Arriving at 18:00 with TK and departing at 9:00 with OZ the next day, both in J class (award). Since its two separate tickets, I need to grab my luggage and checkin again.

Does OZ offer checkin the evening before departure?
Is any *A lounge open the entire night? I read that OZ Lounge closes at 21:00.
If early checkin is available, do you recommend to go to the city?
Anything else to consider?

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi Barney, I am sure you can do an early check in for your next day flight.
The lounge doesn't open 24 hrs.
Arriving at 6 pm and departing at 9 am next day not an ideal timing as it is either there nor not. Depending on which day you are arriving will make bit of difference.
But if you want to go to city which will take about an hour by limousine bus or airport train. Depending on where you go either take bus or train. Normal commuter train (<4000 won) to the city, http://www.airport.kr/iiacms/pageWor...de=C1203020000, which is much cheaper.
IMO, don't think worth making a trip to city as your time is limited. Guess you will be staying overnight at a hotel near the airport? By the time you are back in hotel will be almost midnight I guess.

Hope this helps.
Enjoy!

 

I think you'll need a hotel somewhere- don't think transit hotel is open overnight.
The city is a good place to go if you're not jetlagged too much. But- if you stay overnight there- you will need to be up with the lark.
O/wise go for Unseo ("Airport town")- a couple of stops along the railway line, but many hotels have minibus connections. June and Best Western are both ok.
Incheon City is another option- bear in mind though it's quite a way from the airport

 

I agree with ethelman, Seoul is a great city but you'll need to be on your way to the airport very early to make your flight the next day. The hotels next to the airport are very characterless, but if you head out to New Airport Town there's a few there that are more interesting.

If you can get TK to check your luggage through on your OZ flight (it's worth asking), then you can catch the airport train, either to Airport Town or the city centre.

 

The transit hotel is open in the night.....as is the spa.

I would head into Seoul, have a good dinner, walk an hour between Insadong and Jongno area and get some sleep in the city or at the airport. If you leave from Seoul station or Hongdae around 6:30am with the AREX, there is enough time to make the flight.

But if you are major tired, of course stay close to the airport. None of the lounges are open through the night.

 

I too have an upcoming layover in Seoul with a BIT more time... arriving on OZ 602 at 6:50pm and departing the next day on UA 890 at 12:15pm, both in J. We wanted to go into Seoul and have a nice dinner and get up the next morning for a couple of hours sightseeing before heading back to the airport. Any suggestions for hotel? Other recommendations? Thanks very much.

 

Not knowing your budge, nonetheless Seoul Royal is extremely well located- own bus to and from airport. Hotel is right IN Myeongdong- perhaps best area for a newbie to find a good place to eat.
O/wise Ibis Myeongdong in that zone

Elsewhere you could go to CALT air terminal in Gangam, south of river. Intercontinentals are right close by, and COEX mall is there, with Bongeunsa Temple 10 min walk. Loads of good restaurants in the side streets

 

I dont really have any good idea about hotels in Seoul as I always stayed in hostels (which have btw. very nice private rooms in Seoul e.g. Studio 41st: http://www.studio41st.com/) or had my own place, but my friends told me that the hotels in Myeongdong are allright (80$-100$ a night). I would not go to Gangnam just for a night, its too far away and you are more likely to run into a traffic jam. Especially for such short visits I would recommend staying somewhere near the airport train (Seoul Station(Myeongdong/Namdaemun), Hongdae, Digital Media City).

Any special food you want to try? There are so many good places, whether you head for Korean barbeque or a Jigae or whatever - its gonna be delicious. If your flight leaves at 12:15pm I guess you wont make it to the palaces that early, because you should head into the direction of the airport around 2 1/2 hours before the flight. But maybe you could visit a temple like Jogyesa and walk around Gwanghwamun square a bit.

 

I have a much shorter layover in ICN - 8 hrs 20 mins. I land at 4pm and fly out again at 12:20am. My bags will be checked all the way through to my final destination. Do I have enough time to take the train to Seoul Station and walk to Myeongdong for dinner and some shopping?

 

Are you sure about that, as in you've successfully done it yourself? My experience is that most airlines will not allow this, though I've never tried it with OZ. If it was all on one ticket, then it might be a different story. But on two separate tickets, my experience is that it will likely fall under whatever the rules are for checking in as if it was the beginning of a trip, and typically airlines don't want to be holding your luggage for a long time in that case and have a rule that you must check-in the same day as your flight, within a certain period. Outside that period and you'll have to wait. Again, I don't know any specifics about OZ, so perhaps they're more flexible.

 

I was saying with my experience under following condition. If it is less than 24 hrs I can do so, but wasn't overnight. But, you maybe right and best is to check with the airline.

SQ allows early check in (48 hrs prior to departure) with baggage at Changi.

I will ask Asiana at the airport this weekend when I am flying off.

 

I wouldn't go there, either but not for those reasons.
As the CALT bus is direct and runs along the Olympic expressway its highly unlikely to be jammed at hhe times metnioned.

 

Its doable. If immigration is quick and you take the train you can make it to Seoul Station at around 6pm, then transferring to Line 4(quite a walk), so you might be in Myeongdong around 6:30pm. Then you have a bit more than 3 hours to eat and walk around - I would do it, but you have to think about whether its worth it for you.

What are your reasons? I wouldnt go there because Gangnam is not a place I would like to stay as a tourist, as the "old" Seoul is much more interesting in my view and too far away from there. And I have been stuck on the Olympic expressway, but maybe you are right, its not so likely.

 

I agree on that. Gagnam is mostly a glitzy business district and most of the shops, restaurants, caf�s etc. are just the big chains you'll find all over Asia, if not the world. Myeongdong is more compact and has more small stores, but again, the first time I went I was struck by how it looks almost exactly like the main shopping street in Cologne, Germany!

What I would suggest is taking either the airport express train or one of the express buses to Insadong. This is the old sort of "arts and craft" district. There are lots of kitschy tourist souvenirs, but if you look you can also find nice things. Go into the side streets and there are some nice restaurants, plus some of the old palaces are close by should you want to check out some history.

The trip would certainly be a lot of rushing around with this not so ideal layover time, but IMO it certainly beats sitting around at the airport. Nice as ICN may be, it's still an airport, and I'm guessing anyone on FlyerTalk has seen plenty of those.

 

I'll second that. Even though I've been in Korea in one way or another for a very long time, I'd never visited Insadong until very recently and was impressed at it being a nice place to visit. Much better than Myeongdong, or the other areas typically recommended. But then again, it all depends on one's individual tastes.