeoff. I'd asked for a right-hand side window seat so I could spy on the People's Democratic Republic of Korea and wave at ol' Kim Jong-Il, but unfortunately my nefarious plot was foiled by a curtain of that nefarious Korean fog (and a flight path that unsurprisingly steered pretty well clear of the DMZ -- not easy when ICN is less than 50 km away).
ICN, SQ Silver Kris Lounge
What happened next was enough to drop ICN way lower on my list of favorite airports (do such things exist?), and I would probably have missed my flight if the connection had been any tighter...
OZ couldn't check me in for the connecting SQ leg, so I blithely followed the Int'l Transfers signs to a security point.
- Boarding pass?
- I don't have...
- Cannot! Go straight, Tee Two!
Huh? No signs, but I went straight as instructed towards immigration... and a few hundred meters later spotted "T2 Transfer Desk" signs. I head to the counter...
- What airline?
- Singapore...
- OK!
(looks over ticket)
- Cannot! Go T4!
- T4? Where is that?
- Go straight!
I look straight. All the signage is reversed -- the corridor is clearly intended for people coming from that direction, not going. I try my luck anyway, and after some trudging, come to a little stand-alone computer printout sign: "T4 190m". And then I trudge some more.
After those 190 meters I find the elusive T4 desk, and it indeed promised "SQ" as one of the handled airlines, but... there is nobody in sight. A few confused little signs instruct passengers 'outside office hours' to call various numbers, but SQ is not among them, and the phone on the desk (for passenger use?) has no instructions and returns "bing-bong number not in service" for any number permutation I can think of. I scratch my head for a while, go dig up the SQ number from an airport guide, grab one of the other phones and lift the phone... and it calls somebody by itself?
Somebody answers and, amazingly, they speak English (kind of), more or less understand my predicament, and tell me to go to "security point". I'd already been rejected by the earlier security point, but with few choices I pick the one closest to T4... and they instruct me to go to, drum roll, transfer desk D3.
It's been close to one hour now and I've dragged my luggage literally across the terminal (an easy kilometer). Seeing my apoplectic countenance and sensing an approaching explosion, the female security droid notes that D3 is on the other side of security, and waves me through without subjecting me to an anal probe.
Once upstairs, finding D3 isn't too difficult, and I finally get that boarding pass -- also taking the opportunity to explain, with maximal restraint, my dissatisfaction with the signage.
And here I now sit in SQ's very tasteful Silver Kris lounge with a cold drink in my hand and a free Internet connection. It's quite similar to the OZ J lounge, down to the layout, but the range of food on offer seems better. All's well that ends well -- but the moral of the story is, don't connect OZ to SQ at ICN without a boarding pass. Thank you and good night.
SDJ, in loungless limbo
Sendai Airport is small and accessible, but check-in was quite the little clusterf*ck -- it took a moment before I realized that the huge mob at the entry to the check-in area was a tour group getting their baggage X-rayed, and smart FTers with carry-on only could breeze (or just squeeze) past. There were two people ahead of me in OZ's J line, but one had a massive mountain of luggage and processing it took 15 minutes.
To compensate for the lack of a international biz lounge, OZ proffered a Y1000 ($10) coupon for use in any airport restaurant/cafe. This doesn't go too far in Japan, esp. in an airport, but the coupon plus Y29 were enough for a cappucino and a plate of zundamochi, a Sendai specialty consisting of glutinous rice balls with a dab of salty-sweet nuclear green edamame bean paste. This may not sound terribly appetizing, probably because it isn't, but then again, the other thing Sendai is locally famous for is grilled slices of cow tongue.
Once through immigration facilities are limited to a duty-free shop and a cafe. I opted to scarf down my last set of sushi (slurp!), and soon enough it was time to board...
OZ 151 SDJ-ICN J A321-200
Hey -- different plane! Not necessarily an improvement though, I even overheard the check-in lady refer to it as as hijou-ni semai ("horribly tight"), but J wasn't too bad as it was configured 2-2, instead of the sardinelike 3-3 in the back. I got 2F again, now with less legroom but quite acceptable width. The amenities or, rather, lack thereof was identical (no PTV etc). The plane was, AFAIK, 100% full in both J and Y, at least partly thanks to the aforementioned tour group.
The takeoff path was rather weird, to avoid slamming into the mountains the plane did a sharp curve to head over the ocean, and then a much gentler curve 180-deg curve back to aim towards Korea again. A glass of champagne this time too, but also a baggie of roasted macadamia nuts -- yay! The FA and I rewarded each other with smiles after she bravely attempted to pronounce my last name and did a passable job to boot. Soon enough it was time for what the menu called a "snack" but which was a full-blown lunch:
Smoked Salmon with Green Salad
Braised Beef
Served with Korean Style Sweet Soy Sauce, Accompanies by Steamed Rice, Snap Pea and Potato Ball
or
Poached White Fish
Rolled with Green Cabbage with Cream Sauce, Presented with Parisienne Potato, Broccoli and Carrot
Cheese Tart
Beef and FA's choice of red again: Kenwood Zinfandel from sunny Cali was nice with the macadamias but not too nice with beef. The entree was remarkably similar to the last one, but much aided by liberal application of dochujang. A glass of Benedictine D.O.M. was also a considerable improvement over 5-year-old non-vintage port.
The flight took 2:40 this time thanks to head winds, 10 minutes longer than scheduled, but this didn't cause much in the way of turbulence except right after takeoff. I'd asked for a right-hand side window seat so I could spy on the People's Democratic Republic of Korea and wave at ol' Kim Jong-Il, but unfortunately my nefarious plot was foiled by a curtain of that nefarious Korean fog (and a flight path that unsurprisingly steered pretty well clear of the DMZ -- not easy when ICN is less than 50 km away).
ICN, SQ Silver Kris Lounge
What happened next was enough to drop ICN way lower on my list of favorite airports (do such things exist?), and I would probably have missed my flight if the connection had been any tighter...
OZ couldn't check me in for the connecting SQ leg, so I blithely followed the Int'l Transfers signs to a security point.
- Boarding pass?
- I don't have...
- Cannot! Go straight, Tee Two!
Huh? No signs, but I went straight as instructed towards immigration... and a few hundred meters later spotted "T2 Transfer Desk" signs. I head to the counter...
- What airline?
- Singapore...
- OK!
(looks over ticket)
- Cannot! Go T4!
- T4? Where is that?
- Go straight!
I look straight. All the signage is reversed -- the corridor is clearly intended for people coming from that direction, not going. I try my luck anyway, and after some trudging, come to a little stand-alone computer printout sign: "T4 190m". And then I trudge some more.
After those 190 meters I find the elusive T4 desk, and it indeed promised "SQ" as one of the handled airlines, but... there is nobody in sight. A few confused little signs instruct passengers 'outside office hours' to call various numbers, but SQ is not among them, and the phone on the desk (for passenger use?) has no instructions and returns "bing-bong number not in service" for any number permutation I can think of. I scratch my head for a while, go dig up the SQ number from an airport guide, grab one of the other phones and lift the phone... and it calls somebody by itself?
Somebody answers and, amazingly, they speak English (kind of), more or less understand my predicament, and tell me to go to "security point". I'd already been rejected by the earlier security point, but with few choices I pick the one closest to T4... and they instruct me to go to, drum roll, transfer desk D3.
It's been close to one hour now and I've dragged my luggage literally across the terminal (an easy kilometer). Seeing my apoplectic countenance and sensing an approaching explosion, the female security droid notes that D3 is on the other side of security, and waves me through without subjecting me to an anal probe.
Once upstairs, finding D3 isn't too difficult, and I finally get that boarding pass -- also taking the opportunity to explain, with maximal restraint, my dissatisfaction with the signage.
And here I now sit in SQ's very tasteful Silver Kris lounge with a cold drink in my hand and a free Internet connection. It's quite similar to the OZ J lounge, down to the layout, but the range of food on offer seems better. All's well that ends well -- but the moral of the story is, don't connect OZ to SQ at ICN without a boarding pass. Thank you and good night.
Feb 15, 2004, 2:51 pm
#8
Join Date: Oct 1999
Location: New York
Posts: 7,341
Thanks for the continuous trip report! OZ seems to offer a decent intra-Asian flight. Meals sound better than what most US airlines are serving us a similar flight. I like OZ's macadamia nuts pack too. They are really nice... No wonder I saw those Korean and Japanse tourists buy hug boxes of macadamia nuts back home at various Hawaiian and US airports.
Look forward to your SQ report!
Carfield
Look forward to your SQ report!
Carfield
Feb 15, 2004, 7:18 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: SYD
Programs: OZ*G, VA Plat, NZ*G (Elite), QF Gold and PC+, Hyatt Explorist, HH Gold, Bonvoyed ("Gold")
Posts: 5,350
jpatokal, we had a slightly similar transit experience in ICN, going from a OZ SYD-ICN flight to a NH ICN-KIX flight. I think we were directed to about 3 different counters before we hit the right one! ICN is certainly beautiful and sparklingly modern, but it seems that not much thought was given to making it transit-friendly. Unfortunately at that time I wasn't *G either, so didn't get to sample the delights of the OZ lounge.
Anyway, interesting report! Looking forward to the SQ sector...
Anyway, interesting report! Looking forward to the SQ sector...
Feb 16, 2004, 6:44 am
#11
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
After adding a triple set of kimchi to the ever-expanding collection of fermented vegetables in my carry-on bag it was time to board...
SQ 15 (SFO-)ICN-SIN J B777-200 "Jubilee"
...and this plane was, like, wow. I'd been on an SQ B777 Jubilee before, but this was my first time up in Raffles Class (seat 14K to be precise), and this was just a completely different planet from OZ's cruddy 767. Do note that the plane was a true long-hauler coming in from SFO, so comparing it to OZ's dedicated ICN-SIN-ICN service isn't entirely fair -- but in the end it's the passenger experience that matters.
The first obvious difference was the famed Spacebed. It took me a moment to figure out how to operate the controls (the guide booklet helped), but once I had the "heureka!" moment of realizing that instead of the seatback reclining, the back stays put and the rest of the seat slides down, it was easy. Like SQ Y, there was a PTV built into the seat; unlike Y, the selection of movies, TV programs and audio channels was so mind-bogglingly huge that I gave up and just set the thing to show me the flight path.
The second big difference was the food and drink service. No little trays of drinks here, each passenger was asked what they would like to drink, and then asked again once they finished that, with free refills before you could even ask. I started with a glass of OJ, then upgraded myself to two glasses of champagne (Piper Heidsieck rare cuvée réservée), nibbled on some satay (mild but not bad at all)... and then the meal service started!
Zensai
Assorted Japanese appetizer of salmon tataki, tamago with eel and salmon roes served with mitsuba lettuce and yuzu shiso dressing
Cannelloni of braised beef, chopped spinach in red wine sauce
or
Sang Seon Bulgogi
Korean style grilled Northern halibut with seasonal selection of vegetables and steamed rice
or
Ma Po Tofu
Chinese style braised silken beancurd with minced pork, prawns in hot bean sauce served with mustard green and steamed rice
Selection of cheese with garnishes
A selection of fresh fruit
Häagen-Dazs Tiramisu ice cream with chocolate sauce and roasted almonds
The appetizer, like all subsequent dishes, were brought on separate porcelain trays. Tataki is raw fish barely seared on the edges, and despite my misgivings it was unbelievably good for airplane food, prompting booting out TG's pomelo salad from my "best thing eaten on airplane" slot. I continued the Korean theme and went for the fish bulgogi (which, incidentally, replaced the originally scheduled Dak gochu jang boekum, ie. grilled chicken -- bird flu strikes again!), which was competent but not quite to my taste; not as in "bad airline food", but "I went to a good restaurant and ordered the wrong thing". Already stuffed I skipped the cheese and fruits, but couldn't resist the ice cream, which was absolutely delectable. I washed this down with a glass of Hattenheimer Riesling Kabinett 2001 'Balthasar Ress' white, which was very good, and then a full wine glass (!) of Taylor's LBV 1998 port, which was decent (and in much better shape than OZ's earlier attempt), but I still had leave half of it -- too much of a good thing and all.
By now it was 10 PM and I'd had around 6 servings of alcohol at 30,000 feet, so a quick trip to the loo (everything inside Givenchy!) and then it was time to extend the Spacebed to the max and grab some sorely-needed Z's. No, it doesn't recline all the way (sleeping on my stomach was a tad uncomfortable), but I could stretch out all the way (that's 192 cm plus Raffles slippers) and it was a d*mn sight better than any seat I've slept in before. I effortlessly dozed away for the remaining 3 hours of the flight.
I was woken up 30 min before arrival by the cabin lights being turned back on, now with the mildest of hangovers (reminding me why I usually stick to a glass of wine on longer flights). And yes, I have to agree with earlier opinions here on FT, the Spacebed is not that comfortable when sitting all the way up... but everything is relative, and the best use of J facilities is for better sleep anyway.
SIN operated with its usual efficiency, immigration staff were climbing into their little booths as I strode into the arrivals hall and were ready to scan my EP by the time I crossed it. 30 minutes of bing bong in a speeding taxi and I was back home in the tropics, a world away from the snowy mountain passes of northern Japan.
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 16, 2004).]
SQ 15 (SFO-)ICN-SIN J B777-200 "Jubilee"
...and this plane was, like, wow. I'd been on an SQ B777 Jubilee before, but this was my first time up in Raffles Class (seat 14K to be precise), and this was just a completely different planet from OZ's cruddy 767. Do note that the plane was a true long-hauler coming in from SFO, so comparing it to OZ's dedicated ICN-SIN-ICN service isn't entirely fair -- but in the end it's the passenger experience that matters.
The first obvious difference was the famed Spacebed. It took me a moment to figure out how to operate the controls (the guide booklet helped), but once I had the "heureka!" moment of realizing that instead of the seatback reclining, the back stays put and the rest of the seat slides down, it was easy. Like SQ Y, there was a PTV built into the seat; unlike Y, the selection of movies, TV programs and audio channels was so mind-bogglingly huge that I gave up and just set the thing to show me the flight path.
The second big difference was the food and drink service. No little trays of drinks here, each passenger was asked what they would like to drink, and then asked again once they finished that, with free refills before you could even ask. I started with a glass of OJ, then upgraded myself to two glasses of champagne (Piper Heidsieck rare cuvée réservée), nibbled on some satay (mild but not bad at all)... and then the meal service started!
Zensai
Assorted Japanese appetizer of salmon tataki, tamago with eel and salmon roes served with mitsuba lettuce and yuzu shiso dressing
Cannelloni of braised beef, chopped spinach in red wine sauce
or
Sang Seon Bulgogi
Korean style grilled Northern halibut with seasonal selection of vegetables and steamed rice
or
Ma Po Tofu
Chinese style braised silken beancurd with minced pork, prawns in hot bean sauce served with mustard green and steamed rice
Selection of cheese with garnishes
A selection of fresh fruit
Häagen-Dazs Tiramisu ice cream with chocolate sauce and roasted almonds
The appetizer, like all subsequent dishes, were brought on separate porcelain trays. Tataki is raw fish barely seared on the edges, and despite my misgivings it was unbelievably good for airplane food, prompting booting out TG's pomelo salad from my "best thing eaten on airplane" slot. I continued the Korean theme and went for the fish bulgogi (which, incidentally, replaced the originally scheduled Dak gochu jang boekum, ie. grilled chicken -- bird flu strikes again!), which was competent but not quite to my taste; not as in "bad airline food", but "I went to a good restaurant and ordered the wrong thing". Already stuffed I skipped the cheese and fruits, but couldn't resist the ice cream, which was absolutely delectable. I washed this down with a glass of Hattenheimer Riesling Kabinett 2001 'Balthasar Ress' white, which was very good, and then a full wine glass (!) of Taylor's LBV 1998 port, which was decent (and in much better shape than OZ's earlier attempt), but I still had leave half of it -- too much of a good thing and all.
By now it was 10 PM and I'd had around 6 servings of alcohol at 30,000 feet, so a quick trip to the loo (everything inside Givenchy!) and then it was time to extend the Spacebed to the max and grab some sorely-needed Z's. No, it doesn't recline all the way (sleeping on my stomach was a tad uncomfortable), but I could stretch out all the way (that's 192 cm plus Raffles slippers) and it was a d*mn sight better than any seat I've slept in before. I effortlessly dozed away for the remaining 3 hours of the flight.
I was woken up 30 min before arrival by the cabin lights being turned back on, now with the mildest of hangovers (reminding me why I usually stick to a glass of wine on longer flights). And yes, I have to agree with earlier opinions here on FT, the Spacebed is not that comfortable when sitting all the way up... but everything is relative, and the best use of J facilities is for better sleep anyway.
SIN operated with its usual efficiency, immigration staff were climbing into their little booths as I strode into the arrivals hall and were ready to scan my EP by the time I crossed it. 30 minutes of bing bong in a speeding taxi and I was back home in the tropics, a world away from the snowy mountain passes of northern Japan.
[This message has been edited by jpatokal (edited Feb 16, 2004).]
Feb 16, 2004, 7:13 am
#12
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Terra Australis Cognita
Posts: 5,350
Summary
So how did it all stack up? Here's the math I used to figure out what to do in the first place:
SIN-x-SDJ in Y, paid ticket: around S$1000, +7000 miles
SIN-x-SDJ in J, paid ticket: around S$3000, +10000 miles (150% on SAS)
SIN-x-SDJ in Y, SAS EB award: -30000 miles
SIN-x-SDJ in J, SAS EB award: -45000 miles
At 3.3 Sing cents/mile the Y award would have been a pretty bad deal, and paying triple for J wasn't really an option either. 6.7/c mile for J was twice as good, although simply paying for Y (and getting miles too) was a competitive option. But domestic Japan flight to SDJ were expensive, Shinkansen equally so, and the OZ option would allow me to (very quickly!) visit Korea and avoid NRT to boot. Two of the flights would be on the long side, I was tired of Y and this was supposed to be a vacation after all... so I checked with EB member service and they scored me a seat on SQ for the way back, shaving a day off my travel time, and I was sold.
After the trip, I then computed value added in mileage, ie. how much I would have paid individually for services rendered in comparison to flying Y and doing without.
SIN SATS lounge: +1000. Seems a fair price for a few sandwiches, a glass of wine and a copy of Newsweek.
SIN-ICN OZ J: +0. No redeeming value, I would have been better off in a decent Y seat. Very disappointing, esp. since this overnight segment was the primary reason I went for J.
ICN OZ J lounge: +5000. Especially the shower, but the Internet and other facilities were nice too.
ICN-SDJ OZ J: +2000. Bigger seat was OK, but most points just because I got off the plane fast and avoided the Immigration queues.
SDJ-ICN OZ J: +2000. Avoided check-in queue, the seat gets plus points mostly just because it was less cramped than Y would have been. And oh yes, the free cappucino and zundamochi too.
ICN SQ J lounge: +2000. A very nice lounge, but I didn't really have time (or need) for anything other than the net.
ICN-SIN SQ J: +10000. And you could easily have doubled that if only I had taken this as the night flight in the opposite direction.
Sum total adds up to 22000 miles, so adding on the 30k for the basic Y flight, that's 52000 miles of value for 45000 miles expended. So all in all, I still feel I got out ahead, although next time I'll be booking my J awards on an airline other than OZ... or (gasp) maybe I'll just pay for SQ Raffles outright.
So how did it all stack up? Here's the math I used to figure out what to do in the first place:
SIN-x-SDJ in Y, paid ticket: around S$1000, +7000 miles
SIN-x-SDJ in J, paid ticket: around S$3000, +10000 miles (150% on SAS)
SIN-x-SDJ in Y, SAS EB award: -30000 miles
SIN-x-SDJ in J, SAS EB award: -45000 miles
At 3.3 Sing cents/mile the Y award would have been a pretty bad deal, and paying triple for J wasn't really an option either. 6.7/c mile for J was twice as good, although simply paying for Y (and getting miles too) was a competitive option. But domestic Japan flight to SDJ were expensive, Shinkansen equally so, and the OZ option would allow me to (very quickly!) visit Korea and avoid NRT to boot. Two of the flights would be on the long side, I was tired of Y and this was supposed to be a vacation after all... so I checked with EB member service and they scored me a seat on SQ for the way back, shaving a day off my travel time, and I was sold.
After the trip, I then computed value added in mileage, ie. how much I would have paid individually for services rendered in comparison to flying Y and doing without.
SIN SATS lounge: +1000. Seems a fair price for a few sandwiches, a glass of wine and a copy of Newsweek.
SIN-ICN OZ J: +0. No redeeming value, I would have been better off in a decent Y seat. Very disappointing, esp. since this overnight segment was the primary reason I went for J.
ICN OZ J lounge: +5000. Especially the shower, but the Internet and other facilities were nice too.
ICN-SDJ OZ J: +2000. Bigger seat was OK, but most points just because I got off the plane fast and avoided the Immigration queues.
SDJ-ICN OZ J: +2000. Avoided check-in queue, the seat gets plus points mostly just because it was less cramped than Y would have been. And oh yes, the free cappucino and zundamochi too.
ICN SQ J lounge: +2000. A very nice lounge, but I didn't really have time (or need) for anything other than the net.
ICN-SIN SQ J: +10000. And you could easily have doubled that if only I had taken this as the night flight in the opposite direction.
Sum total adds up to 22000 miles, so adding on the 30k for the basic Y flight, that's 52000 miles of value for 45000 miles expended. So all in all, I still feel I got out ahead, although next time I'll be booking my J awards on an airline other than OZ... or (gasp) maybe I'll just pay for SQ Raffles outright.