Asiana Airlines Business Class Review: Incheon to Sapporo OZ174/OZ173 With a Baby
This was our fifth international trip with our 15-month-old, and after flying round-trip to Sapporo, our little one has officially become a seasoned pro with 10 flights under her belt.
We’d only flown Korean Air before, but with the merger, you can now earn Korean Air mileage on Asiana flights. Asiana business class was also much more affordable, so we booked Asiana business again for this trip.
Incheon to Sapporo OZ174
First up is our flight from Incheon International Airport to New Chitose Airport in Sapporo on Asiana Airlines flight OZ174. Here’s my full review of the flight.
We lucked out with a Business Smartium seat. It goes fully flat.
Babies under 24 months can fly free as lap infants without their own seat, so we only bought seats for the two adults. On this aircraft, the business cabin was laid out 1-2-1, which meant we couldn’t choose window seats and had to sit in the center section.
Even in the center section, some pairs are separated while others are positioned right next to each other like in the photo above, so double-check the seat map before you book.
The aircraft that day was a Boeing B777-200.
It was definitely an older plane, and you could tell from the small screen, the dated display ratio, and the overall worn condition. Still, the extra space made the flight much more comfortable, and to be fair, everything worked exactly as it should.
Since the flight to Sapporo is only about two and a half hours, the amenities were pretty simple: just a headset and slippers.
We plopped the baby into the seat first and then tried to get our bags organized.
As soon as you board with a baby, the flight attendants come by almost immediately with a children’s activity book. It was still a little advanced for her age, but she definitely liked having something that felt like hers.
Before she turned one, flying with her was unbelievably easy. Once she got past that first birthday and her personality really kicked in, it became a lot more challenging. So… how did this flight go?
Here’s the business class meal menu for OZ174. The choices were Western or Korean, and the Korean option included nakji bokkeum, spicy stir-fried octopus, which I absolutely love.
Korean Air’s nakji bokkeum is seriously delicious, and with the merger, it feels like Asiana may be using the same recipe now. Honestly, a huge win.
You can check the drink and alcohol lineup in the photo above. If you want to make the most of flying business class and try something a little splurgy, I recommend Rémy Martin XO. It’s a pretty high-end cognac.
When you’re flying with a baby, new objects and new toys are essential. This time, we introduced soft puffy sticker decals and a Pop It for the first time. The stickers were a success.
But when it comes to keeping a baby calm, snacks are still the real MVP. If you pack enough of their favorite treats, the whole experience of flying with a baby gets dramatically easier.
We had also pre-ordered a baby meal, but even though it was described as soft rice, it was more like porridge in texture. It didn’t seem easy to feed, so we kept only the milk and snacks and sent the meal back.
Next up, our meal. I chose the nakji bokkeum, and compared to the version I’d had on Korean Air before, it felt a little more simplified. Still, it came with three side dishes and even gim, roasted seaweed. The cutlery very openly had the Korean Air logo on it.
Korean Air nakji bokkeum
This was the nakji bokkeum I had previously on Korean Air Prestige Class on the Dubai route, and the portion was bigger and the bowl itself was larger too.
But the taste was exactly the same. Before mixing it all together, I could barely see any octopus and had a moment of, wait, is this really nakji bokkeum? But once I dug in, there were plenty of plump, meaty pieces of octopus inside, and it really was that same memorable flavor. If a restaurant sold this, I’d absolutely order it.
If you fly Korean Air or Asiana and see nakji bokkeum as the Korean meal option, definitely choose it.
Our daughter was full of energy for almost the entire flight and only fell asleep about 10 minutes before landing. Still, she wasn’t especially loud or disruptive, so I’d say she’s still a pretty good flyer overall.
We landed safely at New Chitose Airport in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
The flight attendants were so kind to our baby, and everyone was incredibly warm and thoughtful throughout the flight. I really appreciated it.
Sapporo to Incheon OZ173
This time, it’s my review of the return flight, OZ173.
New Chitose Airport was actually really fun, with lots to see and plenty to eat.
Unfortunately, our return flight didn’t have Business Smartium seats. This was the regular business class cabin instead: a 2-2-2 layout with recliner-style seats that don’t go fully flat, basically like a very roomy premium coach bus seat.
The aircraft this time was an A330-300.
Once again, we set the baby down first and then scrambled to organize all our stuff.
I was so distracted that I forgot to take photos of the front part of the seat, so this one shot of the table pulled out during meal service is all I got. By the end of a trip, I’m always tired, and my return-flight photos are consistently worse.
Here’s the Asiana business class meal menu for OZ173. Since the flight was departing from Japan, I expected there might be a Japanese meal option, but once again the choices were only Western or Korean. That was a little disappointing, although I liked the Korean option enough that I couldn’t complain too much.
The drink and alcohol menu was the same as on OZ174.
We couldn’t find any new toys in Japan, so on the flight home we survived with stickers again.
And suddenly, here comes the meal. We ordered the baby meal again this time too, but just like before, we kept only the milk and snacks.
The meal was mukbap and beef bulgogi. The mukbap, an acorn jelly rice soup, was really good. I feel like I may have had this on Korean Air before too. The beef bulgogi was a little dry, but the savory-salty seasoning was still pretty decent.
Anyway, after the merger, Asiana in-flight meals seem to have improved to a Korean Air-level standard, which I’m very happy about.
On the return flight, there were quite a few empty seats, and thankfully the row in front of us was open, so a flight attendant told us it was okay to sit there.
Since my husband had to drive after we landed in Incheon, I took the baby to the seat in front so he could get at least a little rest.
Once again, our baby only fell asleep right before landing. On the way home, though, she did yell, fuss, and cry a bit, so I felt bad for the passengers around us.
Book Sapporo flights
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