How much money is needed to get plastic surgery in Korea aside from the procedures?

[Winter24]

Aside from the plastic surgery procedures themselves, how much money is needed for other things related to getting plastic surgery in Korea? I know the price depends on how long someone is staying in Korea, but I'm looking for an estimation/range of the cost.

How much are the following?
Hotel-
Taxis-
Food/water-
Translator-
Medical concierge/medical tourism agency services (if you used one)-

Please also mention what else is necessary for a plastic surgery trip to Korea that I forgot to mention. These are the only necessary things I can think of so far.

 

[Backtoblack18]

I am going to korea for 3 weeks. My hotel costs about $700 usd . Look at places like hotel . c o m or bookings . c o m

Taxis are pretty cheap, but I would recommend the subway system. 1 way is a little over a dollar

Now, if you are recovering and not feeling well use KakaoTaxi. I can not remember the prices .. but much less than the USA

Fast food is anywhere from $6-10 a meal. Most meals are in between that range. I noticed that small family owned restaurants were cheaper.

 

[lilith*]

Hotel: Got a good deal 90 - 120k won from agoda for 4* hotel
Taxis: very cheap! 4,500 won i think is minimum
Food/water: Somehow i got this fondness with convenience food, 2 bottles is provided by the hotel so (free) and just look for a water that is buy 2 get 1 free in the convenience store - average less 10k won a day.
Cafe’s Coffee with pastry : 10k won as well
Translator: I did not have any translator, VG had their in house translator, ILAC - Dr. Ko speaks really good English, on surgery day, they will hire a translator for you.
———
You have to consider what you want to add on your trip, for example my main purpose to do in korea is plastic surgery so i added
- Smile Lasik
- Couple of skin lifting laser treatment, skin toning/acne scars treatment, facials, IV injection, botox and fillers, skin boosters
- Haircut, color, perm/treatment.

I haven’t done any sightseeing touristy stuff on this trip.

 

[Tungaa Seded]

Hotel - I found a small apartment through Airbnb. I paid 1,200,000 won for 14 days for two people. It was great that I could cook and feel at home in the apartment.
Taxis - I didn't use taxis. I found accommodation near Gangnam station. there are a lot of plastic hospitals very close to Gangnam station. I often used the bus and subway.. public transportation costs 2000 won - one ride. You have to buy a moneycard and top it up and then you can pay for taxis, buses and subways.

from the airport went the bus to Seoul costs - 17,000 won.

Food/water - a meal for 1 person costs 20 00won. They give free water.
Translator - there is usually an interpreter available at hospitals. That's why I didn't pay for one.
Medical concierge/medical travel agency services (if you used one) - I was on medication for a week after surgery so I didn't know. I paid 90,000 won. But it depends on what meds you need.

 

[yuzujp]

Add on the cost of prescription/medication post-surgery. That should be about 30K won. (It's what I was quoted from one clinic that said I would have to buy my prescription separately from a pharmacy.)

 

[carong]

Hotel - I found a small apartment through Airbnb. I paid 1,200,000 won for 14 days for two people. It was great that I could cook and feel at home in the apartment.
Taxis - I didn't use taxis. I found accommodation near Gangnam station. there are a lot of plastic hospitals very close to Gangnam station. I often used the bus and subway.. public transportation costs 2000 won - one ride. You have to buy a moneycard and top it up and then you can pay for taxis, buses and subways.

from the airport went the bus to Seoul costs - 17,000 won.

Food/water - a meal for 1 person costs 20 00won. They give free water.
Translator - there is usually an interpreter available at hospitals. That's why I didn't pay for one.
Medical concierge/medical travel agency services (if you used one) - I was on medication for a week after surgery so I didn't know. I paid 90,000 won. But it depends on what meds you need.

Would you mind to share the airbnb where you stayed in. Thanks

 

[carong]

Hotel - I found a small apartment through Airbnb. I paid 1,200,000 won for 14 days for two people. It was great that I could cook and feel at home in the apartment.
Taxis - I didn't use taxis. I found accommodation near Gangnam station. there are a lot of plastic hospitals very close to Gangnam station. I often used the bus and subway.. public transportation costs 2000 won - one ride. You have to buy a moneycard and top it up and then you can pay for taxis, buses and subways.

from the airport went the bus to Seoul costs - 17,000 won.

Food/water - a meal for 1 person costs 20 00won. They give free water.
Translator - there is usually an interpreter available at hospitals. That's why I didn't pay for one.
Medical concierge/medical travel agency services (if you used one) - I was on medication for a week after surgery so I didn't know. I paid 90,000 won. But it depends on what meds you need.

We're you there for PS purpose?

 

[stciw]

following! also can those responding give a rough estimate of how much in total you spent besides surgery expenses?

 

[coralblue010]

Aside from the plastic surgery procedures themselves, how much money is needed for other things related to getting plastic surgery in Korea? I know the price depends on how long someone is staying in Korea, but I'm looking for an estimation/range of the cost.

How much are the following?
Hotel-
Taxis-
Food/water-
Translator-
Medical concierge/medical tourism agency services (if you used one)-

Please also mention what else is necessary for a plastic surgery trip to Korea that I forgot to mention. These are the only necessary things I can think of so far.

Hotel - I think the cheapest hotels (and we're talking dirt cheap motels, one step above a hostel) are going to run you about 50,000k won a night. a decent hotel will probably be around 60-100k won. AirBnB's can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the type of property and location

Taxi - Pretty cheap. the starting rate for a taxi is 3200 won and then from there they'll charge by distance. You can get to most places in seoul for under 20,000 won. Taxis are much more affordable in Korean than Ubers in the US for sure. Highly recommended if you need to get some place fast and you don't have the time to take public transportation. That being said, public transportation in seoul is really, really cheap too. you can get anywhere for about 1500 won. It's a flat rate and they don't charge by the distance. And that includes transfers from bus to subway too. You don't pay a remounting fee, you just tap your transportation card to transfer from one mode of transportation to another

Food/Water: again this is subjective and dependent on your tastes, but you can eat at a convenience store for 5k won or less (which would be like an onigiri and a cup ramen or a bento lunch box). Normally eating out at a restaurant in Korea will cost you between 8k-15k won depending on what you have. Assuming you eat two meals a day and you get snacks/coffee in between, it'll cost you about 20k-40k a day on food expenses if you're not eating from the convenience store.

Translator - You can find a list of translators on PF here and they'll usually charge about 30k-60k and hour for their services. But from what I've seen on the other threads, translators can be hit or miss, especially if they're guys. There's a lack of contact info for female translators atm

Medical concierge/Medical tourism agency: I always plug Medical Avenue and Seoul Guide Medical cause they speak english (foreigner owned) AND (most importantly) they're FREE to use. With these agencies, they don't get paid unless you book a tour and their revenue comes from the government/clinics so you don't have to pay them anything to use their services which is amazing. Definitely give them a shot. I'd recommend them over using a translator cause with translators usually you have to pay them by the hour, up front and they're usually just one person shops which can be sketchy too

 

[zoe_eoz]

Hotel - I think the cheapest hotels (and we're talking dirt cheap motels, one step above a hostel) are going to run you about 50,000k won a night. a decent hotel will probably be around 60-100k won. AirBnB's can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the type of property and location

Taxi - Pretty cheap. the starting rate for a taxi is 3200 won and then from there they'll charge by distance. You can get to most places in seoul for under 20,000 won. Taxis are much more affordable in Korean than Ubers in the US for sure. Highly recommended if you need to get some place fast and you don't have the time to take public transportation. That being said, public transportation in seoul is really, really cheap too. you can get anywhere for about 1500 won. It's a flat rate and they don't charge by the distance. And that includes transfers from bus to subway too. You don't pay a remounting fee, you just tap your transportation card to transfer from one mode of transportation to another

Food/Water: again this is subjective and dependent on your tastes, but you can eat at a convenience store for 5k won or less (which would be like an onigiri and a cup ramen or a bento lunch box). Normally eating out at a restaurant in Korea will cost you between 8k-15k won depending on what you have. Assuming you eat two meals a day and you get snacks/coffee in between, it'll cost you about 20k-40k a day on food expenses if you're not eating from the convenience store.

Translator - You can find a list of translators on PF here and they'll usually charge about 30k-60k and hour for their services. But from what I've seen on the other threads, translators can be hit or miss, especially if they're guys. There's a lack of contact info for female translators atm

Medical concierge/Medical tourism agency: I always plug Medical Avenue and Seoul Guide Medical cause they speak english (foreigner owned) AND (most importantly) they're FREE to use. With these agencies, they don't get paid unless you book a tour and their revenue comes from the government/clinics so you don't have to pay them anything to use their services which is amazing. Definitely give them a shot. I'd recommend them over using a translator cause with translators usually you have to pay them by the hour, up front and they're usually just one person shops which can be sketchy too

just a random question since I saw you mentioned looking for a translator on PF - I am pretty new on here, not sure how that works but I currently work in Korea as a freelance interpreter, I can probably manage some surgery consultations too. Do you reckon I can 'promote' myself on here? lol

 

[perriotte]

I solo traveled on a budget. I originally brought $220 USD in cash to pay for food, transportation, and incidentals. I didn't expect medicine to be close to $100. Otherwise, the $220 would have been a comfortable amount for my trip. Although I could have technically budgeted everything using only $220 (which almost half of it was for prescription medicine), 3 days before leaving, I ended up deciding to splurge on desserts and took out an additional $50 from the ATM. My reasoning was that the desserts in Korea are half the cost in the US and I rarely buy such desserts in the US due to their cost.

If I could do this over again, (1) I'd bring $300 USD cash. (2) I would also immediately get a T-Money card before traveling out of the airport. (3) I would use the bus system for traveling to/from the hostel/clinic.

Hostel- $335 USD total cost for a 12 night stay. I booked through Agoda. There was a flash sale so that's why my stay was cheap. I chose to stay at Myeongdong in a single occupancy room. It's a very tiny room. The only con about the room was that the sink drained slowly.

Taxis- I did not use any taxis. However, after surgery, the doctor called (and paid) for my taxi ride.

Transportation to/from airport and hostel- 8500 won roundtrip. I used the Airport Railroad Express (AREX) train to travel from the airport to the hostel (and vice versa). There are 2 versions: non-stop and all stops. Both take ~1 hour to reach Seoul. I used the all stop train and it costs ~4250 won per trip. The non-stop train is ~9500 won per trip.

Transportation- ~40-50k won; at the beginning, I took the subway a lot and transferred 2-3 times (2400-4800 won) for a one-way trip. Originally, I thought transferring to the next station was free, but when I realized that was not the case, I began using the bus to get to my destination without needing to transfer, and that cut back on my transportation costs.

Using a T-money card, you get a 100 won discount on bus and subway rides. Discounted subway rides cost 1250 won. Discounted Bus trips cost 1200 won. Bus transfers are free if used within 30 minutes of scanning your card before exiting the bus.

I highly recommend using Naver map app to show real time bus schedules, trip cost, and directions from your current location to the bus stop or subway station.

Food/water- ~150k won. Water was free at my hostel. Due to my dietary restriction, I ate at a small local restaurant almost daily and occasionally at the night market. 3000 kimbap, 7000 bibimbap, 8000 kimchi fried rice, 5000 fruit cup, 6000 nutella crepe, etc. I also packed granola bars and protein bars from home and had those as snacks.

Translator- did not need because all the clinics I consulted with had English translators and all the doctors spoke some English.

Medicine- 93k for antibiotic medicine, antibiotic ointment, and eye drops. The eye drops cost ~50k for a box. Next time, I would not buy the eye drops at that price. Before I left, the clinic recommended that I buy an additional emergency supply of antibiotic medicine (in case an infection happened while I'm at home). As it was optional, I passed on that. The clinic sold scar ointment for 43k won. I bought scar cream at home for $21 USD.

Portable wifi device rental- $33 USD. Before my trip, I reserved a rental for a portable wifi router. Pick up/drop off location was at the airport. With this device, I could use the Internet while on the go. For security reasons, I used this wifi internet instead of the hostel's internet. It was very convenient to have.

 

[carong]

Hotel - I think the cheapest hotels (and we're talking dirt cheap motels, one step above a hostel) are going to run you about 50,000k won a night. a decent hotel will probably be around 60-100k won. AirBnB's can be cheaper or more expensive depending on the type of property and location

Taxi - Pretty cheap. the starting rate for a taxi is 3200 won and then from there they'll charge by distance. You can get to most places in seoul for under 20,000 won. Taxis are much more affordable in Korean than Ubers in the US for sure. Highly recommended if you need to get some place fast and you don't have the time to take public transportation. That being said, public transportation in seoul is really, really cheap too. you can get anywhere for about 1500 won. It's a flat rate and they don't charge by the distance. And that includes transfers from bus to subway too. You don't pay a remounting fee, you just tap your transportation card to transfer from one mode of transportation to another

Food/Water: again this is subjective and dependent on your tastes, but you can eat at a convenience store for 5k won or less (which would be like an onigiri and a cup ramen or a bento lunch box). Normally eating out at a restaurant in Korea will cost you between 8k-15k won depending on what you have. Assuming you eat two meals a day and you get snacks/coffee in between, it'll cost you about 20k-40k a day on food expenses if you're not eating from the convenience store.

Translator - You can find a list of translators on PF here and they'll usually charge about 30k-60k and hour for their services. But from what I've seen on the other threads, translators can be hit or miss, especially if they're guys. There's a lack of contact info for female translators atm

Medical concierge/Medical tourism agency: I always plug Medical Avenue and Seoul Guide Medical cause they speak english (foreigner owned) AND (most importantly) they're FREE to use. With these agencies, they don't get paid unless you book a tour and their revenue comes from the government/clinics so you don't have to pay them anything to use their services which is amazing. Definitely give them a shot. I'd recommend them over using a translator cause with translators usually you have to pay them by the hour, up front and they're usually just one person shops which can be sketchy too

Thank you so much for your time and effort to write and share with us. I really appreciate your informative and useful information.

 

[ray zen]

Hotel: Some Air BnB has a better price than staying in a hotel! In my case, I spent 60k~70k won per day on average.
Taxi: Basic price starts from 4,500-ish won. It gets more expensive at night like 2 am.
Food/water: If you stay in Air BnB, the great thing is you can cook simple dishes. I recommend half-eating out and the other half-cooking to save money. When you eat out, try great food that you can enjoy only in Korea.
Cafe’s Coffee with pastry : It depends on cafes. Like Starbucks or Paris Croissant charges relatively expensive (10k for coffee with bread), but there are also some local cafes in a cheaper price (around 5k).
Translator: I didn't need one. Most of the clinics have their own translators. But you need to check with the clinic that you will visit whether they have an in-house translator or not.

 

[Looking Purdy]

Aside from the plastic surgery procedures themselves, how much money is needed for other things related to getting plastic surgery in Korea? I know the price depends on how long someone is staying in Korea, but I'm looking for an estimation/range of the cost.

How much are the following?
Hotel-
Taxis-
Food/water-
Translator-
Medical concierge/medical tourism agency services (if you used one)-

Please also mention what else is necessary for a plastic surgery trip to Korea that I forgot to mention. These are the only necessary things I can think of so far.

If you do not mind a smaller place you can get a goshitel. The one I am at currently is great! Cost me 500k Won per month. Just a 100k Won deposit. I have my own bath and there is free laundry facilities available. Plus it is extremely quiet since folks live here to study. Edit: there is also a kitchen to cook and comes with free rice, ramen, and some places other free food.

For transportation I did public and only paid for one taxi after my surgery. I would say 20k to 30k Won per month depending on how active you will be.

Food and water I didn't budget well here but you could eat well for not a lot of money.

The translator hired for me cost 70k Won for the hour. Didn't need one at most places but recommended hiring your own.

Medical Concierge is free and not really needed. They get paid by the hospital for booking you. That means you pay more out of pocket in some instances, but not all.

If traveling alone I would stay in aftercare for at least one night can range from 200k to 300k Won per night.

Medications are not included in the surgery costs. Paid around 60k Won for prescriptions. I bought additional swelling packs that cost me 160k Won for seven days. The kits help with circulation and my doctor approved the recommendation.

Oh and lymphatic massage if you don't want to do your own 100k Won per hour.

Also set aside maybe 200k Won just in case. It's a lot but good to have emergency cash.

 

[Looking Purdy]

I solo traveled on a budget. I originally brought $220 USD in cash to pay for food, transportation, and incidentals. I didn't expect medicine to be close to $100. Otherwise, the $220 would have been a comfortable amount for my trip. Although I could have technically budgeted everything using only $220 (which almost half of it was for prescription medicine), 3 days before leaving, I ended up deciding to splurge on desserts and took out an additional $50 from the ATM. My reasoning was that the desserts in Korea are half the cost in the US and I rarely buy such desserts in the US due to their cost.

If I could do this over again, (1) I'd bring $300 USD cash. (2) I would also immediately get a T-Money card before traveling out of the airport. (3) I would use the bus system for traveling to/from the hostel/clinic.

Hostel- $335 USD total cost for a 12 night stay. I booked through Agoda. There was a flash sale so that's why my stay was cheap. I chose to stay at Myeongdong in a single occupancy room. It's a very tiny room. The only con about the room was that the sink drained slowly.

Taxis- I did not use any taxis. However, after surgery, the doctor called (and paid) for my taxi ride.

Transportation to/from airport and hostel- 8500 won roundtrip. I used the Airport Railroad Express (AREX) train to travel from the airport to the hostel (and vice versa). There are 2 versions: non-stop and all stops. Both take ~1 hour to reach Seoul. I used the all stop train and it costs ~4250 won per trip. The non-stop train is ~9500 won per trip.

Transportation- ~40-50k won; at the beginning, I took the subway a lot and transferred 2-3 times (2400-4800 won) for a one-way trip. Originally, I thought transferring to the next station was free, but when I realized that was not the case, I began using the bus to get to my destination without needing to transfer, and that cut back on my transportation costs.

Using a T-money card, you get a 100 won discount on bus and subway rides. Discounted subway rides cost 1250 won. Discounted Bus trips cost 1200 won. Bus transfers are free if used within 30 minutes of scanning your card before exiting the bus.

I highly recommend using Naver map app to show real time bus schedules, trip cost, and directions from your current location to the bus stop or subway station.

Food/water- ~150k won. Water was free at my hostel. Due to my dietary restriction, I ate at a small local restaurant almost daily and occasionally at the night market. 3000 kimbap, 7000 bibimbap, 8000 kimchi fried rice, 5000 fruit cup, 6000 nutella crepe, etc. I also packed granola bars and protein bars from home and had those as snacks.

Translator- did not need because all the clinics I consulted with had English translators and all the doctors spoke some English.

Medicine- 93k for antibiotic medicine, antibiotic ointment, and eye drops. The eye drops cost ~50k for a box. Next time, I would not buy the eye drops at that price. Before I left, the clinic recommended that I buy an additional emergency supply of antibiotic medicine (in case an infection happened while I'm at home). As it was optional, I passed on that. The clinic sold scar ointment for 43k won. I bought scar cream at home for $21 USD.

Portable wifi device rental- $33 USD. Before my trip, I reserved a rental for a portable wifi router. Pick up/drop off location was at the airport. With this device, I could use the Internet while on the go. For security reasons, I used this wifi internet instead of the hostel's internet. It was very convenient to have.

Haha my clinic made me pay them back for calling me a taxi after saying they would pay for it. I thought that was tacky but oh well.