Air China Passenger Reviews and Air China Customer Trip Reports

Flew from JFK to Beijing, supposed to return from MNL back to JFK on July 23. Food was so-so, nothing to write home about, attendants appeared to have problems with food carts and would push and pull without looking to see that the cart would be banging into passengers' shoulders. In MNL flights were cancelled, rebooked, cancelled without explanation. No ground crew or call centres to respond to inquiries. Finally rebooked back to JFK on Delta, one day later. Communications totally inadequate, not acceptable.

Very mediocre experience and an airline I'll be avoiding in the future. I was flying direct London to Beijing, but the quality was worse than some domestic Chinese flights I've taken. I had to change seats a grand total of 4 times. Each time because my inflight entertainment system wasn't working, and it wasn't until my fourth seat that the screen was working. During this time the stewards and stewardesses were co-operative in helping me find a seat, but not kind or apologetic in any way. As for the food, the quality of the Chinese meal was somewhat better than the Western meal but neither especially good. My main complaint about the Western meal was the lack of vegetables and meat. The service was perfunctory and the stewardesses stern and at times rude. I just think they have no concept of what customer service is. They warmed to me slightly as I speak Mandarin and was travelling by myself. All in all, Air China will get you from A to B, and the stewardesses will bring you your food and drinks, but whether or not you have a relaxing enjoyable flight is another matter. Wouldn't recommend them and would prefer to pay extra or fly to China indirect next time to avoid them.

Kunming-Shanghai Hongqiao on B738, Beijing-Shanghai Hongqiao on A332, both on time for departure and arrival. Aircraft's are new and clean, comfortable seat and spacious legroom, blanket was given which was appreciated for domestic flights. Food and drinks acceptable. Overall enjoyable experience with Air China for domestic travel.

Vancouver - Beijing - Hong Kong - Beijing - Delhi - Beijing - Vancouver business class. 3 of those 6 segments were delayed by more than 5 hours! And for one of those segments, that meant staying overnight at a second-rate hotel outside of the airport. Onboard, service was minimal and the staff act like they are doing you a favor when they the food and drinks. On the ground, the service is similarly curt and non-communicative.

Hong Kong to Beijing, flight was a little late leaving but made the time up. Plane was an airbus, looked tired from the outside but fine inside. Some of the PA announcements were lost in translation but the crew were friendly and helpful, food was OK, alcohol needed to be purchased, entertainment just local Chinese television. I would use them again in this part of the world.

London-Beijing-Taipei. Flight was about £200 cheaper than any of the other airlines were offering. I flew Air France to Shanghai last year and actually Air China compared quite favourably - there wasn't the same degree of choice with the inflight entertainment but the food was just as good and seats were probably more comfortable. You aren't provided with a takeaway 'pack' of things on this flight but there is a pillow and blanket on your seat and there are headphones for entertainment. The toilets were fine (yes, they did get a bit gross towards the end but that happens on an 11 hour flight) and the staff were accommodating. My veggie meal wasn't on their list on the first leg of the outward bound journey but when I showed them my confirmation email they found me one without any fuss. Service at the check-in desks was also perfectly fine. The long haul planes had a personal television and were pretty full. The shorter flights (Beijing-Taipei) had communal screens with Chinese TV on them but weren't very full - on the way back I got a whole row of seats to myself!

Flew from Shanghai to Shenzhen on Friday evening. Boarding was efficient and the doors closed on time, but that's when the trouble started. We sat on the tarmac for at least 30 minutes and were then told that we were waiting for traffic control clearance. Other announcements were made but they were so quiet that I could not hear what was said. After 1 hour the food came out while we were still waiting on the ground. The total delay was around 2 hours and 15 minutes before we finally departed. This delay more than doubled the journey time - very disappointing for what should be a simple domestic flight.

Return JFK-PEK. Economy. Full flights, on time. Food was not brilliant, but certainly edible. Cabin crew attentive and cheerful. Plenty of beverages and cold water in between meals. Wine and beer available at no extra charge. Seats comfortable, even for my 6'3" husband. 744 seating felt roomier than 747. Movie screen a little hard to see for short people. In truth, most travelers had tablets or laptops playing their own movies or TV shows. Not much variety in sound system entertainment, but, again, most people were listening to their own MP3 players or iPods. Bathrooms neat and clean. Whole experience comparable to United return to Beijing several years ago.

MUC-PEK-HKG-PEK-MUC over June and July 2012. Check-in at MUC handled very professionally by Lufthansa. Assigned a bulkhead seat from MUC-PEK. Legroom is therefore excellent. Cabin crew spoke very poor English, and showed little enthusiasm. The food is nothing extraordinary - portions were small and bland. IFE is AVOD, with a reasonable section. PEK-HKG operated by a wet-leased Air Macau A320 - no IFE, same mechanical service and poor food options. Service on return leg was mediocre. The excellent IFE hardware with touch screens cannot make up for the lack of film and TV options. Food worse than outbound and the white wine almost undrinkable. Overall, a cheap way to get from A to B, but don't expect much in the service department.

ICN-PEK-HKG. Flight from Incheon to Beijing was decent, but when we arrived in Beijing that's when things fell apart transferring to flight to Hong Kong. After going through immigration and security for the second time in Beijing with 15 minutes to spare until boarding - rushed to the gate to make it on time. Other passengers notify me that the flight has been cancelled due to high winds in Hong Kong. When I tried to speak to a staff member, he really didn't speak much English, so communication was very difficult. They herded all passengers out of the airport into buses and sent us to a hotel. Told that there isn't any flights to Hong Kong until the next morning, but won't say exactly what time. Told if we want our own rooms we have to pay $150.00. A hotel staff member communicates to us that the bus will be leaving at 4am back to the airport. We get to the airport and finally we're told at the counter that there is a flight at 6.30am to Hong Kong. What should have been a 5 hr 40 mins travel time turned into a 13+ hour travel time with the airline hardly communicating what was going on.

We flew economy from San Francisco to Beijing. The plane was full. The plane was very old, proven by ashtrays throughout the plane. My seat was very uncomfortable with little leg room. The food was awful. I asked for pork and was told she was out of it after a different attendant took it just as I was about to be served. The chicken was tasteless. The only thing I had to eat was rice. The movie screen picture was horrible. The flight attendants hid behind curtains and only occasionally came out to hand out warm water. I flew on 4 flights within China and they all were just as bad.

Frankfurt to Taipei return. On the way to Taipei I missed the connection at Beijing because the flight was delayed by two hours. At Beijing airport my luggage was missing, found it eventually, but that took more than one hour. At the ticket counter I was lucky to find a seat on the next flight, departing the next day. The company offered to cover my accommodation expenses for the night, but that was a basic hotel room to share with two other passengers. I refused their offer, which I found disgusting, and insulting. On the way back to Frankfurt I had to change flight twice. At every time I had to pass the immigration check to collect my luggage and check in again. Luckily I had enough time to do that. Hongzouh to Beijing, was canceled. The company announced the flight was canceled two hours before the departure. Until then the flight was scheduled as normal. The reason for canceling the flight was the disruption of the air signalling system caused by the launch of a space ship. The launch was scheduled to take place at 6.30 pm. Our flight was scheduled to depart at 8.00 pm. Eventually two other passengers and I managed to get the last three seats on to another flight to Beijing. The departure time of the latter was 7.00 pm, but the flight was delayed by one hour. No problem from Beijing to Frankfurt. This was my first experience with Air China and will be the last one.

Business/Economy class CDG-PEK-PVG-CDG. CDG-PEK on 777-300ER business class, a prized flatbed which is great for a 10 hours flight. My welcome drink was snatched away before I could finish it. Food was plentiful but taste awful. IFE froze and was rebooted 3 times. Crew was robotic. PEK-PVG on A340 in economy. Uncomfortable seat, no personal IFE. Crew good for economy class standard. They did 2 rounds of drinks and each PAX was given a tasteless muffin with a fried egg inside. PVG-CDG on 340 Business class, old style business class seat and I found myself sliding down the seat the whole night. It was supposed to be angled flat but I would call it flat with bumps. The crew asked me if I would like a welcome drink and handed me a food and drink menu. I ordered red wine and was told that red wine bottle would be opened only after takeoff. Crew service was a little impersonal, but did perform their work professionally. Ground service efficient - quick check-in, meet and greetings hostess, efficient to/from airport-hotel limousine transfers offered. If you find yourself flying Air China business, make sure it is on their 777-300ER.

Frankfurt to Shanghai. Old A340, entertainment - 2 screens awful. Service personnel ok but I had the feeling they just wanted to get the flight over and done with sat at the back most of the time, occasionally came through with some water. Luggage left in Frankfurt, not prepared to put it on another Star Alliance flight - had to wait for same flight next day.

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