Air Premia Flights to Korea with Young Kids

If you are looking at Air Premia Flights to Korea with young kids, you’ve come to the right place. Our family recently flew between Los Angeles to Incheon, Korea and have gathered all the details that you might be curious about.

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What is Air Premia Airlines anyway?

Most people have heard of Korean Air or Asiana for flights to Korea with young kids, but a new airline has come on the scene for those who would consider a third option. 

Air Premia is the first and only hybrid service carrier airline in Korea. This means they provide similar services you’d expect, but at budget rates. They had their inaugural Los Angeles to Incheon flight at the end of October 2022.

Air Premia does not have Business or First Class seating. There are only Premium Economy and Economy seating options.

Who owns Air Premia?

Air Premia was founded by the former president of Jeju Air, Kim Jong-Chul in 2017.

What is the Seating Like?

Windows

The windows on Air Premia have tap sensors right below the window that allows you adjust the tinting on them. They can be as clear as a normal window or super dim so that light doesn’t come through.

Seats

The front row seats are a toss up. While you do get a bit more leg room, there is a tv mounted in front of each section that constantly lights up for flight status info which can make it difficult for you to sleep. The other seats have their own tv sets that you can completely turn off, which doesn’t cause this problem. Therefore, the front row has a pop-up stand that allows you to watch your individual tv that isn’t mounted on the backs of seats like the others.

Here you can see the seating arrangement differences between Premium Economy and Economy when you make your decisions.

What is the Luggage Allowance?

Air Premia allows for per person 1 free check-in, carry-on, car seat and stroller. 

Click here for my recommendations on strollers in Korea.

Does Air Premia Provide Food?

Yes, for the flights between Los Angeles and Incheon, Air Premia provided 2 meals included with the cost of the flight.

Once in the air, expect to be served orange juice or water. Then about 1 hour into the flight the first meal service began. There were 2 protein options to choose from and the subsequent dessert and side pairing comes automatically with the protein choice.

When booking, you are also able to choose a kid’s meal instead. They were actually great options for our kids and not the typical boring chicken nuggets and French fries I hate to see at restaurants. The last two pictures were kid’s meals.

The second meal was served about 2 hours prior to landing. I personally thought the interval between the 2 meals was quite long. I don’t think the first meal needs to be served so soon. On the way to Korea, we received JeonJu chocopie, but didn’t receive a snack on the way back to Los Angeles. I would recommend packing some snacks for the flight.

In Premium Economy, white/red, beer, whiskey were all included with our flight. So order to your heart’s content.

Does Air Premia have Inflight Entertainment?

Air Premia only has Korean movies and tv shows with English subtitles. They also have kids tv shows but again they are only Korean cartoons. There are about 8 movies, 5 tv shows and 2 kids tv shows in total.

What are the Available Plugs on the Plane?

As far as earphones, you can choose to plug in your own earphones, obviously not the newer funky Apple ones, just the regular ones we all used to use. Air Premia also provides a simple Sony over the ear headset, which you return at the end of the flight that would work for you and your kids as well. 

Air Premia flights also provide USB ports to charge your devices. You don’t have to worry about using a converter/adaptor on the plane.

This was the converter/adaptor we chose to use in Korea. It’s actually usable in any country so that was a plus for us.

Does Air Premia Provide any Free Amenities?

Air Premia provides a small pillow, individually wrapped blanket, an over the ear Sony headset with disposable covers, white disposable slippers, and make-up bag with lotion and facial mist spray.

How Spaciousness are the Seats?

The seat pitch is 42 inches for Premium Economy. The seats recline significantly and a foot rest pops up. The tray is stored within the arm rest and all plugs and entertainment controls are placed on the inside part of the arm rest. The headrest wings out so that you can sleep against it without your head bobbing throughout the flight.

The reclining and head rest features were irrelevant for our young kids since they weren’t tall enough. Reclining too much instead made them slide out more unexpectedly while sleeping. However, the foot rest really helped keep them from kicking the seat in front of us though.

What Activities are Good for Air Premia Flights to Korea with Young Kids?

Our kids are 4 and 6 years old and actually did very well on the 13 hour flight to Incheon and on the 10 flight back to Los Angeles. I personally thought about the activities quite a lot and these are the things that worked for us as a schedule.

Hours 1-3

We withheld the tablet until we were boarded, in flight, and the first meal service was over. Depending on your family’s tablet usage tendencies this can be a bit challenging, but we have worked to purposely wean our kids off the tablet for a few months because everyone’s addiction was getting out of hand.

Hours 3-5

Once the meal is over, you will be about 3 hours into the flight. This is when we introduced activities I bought for the flight. It kept them surprisingly engaged for a whole 2 hours. If you want this to really work though, I’d recommend to keep them a surprise until this exact moment and bring them out each slowly when you can tell the interest is seriously waning on the previous activity. I linked them below if you’re interested.

Where’s Waldo? Deluxe Edition

Melissa & Doug Puffy Sticker Activity Books Set: Dress-Up, Princess, Mermaid

Waxed Yarn, 6 inch, Reusable Molding and Sculpting Sticks

Melissa & Doug Mosaic Sticker Pad Bundle Play Set 3-Pack

Shape Pattern Block Tangram Brain Teaser Toy

Hours 5-7

Then we finally allowed the tablet and this is also when we watched our own entertainment. If your kids are like mine, they want to talk and talk about what they’re doing instead of playing on their own. This means you’ll constantly get interrupted with your shows anyway, so I just rested my eyes or played with them.

Remember there is no free WIFI on Air Premia. Surprisingly, a lot of tablet games require internet connection, which we didn’t realize until the flight. However, we did prepare by downloading a lot of Netflix shows for them. Please make sure to do this before your flight so you don’t have any issues.

Hours 7-10

At this point, we took away the tablets, turned off all the lights for everyone (because if I keep watching my stuff, my kids will watch my screen) and told them to close their eyes and rest. At this point, they are tired enough to nap about 2.5-3 hours.

Hours 10-13

Then, it will be meal service and tablets again until landing time.

I was very impressed with how we were able to balance their time with tablets, sleeping, and general playing/activities without much fuss.

Final Thoughts on Air Premia Flights to Korea with Young Kids

If Air Premia continues to be cheaper than Korean Air or Asiana, I would definitely pick Air Premia again. The service, cleanliness, food, and overall vibe was excellent.