Find cheap Jeju Air flights

Named for Jeju Island, in South Korea, Jeju Air is the country’s biggest low-cost airline. It was also the first in South Korea to offer low-cost flights. Its hub is on the gorgeous Jeju Island at Jeju International Airport (CJU). I have hopped this airline for its quick domestic routes around Korea numerous times, and I absolutely recommend it to anyone. It may be lower cost, but the service is excellent and works well for island hops.

Destinations

Jeju Air has its biggest focus on the domestic routes in South Korea, but it does also have a few destinations that are international. Jeju flies to China, Japan, some islands in Oceania and a few other locations dotted around Southeast Asia.

Partnerships

The airline does not have formal agreements in terms of being part of the three large international alliances, but Jeju Air does offer codeshare bookings with a couple airlines. This means you can book flights across these airlines and still ensure the connections work seamlessly, even during delays or cancellations. Jeju codeshares with both Jetstar and Lion Air, and these are particularly good for Southeast Asia in my experience.

Membership

Although this airline is not part of a major international alliance, Jeju Air does have its own membership program. It is called Refresh Point and it is free to join. As a member, you’ll collect points for flying, and also when using associated credit cards. You can also buy extra points. The points can be redeemed for flights, gifting to friends and family, adding baggage to bookings, paying for seats and even in-flight meals.

There are a few tiers in this loyalty program: VIP, GOLD, SILVER+ and SILVER. Depending on your level, determined by how many points you have, you can receive discounts on seats, priority boarding, free baggage and additional bonus points.

Pay later

If you’re a member of Refresh Point with Jeju Air, you also have the benefit of booking without immediate payment and the airline will hold your flight for a period of 24–72 hours. This will lock in the current fare until you decide to purchase the ticket or cancel.

Seat and baggage bundles

Low-cost airlines often come with many additional costs for services and fees, which can quickly add up. In order to save on some of these, Jeju Air offers bundle options for booking seats, checked baggage and other perks together, in advance. I recommend choosing this for significant savings if you think you might be checking bags or adding on any comfort upgrades.

These bundles come in two categories. PLUS allows carry-on baggage, checked baggage, free economy seat selection, priority boarding and quick claim of your baggage on arrival. PREMIUM PLUS offers carry-on baggage, checked baggage, free seat selection anywhere onboard, priority boarding, quick claim baggage on arrival and a reserved check-in counter at the airport.

Additional baggage information

Jeju Air has a few fee-based annual memberships for baggage. One is the Sports Membership, where you can pay a fee to with sports equipment for a year. There is also a golf-specific membership that covers your clubs and other golf gear for a year. Lastly, Jeju offers a bicycle membership for one year of traveling freely with a bike enclosed in a proper carry bag.

Promotions

As part of the Jeju Air brand, the airline offers many discounts and promotions across consumer industries. I have found these overwhelmingly generous and recommend looking into them when offered. They can include K Ride (transportation), K Look (shopping), K Food (cooking classes), and even city tours and exclusive duty-free access.

Check in and boarding pass policies

Check in is available 24 hours before flights and mobile boarding passes are often available but are not always accepted. Flights to China and a few other international destinations do not allow mobile boarding pass access. In these cases, you can still check in online but will need to visit the check-in desk at the airport to receive a printed boarding pass from an agent before proceeding to the gate.

There are also various restrictions on particular fliers receiving their boarding passes. Pregnant women, dual passport holders and a handful of others are all required to complete an in-person check-in at the desk, too.

Change & cancellation policies

All tickets can be canceled without penalty within 24 hours of booking, as is the industry standard. After that, fees for any type of change – dates, destinations, passengers, times – sill incur individual fees and these can add up. Also note that changes to reservations booked with points can only receive point refunds if the flight is still at least 91 days from departure.

Take note of this unique quirk: Jeju Air enacts even stricter change and cancellation rules during peak travel periods. I recommend avoiding the airline for leisure travel during these heavy travel periods when these very popular routes can be overwhelming and stressful enough even without the added rules and increased penalties and charges.

Fares

Jeju Air has a few service options on their domestic flights, including FLY, FLYBAG, FLEX and BIZ LITE. With FLY you get 23 pounds of carry-on baggage only. FLYBAG offers 23 pounds of carry-on baggage plus 50 pounds of checked luggage. FLEX offers both 23 pounds of carry-on baggage and 50 pounds of checked luggage plus a few additional discounts. And lastly, BIZ LITE offers both 23 pounds of carry-on baggage and 50 pounds of checked luggage with priority services, a premium seat, priority boarding and priority check in.

Classes

Jeju Air does have both economy and business class tickets. Economy tickets are standard unless you purchase specific seats with extra space for a fee, or the exit row. Business class, which is called BIZ LITE, comes at a premium, but it’s not extravagantly expensive.

Seats

The business class seats are 42 inches apart, have a backrest adjustable by 7 inches, are 18 inches wide and come with a leg rest. These seats also have a power supply and a table for entertainment or work. Economy seats come with a standard 30-inch pitch and are 17 inches wide.

Not all Jeju Air planes have business class. The rest of the fleet simply has economy class with seats that are mostly the same across the aircraft. In a few exceptions, there are larger seats closer to the front of the plane. Jeju Air allows these larger seats to be booked at time of purchase for a minimal added cost.

Special extra seat options

Jeju Air recommends an extra seat option for those who want to lie down. To do this, purchase the two seats next to you and you’ll have three seats (and the entire row) to yourself. The airline advertises this for both lying down, and for couples traveling together to have more space with an empty middle seat. You can bundle this option to make it more affordable than three individual seats.

Entertainment

Jeju Air does not offer any in-flight entertainment on board. It is currently working on adding Wi-Fi to the fleet. In the meantime, Jeju does charmingly offer onboard magic shows and tarot readings on occasion, with plans to roll out this live entertainment more frequently. For now, I recommend bringing your own entertainment preloaded on fully charged devices.

Meals in the sky

Jeju Air lets you preorder a meal if you so desire. Menus change by route, but you will often find Korean fare like bibimbap, dumplings and noodles on offer. There are typically also some sandwiches and salads on the menu. You can purchase these once onboard, but if you want to be guaranteed your selection I recommend booking and paying for these in advance. They do have beers and other alcohol, plus soft drinks, coffee and tea, too

Pets on board

Small cats and dogs up to 10 pounds are allowed to fly in the cabin on Jeju Air, and there is a pet menu for these special guests, too. Adorably, four-legged passengers also receive their own special boarding pass, making this one of my favorite airlines for flying with a small pet.