Review of Business Class on Korean Air A321neo (Bangkok to Seoul)

This is my review of flying business class from Bangkok Suvarnabhumi to Seoul Incheon airport on a Korean Air A321neo.

I recently flew in business class, or prestige class as Korean Air market the seat, on the 5 hour flight from Bangkok to Seoul. Korean Air has a few flights per day from Bangkok to Seoul with most of them being on a 777. This was the latest departure, leaving Bangkok at 2.15am(!) and on a narrowbody aircraft, but I was pleasantly surprised by the business class seat on this flight.

It is a new aircraft and seat for Korean Air and, although I wouldn’t want to sit in economy on this aircraft for a flight of this length, having a flat bed on a narrowbody aircraft made the flight a very good experience.

How I booked the flight

I found this flight whilst scrolling another website entirely. I booked this using Virgin Atlantic points and it only cost me 38,000 points and USD$38 in taxes and fees. For an overnight flight with a flat bed, I found that to be an excellent use of points!

I definitely ate and drank more than $38 worth of food and drink in the Air France lounge in Bangkok airport before the flight so I definitely got my money’s worth!

Seating on the Korean Air A321neo

There are only 8 business class seats on this A321neo arranged in two rows in a 2×2 configuration at the front of the plane.

Strangely to me, but more common with Asian airlines, the seats started at row 7 and then row 8 with the first row of economy behind starting at row number 28.

I was sat in seat 8A, the second row on the left side of the aircraft. I didn’t have a neighbour for this flight fortunately and neither did the lady in front of me but the four seats on the other side of the aisle were full. You can see a seat map here.

The seat

The seat is marketed as the Prestige Sleeper and is a Collin’s Aerospace Diamond seat that is seen on many other airlines that also fly an A321neo.

The seat has a width of 21 inches and reclines to a lie flat bed with a total length of 78 inches or 198cm, enough for even the tallest travellers. It has a 17 inch screen, portable charging in the arm rest and sockets with an international plug and USB-C also available between the two seats.

Waiting at my seat when I boarded was a large blanket, headphones and a set of slippers. There was also good sized pillow. In the centre console was a small bottle of water and the menu.

As mentioned earlier, I was sat in seat 8A, the second row in the left hand side of the plane in the window seat. The seat next to me was empty, but if I wasn’t, there was a small divider between the seats at body level. With the angle of the seats, I wouldn’t be able to have seen someone in that seat but they may have seen my legs.

In front of the divider was a cocktail table that offered wireless charging of devices and a place for your drink. Underneath that was a literature pocket with a few hefty magazines, safety instructions and other Korean Air information.

Beneath this was the tray table. It actually pulled up very easily which I was surprised at when I first saw it. It opens out as a half table very close to your body but can be slid backwards and forwards. It then opens up to twice the size and feels sturdy. A small stand pops up to hold your phone or other small device to watch from when not fully open.

There was a large 17 inch screen that could be controlled by touch screen or by the remote control located in the side of the seat. The remote had a touch pad, similar to a laptop mouse pad, that could be used to control the screen which I’ve never seen before but worked very well.

Above the remote was the seat controls that could be used to recline and put the seat into bed mode.

Over my shoulder was the socket for the headphones, a USB-C socket a reading light and a small amount of storage. Frustratingly, there wasn’t any cupboard or any closed storage to leave valuables such as a wallet or passport.

It was my first time having a lie flat business class seat on a narrow body plane and it strangely felt very spacious, but a bit cramped at the same time

I found the seat comfy, but when it was in bed mode, it felt a bit firm and could have done with a mattress topper. It was spacious and I managed to sleep lying flat and on my side as I had moved the arm rest down.

I didn’t sleep well but I think that was more to do with the fact I was expected to be woken up 3 hours later than the actual bed.  On a small plane, I felt a lot of the turbulence as well and I could hear cupboards being opened and closed in the galley as the crew prepared breakfast. They weren’t loud or talking, just doing their job, but in a small cabin, the noise wasn’t far away.

Even with the short sleep, when I landed in Seoul I felt refreshed and continued with my day.

One other thing to note is each seat has three windows for you to look out of. If you choose a window seat, you really do get bang for your buck!

Service flow, food and drink in business class on Korean Air A321neo

Before take off cabin crew came around with a drink of water, apple juice or guava juice. I chose the guava as it’s one of my favourites.

I was then told the flight time of 5 hours 30 minutes and that there would be a breakfast service 90 minutes before landing which I then chose my meal from the menu. If you have the chance to fly from Seoul to Bangkok on the reverse leg of this flight, the menu looked excellent.

After take off, the lights were dimmed almost immediately and many went straight to sleep. I stayed awake for a brief while to see if the cabin crew would come around with anything but after no such service, I put my bed into lie flat mode and went to sleep. I’m unsure if I could have asked for drinks or any alcohol, but as I was tired and had drank plenty in the lounge, I also chose sleep.

Around 2 hours before landing, the lights were raised and I woke up naturally. The cabin crew laid my table with a white tablecloth and gave me a warm towel which felt more like a thick paper towel than cotton soft.

I chose the Korean jeon. I wasn’t fully sure what it was when I ordered, but I always try to go for the local food when on an airline and it appealed to me more than an omelette or noodle soup. They served me a glass of water to start with. Then a trolley came out and I was served with one large tray with an assortment of items. It felt strange being served from a trolley with only 6 people in the cabin. It came with a mix of small dishes and a large bowl of rice. I was then given a bowl of hot soup which was served from the galley from the lead cabin crew.

I love Korean food and the meal was very tasty, even though I wasn’t 100% sure what I was eating!

During the meal, coffee was offered and my water topped up. The coffee was quite good but I wasn’t offered any milk of sugar, I was just given a black coffee.

When I finished my breakfast, my tray was cleared and I was offered a yogurt and given some fresh fruit.

Overall I was very pleased with the meal, well presented and tasty but I did find the service flow a bit strange with some items coming from a tray and some being offered during the meal.

Around 45 minutes to landing, the captain came over asking to fasten seatbelts. The crew then came and prepared the cabin for landing. Crew were asked to be seated with 35 minutes to landing which seemed excessive.

The full menus can be seen below:

Entertainment in business class on Korean Air A321neo

The large entertainment screen had a massive variety of films and TV shows. As expected, the majority were in Korean with a good selection in Chinese and Japanese as well. You could filter by language and I found there to be plenty to watch in English.

The entertainment has the latest tech and it’s possible to link your own personal headphones via Bluetooth if you’d rather use those than the provided ones. I couldn’t get mine to work as they couldn’t be found by the device.

There was also wifi available to purchase but I couldn’t connect from my phone.

Behind my shoulder was the socket to plug in the headphones and a USB-C charging socket.

Toilets

The toilets were spotlessly clean when I used them, as I have heard is always the case with Korean Air. There was nothing remarkable or premium about them and were what you would expect on most narrowbody planes.

There were a selection of toothbrushes, mouthwash and shaving cream and razors available to use and Payot moisturiser. With so few passengers in the cabin, I took the opportunity to clean my teeth and use the (very tasty) mouthwash after breakfast and I didn’t see anyone else get up to use them.

Overall service

Overall the service by the two cabin crew working in the business class cabin was good. They were both friendly and helpful although the more senior cabin crew had much better English than the other.

I found some of the service flow a bit strange but when they did serve me, they were always very happy and professional.

One other thing to note that I found strange was the lack of amenity kit. I would have thought for a flight of this length overnight that an amenity might have been offered as I had heard good things about Korean Air amenity kits. However, this may be a narrowbody issue which I have experienced on other airlines. Does anyone know?

Summing up the business class on Korean Air A321neo

Overall my flight in business class on Korean Airs A321neo was a delight. The crew was good, the food was delicious and the seat was decent.

At five and a half hours, I think this is the maximum length for this type of seat on a narrow body aircraft and I wouldn’t like to have done anymore. The weird timing of the flight led to an unusual service which isn’t something I’m normally used to but was the best in this situation.

Compared to the other seats that Korean Air fly on this route, this lie flat seat in business class is a good option for the short overnight flight.

Dan

Dan is an avid traveller from London. His first big adventure was in 2010 living in Malaysia for 3 months. He has been on the road almost constantly since 2015 travelling to destinations that aren’t on the mainstream tourist trail and working full time and travelling since 2021.