Find cheap Korean Air flights

Korean Air (KE) is the flag carrier of South Korea. Based in Seoul, it’s the largest Korean airline by flights operated and passengers carried, with an intercontinental hub at Incheon Airport (ICN) and a domestic hub at Gimpo Airport (GMP). Continue reading to learn more about what to expect aboard your Korean Air flight.

Cabin class, seats & legroom

Korean Air offers multiple classes of service, which vary depending on both the aircraft serving your route and the route itself. Intercontinental routes tend to boast a wider variety of seating options, as well as more impressive premium cabins.

Prestige Class

Korean Air brands its business class as “Prestige Class” on all planes across its system, though the experience can diverge widely. You’ll find the most competitive seats aboard its Boeing 747-8 and 787-9 planes, as well as on Boeing 777-300ER and select Airbus A330-300 aircraft.

These planes feature the so-called “Apex Suite,” whose arrangement within the cabin (in spite of being configured as 2-2-2) means that all seats have direct aisle access. Additionally, high privacy partitions create an intimate, exclusive feel. This is the same product available onboard most Japan Airlines (JL) long haul flights, if you’ve ever flown on one.

I personally avoid flights on Korean’s Airbus A380 aircraft, if I can. Although these super-jumbo jets operate on some of the airline’s flagship routes, the flat-bed seats offer almost no privacy, which I don’t find acceptable on very long flights.

I also try to avoid the Boeing 747-400, whose Prestige class seats are older “angled-flat” beds, in addition to lacking privacy. If a flight you’re considering is operated by a 747, verify before booking whether it’s the “classic” 747-400 or the more modern 747-8.

Regardless of the seating situation, Korean Air’s service and food in Prestige Class are exceptional, with a choice of Korean or Western meals, plus a full bar service including Korean soju. On long haul flights, you’ll enjoy a multi-course dinner served after take off, plus on-demand snack service throughout the flight and some kind of breakfast just before landing.

I personally love being able to enjoy a traditional Korean bibimbap bowl at 35,000 feet, especially if I’m simply transiting via Seoul and won’t be able to enjoy Korean food on the ground during my trip.

First Class

First Class isn’t available on all Korean Air flights, but it is remarkably consistent across the system. All First Class cabins feature the spacious Cosmo Suite. It’s configured in 1-2-1 on all aircraft except for the 747-8, where suites are in an extremely private 1-1 configuration in the “nose” of the plane.

Do note that while the dimensions of all Korean Air First Class suites are identical, some (known as Cosmo 2.0) feature fully-closing doors for privacy, while others don’t. You can expect First Class on all 747-8 aircraft as well as 777-300ER planes flying intercontinental routes to feature doors, while those on the A380 and A330 are “open suites.”

Service in Korean First Class is even more elevated than what you enjoy in business class, with a larger selection of fine wines and champagne, as well as additional dining courses, including a caviar course. You’ll also have more personalized service, given the lower ratio of passengers compared to flight attendants.

Domestic Prestige class

With the exception of the Airbus A220-300, all Korean Air planes configured for domestic and short-haul international flying have Prestige Class cabins. However, these are simply recliner seats similar to what you’d find in domestic first class within the US.

Additionally, while dining options are of higher quality than what economy passengers receive, the multi-course meals on routes to North America, Europe or medium-haul within Asia-Pacific are not available on these flights.

Premium Economy

Korean Air plans to introduce a Premium Economy product on the 787-10 aircraft that will be coming online in late 2024. However, unless you are flying on one of these aircraft, it will take many years for the product to be available fleet-wide.

Extra legroom economy

Korean Air has not monetized so-called “extra legroom” economy seats to the same level as airlines in the US and Europe. However, it does charge a premium to select seats in the bulkhead and exit rows prior to travel.

If you want to sit in one of these seats without paying a surcharge, I recommend waiting until check-in or boarding and asking if any are still available. Sometimes you luck out, especially if you’re flying alone.

Economy

Like many East Asian airlines, Korean Air’s Economy class offers a pleasant experience, if not a luxurious one. Economy class passengers receive complimentary meals and alcohol, things some other airlines charge for.

Although legroom in Economy is similar aboard all Korean Air planes, I prefer cabins on the 787-9 and A330-300 (which are configured as 3-3-3 and 2-4-2, respectively). By comparison, the 3-4-3 arrangement onboard the 777, 747 and A380 feels claustrophobic.

Pre-flight experience

Here’s what you need to know about the airport experience when flying with Korean Air.

Baggage policy and fees

Like many Asian airlines, Korean Air allows all passengers in all classes of service to check bags free of charge. This is in addition to an allowance of one carry-on bag and one-personal item. In my experience, Korean Air isn’t strict about policing the size, weight or even number of carry-ons.

On long haul flights, every passenger is entitled to at least two checked bags weighing 23 kg or 50 lbs. On short haul and medium haul flights, this decreases to one bag. Passengers in Prestige Class and First Class can check a third complimentary bag, though weight limits do apply.

Check-in

If you need to use airport check-in while flying Korean Air, your options vary depending on your class of service. Personally, if I’m not flying First or Prestige Class (and therefore can’t use dedicated desks with shorter lines), I simply check-in online and, if I have checked bags, drop them at a Bag Drop counter.

Lounges

Korean Air’s lounge for premium passengers (Prestige Class, First Class and elite passengers of Korean Air and its SkyTeam partners) is known as the KAL Lounge. Although the flagship locations within Incheon Airport’s Terminal 2 offer a more luxurious experience, KAL Lounges are available at New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX), as well as at various airports in Japan.

First Class passengers enjoy access to a dedicated First Class Lounge when departing from ICN. The lounge features private work and dining areas, as well as a high-end, à la carte menu. In outstation lounges, passengers ticketed in First Class will simply have a part of the lounge reserved exclusively for their use.

Onboard experience

Here’s what you can expect onboard a Korean Air flight.

Wi-Fi & entertainment

Only a small percentage of Korean Air’s planes (namely, 737-MAX-8 aircraft, which exclusively fly short-haul routes) have WiFi connectivity. I recommend getting any essential work done or emails sent before boarding and notifying your colleagues and superiors that you will be unavailable for the duration of the flight.

When it comes to entertainment, the good news is that all Korean Air planes serving long haul routes have seat backmonitors. The bad news is that like most Asian airlines, English-language movies and TV shows are limited. When I fly Korean Air, I’ll usually download or cache at least a few hours worth of entertainment on my own device.

Amenities

In my experience, Korean Air’s First Class and Prestige Class amenity kits are less than memorable, although the airline has collaborated with brands like Ferragamo in the past.

Passengers in all classes of service can expect to have pillows, blankets and slippers waiting at their seats in advance of long haul flights, with more elaborate bedding available in Prestige Class and First Class. Korean Air’s first-class passengers also receive a set of pajamas.

Loyalty programs, miles & credit cards

Korean Air’s loyalty program is known as SKYPASS. Depending upon where you live and how often you fly Korean Air, SKYPASS membership may prove quite lucrative.

SKYPASS

SKYPASS members can earn and redeem flights for travel both on Korean Air, as well as on other SkyTeam alliance airlines like Delta, Air France-KLM and Virgin Atlantic. However, if you aren’t based in Korea or don’t fly primarily on SkyTeam member airlines, I don’t personally find SKYPASS to be a useful program.

Credit cards

Although a SKYPASS Visa card is available to US consumers, the low intro bonus and minimal spending bonus categories make it less than competitive. Credit cards offered within South Korea tend to be more lucrative.

Chase Ultimate Rewards dropped SKYPASS as a transfer partner several years ago, meaning that there is no longer any “flexible” way to earn SKYPASS miles, apart from flying Korean Air and its partners.

Few workarounds to this exist, since the frequent flyer program Korean Air’s closest partner (Delta) has some of the industry’s most expensive and lowest value redemption rates. In other words, I don’t recommend opening a Delta SkyMiles credit card with the intention of redeeming points for travel on Korean Air.