Busan airport to city using public transport

Here is how to plan your travel to Busan city from Busan airport. While you can take a taxi to Busan city center for about 25000 KRW for a sedan, 40000 KRW for a van, a much cheaper option is to use monorail and metro networks.

But using public transport will have its conveniences- if you have a large checked in bag, trying to get them through entry gates, escalators, steps etc will be cumbersome, particularly during peak hours. Better take a taxi if you prefer convenience.

Otherwise you can get into mono rail right opposite the airport. Then follow google maps to decide where to exit and change to the metro network, depending on where your hotel is. You will need a T-Money card, which you can buy inside the airport or at the convenience store below the monorail station. Good thing is Google map shows public transport options in SOuth Korea, though it is said Google map won’t work in South Korea (it can’t show taxi or walking options)

I got a local sim card from lG for 38000 KRW and my sim card pack would double up as a T Money card- had to walk into a 7 Eleven store and top it up with 20000 KRW.

I feel it will be cheaper and better to fly to Busan instead of Seoul while planning your Korea trip. Tickets to Busan are a bit cheaper, Busan is less crowded than Seoul.

Unique procedure in Korean Airports

South Korean Airports have a unique procedure not experienced in other airports around the world.

Airports around the world, we check in our bag and move to security area. In South Korea, we need to wait for a few minutes while our checked in bag goes through security check. I was asked to wait and keep monitoring the screen above till my bag is visible in the TV.

At first I didn't even know what to look for. I was looking at the display board below which was showing flight numbers and was wondering how to figure out my bag number in this board. Then an airline staff said my bag is clear and then I realized the TV above shows checked bags moving across.

Busan airport had the TV but Jeju and Seoul airports didn't. We just had to wait. International departure also follows same rule.

In a way it is good. If your bag had some items not allowed you can take it out right there, than having to be called to baggage area from your gate delaying boarding later.

Similar: Koreanair experience * Airlines in South Korea * 

The Jewel, Changi Sound & light show

 The Jewel is Changi Airport's latest attraction. [Check here for other updates] The Jewel is a 24x7 waterfall from the roof.

However, we can't visit the Jewel from transit area. We need to go out of airport, for which you will need Singapore Visa or be eligible for VFTF.

If you can't go out of Changi airport due to time shortage or not eligible for immigration clearance, then your best option is to get into mono rail that connects T2 to T3 and watch the Jewel from the moving train.

Jewel was not operational during early morning

What I didn't knew was that there will be a sound and light show everyday at 8 PM at the Jewel. Watch the full 5 min show video below or Watch on youtube

Extremely cheap tickets to Europe-25k

Update: Check total amount payable on EaseMytrip and other travel sites- some bank offers may reduce total price a 1000-1500 INR cheaper than airline website.

Kuwait Airways has 25k return ticket to Athens from Mumbai for new year period. Available for several dates in Jan and Feb 2024 as well.

Checked bag and food is included, which is a great deal. Kuwait Air operates A320 on these routes, so you will miss widebody experience, but when you are saying 15-20k compared to next best option, it is not a big deal.

If you have visa and if you have free time during year end, this is a killer deal. Earlier I used to see 25k return for 2 stop flights or on WizzAir via AUH. Now on select dates Kuwait Airways has super low fares, probably due to low occupancy and the route passes over the Israel warzone.

December also will be pretty cold in Europe with many attractions closed. So plan well. Jan & Feb are a bit better.

But expect everything else to be expensive in Europe due to year end rush-hotels etc

Changi airport- 2023 updates

 I visited Changi after about 7-8 years. This post shares my findings

#1 Jewel is a new attraction in Changi. To see it up close you have to go out of transit area or watch it from T2 to T3 skytrain. Read a more detailed post on Changi Jewel here

#2 Terminal 4 is now operational

#3 Free city tour now needs you to have visa eligibility

Earlier all transit passengers could take free city tour operated by Changi. Now the rules have changed. You should have Singapore visa or qualify for VFTF to use city tour.

City tour counter is available towards end of T3

#4 Transit hotel in Changi now costs about 22000 INR onwards per room (450 SGD). Cheaper options like just lounge access, sleeping pod, shower etc are available. 

#5 Tiger Air is no more. The low cost airline has been merged with Scoot

#6 Cycle rental: Cycle rental is now available for transit passengers

Similar: Changi challenge * Best place to stay inside Changi  * Unique facilities at Changi * 

Airlines in South Korea

 This post just shares photos of deferent airlines that operate in South Korea.

#1 Korean Air: National airline of South Korea- flew with them on 3 domestic flights. Detailed post here

#2 Asiana Airlines

#3 Jeju Air: Budget airline based in Jeju international airport and flying to various cities mainland South Korea. Their fares are bit cheaper than Korean air/rivals, but as Checked in Bag costs extra we didn't try this airline

#4 Jin air

Jin Air is South Korea's second largest low cost carrier, operating both domestic and internatonal routes

#5 t way

T way is a low cost airline in South Korea, said to be 3rd largest

#6 Eastar

#7 Air Busan

Unfortunately didn't see any of their planes. Saw one military plane

Air India domestic Experience (Nov 2023)

I flew air india after about 2.5 years. Last flight was just before covid- Chennai to Muscat and back in Feb/March 2020. So many things changed after that- Air India got acquired by Tata Group and they have started revamping the airline. I was curious to try the air India now but none of my plans fitted with Air India schedule and pricing.

Recently while returning from South Korea, I saw a 4300 INR flight from Mumbai to Mangaluru on Air India. My original plan was to stay for sometime in Mumbai and take a train to Udupi but the 4300 INR flight ticket was tempting

I save about 1500 on hotel, + 500 odd bucks on auto/taxi from airport to hotel hotel to railway station, another few hundreds on food plus cost of 1 full day spent in travel between Mumbai and Udupi

The 4300 INR air India ticket looked tempting- I don’t have to change terminal- just go from arrival to departure- no taxi spend, flight was just 5 hours away, so I can sleep in airport for a few hours and go to departure-no hotel spend plus 90 min flight vs 16 hours in train- made a decision to buy flight ticket

Wanted to buy on Air India official website but they ask 300 INR extra convenience fee, so booked on Easymytrip.

Same flight is selling for 7500 INR for December.

Did web check in immediately- Air India is also into seat selling now- a random middle seat was free while other seats cost 200-350 INR each. I decided not to pay extra, did a web check-in with a free seat and went to the counter to drop my bag. Thankfully the staff at the check in counter was kind enough to allocate 1A or a first row seat with extra leg room for me.

I was hoping to have some nice meal Air India was famous for. But mine was an early morning flight and just 1 hour 15 mins long, so they only served a paneer roll. Not even tea/coffee. I felt tea/coffee could have been served along with their snacks.

Flight was delayed by an hour citing bad weather at Mangaluru. Eventually took off at around 6.45 and landed by 8 AM. Flight was fine without any issues. Got several notifications on gate change, time change and other things via sms, email etc

Staff have a new uniform now, which looks like neither proper saree they used tower earlier, nor a skirt- some kind of hybrid.

Air India is also changing its logo. The plane I flew had an older logo.

Air India is killing AirAsia India brand. Saw an Air Asia plane with the Air Asia logo removed.

Air India is launching Mumbai-Sydney direct flights for 55000 INR return from December 2023. They also launched a sale for USA return flights for a similar price. Looking forward to see how the airline revamps under Tata Group.

Overall fine experience. Wishing Air India all the success.

Similar: Air India experience in 2014 * Air India experience 2013 * 

Korean Air experience (domestic)

Korean Air is South Korea’s national airline. The airline is about 54 years old and has a fleet of 164 aircrafts connecting South Korean capital Seoul to cities around the world.

Last month I took 3 flights with Korean Air domestic- Busan to Jeju, Jeju to Seoul and Seoul to Busan. This post shares my experience

Why did I choose Korean Air?
When I was looking for an option to fly to Jeju from Busan, Korean Air was not the cheapest. Jeju air was the cheapest- but Jeju air is a budget airline, and will charge extra for checked bags. Korean Air fare included checked bags and food (only juice was given, more later), hence despite being a bit expensive we chose Korean air to avoid the hassle of paying extra for everything.

Korean Air is a skyteam partner along with Air France, KLM. But in India they seem to be flying only to Delhi. Delhi ICN direct flight costs 60000 INR return, while it costs under 40000 on Singapore airline one stop flight via Changi. So it wasn’t an economical option for us. I had visited a Korean air stall in a travel mart event in Mumbai a few years ago and wanted to fly them whenever possible. At least now I’ve flown their domestic flights, if not international.

Ticket purchase experience:
Was able to book South Korea domestic flights from India without any issues- paid via debit card. They have 4-5 different types of fares, and went for the cheapest option available.

I was able to select a seat for no extra cost at the time of purchase, which is good.

I couldn’t give my SQ Krisflyer account for loyalty points. Had to give the Emirates loyalty program number. Got some 470 miles after spending about 12000 INR on Korean Air.  But not sure how to use it- have no plans to fly Emirates as of now.

Web check-in experience:
Korean air web check in opens 24 hours before the flight. Could complete the process within minutes without any issues.

How were the aircrafts?
Flew B737 on 2 legs and A220-300 on Seoul-Busan leg. Aircrafts were fine- no issues. A220 experience was unique- 2 columns in one side, 3 on the other.

Airport baggage drop experience:
For 7 AM flight from Jeju to Seoul, check in counters would open only by 6 AM
After checking in our bags, we need to wait for a few minutes while the airline does a security check of our bags. If good, we can proceed.

Boarding pass is a wafer thin piece of paper

Inflight experience

• Those sitting in the back of the plane will board first.
• Korean Air does have some 8 business class seats on its 737s, no premium economy.
• They keep half a kg worth of inflight magazine and shopping list on 40-50 min domestic flights- no passenger cares about them- they could skip this and save fuel on carrying 100 kg extra material on each flights.
• To reaffirm that they are a full service airline, a glass of juice was served on our Korean Air domestic flights. Orange, apple or tomato juices were the options. No snacks, not even for purchase. Some sandwiches would have been nice.

Ground staff waving us off was a nice experience.

All the flights were on time, bags came to belt fairly quickly and I don't have any complaint as such.

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