Perhaps this is an excuse to revisit an old debate about who gives better service; young Asian sky waitresses or 40+ western professionals. On the other hand the results are based on an on-line survey, so must be taken with a grain of salt (a lesson Ron Paul supporters should note).
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49 Comments
Yeah, baby! I’m an Asiana fan, no doubt. Having accumulated a total of 53,400 miles from them alone, I can say that they really do good service…sadly, better than our own (pathetic) Philippine Airlines.
But hey, a consumer goes where a consumer’s treated best, ya?
since it’s based on on-line survey, the results must be taken with grain of salt. then again, one might argue that koreans would have been split between asiana and korean airlines. in any event, asiana or korean airlines or any other asian airlines are way up there in terms of service compared to the us airlines. (never flew european based airlines).
i’m waiting for the….”how much did the GodDamn no good korean ignorant bastards have to bribe to get this award” comments. you mofos never seem to surprise me with your hate. but who am i to say…
I’m just gonna keep it simple. Asiana flight attendants in international flights are freak’in HOT… they got that club kinda hotness whereas Korean Air international fight attendants are more “cute.”
Asiana flight attendants have the best uniforms in the sky - better than the celebrated Singapore and Malaysia ones.
And much much better than the current Korean Air uniforms with that weird long scarf thing they’ve got around their necks sticking high in the air.
When you see Asiana flight attendants marching to the gate as a group through an airport - particularly non-Korean airports - heads turn. They look like they mean business.
Don’t they even have that ad on Burger King? I keep seeing those hot ads whenever I eat at BK in COEX. Anyway, I agree with WangKon936: Korean Air stewds are cute, Asiana’s gals are hot!
You know what airline sucks… Northwest. I was sleeping once on economy and the stewardess just ran over my foot with the tray-wagon. And i had to pay for food and even the earphones. Definitely not “excellence in flight.”
Asiana are very good, they beat Korean Air by miles, though even KA are better than those buggers at KLM. JAL and Asiana are the best I’ve on.
who the hell said there was ever any debate on this issue!!!!!?????
I stopped traveling with Asiana back in 2001 or so because of poor service — on domestic routes. So can’t really judge. My points of comparison are Air France-KLM — worst Old World airline I ever used, but I have a Platinum card there… — and Cathay, which I use every week.
Cathay rocks seriously. The girls are average looking at best any good day, but they’re very very good, even in cattle class. Overall service [including the web site, ground services, etc] is way up the scale, even better I’d say than Singapore, especially for the price. At least on Asian routes.
One airline that surprised me is Malaysian airlines. I dunno whether they’ve hired people from Singapore airlines, but their service is much much better than it was, and the few times I traveled with them — not my choice — it was an overall nice experience.
#9
There was actually a pretty heated argument on this very blog over that issue, but I am too lazy to try to dig it up.
Yeah I’d like to see that debate, too.
The airlines I’ve flown over here have been far and away better than the ones back home. Yeah, the attendants are more attractive — don’t hate me for that — but they actually make an effort to provide quality, friendly service. I flew Continental back and forth between Beijing and New York twice last summer, and both times there was only one Chinese-speaking attendant (Chinese-Americans). Obviously there were a huge number of Chinese passengers (and some Koreans, too), and when the attendants didn’t understand what the passengers were saying, they’d ignore them and make fun of them. For example, when the passengers didn’t understand the options for the food and drink carts, the stewardesses became huffy and flustered. “CHICKEN or PORK” they’d say loudly, as if that’d help the situation. Not only is it unacceptable to have a flight staff that doesn’t speak the language of either the destination or the arrival city, but obviously you don’t want people with the Western disease of “I’m in customer service but too worthy to be serving you” that you find in many situations.
Thing is, with Asians studying English for 10-plus years, putting together a flight staff of conversational English-speakers isn’t that difficult. However, it’s pretty rare to find Westerners who can speak conversational Korean, Chinese, or Japanese (and good enough to communicate on a plane), so a person with those skills likely wouldn’t waste them being a flight attendant.
Asiana airlines rocks! It’s my favorite overall for the good service they do and (I might be un-PC here) I do prefer a young attractive person trying to be friendly & courteous opposed to the 40+ jaded battle axes on Western carriers. Their customer support is excellent too. I cashed in some miles over the phone for a free business flight to Manila not long ago and it was very painless with my ticket waiting for me at the counter.
EVA is very good too.
Those Northworst and United battleaxes can kiss my hairy white ass. Hey, just because you made the wrong career choice when you were 20 (i.e. in 1960), don’t take it out on me, OK? And charging $5 for a brew over on the Narita flight? What is the world coming to?
I don’t know what planet #3 is on, but anyone defending an American carrier vs. an Asian one would be nuts.
#9: Some commenters thought fat-assed senile stewardesses with orthopedic shoes were better in the aluminum tube than lithesome young attractive gals.
I mean, they’d ignore them, make fun of them, and/or get flustered. The guy next to me couldn’t make himself understood (he was saying “red one” and pointing to a Mr. Pibb can), so the attendant became annoyed, asked him louder a few more times “WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DRINK?” and eventually just pulled her cart away. I got his drink for him, but couldn’t do anything about the tons of other Chinese people who didn’t understand or couldn’t be understood.
Service on United between Chicago and Incheon was a little better — about half of the attendants were Korean speakers — but there’s a huge difference between Asian and Western attendants. There’s something in the American personality that renders it somehow degrading to take pride in providing customer service. In Korea — and I’ve had great customer service in Korea — the idea is to get the product TO the consumer. In the US, the idea is to get the product FROM the service provider. It’s politically incorrect to refer to attractive stewardesses, or to even bring up that stereotype, but yeah, I’m quite annoyed with the 40-something, linebacker-lookin’ flight attendant that lumbers up and down the aisles visibly annoyed with the basic functions of her job. Look, I know that customer service jobs aren’t the greatest — managed a restaurant for nearly 6 years — and that all that travel has to be tiring… but I’ll wager the Asian attendants are dealing with gruffer, ruder, and rowdier customers… and they’re doing a better job!
OK here is the link to the original debate on this: http://www.rjkoehler.com/2006/.....ttendants/
At the end of it, I put all the arguments together into the following conclution (quote):
OK, through vigorous debate I think we have come to a consensus on the ideal cabin crew:
-8 young sky waitresses with “service minds” to serve the guests
-1 former special-ops gay stewart to handle male terrorists
-1 “beady-eyed killer air marshallette” to handle female terrorists
-1 battleaxe to wrestle with drunks
-1 one skinny old Bavarian lady in a tight skirt to make Oranckay happy (We all have our own tastes.)
Who ever said that Marmot’s Hole comments section was just a bunch of hot air?
I’m glad to see Asiana get some well deserved nods. I as a customer enjoy them, and a friend who’s director of the East Asia division of another airline even says he much prefers working with Asiana over Koreanair. “Cooperative and customer-oriented” were his exact words.
I’m a bit surprised that Emirates wasn’t mentioned. They’re five star all the way.
#13, I did I did! I did have some of my mileage exchanged for a free ticket to Manila. Painless and effortless. That’s why I’ve even changed my Samsung credit card to a version that accummulates Asiana mileage for every purchase I make.
7,000+ to go (that’s 3-4 months of spending), and I get a roundtrip ticket from them this time (plus upgrade to Gold status). Yay Asiana!
#13, I did I did! I did have some of my mileage exchanged for a free ticket to Manila. Painless and effortless. That’s why I even changed my Samsung credit card to a version that accummulates Asiana mileage for every purchase I make.
7,000+ to go (that’s 3-4 months of spending), and I get a roundtrip ticket from them this time (plus upgrade to Gold status). Yay Asiana!
“There’s something in the American personality that renders it somehow degrading to take pride in providing customer service.”
Nah, the ones who are rude are just assholes.
Heh, you think only Western airlines suffer such fate. Try flying our country’s flag airline. Once you see one of the many burly, rude, overglorified “skewerdresses” they have, you’d think my mother is in her 40s by comparison.
#22…Are you talking about PAL? I’ve flown them 4 or 5 times to the Phils and always thought the “skewedresses” were nice and friendly. What I didn’t like about PAL was the long delays every time and the fact that the planes look and feel like they’re held together with duct tape.
I fly every year bw NYC and Seoul. I take whatever is available so generally I end up taking (in order of frequency) United, Asiana, and Northwest (which I believe is a sister airlines with Asiana).
I must say Asiana does have the hottest girls. Northwest it seems is targeting the MILF crowd or the geriatric crowd. United is a mix of okay to wtf. And it goes without saying that the women who service the first class cabin are usually hotter than the ones in the back for us prodded into the cattle cars.
But I still wouldn’t pay the extra $200-300 to gawk at girls in uniforms. My gf tells me I’m paying the extra because usually Asiana flies directly AND the crew has more Korean speakers.
First of all, I like stopping because I have a tendency to almost go postal when I sit in one spot for over ten hours; so paying to not stop is torture for me. Second, I don’t need Korean service. And most importantly, if I’m gonna pay the extra $200-300, the best bet is to spend that money at a nicer spot in NYC and get seven eight lap dances from girls with fake boobs.
I think a lot was said, and everybody agrees that Asiana is great. Korean Air is also pretty good. Well, no news that the asian companies are way better than the US ones and, specially, Lufthansa.
Now, just as a side note, what really bothers me, is the attitude of the asian passengers (aka hanguk saram passengers): the attendants are extremely polite and nice, and they seem real, not that fake “how are you doing today” from NW or UA. The guys walk in, the attendants try to see their seats to help them, they try to not pay attention to what the ladies are saying and, usually, make some mistake or create trouble. Besides not even acknowledging the “annyonghaseyo”, like they were their servants…it’s really annoying and sad, I have to take my hat off to those girls.
OBS.: didn’t mention above, but I assume everybody knows that Lufthansa is German.
New York Tom, make sure your Korean gf knows about, your MILF classification, and your preferences to buy lap dances.
If you don’t, well, I accuse you of being not entirely faithful to your gf. Just don’t give her STD’s. I assume you already gave her HPV. Most women who slept around already have this, from men. No one really makes an issue about it, but they should. I don’t think women like pap smears.
Oh, well, to each his own.
Good, clean living.
Usually, direct flights are worth it to those who care about saving time.
#22,
Yeah, maybe that’s just my unfortunate experience. I’ve only flown a total of 5 times with them, the last one being in 2004. Ever since that year I’ve stopped flying with PAL, regardless of how much discount they’re offering (btw, Asiana’s rates are almost the same if not cheaper than PAL at certain times of the year, especially for 15-day tickets).
I also like Korean Air, but only when my company buys the ticket (talk about wallet-buster prices!). That and several other factors (have I already said them Asiana gals are hot?
is what makes me patronize the big A.
#25,
Eh, it’s not big deal to these girls. All ajoshis and ajummas treat them like that. It could be worse… They could be office flowers in some big conglomerate and having to be forced to drink with their skirt chasing older bosses.
Here, they get to party in both Seoul and Koreatown, LA. Come on, these girls are between 23 and 27 and yes, I’ve seen them in the clubs in LA…
# 27,
Time to mind your own bizz wax.
wjk,
why do you
post about
STI’s
so often?
because it’s preventable, and sexually promiscuous people give people nice little life long things such as
Herpes, HPV, HIV.
the viruses are forever, dude.
use a condom, dude.
you know there are still a lot of babies born in this world, born to mothers with std’s, who suffer some irreversible, PREVENTABLE heatlh consequences, because either mommy or daddy were too busy enjoying the southern branch of the human anatomy.
G&C, Pid, infertile women. Look it up, dude.
#29…I admire your taste. If we’re ever on the same flight to Manila we can toss back a few cocktails and eyeball them together.
herpes and HIV are lifelong infections.
in most people infected with HPV,
however,
the immune system destroys the virus on its own.
a minority remain infected
and infected women are at risk for cervical cancer.
http://www.cervicalcancercampa.....index.html
the cervical cancer campaign wouldn’t lie.
better go back to med school.
wjk, are you suggesting that lap dances and using the expressing “MILF” have a causal relationship to STD transmission?
I do agree with you that STDs are: a serious issue, and, in most cases at least, preventable. If health care systems were less burdened with HIV and AIDS, for example, there would be more resources for screening/treating colon, breast, and prostate cancers, all of which cannot, at least for the most part, be prevented with any certainty. (One can lower his/her odds, but not eliminate them.)
However, I think it is a good idea to not impose morality on health and health care issues.
As for Asian carriers (back to the topic at hand!), I prefer of all I’ve flown (Asiana, Korean Air, ANA, Japan Air, Thai, Cathay, Singapore, even Eva!) in terms of service to what I’m used to when flying Air Canada, but I rarely use any of them for going back home for visits. Especially when traveling as a family, making a quick transfer in Vancouver before flying on with the same airline to another city in Canada seems preferable to making stops in Japan or the States.
Sonagi’s right on the HPV.
hey wjk,
more study
less starcraft
makes you a smarter doctor
Well… that’s not entirely true, Sonagi. PRIOR to infection, HPV is very vulnerable to the immune system and is destroyed before it can go anywhere. But for those lucky few that do reach their destinations…
Immune system can suppress most strain of HPV into virtually inactive state, and some people do manage to have good immune system to eradicate it from their system (and remember, there are crapload of active variant of this virus)… but quite a number of cases have persistent, if latent, presence of HPV (and unfortunately, most cancer-causing HPV strains fall under this category).
“Most women who slept around already have this,
from men.”
The irony of that statement. So, are you suggesting that women who sleep around are sluts but boys will be boys?
@#38z;
Did you check the link? (boldface mine)
The Mayo Clinic and various international cancer organizations say the same thing.
to my knowledge, and to your knowledge, I have not said ALL HPV are forever, did I?
Monogamy is moral and evidently, deviation from it has negative health consequences.
Thus, I believe that God is true and just.
In the New Testament, Paul recommends monogamy, in order to be a deacon and beyond, etc.
undeniable laundry list of STD’s from multiple sexual partners. This is not simply I itch here and there.
in general, when God says don’t do something, He usually has placed a negative consequence of that action in the world. That is one clear proof for me that God exists, indeed.
cmm, wjk has repeatedly stated the following for zillions of times.
1/ wjk is not a Japanese porn expert.
2/ wjk has never played star craft.
3/ wjk does not lie.
I expect an expedient apology.
Actually, that would be a joke.
dda - “Air France-KLM — worst Old World airline I ever used” agreed, 100%, worst service on the planet.
Thumbs up for Asiana Airlines, and I’ve traveled at least 2-3 times a year since I was ten.
Tip: always request an exit seat, it automatically puts you across from the flight attendants.
@40
Hmm… well, most epidemiology & microbio textbooks would disagree with that assessment because complete eradication is prevalent in strains that do not cause cervical cancer in the first place, while latency is prevalent in strains that do cause cervical cancer (there are about 100 known variants of HPV strains - about 15 of them causes cancer). Only recently were there studies suggesting that a very few portion of the population may have strong enough immune system to wipe out the cancer-causing, latency-prevalent strain.
But going back to the original topic… I’ve been always told that Singapore Airline had the world’s best services.. anyone ever flew with them and w/ Asiana? Any visible differences?
WJK you crack me up man. I’m still laughing.
Wow…how did we go from Airlines Service Awards to religious soapboxes, STD’s and patronizing salvos regarding member’s girlfriends?
Someone here really needs to leave the cave once in awhile. Ya might want to go see either a Proctologist or Enthomologist too about removing that bug from your ass.
I believe this wholeheartedly. After all, god said don’t eat pork, and gave us trichinosis as a negative consequence. All you godless heathens who cook your pork well enough to kill the microorganism there are just cheating god’s will. Clogged arteries? Don’t eat cheeseburgers, you pagan. Skin rash? You’re obviously wearing a cotton/wool blend, heretic. PMS? Obviously a direct result of god’s injunction against coming near a menstruating woman, you vile Albigensian!
@#43:
What you wrote does not conflict with what I wrote, for the statement that most HPVs are cleared by the immune system does not distinguish the few that cause cervical cancer from the majority that don’t.
#34,
Sure! Coincidentally I’m on my way there next week (Feb 2). Already got my ticket and pickup lines ready.
#42,
Tip: always request an exit seat, it automatically puts you across from the flight attendants.
Ssssh! Why are you spilling the magic beans, man?