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Advice on dealing with luggage at S.Korea’s Incheon Airport

Administrator — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 03:43:50 +0000

Earlier last week I posted my account for the recent flight on Korean Air and how incredibly weird the handling of carry on luggage is with that airline. Now I wanted to continue with another idiosynchrosy of Incheon airport. As I was leaving for Narita on a JAL flight, I checked in at the JAL counter, verified that I have only carry on luggage and proceeded to security for screening. At the Incheon airport (similar to the process at Hong Kong airport), you first have to go through a couple of folks sitting outside a door leading to the security screening area. As far as I have been able to assertain, the sole role of those folks is to
(a) check you have a valid boarding pass and passport
(b) ensure that no large suitcases make it through…

So after checking in at the JAL counter and ensuring that I can proceed with my carry on luggage (my usual / trusted 22 inch roll on-board suitcase) I proceeded to the entry of the secure area. Needless to say I was stopped by this Korean lady who inspected my ticket and proceeded to tell me in broken English — “check in counter…” and pointed at my luggage. I told her “Yes, I was there :-) And they approved of me bringing my luggage on board”
To which she replied “Check in counter” and pointed for me to go back.

I quickly got annoyed as after I explained to her in as slow as possible english that I was allowed to bring my luggage by JAL, she did not register any cognition of having understood me — so finally in exasperation I just stated “No, I am not going back…”

Surprising for me she capitulated — and let me go forward….! Surprise — being pushy actually paid off. So word of advice — as much as you think it is worth — when you encounter these situations DO NOT GIVE UP. If you believe you are in the right, and you probably are (otherwise the counter personnel would have stopped you before getting to security) — just insist on your position and do not take NO for an answer!

Happy travels! (I certainly was happy I did not have to deal with checked in luggage on two consequtive flights)

Advice on how to NOT check in your carry on luggage - How to save yourself the hassle of lost luggage

Administrator — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 15:52:19 +0000

Flying on some airlines around the world is an “interesting” experience. Why? Well, here are two recent experiences:

* just this week I needed to take a flight from Taipei to Seoul. The airline which was my carrier this time was Korean Airlines. I had not flown on Korean for a very long time - about 3 years (previous flight was Seoul to Beijing). So here I was at the airport check-in counter and once my boarding pass was ready, I was asked if I had luggage to check in. I always use my trusted 22inch roll-aboard suitcase as I prefer if at all possible NOT to check-in my luggage… (Believe me - it takes only once for your luggage not to make it with you and you start packing as efficiently as possible to avoid check-in luggage).
Well, this time my suitcase which has traveled over 1M miles by now, was deemed “must check-in” - so the big commotion started — a manager was called etc. as I did not want to relent… There was no way I was going to arrive in Seoul at 11pm and look for a lost suitcase. I made that point to the manager on duty and after about 5 min of air sucking and head scratching and once I made a comment to the effect of “Please give me your name card and you can check in my bag, but if it is lost I will be using you as a reference in a complaint to Korean Air”… That worked like a charm — the manager quickly decided that he can make an exception :-)
What worked me up was the fact that I have flown on tons of different airlines and unless I am in a small regional jet my suitcase works perfectly in the overhead bins — any Boeing 737 or Airbus A310 and above jet is just fine….Yet the Korean Air manager kept telling me “This is a small plane — a Boeing 737 — no space to put your suitcase”
Once I got on board — there was absolutely no problem — I put my suitcase even with wheels first fashion — the most challenging way — into the overhead bin and it closed just fine….

So word of advice — as long as you have a suitcase that was built for roll-aboard (i.e. not to exceed 22 inch) do not give up. You can win the argument. Remember — always use the card of “Who will be responsible for my lost luggage” or something similar….
What I have observed is that I am yet to find the manager who is willing to be the person who gets pointed to in a passenger complaint…

In my next posting I will summarize my other observation about how to deal with overzealous airport employees who want to separate you from your carry on luggage… Stay tuned

The World is Becoming a really small place; Travel in Seoul

Administrator — Tue, 09 May 2006 12:20:24 +0000

On a recent business trip to South Korea, I had an interesting experience. But first let’s set the stage. Once immigration and customs are cleared, the next task ahead of a business or pleasure traveler is getting to their destination in the city they are visiting. If you are traveling to Seoul, South Korea, most likely you will arrive at Incheon International Airport. The airport is a long way away from downtown Seoul so you need to figure out a way to get there. There are several options:

* Taxi — very expensive: as the city is a good one hour drive away, be prepared for a fare of about US$80-100
* Shuttle bus — I will cover this one below
* Your friends’ or colleagues’ help :-) — this of course is the most pleasant, but not very convenient for your friends or colleagues.

So, if your choice is the shuttle bus, you can get on those immediately as you exit from the arrivals hall. The buses are operated by Korean Air and are very comfortable and clean. The fare into the city is in the range of US$12-$20 based on your final destination. You can buy tickets directly at the curb where the buses stop. Once you exit the arrivals hall you will see short (about 1.5meter / 4-5feet) free standing blue signs that list in Korean and English various destinations. You have to find the one that lists yours and on top of the sign you will see the frequency of the buses arrival. The sign will show, for example, that the bus to a given destination comes on the 15th minute, and 40th minute of each hour. This time around I boarded the bus to Lotte World Hotel and was greeted by a driver that spoke English. Not speaking Korean, I really appreciate it when people in Korea help you in English. The driver continued talking with me and asking where I was from, etc. Then one of the other people boarding the bus spoke in Chinese, to which the driver, completely unfazed, responded in Mandarin! Turns out he was originally from Beijing. His parents still lived there. After he found out that I spoke Mandarin as well, he was thrilled and we chatted for some time more. Then he had to give a welcome message to all passengers on-board the bus, and he proceeded to do so in Korean, English, and Mandarin Chinese! What a guy! Anyone who has traveled to places where the local language is unfamiliar to them would appreciate the effort made by people like this shuttle bus driver in Korea. Now, why do I say the world is becoming smaller? This is not a new revelation for many people - but my experience in Seoul is yet another example of this trend — a tri-lingual, native Chinese bus working in South Korea whose parents are still living in Beijing…

There are many more examples of how people are moving around the globe. Today it is not unusual to come across various ethnic groups living and working very far away from their original home. You find companies competing for global talent and marketing products to a diverse global population. So, welcome to the crazy 21st century. Who knows, in another 10-20 years, with increasing globalization, information flow, investments and capital flow, the world may become even more accessible and we will see even more opportunities for those who want to travel and work in far away places on the planet to do so with less red tape and fewer barriers. Enjoy your travels!