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Compared to Korean Air’s older 2-3-2 business-class configuration, where many seats do not have direct aisle access, the 1-2-1 Prestige Suites 2.0 offer much more privacy.

Each seat is mostly surrounded by walls that are more than 4 feet high, complete with sliding doors that can fully shut — although they’re not operational yet as Korean Air awaits regulatory approval.

In this new configuration, the two center seats are great if you’re traveling with a companion and want to converse. There’s also a sliding divider between these seats if you’re sitting next to a stranger or want privacy.

I opted for a window seat since I was traveling solo and was happy to be in a little cocoon. The new design with high walls and a sliding door felt really nice for added privacy, and my seat reminded me of Qatar Airways’ Qsuites.

My suite felt sleek and modern, with lots of navy and gray touches, plus metallic trim. I had access to a panel with several options for controlling my seat and the lighting.

The seat can lie flat, but I didn’t end up reclining all the way because my flight was pretty brief.

I appreciated the several different charging options available within the suite, too. There were two USB-C ports located under a wireless charging pad shelf, as well as a universal AC power outlet near my feet.

The wireless charging pad worked really well for my iPhone, and I didn’t even have to take my case off. By the end of my six-hour flight, my phone went from 50% to 85%, and my AirPods charged even more quickly with the USB-C port.

Since the flight between Seoul and Bangkok was less than six hours each way, no amenity kits were provided; only slippers and Frette blankets.

Noise-canceling headphones were provided to me, though I didn’t use them much.

I was able to use the seatback entertainment’s Bluetooth feature to connect my AirPods to listen to music and watch movies. I wish more airlines offered this.

Korean Air’s selection of Western movies is not as large as I’ve found on North American or European airlines, but there were hundreds of interesting K-dramas and Korean movies, plus a great selection of K-pop.

I liked how large the monitor was, and its ultra-high-definition visuals felt super sharp.

On my flights between Seoul and Bangkok, the menu was printed in Korean, English, and Thai, with included wine pairings suggested for each main course.

Appetizers were served with a selection of veggie side dishes, or banchan, which felt like a nutritious touch. Dessert was simply sliced fruit and single-serve containers of Häagen-Dazs ice cream.

There were three main-course options in the air, and several more dishes were available for passengers who had preordered.

On my flight from Seoul to Bangkok, I tried a plant-based roasted shiitake mushroom dish with hot pepper sauce, served with rice, soup, and toasted seaweed. This meal was available only by preorder.

The mushrooms were a hearty vegetarian option with a nice sweet and spicy flavor.

On the way back, I tried Korean spicy roasted chicken with rice and vegetables. The chicken was nicely marinated and seriously spicy, accompanied by an equally spicy soup. This airline isn’t afraid to hold back with the heat.

I liked having a chance to try Korean food I wouldn’t find on other airlines, and I definitely recommend checking out the Korean Air website for a more extensive menu before you fly.

Charles Heidsieck 2018 brut millésimé was served on the Seoul-Bangkok route, and I had Rare Champagne’s 2015 vintage on the longer flight between Seoul and Chicago.

I usually try not to drink too much on flights, but it’s hard to resist great Champagne.

I tried the Korean red ginseng tea after dinner, which came as a powder that the flight attendant mixed in hot water, rather than a Dammann Frères tea bag like the other varieties on offer.

It had a slightly sweet and nutty herbal flavor that I enjoyed. Ginseng is also said to have possible benefits, such as boosting energy levels and strengthening the immune system — both much needed during a long travel day.

I did not receive complimentary WiFi on my trips, which felt particularly shocking on my long-haul flight between Seoul and Chicago.

Although WiFi was available on my flights between Bangkok and Seoul, even business-class passengers needed to pay for it. For this flight, two hours of internet cost $10.95, and full-flight internet was $13.95.

Most airlines I’ve flown on in recent years offer business-class passengers complimentary internet for the entire flight, or at least for a couple of hours.

Charging for the internet feels like nickel-and-diming when tickets are thousands of dollars.

I’ve flown business class many times across several airlines, and I was quite impressed with my experience in Korean Air’s Prestige Suites 2.0.

The design felt modern and minimalist, with a comfortable seat and practical storage and charging options that I appreciated.

These suites feel like a great upgrade from the airline’s old ones, which I experienced on my flight from Chicago to Seoul. In my opinion, the older 2-3-2 configuration felt quite dated and too cramped for business class.

In the future, I would try to only fly in Korean Air’s newer suites whenever possible.

However, I’m still bummed about the WiFi. Hopefully, complimentary internet will become an airline industry standard soon, just as it is in hotels.

This delightful amalgam of meat, cheese, and a select few veggies and condiments traces its roots to Italian immigrants in early 20th-century America.

The definition of this sandwich can vary by region and restaurant, so I established a baseline by asking Google, ChatGPT, and Copilot: “What comes on a classic/standard ‘sub’ style Italian sandwich?”

The answers were remarkably similar in each case, so I feel confident saying that an Italian sub sandwich should feature fresh ham and a dry meat like salami or capocollo (a dry-cured pork you may also know as “gabagool”), provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions, and, in most cases, oil and vinegar.

Sometimes, there’s salt, pepper, and other herbs, like oregano, sprinkled on them as well.

With that in mind, let’s talk about how these chains did when delivering their takes on the classic American sandwich that is the Italian.

At Jersey Mike’s, the Original Italian consists of ham, cappacuolo, prosciuttini (similar to prosciutto but coated in black pepper), pepperoni, salami, and provolone.

Here, I ordered my sandwich “Mike’s Way,” as suggested, since it adds onions, tomatoes, lettuce, olive oil, red-wine vinegar, and oregano — basically the exact toppings for a classic Italian sub.

I paid $14 for this 7-inch-long sub, which comes to about $2 per inch.

Jersey Mike’s is famous for having staff slice its meats and cheeses right in front of customers, and I was immediately impressed as I watched the man preparing my sandwich doing just that.

The portions looked very generous. In the end, my sandwich featured almost a full inch of the various meats and several slices of provolone.

When I took my first bite 30 minutes later, my first thought was there’s actually too much meat on here for my liking.

The lettuce and onion tasted crisp and fresh, and the bread had a pleasant texture without being doughy or dry, but the stacked meat dominated the sandwich’s flavor profile in a salty way.

I’d certainly rather have a surplus of meats than a dearth, though, and I’d absolutely order this flavorful sandwich again.

Although this was the most expensive sandwich I got, the price seemed pretty fair to me.

At Jimmy John’s, I also ordered a regular-sized Italian sandwich. It came to $12 for an 8-inch sandwich, or about $1.50 an inch.

Based on the menu, I expected to receive the Italian Night Club, which comes with “hand-sliced” salami, capocollo, smoked ham, provolone, mayo, “fresh-sliced” lettuce, onions, oil, vinegar, and oregano-basil, per Jimmy John’s website.

When ordering this sandwich online, the default answer to the question “Do you want your sandwich toasted?” is no. This makes sense considering the chain is famous for its fresh French bread, which is baked in-house each day.

Unfortunately, when ordering in person, I wasn’t asked whether I wanted my sandwich toasted. As it happened, the sandwich got toasted — and that was the first disappointment.

The famous bread from Jimmy John’s is usually delectable, tasting fresh, thick, and good enough to enjoy on its own with some oil or butter.

In this case, though, by the time I ate my still-warm Italian sub about a half hour after it was prepared, the bread felt soggy.

This may have happened whether my sandwich was heated up or not — in fact, toasting it may have helped slow down this process — but the heat didn’t help.

Although the onions and tomatoes seemed fresh enough, they were warm, and the lettuce seemed wilted by the time I took a bite. I didn’t think there was enough meat or cheese on my sandwich, either.

Also, note how I didn’t mention mayonnaise in the baseline description of an Italian sandwich earlier. Most sandwich purists will tell you to leave mayo off an Italian sub, and I agree.

The mayo on this sodden tube of ingredients just added to the mess while adding almost nothing to the flavor.

At Subway, my Italian sandwich was the B.M.T, which came with Black Forest ham, salami, and pepperoni, provolone, lettuce, tomatoes, red onions, and (unfortunately) mayo on artisan Italian bread.

I got the 6-inch size for $9, which is about $1.50 an inch — the same cost-per-inch breakdown as the Jimmy John’s sandwich.

Although the sandwich had too much mayo, it didn’t get soggy as it sat, and the rest of the ingredients were in balanced proportion: There was plenty of each meat, several slices of cheese, and a generous layer of lettuce, tomatoes, and onions that added a pleasant crunch.

Also, the bread from Subway tasted quite fresh — it was still slightly warm, while the rest of the ingredients were chilled.

Overall, the texture of Subway’s Italian B.M.T. was pleasant, but the flavor was rather lacking. It may have benefited from a bit more seasoning or maybe a different combination of cold cuts.

Ultimately, I was pretty satisfied because this was a filling sandwich for what I felt was a very reasonable price.

I’m sad to say that my Italian sub from Jimmy John’s let me down most of all.

Since I’ve had many excellent sandwiches from this chain and its signature bread is usually fantastic, I’d be open to trying it again. Next time, though, I’d ensure it’s served cold and order it with extra meat and no mayonnaise, in hopes of a better eating experience.

Subway’s sandwich was middle-of-the-road for me. There wasn’t anything really wrong with it — and it was satisfying — but it didn’t stand out to me as particularly special.

Jersey Mike’s was my favorite Italian sandwich of the bunch, with my only note being that the overabundance of meat is more my issue than a real problem with the sandwich.

Ultimately, each Italian sandwich feels worth trying again, but the only one I’m definitely going back for is from Jersey Mike’s

Although it was a bit pricier than the other options, it felt like a great value, especially given the meat’s quality and freshness.

In her recipe, Garten recommends using Hellmann’s, which is the brand I already buy and can be found in practically every grocery store.

The recipe calls for enough smoked bacon to make two sandwiches, but I cut the recipe in half to make just enough for myself.

I preheated the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. I placed five strips of bacon on a wire rack on a sheet pan and put the pan in the heated oven. After 20 minutes in the oven, the bacon turned out perfectly crispy.

The strips of bacon were a little on the thin side, but I didn’t mind. Cooking the bacon on the wire rack was easier than frying it, in my opinion. There was no flipping required, and each side turned out perfectly crisp.

I then smeared about a tablespoon of Hellmann’s regular mayonnaise onto each slice.

I ended up using about five lettuce leaves.

I sliced a lemon in half and squeezed the juice on the avocado slices, lightly tossing them. You don’t want to mash or mix the avocado slices too vigorously — just enough to coat them in the lemon juice.

Before adding the bacon to the sandwich, I soaked up some of the excess oil with a paper towel.

Other than the bacon, the other ingredients took no time at all to prepare.

It tasted fresh and was perfect for a spring or summer lunch. The avocado added a creamy element to the sandwich, and the seasoned tomato slices complemented the crispy bacon, which had a slightly sweet flavor.

While the simple recipe initially seemed like a no-brainer, the addition of lemon juice took it over the top. I also loved the method of baking the bacon — while it took longer to make, I didn’t have to stand around flipping the bacon to ensure it got crispy on both sides.

I was excited to see how Martha Stewart’s BLT recipe would measure up.

For Martha Stewart’s “perfect BLT” sandwich recipe, you’ll need white sandwich bread, a vine-ripe tomato, two lettuce leaves, a slice of thick-cut bacon, basil, butter, salt, pepper, and homemade mayonnaise.

For Stewart’s homemade mayo recipe, you’ll need one large egg yolk, one teaspoon of Dijon mustard, one teaspoon of fresh lemon juice, coarse salt, white pepper — I substituted it with black pepper, as that’s what I had — and a cup of lightly flavored oil.

Stewart’s recipe called for grapeseed, sunflower, or safflower oil, but I used vegetable oil — which is also mild in flavor — because I already had it in my kitchen.

The first step in making homemade mayo is mixing the egg yolk, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and lemon juice.

The key to making the homemade mayonnaise was slowly adding the oil.

You really need to add the oil drop by drop, or else your mayonnaise won’t thicken. Then, when you’re halfway through your oil, gently pour the rest into your bowl in a slow, steady stream while mixing.

I tried a little on a spoon and found that while it didn’t exactly taste like the mayo I was used to, the lemon juice added a nice citrusy flavor.

I was proud that I was able to make something remotely close to mayonnaise on my own. I also made more than I expected to use in the sandwich.

I found that this slightly sweeter cut caramelizes nicely in the pan and adds a delicious element to savory dishes. The recipe only calls for one slice of bacon, compared to Garten’s, which calls for three slices per sandwich. However, you could add more if you want a more filling lunch.

I fried the bacon, which took far less time than baking it. However, I preferred the crispy texture and result I got with Garten’s method.

I’ve never added butter to a BLT sandwich before, so I was interested to see how it would taste.

I followed Stewart’s instructions exactly, placing the lettuce down first and then the slices of juicy tomato. Having the lettuce act as a base can prevent your bread from getting soggy from the tomatoes.

I wondered if this would add an Italian flavor to the BLT (as it turned out, I was spot on). I then sprinkled a pinch of pepper and salt over the top.

I already anticipated that the sandwich could have used at least one more slice of bacon in order for the ingredients to be evenly distributed in each bite.

The ingredients tasted really fresh and light despite being a bacon-based sandwich. The basil cut through the savory flavors perfectly, while the mayonnaise added a citrus flavor.

The vine-ripe tomatoes were sweet, juicy, and flavorful. Altogether, the sandwich tasted similar to an Italian Caprese salad, plus bacon.

However, I definitely preferred the butter lettuce I used in Garten’s sandwich over the romaine, and I even preferred the store-bought mayonnaise over my first attempt at a homemade version.

The cooking and preparing process was a little longer than I would usually go for. After all, I wanted to get it exactly right. If I hadn’t also tried Ina Garten’s sandwich, I might have agreed that this sandwich really was “perfect.”

However, between the extra dishes, energy, and the small serving of bacon, I didn’t think that I would actually make this sandwich again over Garten’s.