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

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#31
sunse8t said:
I stayed 3 weeks for my friend's jaw shaving.

Hotel- We stayed at Tokyo inn for the entire stay at $65/night. It was originally $80/night but we had our Korean friend haggle since we were staying for a long time. Next time though, we'll stay in airbnb due to privacy issues. We only chose here for the free breakfast (which was simple but good). Walls were kinda thin though and kitchen was shared.

Taxis- $20 max per day (whenever we went out) but we stayed very close to the clinic. I don't remember which one but it was in Gangam-gu. We took the bus whenever my friend didn't feel self conscious. I think we spent a total of $150 but 80% of our transportation were taxis. Bus was $2 per trip. Sometimes, we walked to the clinic which was less than 30mins away.

Food/water- We had 30 bottles of water delivered via app that foreigners can use. It was $20 and it lasted us the entire 3 weeks. My friend's face swelled so badly (and I had work) so we didn't go out much to restaurants. We pre-stocked our fridge with frozen/quick prep foods from the big Emart. I spent a total of $200 at Emart and around $150 after my friend felt more confident to eat at restaurants.

Translator- Free. They were offered by the clinic. My friend went to Marble and I went to DA (for consultation).

Medical concierge/medical tourism agency services (if you used one)-n/a

Tips:
-Get Tmoney card from the airport. I put $200 but only because I intended to ride the taxi from the airport and back when I go home. This trip costed $60 each. The remaining $80 was more than enough for taxis and buses and emergency situations (since I was splitting it with my friend). A lot of restaurants don't accept Tmoney as payment but a lot of convenient stores do.
-I carried $100 in cash all the time (except when I wanted to go shopping).
-When riding the bus, you must tap the card again on the machine when you get off. This is so the bus knows you have gotten off and won't charge you again. If you don't tap, they'll assume you're still on the bus and charge you an extra fare after a certain amount of distance has passed after your boarding.
-There is a expensive version of a bus. Try to ride the more modern looking ones that young people ride. The expensive versions cost $5. I don't know what the difference is aside from that the expensive buses have ****tier interior due to how outdated and old it is.
-Do not carry open containers. Bus drivers will not let you carry your coffee on the bus.
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What is the app called that you were able to use to get water delivered?
 
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#34
lilith* said:
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.
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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.
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Which laser treatments are you looking to get ?
 
#36
If you don't mind, I'm just curious. What is the standard when you choose a plastic surgery clinic? Did you think the price was the most important thing? There are so many plastic surgery clinics in Korea that I don't know what standard to choose from now on.
 
#37
lilith* said:
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.
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perriotte said:
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.
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Thank you for sharing! did u ever consider taking a package deal? if so, is there a reason u made the choice? I'm also planning to go to korea to get a rhinoplasty, but i'm torn between paying for the package at once or booking each service individually
 
#38
Happyana83 said:
If you don't mind, I'm just curious. What is the standard when you choose a plastic surgery clinic? Did you think the price was the most important thing? There are so many plastic surgery clinics in Korea that I don't know what standard to choose from now on.
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you can categorise them
1. High Volume foreigner friendly
Pros: easy to communicate, much refined process thus efficient and fast
Cons: Not the most personalised experience.
2. Boutique clinic foreigner friendly
Pros: Much personalised experience
Cons: Due to the limited staffs, scheduling for booking can be difficult.
3. Clinics that don’t have english speakers

It’s up to your cup of tea whether which one to choose.

Standard process:
- Pre-Op test (CT scan before consultation)
- Talk to consultant before the doctor
- After the talk to the consultant then you can talk to the doctor
- talk to the doctor
- talk to the consultant regarding pricing
 
#39
Hi, I ordered a Wowpass online before landing, i ordered a combo which included a sim card. collected at the airport near the exit!


it can be used to buy food, shopping and also has a T card within it (for travelling)
I carried HKD and was able to use a Wowpass booth (inside the station) to convert to KRW, was able able to withdraw KRW on the same card with a small fee
Passport required. shopping Transactions shows on your mobile app straight away, can see your shopping balance and T card balance

The exchange was very slightly lower than if you went looking for a foreign exchange booth

This is my sign up code if you’re interested

* Invitation Code: S4CF6VSD

My apartment accommodation cost 1,275,000 KRW for 11 days :smile:

hope this helps!
 
#40
I wish there was a system that automatically calculates these costs and tells me an estimate. I'm looking into this and that myself because I'm worried that the agency will charge me too much when I visit Korea through an agency, but this is quite exhausting. But it's for my face, so I'll do it. Thank you for making a bulletin board for reference!
 
#42
snpry said:
Can you just pay everything (ie, food, taxis, etc) with just credit card? Or do you have to carry cash? If so, how much cash is good for 2 weeks?
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In my experience, you can pay with a credit card in most places, but there are some things that you will need cash for. For example, if you want to top up your t money card, you can only use cash. It’s hard to say how much would be good for two weeks as it would depend on what you plan to do, but maybe around 250,000 won.
 
#43
smartestangel said:
Hello can someone explain how to get to seoul from incheon airport that’s the easiest? and is yeongdongpeo a good location if my clinic is in gangnam?
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I took a taxi from Incheon to Seoul as that seemed to be the easiest way for me, but you can also take public transportation, which will be cheaper. You can google how to get to Seoul from Incheon airport and a lot of websites talk about the different ways to get to Seoul, like Klook, the Incheon airport website and VisitKorea.

Yeongdeungpo seems to be about 30 minutes to an hour away from gangnam, depending on if you use a taxi, the subway or a bus. Obviously taking the bus and subway will be cheaper but it could take a long time depending on how far you are from a station or bus stop.
 
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#44
Nancy331 said:
What are the most affordable plastic surgery clinics/hospitals in South Korea?
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I might be wrong, but from what I’ve seen, Lienjang seems to be on the more affordable side. However, I have no experience with them and I’m not sure what people’s general opinion is on here about the clinic.
Happyana83 said:
If you don't mind, I'm just curious. What is the standard when you choose a plastic surgery clinic? Did you think the price was the most important thing? There are so many plastic surgery clinics in Korea that I don't know what standard to choose from now on.
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What I did was that I looked for clinics that seem to specialize in the type of surgery I wanted, or clinics that had surgeons specializing in that type of surgery. To find those clinic, I simply searched on Google, or I used the Gangnam Unni app. Once I found a clinic or doctor that focused on the surgery I wanted, I looked at reviews, again on Google, Gangnam Unni and on here, and then scheduled a consultation with the ones that seemed to have the most positive reviews.
 
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