Day 1: Travel From Salt Lake City to Seoul, South Korea

We started our day early with a 7am flight from Salt Lake City to Seattle. We kicked things off in the Delta lounge with breakfast and some coffee. Unfortunately we were too early for mimosas, but there would be plenty of time for those later. 🍾

Only recently we upgraded to American Express Platinum cards which allow for free access to most airport lounges around the world. For this trip, we were able to get entry to the lounges in Salt Lake City, Seattle and Incheon (Seoul). It’s a little pricy, but if you travel enough, and want to relax in the airport, it could be worth it for the unlimited food, alcohol and a place to relax.

Heading to the airport early before we head out has now become part of our travel routine. We get in early, check our bags, and hang out in the lounge before walking to our gate when it’s time to board.

We upgraded our flight from SEA -> Seoul to Premium seats, the next step down from Delta One. I’d describe it as fine. We had more space than coach, actual silverware, better meals and all that. The price was less than 2x coach, so it wasn’t a massive amount more – unlike Delta One which was more like 6x more.

The flight was mostly unproductive, which lots of movies and a few naps. Food was tasty and had a bunch of Prosecco along the way. Ended up stuffed and full. Slept about an hour and a half, and got antsy by the end. Watched Pacific Rim, a Meg Ryan movie, Perfect Strangers and The Creator.

Once we made it to Seoul, we upgraded our Mint Mobile accounts to support international data and grabbed tickets on the Airport Express into Seoul. We accidentally chose a nonstop ticket that brought us to the wrong station and needed to go back a stop to Hongdae (what’s a trip without choosing the wrong train? 😅).

We checked into our hotel, the Amanti Hotel Seoul, and decided to sleep early after traveling and being awake for close to 30 hours – ready to exploring Hongdae & recover from Jetlag.