Review: Korean Air Prestige Business Class Lounge Seoul
- Konrad Tillman
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Intro
Prior to my flight onboard the Garuda A330-900neo in Business Class from Seoul to Denpasar, I had the opportunity to visit the Korean Air Business Class Lounge in Seoul Incheon. While I have actually never flown Korean Air, I was excited to try out this lounge in Seoul, but honestly, this place has seen much better days.
The lounge is busy, to the point where you can’t find a seat sometimes, and feels dated overall. However, there are a few good things about the lounge, which I’ll get into now.
Location+Access
Korean Air operates two business class lounges at Seoul Incheon. One is located by gate 249, more centrally located in the terminal (and busier), while the one I visited is located by gate 253. It’s pretty hard to miss, just take a left after security/immigration, and it will be on your left-hand side with a big sign saying “Korean Air Lounge”.
The lounge, open from 6 am-10 pm, is open to those meeting the following conditions:
Business Class passengers on a same-day Skyteam ticket
Skyteam Elite Members with an outbound ticket on a Skyteam Carrier (+1 Guest)
All in all, it follows suit to the traditional Skyteam access rules…
Seating
The Korean Air Business Class Lounge is basically one large room, with a couple of side partitions. There is a central part of the lounge which is the staple piece offering a variety of seating options from comfortable, relaxing chairs, to bar stools, and as far as a few “workspaces” throughout the part.
Off to the side is where you will find more places to relax, whether it be brown armchairs or a couple of smaller couches. Just keep in mind, I couldn’t even grab many pictures throughout my time there, as it got to the point where there was not a single seat available in the lounge. For a hub lounge, and especially with the recent merger, this could be something to consider before you fly Korean Air Business Class.
Movie Room
In terms of seating, I just wanted to add on a cool feature that I found towards the front of the lounge: a cinema-esque room showing news from around the world. Probably the quietest place in the lounge…
Food+Drinks
Located in the back of the lounge is where you will find the food and drink selection. While I was only there in the morning, there were the classic Korean breakfast options, combined with a few Westernized options, in addition to some cold cuts laid out. Certainly not up there with a flagship lounge, but acceptable (ish) 🥴.
However, where I will give praise to Korean Air is with their drink selection. During the hours when the lounge is open, there are plenty of handcrafted cocktails that you can engage with, along with a multitude of wines. Additionally, they have those cool beer machines which rotate your glass 😅.
If alcohol isn’t your thing, there are soft drinks, water, and coffee machines located in this back area, providing something for everyone. The only thing I will add is that the water offered is small and in weird plastic cups.
Amenities
The Korean Air lounge is lacking in terms of amenities. While there are a couple of bathrooms in the back of the lounge, there often becomes a wait during peak departure hours as the people-to-bathroom ratio isn’t great. It remains the same with the showers. 5 showers for over 200 people isn’t the best ratio, but at least they are well-appointed.
Other than the free wifi, this is pretty much everything you will find in the lounge, sadly.
Final Thoughts
Look, the Korean Air Lounge is certainly a letdown for a hub/flagship lounge, but it’s not a horrible place to spend an hour before your flight. This isn’t a lounge that I recommend going early for to visit, but if you end up here, treat yourself to a nice cocktail, a small snack, and perhaps a nice shower. Just don’t expect personalized service and an empty lounge, as you will be extremely let down.
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