General Travel

Using The Airport Railroad Express (AREX) To Get From Seoul Incheon Airport To Downtown Seoul

August 1, 2017

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Earlier this year I took a quick visit to Seoul and, rather than catching a Taxi/Uber (too expensive) or a bus (too susceptible to traffic) to downtown Seoul, I decided to take the train.

As we often see nice Business Class fares published for travel between Europe and Seoul, and as Korean Airlines is a popular Chase points redemption from the US, I thought I’d share my experience of getting into downtown Seoul from Seoul Incheon airport on the off chance that this helps someone out.

I didn’t do much research before I left home except to confirm that a taxi would be too expensive for my liking (I was traveling light and alone) but I did find out that there were a couple of train options available from Seoul Incheon Airport – the Seoul Airport Railroad Express (AREX) and a regional stopping service which only takes 20 minutes longer than the AREX. I decided to try out the AREX.

I was pretty impressed with my experience of the Hong Kong Airport Express when I tried it out last year so I was interested to see how the Korean AREX stood up in comparison.

I exited the customs hall at Seoul Incheon Airport at exit C…..

Seoul Incheon Airport

…..and straight away I could see a sign for the “Airport Railroad” ahead of me.

Seoul Incheon Airport

Note: I had a quick look around and it appears as if all the exits from the arrivals hall have good signage for the AREX so it shouldn’t matter where you find yourself once you clear customs.

Unlike a number of airports I can think of the signs for the trains appear frequently at Incheon….

Seoul Incheon Airport

…and they lead to escalators which go down to level B1 (there are elevators available too).

Seoul Incheon Airport

Once down on the lower level of the airport I kept following the signs (which involved getting on a travelator)……

Seoul Incheon Airport

….and they eventually led to a large, open, area with coffee shops and a Travel Centre kiosk:

Seoul Incheon Airport

If you’re new to the Seoul AREX this is probably the best place to purchase a ticket as the staff will be able to answer any questions you may have and you can pay with a foreign credit card here – the automated machines I mention a little further on only accept cash or Korean-issued credit cards.

The AREX offers a non stop service between Seoul Incheon Airport and Seoul Station in the heart of the South Korean capital and a one way journey costs 8,500KRW (approx $7.50) at the time of writing.