READER REVIEW: Cheap(er) business class to Australia with Asiana part 1

This Reader Review is from Michael Mumford

Cheap(er) business class to Australia.

My wife and I had decided that we would visit family in Sydney in November 2023, six months before the actual trip.  However, we could only face the journey if we went business class.  But who to fly with?

As a former BA frequent flying, BA Amex and loyalty gold card holder, I had built up a lot of Avios points and found myself sort of tied into long-haul business class options.  A change of jobs, wind down to retirement, and the pandemic meant that my status wound back to the inevitable Blue, but what to do with the Avios points?  Fortunately, we spent all but 25000 of them on a family trip to Florida in April.  We flew business class and the children variously met us out there through our six-week stay. 

We used the Avios points with an Amex companion voucher on the BA flights from Gatwick to MCO. The experience was woeful.  The Gatwick fleet is renowned for being old and past their best, but the dated Ying Yang seats were literally falling apart with tray tables at an angle and the screen not staying in place when opened. I pointed this out to the Cabin Service Director, who offered to get an engineer, but I did not want to delay the flight. Add to this our choice of meal not being available (32 seats in business on the 777 now), and it was endured rather than enjoyed

So, how to get to Australia?  We had no significant points to restrict our choice (and help reduce the cost), so we roamed the search engines at will.  Qantas, BA, and Emirates were all coming up at around £6,000 per person. Too rich for a retiree with no points in support.  We consulted Trailfinders, who had managed to get a great deal for my mother when she flew to Sydney last January.

Have we heard of Asiana Airlines, they asked?  Yes, but we knew nothing about them. Check out the reviews, they said, because they can do the trip for less than £4,000 each.  They had my attention.  A quick Google and it looked like that would be a good option.  We would be flying via Seoul, of course, and we would need to stay overnight on the return journey, but the hotel was included in the ticket price. We booked, and what follows is a review of our experience. 

Pre-flight

Not great. The Asiana website is not good. Navigation is tricky, and I found it not intuitive at all.  I could get to my booking but could not check or change seat reservations.  Don’t bother calling the customer helpline; there is no one there, or they didn’t answer the phone for the 30 minutes I hung on for. 

The smartphone app did not pull any information through either, so it was with some trepidation that the departure date approached, and I was still not confident that the seats were allocated.

Online check-in

The IT problems persisted, and my frustration grew. Finally, I contacted Trailfinders, who were able to get the booking on the screen.  They accessed it via their Trailview system.  It also turns out that Asiana appear to use Google Translate for their website, and you have to enable pop-ups in your browser. I am willing to accept an element of operator error but have used other airline websites and mobile apps without issue. Boarding passes were eventually printed at home.

Airport

Asiana uses LHR T2, which I find to be very good. It is on par with T5 and far exceeds the outdated T3 and T4.  Business class desks were A19 and A20 in the far corner of the check-in area.  They do not open until three hours before the flight, so if (like us and around a dozen other people) you arrive ahead of this to avoid traffic and get a meal before departure, you will be waiting to check your bags in.

The desk opened bang on time, and we quickly completed the formalities cleared security (very quiet for an early Saturday evening). Asiana are part of the Star Alliance and provides access to the United Airlines lounge in the B terminal. It’s quite a walk, and there are very few shops when you get there, so it you need any retail therapy or non-lounge food, you will need to stay in the A terminal.

We are familiar with the United Lounge.  It’s a good size, and as it was quiet when we arrived, there was plenty of room. Food selection was adequate though some of it did look as if it had been there most of the day.  Charging devices was a bit hit and miss, with about 50% of USB sockets not working. 

Boarding

We set off from the lounge to gate B21 at the far north end of the B terminal. Our timing was perfect; as we arrived, they announced boarding.  Other reviews comment on the bun fight that can occur and for economy passengers, this appeared to be the case. We breezed straight through and were the first to board.

The Airbus A350 is the equipment of choice on this route and most routes to Europe for Asiana.  Business class seating is arranged in a staggered 2-2-2 formation. All face forward and have direct aisle access. Window seats give the best privacy (hence my desire to ensure seat allocations were confirmed pre-flight!).  For couples wishing to sit together in odd rows, seats E and F allow this. The stagger arrangement means that seats C and G are separated by a table.  We chose individual privacy seats 4K and 6K.

Excellent cabin crew service is highlighted in all of the reviews that formed my research, and with good reason.  Welcome drinks (champagne, orange juice or water) are offered and quickly topped up if required.

There is an amenity pack containing eyeshade socks, a toothbrush, ear plugs and some Aigner products. There is also a comb should anyone be travelling from the 1970s!

The cabin

There are seven rows of business class on the A350. The colour scheme is quite beige; some have said outdated, but it did not offend me in the slightest. Overhead bins are just on the sides of the aircraft, leaving the middle open and, therefore an appearance of a spacious cabin.  The seat is comfortable, with plenty of room to stretch out (I am six feet). Width-wise it can feel a bit cosy, but it did not prevent me from sleeping. There is very little personal storage around the seat

No small cupboards to put mobile devices, magazines, etc. I see this as a bit of a drawback as my personal effects were balanced on the table throughout the flight.

Pre-flight

Champagne, water or orange juice is offered together with freshening up towels in wrappers.  It’s not as effective as a hot towel, but it’s adequate. The cabin crew manager introduced himself to each passenger in the business, thanking us for choosing to fly.  Then, I only ever saw him handing out the bread rolls during the meal service.  Our flight left about 45 minutes late due to air traffic delays somewhere down the route.

Food

For me, this was the highlight of the flight.  I usually pass on airline food wherever I am sat on the plane, but the menu was tempting. I was weak and opted for the duck salad to start, then a salmon with pesto and potato arrangement and cheesecake to finish. 

They were all delicious, superbly presented and delivered on what appeared to be a tea trolley. 

On the second leg, I had salmon tartare, chicken with gnocchi and another cheesecake dessert.  They also served breakfast, fresh fruit and a croffle (waffle baked with croissant dough, chocolate and more fruit).  There were also options available between meals should you require them.

The flight passed without incident with frequent use of the seat belt sign, which most people seemed to ignore!

Transfer at ICN

Slightly late arriving at Seoul, but not in a rush to get to our next flight. We arrived around 545pm local time, two hours before the departure to Sydney.  Those who have used ICN before will know it as a modern, efficient airport. Transfer security was quick and simple, so we stretched our legs before the next flight. We popped into the Asiana lounge, which was reasonably busy but we didn’t stay long enough to form an opinion.

Seoul (ICN) to Sydney (SYD)

This largely followed the same pattern as the ex-London flight but on an Airbus A380.  This is generally used on this leg, but a couple of times a week, the A350 is utilised.  Similar seating arrangements on the top deck using 17K and 19K. The advantage of being on the top deck of the A380 with a window seat is the compartment between the seat and the window.  Very useful for storage.  The service and food were, again, excellent.

Conclusion

Using Asiana via South Korea means that there is a significant dog leg in the route, adding about three hours to the flight time. LHR to ICN is just under 12 hours, ICN to SYD is around 10 hours.  As I write this, I have not made the return flight but am anticipating 10 hours SYD to ICN and 14 hours ICN to LHR. This obviously avoids Russian airspace, like a lot of flights heading to northern Asia. 

The other point to note is that the return flight is daylight on both legs. Departure from SYD is 1020, arriving 1900, then 1225 from ICN, arriving LHR 1815. This means a 17-hour layover in Seoul.  The cost of a hotel is included in the ticket price and allocated on arrival at Seoul. My research so far indicates a four-star airport-based hotel, Hilton etc.  Others are available in the city, but it is an hour’s drive into the city and for me will be a waste of time. I wait with interest to see how this shapes up and the impact of a (hopefully) decent night’s sleep before another long flight.

Annoying things about Asiana

• A complete absence of customer service and a poor website means you don’t arrive fully confident that what you booked will be what you get.
• Boarding the plane is a bit frantic, even for business class.
• The lack of storage around the seat can be troublesome.

However…

• The value for money is excellent compared to other operators on the route.  Two-thirds the cost of an equivalent BA, Emirates or Qantas flight demands your attention.
• The service is first-class, and the food is excellent.
• Seats are comfortable and offer a good degree of privacy if you book the ones adjacent to the window. 

If speed to Australia is your priority, this will not work for you.  But if you are looking for a good price and are prepared to endure excellent service for the longer flight then I would suggest Asiana is worth a look.

Part 2, covering the return journey, will be coming on Tuesday.