AIR CHINA review : 10 May 2008 : by S Grocock

Customer Rating : 3/5

Beijing to JUFK - pleasantly surprised. Quite a lot of leg room in Economy. The entertainment was poor and the food all tasted the same. Staff were attentive.

Air China review by R Gerber

23 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Roundtrip in Economy from San Francisco to Beijing. Seat assignment is done at the airport check-in counter - there is no advance seat assignment. We were told to arrive extra-early to make sure we got good seats. The flights were satisfactory, seats had extra legroom compared to other international flights I have taken. Food and drinks were very plentiful and of the typical quality one would expect in Economy class (Note - meals, for the most part, are Chinese food, as one would expect on a Chinese airline). Entertainment was fair. Large screens in the front of each section of the plane were used for movies and the global tracking display. Movies were decent. The cabin and restrooms were clean. Flight attendants were friendly. All spoke some English and their English was sufficient to communicate the basics.

Air China review by P Rogers

6 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Moscow to Beijing (767). Beijing to London (747) Business class both trips. This is the first time I have flown Air China although I fly a lot with other airlines. I found the experience to be as I would expect for a business class fare with good value for money. Others flyers comments of an improving service seem to be accurate as I experienced none of the concerns mentioned in historic reviews. Actually the staff were very attentive and professional on both trips. Only issues was laptop power supply did not work in the 747 (but they let me charge my battery in first) and entertainment is a little limited when compared to other airlines. In summary, some room for improvement but would be happy to fly Air China again.

Air China review by Mimi Hildbrand

1 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Plane was clean, bathrooms clean, flight personnel helpful and friendly, seats were comparable to other airlines economy I have flown - a very satisfactory experience. On the way home from Bejing to LAX I asked the attendant at the gate if there were open seats and she gave me a seat in a row of 3 near the back so I could stretch out and sleep. They were helpful, nice, food was fine, no problems at all. I would fly with them again.

Air China review by Y Leung

27 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Hong Kong to Dalian on Air China return during the Easter vacation. Our experience is that it is not as bad as described by the other passengers in this column. English of the flight attendants needs improvement, so for non-Chinese speaking passengers, travelling in China is always a problem. The plane was an old 737-300. Exterior very dirty, and nobody seemed to bother about its appearance. Flight attendants helpful though they have to learn to be more courteous and polite. But with so many unruly passengers, perhaps that's the only way to go. The flight is a share-code flight with Dragonair so I think Dragonair should pay attention to their partners' service standards.

Air China review by Su Crosetto

26 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Rome - Beijing Business Class (my first and last Air China flight). Codeshared with Alitalia - old unconfortable business class seats. If the passenger in front of you leans back with his seat he lands in your soup - toilet smells before passenger boards - one out of two toilets in the BC had a broken water faucets. Flight attendant does not smile, hardly speaks English, seem to try to avoid to service me and my child as we are foreigners - no individual entertainment program, no magazines - overhead monitor shows Chinese folklore. Chinese passengers (no safety belt, using mobile phone and shouting) - smokers on the toilet. Before landing wrong English announcement (about weather and not wearing coats because it is so warm outside - it is winter!).

Air China review by Gregory Payne

29 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

PEK-CAN Economy Class. This 737 configuration had the least legroom of any flight I have experienced. After a long ORD-PEK flight, having such a tight and packed situation was not pleasurable. FA were very young and tried to service the flight, but was difficult due to the single aisle. Beware a code share business class ticket with United puts you in coach on Air China.

Air China review by Christopher Tin

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-PEK. Seat pitch on this 747 to be quite adequate and better than most US airlines. Served two meals which were pork or fish with noodles or rice. All their meals tend to taste the same, and one snack of a ham and cheese sandwich. There is no personal video screen and only the old style projector at the front of the cabin. Plane is quite old and still has ash tray signs everywhere. PEK-SIN: Took an overnight flight which was full. Got a middle seat which was terrible on a 767. But same flight and service level, received one meal shortly after cruising. PEK-JFK: flight full, sat in the last row of economy class - actually quite nice as no one was behind me kicking my seat and there was little noise coming from the galley. Two meals again and a snack sandwich. Unfortunately I was really too far to see the video screen, but it was bad quality anyway.

Air China review by S Edgar

8 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

PVG-SZX Economy Class. Check-in smooth. Onboard a Dragonair flight but not Air China flight. Announcement said it is co-operation between two airlines - Captains from Dragonair, flight purser from Dragonair. Other crew members from Air China. The cabin was clean. Dinner served 20 minutes after take off. Arrive Shenzhen half an hour late. Many mobile phone rang during landing. Passengers not behaving themselves and crew didn't control.

Air China review by Rob Martin

3 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

YVR-PEK-DEL Economy class first time on Air China. Staff was friendly but requests weren't fully understood. Meals were quite good choice of vegetarian dish or non-vegetarian. Seating was comfortable but room for laptop was quite compact. YVR to PEK was packed but PEK to DEL was quite nice and quiet with not so many passengers in economy class. Entertainment 50/50 - played one english movie and one chinese movie with english subtitles. Washroom was clean no problems there. Overall it was smooth flight with no problems. Way better than China Eastern.

Air China review by C Carroll

24 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Usually okay, never great, at best, adequate. They are trying, but still leave a bit to be desired. As a regular (almost weekly) flyer in China I could post a dozen similar experiences as the others posted here. Perhaps the biggest problem with Air China is the delays but in fairness they aren’t the only airline in the country to routinely experience long delays. These can range from 1-2 hours parked at a gate to my worst experience ever - over 12 hours stuck on a flight from BJ to Shenzhen. Poor weather is often the excuse, but in a culture where face is important, the actual reason may be quite different. Perhaps the staff don’t even know the real reason, and simply give the most plausible excuse they can think of to placate you. Chinese passengers understand this and don’t seem to fussed about it, most of the time anyway. But to foreigners it’s just a lie which compounds frustration. Some (but not all) factors are beyond the airlines control. The sheer size of China, poor aviation infrastructure, over cautious air traffic rules (on second thoughts, maybe a good thing) and wafer thin profit margins. The result is that domestic flights on Air China are always fully booked, schedules are extremely tight and the slightest delay on one leg throws the schedule off for the rest of the day. Other factors include military movements and a problem particularly affecting BJ Capital Airport, the number of VIP flights, especially foreign dignitaries whether at the Capital Airport itself or the nearby military base in the south of the city, causing disruption to normal civil aviation. Perhaps the best advice I can give when dealing with Air China is a neutral face - don’t lose your cool and do as the Chinese do - stand your ground and start negotiating a solution that is acceptable to both of you. Complaining loudly about violation of your rights or how bad this makes them look will not cut it. I admit some Chinese do resort to such scenes, but when a foreigner becomes hostile the result is almost guaranteed to be non-cooperation (at best) or blatant obstruction if they really take a dislike to you. Remember, you are dealing with a bureaucracy, not a customer orientated service provider. Like everything else in China, this is changing but in its own sweet time.

Air China review by T Lim

30 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

PVG-PEK-DEL-PEK-PVG. It was a terrible experience. Only when we arrived in PEK that we were told that the PEK-DEL flight was oversold, and there are no seats left. There was a mad rush with around 20-25 other passengers, trying to get the next connections out. Ground crew tried to be helpful but there was nothing much they could do. Found out later that this is a frequent occurrence. They have been severely overselling flights out to major international destinations like DEL, NRT and CDG on a regular basis. On the return leg, we made it on both flights, but the plane was stuck on the tarmac for 2 hours due to some mysterious technical fault.

Air China review by S Newlove

1 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Shanghai-Beijing and Beijing-Guilin. Both flights pretty good, a hot meal on both flights, with the drinks trolley coming by twice. Check in for both flights was chaos but I think that's just the way things happen in China. Booked direct on the Air China web site and got excellent fares so good value for money.

Air China review by Craig Willis

17 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Beijing-Shanghai-Sydney with Air China, economy class. Asked for aisle seat emergency row and got it. Seating okay on Airbus A330-200. Service between Beijing and Shanghai was good with hot meal and selection of juices etc. 1 hour lay-over in Shanghai then re-boarded for Sydney flight. Screen in seat not working and offered a seat at the rear of the plane in crew rest area, but elected to stay where I was with extra legroom. Service excellent and meal / breakfast of a high standard. Overall a very good flight and you can tell they are really trying as the Olympic games approach. Overall a pleasing flight which I had approached with some trepidation.

Air China review by R Melzer

20 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Beijing to Shanghai in business class. New Airbus A330. Crew lazy and not willing to work. Food quality very poor. Served soft drinks and beer only.

Air China review by Marius Radde

20 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

FRA-PEK and back Economy Class on B 747-400. First leg of the trip was a night flight with a durance of 9:05 hours. Food was not very overwhelming, but still OK. Maybe I chose the wrong menu, because choice of food and drinks was quite good. FA's weren't unfriendly, but didnt seem to be too busy with trying to appear friendly. After having arrived in Beijing, I was not too impressed by Air China. The second leg of my trip was better. A day flight (10:05 hours) with two great meals. The infight entertainment was quite good. It's a pity that so many carriers do not have the screens in the front seats, so you have to watch movies on the central screens. All in all the flight back to Frankfurt was a pleasant one.

Air China review by R Ferreira

18 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

PEK-NYC in Business Class. Check-in at PEK pretty straightforward and offered window or aisle on the upper or lower deck. Attentive flight attendants. Food so/so and drink selection not exactly the finest. However, seats excellent, angled lie-flat. IFE system was interactive. Amenity pack had all I needed on the flight. Would definitely fly Air China again on this non-stop route and save the $1500 premium on UAL and more importantly no stop in Chicago.

Air China review by B Leishman

6 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

NRT-PEK in Business. Old and shabby (not dirty) 757 with only two rows of Business. Seating not comfortable but acceptable for a relatively short flight. Food tasty and plentiful, however not fancy. Service was decent (female staff were excellent, male staff were scruffy and nowhere near as good). No entertainment in English. Overall on this route they are nowhere near the standards offered by JAL, ANA or NW.

Air China review by T Cook

5 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Flew Shanghai(SHA) to Beijing. Business class, 777. This service was quite good, better than 1st on Shanghai Airlines on the way over. The food was tasty, although looked like and econ meal. Seats were a bit old, and a tray table that sagged in the middle. I cannot imagine this being very comfortable on the international flights that this plane operates on. There was limited space for my feet due to electical boxes under the seat infront. And if you put the leg rest up the whole way your feet get squashed by the seat infront (this was when the seat infront was upright). Of my two domestic China flights this is the best, but nothing to rave about.

Air China review by Liam Moulton

2 September 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

London Heathrow-Beijing-Harbin. Food was satisfactory at best and the beer selection was somewhat limited. Boeing 747-400 had seen better days with the magazine holder and my armrest both torn. The legroom was ample at 34 inches, though there was no neckrest unlike British Airways or Lufthansa. Also there was no entertainment guide and no personal TV and only two channels were in English. The cabin crew were competent though not the friendliest. I speak basic Chinese, so a few simple Chinese words go down positively with the cabin crew. On the second flight from Beijing to Harbin, everything was satisfactory and I was impressed with a warm snack and beer on a flight of less than 2 hours. Given the choice between British Airways and Air China, I won't think twice about choosing British Airways in future.

Air China review by M Newman

21 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

We got in at Sydney early for flight to Beijing. Soon after we were told that there would be about a 3 hour delay. Some 3 hours later we were told that we would be taken to a hotel to have lunch. After arriving at the hotel they told us that the flight had been cancelled due to problems with the aircraft. Obviously they knew this all the time and chose not to tell us. So here we are at the hotel with no baggage which was left at the airport (very inconvenient) . The next day the flight time was changed to over an hour later and we had to find and re check our baggage. Food was only fair both ways and breakfast on the return awful. They are sparse with alcohol at lunch and dinner, there being no whisky, a thimble full of red or white wine and a can of warm beer. We were away for 2 weeks and the in flight movies were the same. The aircraft was modern and clean even in the bathrooms and as comfortable as you could expect in economy - but westerners are not properly catered for . I dont know how they will go during the Olympics and I suspect that many (including us) will not fly with air china again.

Air China review by Sue Parker

7 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

My husband and I travelled First Class Lhasa- Chendu-Beijing. We had no idea that the plane was going to touch down at Chengdu since we had flown direct to Lhasa - and the flight toime was half an hour later than we were led to expect by our travel agent. At Chengdu we were told to get off the plane for '30 minutes' - most of which time was on a bus from a very remote stand on the tarmac. It was 8.00pm. We went into the First Class lounge adjacent to the gate to find that no flights had taken off to Beijing for about 5 hours, owing to bad weather there. Nobody in the First Class lounge spoke English but we were fortunate that an American guy spoke some Mandarin else we'd have been completely lost. (8/11 of the First Class passengers were either British or American) They kept teling him - 'just another half hour'. At 11.30pm it was mooted that if we could not take off after 4 hours they would put us into a hotel. Economy class by this time had been given a food box, unlimited supplies of soft drinks and water and kettles had been produced for tea; whereas in First all we had were a few rice crackers and sweets - even the hot water had run out. At about 1am, some of economy (just a few Chinese), after shouting and almost rioting for an hour, went off out of the airport. About this time they decided to turn off the First Class lounge lights and this enabled a number of economy passengers to come in and start swiping seats and cushions - the staff tried feebly to remove them but did not succeed. This included some quite noisy children. At just before 3.30am they turned on the lights and it transpired that we were to be taken to a local hotel. This was a fleapit, Chinese 'squat' toilets, massive cockroaches. At about 6am the US Mandarin speaking-guy was phoned to be told that we would all need to leave at 7.30 for a plane at 9.00 - so he rang us all meaning we had less than 2 hours sleep. Frankly it would have been better if we'd been left in the First Class lounge. In the event the plane was produced at 9.30am and we left about 14 hours after we had touched down. However, the only food on board was the night before's 'snack' which comprised of tepid pumpkin soup, dumplings in vinegar sauce and some wilted fruit. When we asked the Purser why they had not been able to provide something that resembled breakfast she just laughed. Deplorable behaviour and in terms of food hardly adequate after 16 hours with no food (we'd had a minute meal on leaving Lhasa) and no way to treat First Class passengers since there was still nothing available in the First Class lounge. We have been traveling to China for 21 years, and on the basis of this experience, things have got worse not better on CA in that time. We appreciate the Air China have no control over the weather, but they appear to have a total disregard for thieir premium passengers.

Air China review by E Hickenlooper

7 August 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

On our recent visit to China, all of our flights were late - especially the international flights, which were 5 hours and 4 hours late, respectively. The food on Air China was terrible, and the restrooms on the plane filthy. But the problem that concerned us the most was their complete lack of interest in being accommodating to disabled passengers. Prior to our flight to China (SFO to Beijing) I called the Air China San Francisco office three times in one week to arrange for a wheelchair. None of the people that I spoke to were interested in doing anything about my request. I was told "don't worry about it," "contact the ground crew when you get to Beijing," (how does that help me in San Francisco?) and the best one - "you should call the airport in Beijing." Right - what a great idea. I finally sent an email via the Air China website (which is now has a version in English! what a concept!) stated that I had called the office three times, etc. The person who replied assured me that she had made arrangements, and that there would be a wheelchair available at all connections. To make a long story short, that didn't happen. I had to raise a fuss at every stop. Furthermore, their disbelief was evident - I guess because I am not 98 years old, and appear physically normal they believed that I was faking it or something. The worst part, however, is the fact that at some stops the passengers are taken out on the tarmac in a bus, and required to climb steep stairs to enter and exit the plane. Believe me, the steps to a 747 are no joke. I was able to do it, but it was not fun. Apparently Air China believes that people who lack the agility of a mountain goat shouldn't be traveling in the first place.

Air China review by M Rodda

30 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Shanghai Pudong) to Beijing in coach. I read a lot of reviews on this site to help me pick this airline and the type of plane which I think helped us get a good experience. We bought tickets in the US ahead of time. One was through my work travel agency and the other, for my husband, from Expedia (flight was not available on Travelocity or Sidestep) for $164 USD and had to get paper tickets. Although an Air China flight, check-in and gate work was done by China Eastern staff. Arrived only an hour before our noon flight (our driver had initially assumed the domestic airport since so few intra-China flights fly out of Pudong airport but we caught the mistake about 15 minutes into the drive). The domestic part of the airport was not crowded and the check- in line was short. We requested aisle seats across from each other and got aisle seats near the front but one behind the other. The check in person did not speak English very well so I am not sure if she did not understand our request or if that option was not available (economy section was pretty full). We were loaded onto shuttles at the correct time (fairly orderly process) and took a very long trip to the far end of the airport. Walked up stairs to the plane (a 767). Seats had about the same leg room as I see in USA domestic flights - not great but tolerable. I was in a bulkhead seat with my husband behind me. I did not recline the seat to give him more room but the seat comfort was still adequate. The plane was clean and did not appear to be too old. Flight took off about 30 minutes late and we were told it was due to air traffic control. A show was displayed on a single big screen at the front of the section but being in the first row I could not see very well (I think there were English sub-titles). We received a hot meal (choice of chicken or beef curry but a passenger next to me had ordered a vegetarian meal and got vegetable curry) and 2 drink services in a flight lasting under 2 hours. The meal was not exciting but decent and definitely edible. The flight attendents were polite and understood basic English. I was allowed to use the bathroom in the front of our section (technically business or first class) but that section was almost empty. The bathroom was clean and had no foul smells. When we landed in Beijing we walked down the stairs and were put on shuttle buses to the baggage claim area. Our luggage got delivered in an acceptable time frame. Overall the flight was uneventful with more service than we would receive on a similar length flight in the US. Other than the limitations of having to use paper tickets and not being able to get a preassigned seat, the trip was fine and I would use this airline again for intra-China flights.

Air China review by B Crowley

19 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Lhasa to Kathmandu in May. Quite expensive for a flight just over 1 hour, and could not obtain e-ticket within 72 hours of the flight. I could not believe the airline booking office (CAAC) would only accept cash (2261 yuan - the daily ATM limit is 2000). They told me to be at the airport at 8am, but the International terminal was not even attended until about 9.00. Boeing 757 clean but not new, the seats were tight (29") and lumpy (fortunately there were a lot of empty seats). But the flight was on time, and the crew professional - an announcement was made in English as we passed Everest. So, reasonable service in the air, but they need to work on their booking service.

Air China review by M Papenheim

5 June 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Beijing-Lanzhou-Chengdu-Shenyang-Beijing on First Class. First Class Service in Beijing and other destinations was great although I was slightly confused about the instructions of ground personnel. Simple reason: lack in English language knowledge by personnel. However, the service on board and friendliness of Flight attendants is recommendable. Food and drinks were fine.

Air China review by J Larsson

28 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Europe - China 3-4 times each year (normally economy, a few times business). Now silver member in Air China frequent flyer programme Companion. Trips with Air China ranges from 2.5 to 4 stars. Seat comfort and food are OK and normally the crew is very service minded. Had a few disappointments though, especially when they were running out of red wine. IFE is not very good, but I always bring a book on the flights to Asia. Strong points: Price (good value for money), the hub in Beijing, the lounges and the frequent flyer programme (you reach silver lever quickly with priority check in, lounge access, low requirements for upgrades).

Air China review by J Santos

17 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I have flown Air China’s business class service on the new GRU-MAD-GRU route twice this year (connects Brazil to China via Madrid in Spain). All these flights were quite ok. One cannot compare Air China with superio’ Asian airlines or with the well-established European carriers. Air China is recognized as an airline offering cheap flights. So don’t expect modern day resources such as personal AVOD; sleeper seats on premium classes, etc. In brief, if you want to pay less, don’t care too much about the frills offered by the superior airlines, but still want to get to the same destination keep to Air China.

Air China review by Mike Rotheray

9 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I fly quite often with Air China domestically and generally find them tolerable. It's more the off-plane stuff that they need to get up to speed with. Only international flights I've taken with them, three times now, is the relatively short-hop Chengdu-Bangkok "Midnight Express." Last time I was booked to come back Friday 23 March from BKK. While I was in Thailand my partner went in to our Chongqing travel agent to book my Chengdu-Chongqing flight and met with puzzlement from the agent who on looking up their system said I now seemed to be booked to come back Sunday 25. Apparently Air China had cancelled the Friday flight and rebooked me for Sunday. If I hadn't had to get Chengdu-Chongqing ticket organised, I would have gone to BKK airport to check in at 2am (!) Friday before I found out about the change. I'm in their Frequent Flyer programme and they have my email address as a contact, but apparently this doesn't serve any purpose. Also, why book me Sunday instead of the Saturday option? Friendly local staff in Air China BKK office did get me rebooked onto Saturday ok when I went in to see them. I find their website reasonably user-friendly to navigate and check FF mileage etc, but an odd thing is their insistence you give them your address in Chinese characters for them to send you anything by post. China Post can cope ok with my address in English written by friends at home, as can Holiday Inn and Sichuan Airlines with whom I also have loyalty cards, but not Air China.

Air China review by Howard Rutz

1 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-PEK-TYN Return in Business Class. After several good flights with Air China, I had an unfortunate experience. Outbound flight was acceptable but the AVOD program was the same as November with the newest film being Garfield II or Spiderman I. At least the system worked compared to January and February flights where newer movies were promised but the system did not work at all. Based on previous experiences, I was ready with lots of DVDs. Flights were on time and domestic First Class was all right. On return to Beijing, I was first informed that I did not have a record of a reservation on the flight to JFK. After much scrambling at the transfer desk, I was informed that I did not have a confirmed seat and that I was on stand by all along and that business class was full and I would need to be downgraded to economy. I insisted that this was not the case, my company and travel agent would never fly me on standby and that they needed to come to a reasonable accommodation and that flying in economy was not acceptable. I was then moved to the ticket counter after customs where I was introduced to the site manger. I showed him my paper work from the travel agent with confirmed next to my reservation and he snorted at me and threw it back at me and restated that I did not have a confirmed seat and there was nothing that could be done. I asked that he try to put me on another flight either Air China or their partner, United. He laughed again and said that my ticket was discounted too much to be able to do that ($7000 ticket). After much "discussion" I was put on the stand by list for business and told to wait at the ticket counter until 40 minutes before the flight. During this time I called the travel agent's after hour emergency number and they indicated that their was little they could do to help but that the ticketing system still showed that there was available seats in business class. At the prescribed time, I returned to the desk and was told that I would need to wait another ten minutes. Finally I was cleared into business class and made a run through immigration and security and made the flight as the doors were being closed. During the return flight, the smell of smoke was clear in our area of the cabin throughout the flight (row 4 downstairs) and was probably the same as has been reported here in the past, the result or the pilots or the crew smoking in the cockpit or rest area. The flight was otherwise OK with the food being edible but hardly excellent.

Air China review by Josephine Zimmerman

1 May 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I will never travel Air China again. The staff at the airport didn't do my food request on the flight from Beijing to SFO, but thanks to airline hostess will accommodate it. The line up at the airport is awful and our group have to wait long due to the slow computer and most of the staff speak limited English - even though I speak Chinese, they still are not well organized. The seats on economy class was uncomfortable, food adequate and the movies are old and show the same movie on the way back to SFO. In China, the staff was not friendly and their don't care attitude for international travelers.

Air China review by Terence Schwarz

24 April 2007   Customer Trip Rating : n/a

Air China – We were warned that AC did not quite meet the norm, but here is my first hand experience. AC has a web site but using Google you can not find the US site directly. Once found it is difficult to navigate and occasionally Chinese symbols appear even though you have selected English. You cannot book a reservation from the internet. You cannot get departure or arrival info because the only cities you can choose from are all within China! It is pretty useless. Check in for the out bound flight was fairly typical. The business class lounge is minimal at LAX, but so is everything there these days. The flight was on time. The food was adequate, but the dessert and cheese listed on the menu was never served. The service was decent. I definitely notice cigarette smoke coming from the cockpit area when I used the forward lav on the upper deck. The in flight entertainment system is the worst I have seen for a long haul. Technically (screen and hand held selector) it is the same as most but the content and user interface is miserable. The so called current movies are all 5 or more years old and there were only three of those. To choose a language you must guess by selecting “language 1, 2 or 3” not English, Chinese, or other! So if you guess wrong you have to start the whole process over. English is language 2. None of the movies or music is named, all 1, 2, 3 etc. and the magazine info lists some information, but does not give numbers. The game selection does not have any recognizable games unless you are into Mahjong. For the return flight we had to change our schedule due to an emergency at home. Be aware that English is not much used when you call in. Fortunately we had a guide with us that was willing to help. First obstacle, they insisted on getting a faxed copy of our tickets before making any changes or we would have to go to an office or the airport! If we had not been near a copy machine and fax, it would have meant waiting until the next day. After two hours of calling, faxing, and waiting the issue was resolved. Check in was a joke. For business class they had assigned someone who must have been very new. She tried to check us in for 10 minutes constantly asking for help from others. Finally another person took her seat and got it done in another five minutes. The coach line went forever and there were only two agents for a 747 flight! There three or four floating agents or whatever they were, but not working a desk. The business class lounges are worn out in Shanghai and Beijing. Chairs were stained and tables scratched. The food offering was very limited with cup of noodles (you add the water), peanuts and crackers being about it. The computers for customers worked but the keyboards were so worn out you could not see some of the letters on the keys! The departure from Shanghai to Beijing was delayed initially by 15 minutes. We went to the gate for bus boarding which was being used for three different flights. When our departure time came, they called a different flight and our flight was listed as delayed without a new time. About 20 minutes later there was an announcement in Chinese but no signs – people gradually figured it out. The pilot of this A-330 was Australian and apologized for the delay. The flight to LA was on time and crew did a good job. Business class seating is on the upper deck and everything worked except for headsets. It took four tries to find one functioned. First three had obviously frayed or broken wires, or the plug was bent! All in all, there are too many good competitors to bother with this airline unless you can get some kind of great price break.