Flight Review: Korean Air Seoul (Gimpo) to Jeju
1. British Airways “First Class” Lounge at SFO
2. Korean Air First Class San Francisco to Seoul
3. Korean Air Economy Class Seoul (Gimpo) to Jeju
4. Kensington Jeju Hotel (Seogwipo, Jeju Island)
5. Eating Jeju – the Ultimate Seafood Paradise
6. Korean Air Lounge at CJU (Jeju, Korea)
7. Korean Air First Class Lounge at ICN
8. Korean Air First Class Seoul to Hong Kong
9. Hyatt Regency Hong Kong, Tsim Tsa Tsui
10. Conrad Hong Kong
11. Eating Hong Kong
12. Cathay Pacific Business Class Hong Kong to Tokyo (Haneda)
13. Japan Airlines First Class Lounge Tokyo (Haneda)
14. Japan Airlines First Class Tokyo (Haneda) to San Francisco
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After landing at Seoul’s Incheon airport we had a 2.5 hour window to transfer to Gimpo airport where most of the domestic flights fly to and from. The primary domestic route from Gimpo is the short 280-miles hop to Jeju Island, which interestingly enough, is also the busiest flight route in the entire world.
Korean Air alone has over 20 daily flights on that route that leave as frequently as every 15 minutes. For all the #AVgeeks out there, many of those flights are even operated by a Boeing 747. So if you wanted to splurge on a Business Class ticket for $125, you could sit on the upper deck of a 747, albeit just for the 50-minute flight.
My research had indicated that the Seoul to Gimpo airport transfer would take around 1 to 1.5 hours, so I built in an extra hour just to be safe. After getting off the plane we made our way through immigration and since we deliberately had not checked bags to save time, were quickly through customs and out the door into the arrival hall.
From there, we stopped at an ATM to grab cash and then headed downstairs to floor B1 to the railway station. The train ticket cost 3,750 KRW ($3.20 USD) per person, and you will want to make sure to take the ALL-STOP train as opposed to the express which will takes you all the way into town.
The train ride took about 20 minutes, and on the way out, make sure to insert your token into the machine to get a refund of your deposit.
The signage was great throughout the entire transfer process which made it very easy to follow. While switching airports is never an ideal situation, this was as easy as it gets.
Gimpo was a bit of a zoo so it took about 15 minutes to check-in, and security was a bit hectic as well since we hit a bit of a rush, so it took another 15 minutes to get through.
Many of you may have access to the Korean Air and Asiana Airlines lounges at Gimpo via Priority Pass, but both lounges are located land-side. We didn’t realize this until we had gone through security, and were too lazy to make a U-turn and head back.
All-in from the moment we stepped off the plane at Incheon until we arrived at the departure gate at Gimpo, it took about 1.5 hours. If you plan to check bags then I’d add at least 30-45 minutes on top of that to be safe.
We hung out at the gate for another 20 minutes and then proceeded to board the plane.
Overall the flight was an uneventful 55 minutes in the air – the seat had pretty standard legroom, but did feature a seat-back IFE system so I was able to watch about 1/3 of a movie during the flight.
Upon arrival at Jeju our bags arrived within a few minutes, and we used that time to snap a photo with the official Jeju welcome character. After a 20+ hour travel day we were more than ready to head to the hotel, and jumped in a taxi for the 40-minute ride to Seogwipo.
