Non-stop flight to Korea worth the extra $600 with kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, I should've said that it's an extra $600 EACH person, not total. Money is definitely an issue. Layovers appear to be about 9 hours long in San Francisco or LAX. DH and I did the non-stop flight once ourselves, but we only had a baby coming back at that time (we went to adopt our child). Obviously adding 9 hour layovers add to the already long day, but it's a lot of money to spend and maybe the kids really need time to stretch their legs.

I'd get an airport hotel with a pool, go swimming, have a nice lunch and rest. It would be worth the $200 or so.

+1

Especially if they kids are too excited to sleep on the first leg of the trip they might relax in the hotel and then the pool will tire them out for 2nd part of the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What airline? Whenever I am flying to Asia, I tend to find the best rates on Korean Air and nonstop from Dulles to Incheon is a 13 hour flight (it's long) but usually was priced the same or a little bit less that the itineraries that had me connect via LAX or SFO. Have you played around with dates on the Korean Air website?

Kayak is also a great place to find the cheapest flights. Wednesday to Wednesday!

[Anonymous]

Same here, we've flown the KAL airlines IAD to Incheon non-stop in the past when ours was younger. Try to see if you can get something cheaper if you are flexible. Otherwise, I would do a layover or night stay depending on how much time to work with, $2400 is a lot to splurge.

[Anonymous]

I also agree on the night stay. If you are already thinking about a 9 hour layover - why not just do an overnight layover in CA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Sorry, I should've said that it's an extra $600 EACH person, not total. Money is definitely an issue. Layovers appear to be about 9 hours long in San Francisco or LAX. DH and I did the non-stop flight once ourselves, but we only had a baby coming back at that time (we went to adopt our child). Obviously adding 9 hour layovers add to the already long day, but it's a lot of money to spend and maybe the kids really need time to stretch their legs.

I'd get an airport hotel with a pool, go swimming, have a nice lunch and rest. It would be worth the $200 or so.

Yes, we did this when we flew to Australia. Got a hotel room next to LAX, went out and walked around Manhattan Beach (I think), ate and showered in the room before returning to LAX for our midnight flight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A non-stop flight to Korea from DC is about 14-15 hours and $600 more than a layover. Do you think it's worth it for a family of 4 to power through and pay the additional $2400? Kids are young 5 and 7.

no. Outrageous sum just to fly direct.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of a hotel near by for the day or overnight. Have you checked to see if the airports have a play area?

[Anonymous]

Definitely do overnight layover. We did that in the past, doing it again this summer otw to Singapore.

[Anonymous]

OP here. Thanks for the idea to get a hotel for a day; sounds like a great idea and much more fun than sitting in the airport!

I don't know if it's because we have set dates we would need to fly on, but I looked into doing an overnight layover and it was more expensive than just flying non-stop. I don't know what that's about...

I was looking at American and Korean Air; for some reason, the Delta code share with Korean Air was $600 more than the KAL one, making it $2400 for one ticket! Clearly I must be doing something wrong.

[Anonymous]

no that's the way airline prices work. no rhyme or reason sometimes.

[Anonymous]

I'm surprised that you are paying so much more for a direct flight as Seoul to IAD is generally a pretty cheap option. I fly that route probably twice a year and it always works out as one of the best options.

You could also look at IAD - NRT Tokyo and then catch something over to Korea from Japan. United does IAD-NRT relatively cheap and even if you can get a direct connection you could find other options to Korea from Japan.

Basically, I try to put the long haul first. Flying 6 hours, then waiting 9 is kind of a pain. I'd prefer to fly 11 to Japan, then wait a few and then fly the remaining bit to Seoul.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm surprised that you are paying so much more for a direct flight as Seoul to IAD is generally a pretty cheap option. I fly that route probably twice a year and it always works out as one of the best options.

You could also look at IAD - NRT Tokyo and then catch something over to Korea from Japan. United does IAD-NRT relatively cheap and even if you can get a direct connection you could find other options to Korea from Japan.

Basically, I try to put the long haul first. Flying 6 hours, then waiting 9 is kind of a pain. I'd prefer to fly 11 to Japan, then wait a few and then fly the remaining bit to Seoul.

I agree with this - and NRT Tokyo is a nice airport.

Also, do you have to fly out of IAD? It might open it up to try BWI unless that is totally out of your way. Sometimes, we get really good deals when we open it up to the other DC airports. It adds a different lay over - but it can save you $$$ if price is an issue.