Flight: Korean Air KE 17 from Seoul to Los Angeles
Duration: 10 hours 45 minutes
Equipment: B748(Boeing 747-800)
Class: Business
Seat: 19A(Upper Deck Window)
Seat Specification: Seat pitch: 75″, Seat width: 20.1″
I had already tried Korean Air Business class on A-380 and Boeing 777-300. When my A-380 aircraft between Seoul and Los Angeles was swapped with a Boeing 747-800, I was extremely happy as this is my favorite aircraft. The upper deck is not too large and only has premium cabin making for a better experience.
Korean Air features 747-800 business class with 6 rows of 2 x 2 (except last row) on the upper deck and 4 rows of 2 x 2 x 2 (except last row) on lower deck. The seats are in staggered configuration with a special aisle access to window seats making for all seats having direct aisle access.
The seat felt extremely private even without the partition pulled up. To give an idea how long the seat area is, I had access to 4 windows by my side.
I am not a fan of cold shrimp on the tartlet.
The scallop was tasty but I did not like the eggplant that much.
The steak was a bit tough and fibrous. I have had better steak in business class in my previous travels.
I was surprised that they had cheese plate, fresh fruit and ice-cream all part of the dessert. Usually its 2 out of these 3!!
After dinner, I converted the seat to bed. The bed was super comfortable and made for a great night’s sleep. The 2 features I liked the most were the firmness of the mattress and the lack of a narrow footwell (that is quite common in a lot of 1 x 2 x 1 seating configuration). The wide footrest instead of a footwell, ensured I could twist and turn in my sleep and move about without any hindrance.
Breakfast service commenced about 2 hours before landing.
Bottomline:
Seat: *****
Service: ***1/2
Food: **
The seat was very private and one of my top 3 seats in business class (even ahead of some regular 1 x 2 x 1 seating configurations). The firm mattress and a footrest instead of foot well made for a very comfortable 6-7 hours of sleep.
I have had hit or miss when it comes to Korean Air catering so far and this time it was mostly a miss.