Background & Booking
After an enjoyable 5 nights in Seoul, my flight back to Taipei was in Business Class on the Asiana A350 from Seoul Incheon (ICN) to Taipei Taoyuan (TPE). I was excited to try out the Asiana A350 Business Class, and on my outbound, I tried the Asiana 747 Business Class right before its retirement.
When I originally booked the flight 11.5 months in advance, the flight was scheduled to be operated by an Airbus A330. Then, a few months before my flight, it switched to the A350 which seemed nice as the plane would be newer. I used ANA Mileage Club miles to book this business-class flight, part of a JFK-TPE-ICN-TPE-SFO Business Class award ticket. The award ticket cost me 95,000 ANA Mileage Club Miles plus about $300 in taxes. I thought it was an amazing deal, but the 3-day transfer from AMEX to ANA Mileage Club did cause me a lot of anxiety, and I had to adjust dates due to availability. ANA just hiked up their award charts on April 18, 2024, and my routing is now 130,000 miles. While I think it’s still a good deal, the 3-day transfer time could mean your award space disappears, which is definitely a risk to consider.
Check-In & Lounge Access
Asiana Airlines operates out of Terminal 1 at Seoul Incheon Airport. When I arrived at the airport, I headed over to the Premium Check-In area to check in my bags. The line was short and moved pretty quickly. Then it was off to security. Sadly, there was no priority security line for business class passengers.
My business class ticket came with access to the Asiana Business Lounges. There are 3 to choose from: West, Central and East. I visited the Asiana Business Lounge East before my flight and was disappointed by the lounge offering as it was quite crowded and the food selection was on the basic side. So, I headed to the Matina Lounge which one can access with Priority Pass. Surprisingly, that was much better with a much larger and tastier food selection.
The Asiana A350 Layout
The Asiana Airbus A350 has a total of 311 seats. There are 28 Business Class (Business Smartium) Seats, 36 Economy Smartium Seats, and 247 Economy Seats.
Takeoff Tip: The even numbered window seats (2 A&K, 4 A&K, 6 A&K), are the most private as the seats are closest to the window, and the console is closer to the aisle. If you’re travelling with a companion, the odd numbered center seats (1 E&F, 3E&F, 5E&F, 7E&F) are great if you want to talk to them as they are closest to one another.
Flight Details
Asiana Airlines Flight 711
Seoul (ICN) to Taipei (TPE)
Date: March 2024
Departure: 9:45 AM
Arrival: 11:30 AM
Scheduled Duration: 2 hours and 45 minutes
Aircraft: Asiana A350-900
Seat: 4K- Business Class (Business Smartium)
Boarding
Boarding started at 9:15 AM, 30 minutes before our scheduled departure. Our aircraft (HL 7579) was delivered new to Asiana in December 2017.
Two boarding doors were used, with business class boarding in the front, and economy class boarding in the middle door. About 5 minutes before our scheduled departure, boarding was complete and the doors were closed.
Business Class is in a 1-2-1 configuration spread across 7 rows. The seats have a pitch of 77 inches, and the seat width is 22 inches. There are no overhead bins above the center seats, which does make the cabin feel more spacious. One thing to note is that there are no adjustable air vents above the seat.
The Seat
I had selected window seat 4K as my seat, and my parents were in front of me with 2K and 3K. My initial impression was that the windows on the A350 are so large! I also feel like the business class does not photograph well, as the seat cushion looks quite dated. But in person, everything felt much newer and was in good condition. Plus, I liked the brightness of the cabin with the light color palate.
Also waiting at the seat were slippers and some headphones.
I found the tray table to be interesting, as it comes out of the seat in front of you. It’s quite large, and I like it better than most that come out from the side of your seat.
The seat controls were pretty intuitive, and there was a remote to control the IFE screen as well. USB charging was available as well. The one thing I noticed was that the seat lacks storage space, with only a small compartment under the armrest for small/miscellaneous items and a place under the footrest for a bag.
Despite being such a short flight, I did test out the lie-flat function. It felt quite roomy, and there was lots of space for your waist, so you could turn over to make yourself comfortable which was nice.
In-flight Entertainment and Wi-Fi
The 18.5-inch IFE screen is crisp and clear. There are movies, TV shows, music and games. Interestingly you can call someone on the flight by inputting their seat number. I tried calling my mom who was sitting two rows in front of me, but she didn’t pick up. I asked later in the flight if she ever got notified and she said she didn’t notice lol. So, I didn’t successfully try it out.
Wi-Fi was also available on this flight and it was a bit pricey. It was $11.95 for 1 hour, $16.95 for 3 hours, and $21.95 for the whole flight. Considering the flight was less than 3 hours, you might as well buy the 3-hour package instead of the one for the full flight.
The Lavatories
Asiana has 2 business class lavatories in the front of the aircraft on the A350. I visited the one on the right side of the plane during my flight and it was pretty modern with automatic sinks. Amenities were also provided, including mouthwash, a dental kit, and lotion.
The Flight & Meal Service
Shortly after getting settled, we were handed the Taiwan arrival cards to fill out and were given prepackaged refreshing wipes. Our captain let us know that our flight would be 2 hours in the air, and we left the gate right at our scheduled departure time. We then took off a little over 10 minutes after leaving the gate.
Once we reached cruising altitude, we were given menus. Like my outbound flight, they reuse the business class menus, which I suppose is good for sustainability, but the menus looked like they had seen better days and were wrinkled. It gives off a less polished experience, and if they want to reuse menus they should probably bring out something a bit more durable.
Everyone starts with an appetizer which was the Nicoise Shrimp Salad, and ends with dessert which was the Mont-Blanc Cake.
Then you can choose from two entrees. The entree choices were almost exactly identical to my outbound flight, with a choice between a Beef Stew and Spicy Steamed Seafood. Since I really did not like the Beef Stew, I decided to test out my spice tolerance which is generally on the low side, and try the Spicy Steamed Seafood.
The Spicy Steamed Seafood was great!
I’m so glad I went for the seafood, as it was quite delicious and only mild in spice. The rice was cooked well too.
I found the bread to be tasty, and the salad was decent. Creamy desserts aren’t my thing, so I didn’t love the Mont-Blanc Cake. The service from the flight attendants was pretty attentive, and they came by often to replenish drinks and/or collect items to dispose of.
Time literally flies on these short flights, and after finishing my meal, I played around with the IFE system, and we were already less than an hour out of Taipei.
We had an on-time arrival which was nice, and immigration at Taipei was pretty quick. Plus, the bags arrived shortly after we got to the carousel! Overall, a pretty smooth experience.
The Verdict
All in all, I had a great flight trying out the Asiana A350 Business Class product from Seoul to Taipei. I liked the new, bright, and roomy cabin a lot. Plus, the seafood dish on this flight was much better than the beef dish on my outbound. The flight was too short to fully take in the experience, and I would love to try it on a long-haul flight in the future.
Have you flown on the Asiana A350 Business Class before? How was your experience? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
