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CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  18 June 2009 : by Andy Jackson  (Australia)

Shanghai - Guangzhou. Appalling service. Flight was initially delayed 30 minutes before being allowed to board. After being seated waited another hour before an announcement that we would be taking off in 30 minutes. Still hadn't left after 3 hours. Were told by cabin staff we could get off and a China Eastern flight would be available at no cost. Spoke to a CE rep before getting off who said that wasn't the case, we'd have to pay. Eventually took off 4.5 hours later. Advised cabin crew we had an international connecting flight and they said we would be able to catch it and there would be someone waiting to take us when we landed. After landing waited another 30 minutes for the door to be opened. Were allowed off first to find no-one waiting and all the other passengers disembarked and left before us; we missed our connecting flight. Were told the next available was in 3 days' time and they would put us up in a hotel till then and pay for that and meals, but no phone calls. Will never use China Southern again.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  1 June 2009 : by D Rader

China Southern is the Worst in Skyteam. I am a Delta Platinum and Skyteam Elite Plus traveler. China Southern always denies me lounge access when flying from Guangzhou although both their and Delta's websites clearly state that lounge access is a benefit. When flying from other cities I am granted access to the lounges.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  1 June 2009 : by D Zander

Sydney-Guangzhou return Economy Class. The plane was new and neat and quite empty which allowed for seat changes if you were cramped. Checkin at Sydney was easy. The food from Sydney to Guangzhou was basic but pleasant. My only complaint was that drink service was very infrequent. The staff can be quite abrupt - they can speak very basic English so you can communicate if necessary. The inflight entertainment is poor. All subtitled Chinese movies and no personal screens so only one choice of channel. The checkin CAN to SYD was excellent, no line and easy to navigate. The airport at CAN is new and clean. The food SYD to CAN was pretty average - once again drink service was infrequent. My biggest complaint is the bathrooms on board, they need increased cleaning as they smell awful after a few hours in the air.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  12 May 2009 : by K Govender

I am greatly disappointed with China Southern Airlines. I have been in contact with them for over 1 month to make a simple booking of a flight from Incheon to Beijing and have had endless problems. Firstly they refused to accept my credit card, when I tried to call them, I did not get thro. Then when I finally get a hold of them - the agent after making me wait on the line for 38 minutes (international call, very expensive) tells me to send an e-mail to him. So I do, then I send thro an authorisation form as per their request and still no booking. Then they ask me to do a deposit and they give me the banking details - so I do a deposit and to this day they have not located my money, yet I have sent thro' copies of my deposit slip several times. No Booking, no money, No assistance from the hotline, no answers to my e- mails. Basically I think they are rogues who have stolen my money and refuse to admit it.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  12 March 2009 : by R McCarthy

CAN-PVG Economy Class. My first flight with China Southern was quite disappointing. The airline really lacks a customer focus. From the time I checked in (after paying 30 RMB for the priority service), I experienced the raw end of their customer front. From being told that my luggage was too heavy (oddly the exact same luggage and weight as I'd used on flights with Air China and China Eastern with no problem) and that I'd either have to pay 150 RMB for excess luggage charges or carry one piece on board. I find this logic maddening - the weight is the same whether it's in the hold or carried on board. The lounge at Baiyun Airport is quite tatty (considering Guangzhou is the airline's hub, I expected something much nicer). Boarding was delayed and no announcement or monitor update was made. When boarding was finally announced, we ended up spending 15 minutes on the transit bus waiting to be taken to go to our plane. They crammed in the entire flight into one bus and I swear there wasn't room for one more person! They also crammed large segments of the flight together and left it up to passengers to move to the ample free seats. Service on board was okay - a hot dish was served with a mandarin, it was okay. At any rate, I won't be rushing to fly China Southern again!

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  9 February 2009 : by L Dong

SHA to SYX via CAN, HAK back to SHA via CAN. We were notified about the change of the later segment of our transfer flight one week in advance and warned there was not enough time for the transfer. They offered to help us change the flight to next morning and we were offered one night's free stay in Guangzhou at a four-star hotel, with hotel and airport transfer and breakfast coupons. Almost all my 4 flight segments were perfect - food tasty and was even available on a 50-minute short-haul flight; plenty of drink choices; flight attendants amiable, helpful and professional. FA English skills qualified.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  13 January 2009 : by M Mazzarella

I flew from Florida to LA to board China Southern. When I reached LA there was no one at the counter at all. Unbeknown to my husband and me, China Southern had cancelled our flight and rescheduled for the following evening. They also rescheduled our return. I had to change my connecting flight from Guangzhou to my destination at my own expense. I also had to change my return connecting flight on Continental Airlines also at my own expense. I could not get reimbursed for the additional expense they put us through even though I spent a great deal of time trying to do so. When I arrived back home, I again called China Southern with all the documentation and they would not budge on my additional expense and the one day lost on my vacation due to their cancellation. Many other passengers were also not notified of the cancellation which we met up with in LA.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  11 December 2008 : by G Rosa

Fuzhou to Guangzhuo, reasonable fare. Flight on time. Airplane clean and new, standard seat pitch, meal and drinks essential but good quality. Staff polite and very friendly. Announcements in English reasonably well spoken. Overall a little bit above chinese standard.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  10 December 2008 : by Michael Gardiner

PEK-HKG-PEK Y A321. As a regular traveller on this route was pleasantly surprised on choosing CZ for this trip. Recent US movie was showing (rare for Chinese airlines), decent food, clean plane. One problem was that travelling with an infant was not provided with a lap belt for him. Timing good however the arrival gate at HKG was miles from immigration.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  30 November 2008 : by Nick Fortuna

PEK-Dalian in Y-Class in the evening. Check-in painless, boarding and departure on time. Flight was packed, seat pitch was tight. Service was polite. On this short flight, only one drinks service, no snacks of any kind. The following morning, Dalian-Nagoya. It seems Dalian is a hub for China Southern's Japanese flights. Confusingly, five counters with various destinations were open. The monitor above the check-in desk stated one particular destination, but check-in staff nevertheless processed any destination. So choose the shortest line, regardless of what the monitor states. The on-time departure was followed by a hot lunch, choice of beef or chicken. I chose the beef - it was plentiful and tasty. Drink service OK. Comfort on board was acceptable for this sector. Arrival on time. English announcements were intelligible. Reasonable for the price we paid.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  31 October 2008 by M Verdel

Customer Rating : 2/5

CAN-BKK B757 economy. The whole row 8 did not get any meal - I had to ask for it! No excuses. Flight BKK-CAN was okay.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  4 October 2008 by Azam Din

Customer Rating : 2/5

Guangzhou - Dalian return and Guangzhou - Kuala Lumpur economy class. From ageing fleet, unfriendly cabin crews with limited English, so-so food and no personal IFE, my journey was terrible. I would not fly with Chinese Southern Airlines again in the future.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  8 September 2008 by M Savuskan

Customer Rating : 3/5

Shenzhen - Hangzhou - Shenzhen in July. Average experience on the flight, no delays. Food OK, service OK. I am Platinum with Delta, so was able to register at the First Class counter and given a voucher to Business Class lounge on both legs. Lounge in Shenzhen was OK with free Wi-Fi and even some food and drinks. Lounge in Hangzhou was a joke - a part of the terminal separated by wall partitions, no bathroom, just a few to choose from, poor drink selection. No internet. The tables in the lounge were not cleaned unless you asked the staff to do it. My SkyMiles account was entered into their system both time, but that did not result in miles appearing on my balance automatically, I had to fax the boarding passes to Delta. I did receive full mileage and 100% bonus for my miles as I would with other SkyTeam airlines.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review :  7 September 2008 by Kim Roseberry

Customer Rating : 1/5

Guangzhou-LAX flight, bumped from economy to business class. I felt lucky enough to be bumped on this long flight and ended up in the last row of business class next to a few others who had also been bumped due to overbooking. FA didn't answer the attendant call button. Serving beverages, they were abrupt. When the two meals came, they served all rows (placemats, real silverware and china, and decent-looking food) except for ours, and then brought in meals from economy with plastic silverware and terrible food for those of us who had been bumped. I requested a box of cornflakes, like those that the other business class passengers were getting and practically got spat at. The FA tossed the box at me without giving me a bowl, milk or spoon. When I asked why we were getting such different treatment than everyone else in the section, the FA came back with a form that listed several seat numbers and pointing to it, she emphasized "You are Y class." I don't think I saw the FAs smile at anyone and they provided the minimum level of service. The seats in business were wide, but didn't reline much at all in the last row. The movie selection was limited for a 14 hour flight. I won't fly this airline again.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 2 September 2008 by Tom Hill

Customer Rating : 2/5

HCMC to Guangzhou was OK. Meal and drinks in a 90 minute flight. Clean equipment and friendly service. Pretty good English. Better than a domestic US United flight. Fly Dragonair or Air China within the PRC if at all possible.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 27 August 2008 by R Sergio

Customer Rating : 1/5

We arrived at the Shenzhen airport for our 12PM flight to Guilin, to find that the flight had been cancelled and we had been bumped to a flight leaving around 6PM instead. We asked why we had received no notification about the change, and were told we should have called the flight information hotline to check on the status of our flight before coming to the airport. We were a bit annoyed, but we spent the day in Shenzhen and figured no harm done. For our return flight back to Shenzhen we thought we'd learned our lesson - the night before we called the hotline several times and checked the status of the flight online. In neither one of these places could we find any information about the status of our flight the following day. After arriving at the airport (1.5 hours from our hotel) for our 10AM flight, we were told, once again, that our flight had been cancelled. We were now moved to a 9PM flight! We asked several different employees, from customer service, to China Southern ticketing people, but no one could do anything for us. Since we had a prior engagement that we needed to be back for, we ended up booking a flight with a totally different airline and not using our return ticket. In their defence, after writing a complaint email, they refunded a small portion of our ticket price. Honestly, no matter how much cheaper China Southern appears to be, I will never fly their airline again.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 16 August 2008 by Tom Winn

Customer Rating : 2/5

Only reason for me to fly China Southern is because it has the only non stop flight between Los Angeles and Guangzhou. I do this 5 or 6 times a year. Otherwise, the food on board is mediocre, staff on the ground and in the air indifferent at best. Best advice is to avoid China Southern if at all possible.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 12 July 2008 by R Wu

Customer Rating : 2/5

HKG-CAN vv. CZ is becoming cheap these days - they use to give out cookies for this short duration, but now it's downgraded to peanuts. Onward flight delayed for 25 minutes for no reason. Returned flight was cancelled for no reason (probably not enough loads) and we were put on another flight that departs 75 min later with HKD 40 voucher (which was not really enough for a dinner in HKIA except some burgers).

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 9 July 2008 by J Clinic

Customer Rating : 3/5

Dalian (DLC) to Beijing (PEK). At the gate, had to take a bus ride to the plane to board. We were OK to climb the stairs but not sure about the disabled or aged passengers. Plane departed and arrived on time. Again upon arrival, had to take the bus ride to get to the terminal in PEK. No air conditioning on this bus so it was hot. And it was a long bus ride - from one end of the PEK airport to the other end. Had to wait 50 minutes for luggage. Not a great experience. Not sure how much of all these troubles was due to CZ and how much was due to the DLC and PEK airports. Neither DLC nor PEK is a hub for CZ. Did notice that CA flights used flight bridges at DLC. For our own future reference, we'll not to take a flight on an airline flying from a non-hub city to another non-hub city in China when possible. For DLC-PEK, that means taking CA instead of CZ next time.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 28 June 2008 :by Imran Yousaf

Customer Rating : 3/5

Used this airline for internal flights in China. Food offered is very average and some of the stewards english a bit flaky but acceptable. Overall a very average affair.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 21 June 2008 :by J Patterson

Customer Rating : 4/5

Business class LAX-BKK through Guangzhou. The seats were nice but didnt go all the way flat. Food was good, and portions nice. FAs friendly and helpful. IFE was limited - only a few english language movies with the rest in Chinese. Also, the transfer in Gunagzhou was bizarre - an official at customs takes your passport and while you wait in the entry hall, he gets your boarding pass for you. English is a problem everywhere, so if you have an issue with anything, things can get bumpy for you.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 17 June 2008 : by Ronald Schaefer

Customer Rating : 1/5

Canton - Xiamen. Service of China Southern is a disaster. Every time at least 2 hrs delay. This time had to stay in Guangzhou over night. No information from China Southern about what is going on. Sitting at the airport again now hoping that the 13.35 plane will finally leave on time. Will not fly this airline again if not absolutely necessary

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 13 June 2008 : by A Libranda

Customer Rating : 1/5

Hong Kong - Changsha. Economy cabins a bit uncomfortable. Crew need to improve their English. Food not superb. Need to improve the quality of your service. Would not recommend CZ to my friends.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 5 May 2008 : by Jonathan Liu

Customer Rating : 2/5

HKG-PEK-HKG economy. I simply can't believe that a CZ aircraft is operated for 5 sectors a day. Guangzhou-Hong Kong-Peking-Hong Kong-Guangzhou! Meals ample portion but tasteless meat. The cabin crew need extensive English training as they couldn't make an announcement in English and gave it up! Would not recommend this at all.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 29 April 2008 : by Eric Giddio

Customer Rating : 3/5

SYD-CAN-SYD Economy. You certainly get what you pay for! Food is below average for airline food. English was not really understood well. Inflight entertainment is catered to the mostly Chinese pax (which is fair enough I guess). Next time I'll pay the extra few hundred dollars and go Qantas etc.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES review : 23 April 2008 : by R Koning

Customer Rating : 2/5

Beijing to Amsterdam. Aircraft B777. Very spacious business class, although quality of seats not fantastic. Headrest kept sliding down and seat doesn't go flat. Inflight entertainment system is a joke; hardly any choice and mostly Chinese. The food was reasonable, although they serve a breakfast in the middle of the day! As I purchased a KLM ticket and flew on this codeshare airline, it is a bit of a deception.

China Southern Airlines - by R Wu

16 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

A very short flight from CAN-HKG that took about 50 minutes. There's nothing special to concern on this flight except that there were only 76 passengers so the boarding went quickly, and there's no IFE. The food/drinks offered at the usual Watson Water and peanuts.

China Southern Airlines - by Kunal Gautam

12 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Shenzhen-Beijing-Shenzhen. To Beijing an A320. Old plane but clean. Efficient English speaking staff. Flight on time, baggage arrival on time, out of the airport in 30 mins. IFE was in chinese. Flew back to Shenzhen in A330, efficient and helping staff. This leg of the journey was more comfortable. Got vegetarian food on request.

China Southern Airlines - by K Chen

9 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Sydney-Guangzhou Economy. Food alright but the cabins were a bit uncomfortable for a 9 hour trip. I do speak English and Chinese so there is no problem with my language skills. Their inflight entertainment isn't too bad, just enough for a 9 hour trip. I recommend they improve on their English skills and their inflight entertainment. Nevertheless, they are improving.

China Southern Airlines - by W Schaack

11 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

PHX-CAN: 777 well maintained and cabin clean. Great amount of room in Premium Business Class. Seats from the 1980’s, power provisions but not hooked up. I did not know this until into flight. Also, the seats do not lie flat - not even close. Audio Visual systems are as old as the seats, with only one movie in English. Cabin help is very good with just a minimal amount of difficulty with English. Food is ok with some items I could not figure out. Still not up to standards of other non Chinese carriers. Taking a bus from the awful LAX airport to board the plane. Why bother with a business class line at all. After flying this route for several years China Southern should have learned by now. If you are a business traveler needing business class services, then this airline is not for you! If they just get rid out those terrible seats and upgrade the audio visuals it would take them from a (C-) to a (B) rating.

China Southern Airlines - by C Young

26 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

In the November 2007 issue China Southern inflight magazine, there is an article on the "Beauty Contest" of its female flight attendants. It brings to mind whether the airline is more eager to sell the female staffs as sex objects - they have to parade in swimwear! And the article goes into the nervousness of the attendants - then the attendants as professionals who we can trust for safety and alertness. Not "sweaty palms etc as described in the article when met with pressure ". I hope the airline pays more respect to their customers' safety and more so, to their female air attendants as professionals of the "new" type !

China Southern Airlines - by C Waugh

19 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

Xiamen - HK in economy. I found this flight on China Southern to be basic but quite acceptable. IFE basic, but I bring a book, and food nothing fantastic. I got a choice of food and drink that I don't have to pay for, and a pillow! I allowed enough time to account for inevitable delays on China internal flights, and I don't care if the plane was a little tired looking inside.