The Best Cheap Korean Flights for Just $15 | Jin Air Review

I know we said Bingsu was Korea’s best kept secret, but it might actually be the airline, Jin Air. Okay no, on second thought, nothing beats Bingsu, but Jin Air is definitely one of the best perks the peninsula of South Korea has to offer. 

With flights as low as $15 you can take a domestic flight from Seoul to Jeju island and pay about the same as a pair of fancy compression socks on Amazon. Have you ever flown with compression socks? It’ll change your life!

Actually, we’re going to litter this entire Jin Air Review article with items on Amazon that cost about $15, the same as a flight on Jin Air, just to drive home the point what an insanely great value this is! (Of course these are affiliate links, so we’ll get a cut to make you laugh and you don’t pay any extra for useless, but necessary, items!)

Unless you belong in a mental institution, you’ll recognize this is an unbelievable price for a flight! A trip to the Island of the Gods for a $15 Jin Air booking is a no brainer trip to paradise.

Or, the same price as these finger covers for messy food. Hmm, a flight to island paradise or silicone plastic finger covers… that’s a hard one.

Jin Air Review
Cheap Domestic Flights from Seoul to Jeju Island

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Jin Air
Jin Air Review
Fly, Better Fly

Jin Air is an ultra low cost airline that operates as a subsidiary of Korean Air. They offer flights both domestically within Korea, and internationally from Seoul.

Flights include basic amenities with tight seating arrangements, no meals, no snacks, no drinks – but,…

Fares start at just $15 for a Jin Air booking.

Or, about as much as these wearable meat shredder claws (depending on what current sale they are offering). My Edward Scissorhands dreams are coming true.

Where Else Can you Fly for a $15 Jin Air booking?

All the places pretty much.

• Tokyo
• Xi-an
• Hong Kong
• Hanoi
• Cebu
• Guam
• Hawaii

The list of destinations that Jin Air flies to includes destinations in South Korea, Japan, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Guam, Oceania and more.

Okay so, you can’t get a flight for $15 on every single city pairing, but pretty dang close. We found flights as low as $30 to Tokyo and most flights we searched for hovered around $56.

Whether it’s $15 or $30, it’ll be in the same ballpark as this actual real edible potato with your face printed on it. Which is more important to your budget?

What Other Airlines Fly to Jeju?

Who cares? The best way to get to Jeju Island for the most economical fare is through Jin Air.

How Did We Find Jin Air?

From the minute we knew we would be spending the summer in Korea, we knew we had to find a way to come to Jeju Island.

Except there were only two problems.

• Everything in Korea is super expensive in the summer
• My reciprocal airline agreements didn’t offer any routes to Jeju (airline employees fly standby)

A quick Google search for the middle of summer shows flights upwards of $150, each way! We are a family of five with a lap infant. So a jaunt over to Jeju Island for a few days was going to cost a fortune for airfare alone.

That’s why you don’t want to bother with any other airline.

Then we went to the movies and saw a Jin Air commercial where not only do the Flight Attendants keep you safe in the air, and kiss their children goodnight, but they are also trained as firefighters.

And they offer flights the same price as this anatomy printed bathing suit.

Jin Air Commercials

The Jin Air Commercials are awesome. They depict the airline exactly how it is. Hip and modern, with a witty sense of humor and totally relevant in the new decade.

Talk about effective advertising. We came back to our apartment, looked them up, and when we saw incredible fares offering flights at $15, we knew we hit the jackpot.

A jackpot almost as incredible as these similarly priced Nicolas Cage pillowcases of someone’s dreams. Not mine.

Inflight Safety Information Cards: Jin Air Review

The sense of humor doesn’t start and stop with advertisements.

As you see in the Inflight commercials, the Inflight Crew wears jeans. They look stylish, and comfortable. They look like real people, and they are fun and friendly.

The Inflight Safety Information Cards take it to the next level.

Simon Cowell never had a gig so good.

Mermaids will be waiting for you when you make an over water emergency evacuation.

Um…. 

How Much Does it Really Cost to Fly From Seoul to Jeju on Jin Air? 

Like we said, we found our flights for $15. That’s legitimately what we paid.

Coming home we paid $40. We could’ve paid $15 if we wanted to get up super early and forgo our last day on Jeju, but we decided it was worth it to pay $20 more and fly home that night.

So, yes, that’s how much it really costs.

Or, about the same as these light saber chopsticks.

The fares on the website are super easy to read and transparent. The website shows you exactly what the fares are including taxes and fees, even if you experience reverse sticker shock.

Ancillary Fees | Baggage and Seat Fees 

Like all airlines, Jin Air also has ancillary fees for certain seats and checked baggage.

Most seats on Jin Air are free, or you can upgrade and pay for roomier seats.

Bags that weigh under 5kg are free. Carry-ons are free. Baggage that weighs up to 20kg is $32.

Fares priced about the same as this double sided blanket that looks like a tortilla and would be free to carry on your flight.

Jin Air Review Aircraft

Jin Air flies Boeing aircraft, series 737 and 777.

The larger aircraft offer both premium and economy, while the smaller aircraft only offer economy. Aircraft are multiple seating arrangements and carry upwards of 300 passengers per flight depending on the destination.

Seoul Gimpo Airport

From Seoul, Jin Air operates out of both ICN and GMP. The Seoul Gimpo Airport, GMP, is much smaller than Korea’s main airport Incheon International Airport, ICN.

We arrived really early to the airport because we had no idea what to expect.

Early for us is two hours. 

Imagine how much fun we could have had with two hours and this chicken purse that costs way more than our domestic flight from Seoul to Jeju.

Typically we stroll in about 45 minutes prior to departure and race to the gate.

We hate waiting at the airport, probably because flying standby we have to do so much of that already due to the fact that there aren’t enough open seats for our growing family.

The Seoul Gimpo International Airport is fairly small and really straightforward, there really is no need to arrive at this airport more than 15 minutes prior to boarding.

Needing just 15 minutes to navigate the airport and board your flight, leaves another 1 hour and 45 minutes to practice interactive dancing with your cat for the same price as your flight.

Because we are traveling with minors we couldn’t print our boarding passes at the kiosk. There were plenty of gate agents to assist, and no lines, so we easily got our passes.

Because we had so much extra time we followed the signs to the children’s play area.

This is a colorful fun playground with a couple punching bags, or swings if you are Eclair; a rounded staircase that Molasses had fun trying to climb, cubby holes that every child including our own tried to stuff themselves into, a hammock and slides.

We played so long we didn’t have time to eat, or thought we didn’t.

Security at Seoul Gimpo Airport

We assumed security would take upwards of a half hour, but it actually took less than 5 minutes.

There were so many agents open, I think I counted 30, and just one or two people in each one. No one had to strip down, take off their belts or shoes, or remove all the food or water we were carrying.

Only laptops and tablets had to be removed from our carry-ons. 

We left the roast beef au ju bath salts in our hotel room, even though they were the same price as our flight.

We were amazed at the proficiency that Gabriel snapped a couple photos of the non-existent lines. But when we collected all our items we were approached by an agent who demanded, very nicely, to see our camera and made us delete all the photos. 

Jeju Bus From Airport

To continue along with a our theme of traveling for cheap, we opted to take the Jeju Bus from the airport to our hotel in Seogwipo.

We chose to stay in Seogwipo because it’s considered the countryside of Jeju. There is still a bustling city, but much less packed then in Jeju City.

We learned this lesson recently when we traveled to Vieques. We wished we’d stayed in Luquillo and didn’t want to make that mistake again.

Bus Line 600 is a straight shot from Jeju International Airport to Seogwipo and follows a tourist route that takes you just about anywhere you want to go. For just ₩5,500 you can take the Jeju Airport Bus in any direction anywhere on the island in under an hour. 

The bus costs about $1.00 more than these tricky bandaids that will turn your friends into accidental vampires.

Jin Air Review

All in all, it costs more to buy fresh fruit and vegetables in Korea than it does to fly to Korea’s Hawaii.

Or, you could just buy this potty piano instead.