Return flights Dublin to Seoul, South Korea - various dates in November 2024 to April 2025 (e.g. 25th March to 3rd April 2025) - Lufthansa

Seoul and South Korea in general are very different compared to Japan, especially when you travel alone. I went during SeoulFesta a year ago which was very very busy and my hotel cancelled on me, likely because they overbooked, and since I didn't pay anything upfront (which is the case with a lot of hotels on booking.com in SK) I couldn't get any reimbursement either from Booking or travel insurance.

Also the systems there are a lot less English-friendly. If you want to get to anywhere you need to juggle Google Maps and Kakao/Naver Maps because the former actually has English search but no navigation and the latter two have navigation but the English UI is so half-baked it might as well not be there. The Booking.com situation happened partly because it's also less supported there and they have their own equivalents with no English localisation at all. And a lot of restaurants will actively refuse to have you as a client if you come in alone which sucked. IMHO if you know a local that can help you with housing/show you around it would help a LOT, moreso than most other places.

But OTOH, the nightlife there was better than anything I saw in Japan, mostly because many more people there know English and generally are a lot easier to talk to. And the active PC gaming café culture was really cool to experience. It was worth visiting but if I had to choose between the two I'd go to Japan every time.

Did you not pay with credit card?

Can’t you go through your credit card?

It's actually GREAT that it's not from London. London gets enough privileges already with prices and schedules, so it's good that other airports occasionally get a deal.