CSA CZECH AIRLINES  Passenger Reviews and Customer Trip Reports

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CSA CZECH AIRLINES review :  22 November 2008 : by Dirk Lijnzaad

JFK-PRG and from there an attempt to get to Ostrava. Full fare Business class tickets. Czech Airlines flies an old Airbus 310 with an ancient entertainment system. Check in at JFK unfriendly as usual, flight attendants very friendly. Despite the full fare business and confirmed booking for aisle seat, end up in the middle seat in business class. Aisle seat is given to frequent Czech Airline flyers with full fare economy. Completely unacceptable and the last time I will fly Czech across the pond. Connection in Prague the same challenge. Due to 'weather' no flight from Prague to Ostrava, long cue to rebook ticket to next flight. This flight is not 'delayed' or cancelled' but 'suspended' so does not end up flying either. From there it only gets worse, PM flights are fully booked, first flight may be evening (8 hours wait on the airport..) or it may be a bus... A complete joke. The best performance was to get my checked luggage out of the airport which only took 10 minutes. Hertz rental car offered the simple solution.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review :  9 November 2008 : by Vince Danz

CGN-VCE-CGN via PRG. All four segments operated by ATRs. Seating was fine for each flight. Cabins were clean and surprisingly quiet despite having seats near the middle where the propellers are. Crew very nice. Spoke excellent English and German. Snacks and full beverage service on all segments and free! Connecting in PRG was a breeze.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review :  4 November 2008 : by A Hetier

CDG-PRG-SVO, CDG-PRG-SVX. Extremely friendly crew, good language skills, punctual, planes are not the newest ones but nothing to complain about, and Prague airport not crowded. Czech is more comfortable than AF. Hot food served even during CDG-PRG! AF serves maybe nicer food but cold. I used business but I had a glimpse at Economy and it did not seem bad either. The connexion in Prague is faster and more convenient than Germany, for instance, or than changing airport in Moscow (if I had done CDG-MOW-SVX).

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review :  21 October 2008 : by C Lev

C class TLV to PRG. I was very impressed with the attentiveness of the flight attendants. A welcome drink on boarding, then more drinks followed by a hot breakfast (no choice of meal but still very good) and regular drink runs and snacks offered after. It was my first experience with Czech and was very impresses with their business class product. It is simple yet very elegant with excellent customer service which set them apart from other airlines. My only complaint is that at Ben Gurion TLV their was no priority boarding for business class passengers at all. I don't know if this is standard with CSA or just the unprofessional staff at the Ben Gurion Airport which I have to deal with every time I travel to Israel. In any event it would be a nice detail to just allow business class passengers and SkyTeam Elite partners passengers to board just a few minutes ahead of the other passengers.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review :  11 October 2008 : by Shannon Donohue

They lost one of our bags, which isn't terrible; I accepted it as an inevitable part of frequent travelling. We made the most of our vacation despite the baggage loss, though we had to do some considerable reorganizing at our expense. The real trouble came when we tried to get a hold of our bag. First we were told it would be in London in 2 days. Then, a week later, we had to head home to Canada, and it still wasn't in London. Long story short, it was 23 days before we got our bag back, and the employees at Czech Airlines could never give us a straight answer as to where it was; instead we got a variety of different answers which didn't make sense (one day in Toronto, the next still in London). Now processing our claim, their fax number didn't work, you could not e-mail things in and they, once again, couldn't give me a straight answer. The administrative side is completely disorganized. Their Customer service is horrible, not in that their employees are untrained, but in that their employees and their entire system seems to be set up to just make you give up trying. One of their Customer Service Reps actually said that on our claim form the "date is illegible, appears to have been erased." As a result, they wouldn't process the forms. I cannot accuse Czech Airlines of anything, but I think you see where this is going. In general, they don't care about their customers; they don't even pretend to care about their customers. I would definitely not recommend this Airline to a friend - or an enemy.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 9 October 2008 : by K Sadler

Trip Rating : 1/5

We were rerouted through Prague for connecting flight to BTS with a four hour layover - we had boarding passes issued by Czech Airlines in Amsterdam. We were in the final boarding when we were pulled aside and told our tickets were no good and two standby passengers allowed to board. We were forced to stay overnight in Prague at our expense. We had to fight the next morning to have our tickets honored. We have sought reimbursement from the airlines and been given the run around. I would not recommend ever using this airline.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 3 October 2008 : by M Jerman

Customer Rating : 2/5

I booked a flight with CSA, flying 25 December LHR-PRG-ZAG. The reason for booking was to spend at least some of Christmas day with my family. It was an early morning departure from LHR with an early afternoon arrival to ZAG. Yesterday I received an e-mail and a phone call saying that my morning flight LHR-PRG has been cancelled and now they are offering an evening flight from LHR, with 12 hours stop in PRG and arrival in ZAG the next day (26th). They were not ready to offer an alternative flight with their Skyteam partners. They did offer a refund for the ticket but I now had to book with Austrian, the ticket was £80 more expensive. What is the point of selling a flight and then cancelling it, especially during such a busy time of the year when people are trying to get home for the holidays.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 1 October 2008 : by Alexander Stare

Customer Rating : 4/5

ZRH-PRG-IEV-PRG-ZRH. Good and professional service. Would fly them again. I m impressed how well CSA has developed.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 13 September 2008 : by T Habing

Customer Rating : 4/5

YYZ-PRA-ATH returns flights. Booked economy and happy with service and flights. Check-in at YYZ was very slow and the counter staff not the friendliest. Seats on all flights were okay, enough leg room and space to get through the flights. I found the food to be quite good, hot lunch/breakfast on 2.5 hr flights. On the overseas portion passengers given bottle of water and attendants made regular rounds with large bottle and glasses of water. Prague airport is easy to navigate from one terminal to another, with enough choices for food and drink even at 6AM. Luggage was quick to arrive at both destinations.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 25 July 2008 : by S Vetter

Customer Rating : 4/5

ZRH-PRG-OTP return. Overall good quality. If you fly a leg on one of their Airbuses, they give you one of the best value on European routes. Nice comfortable seats. Food a little boring: for months they serve two kind of sandwiches on all flights up to 2 hours. If you fly longer they give hot sandwiches. Anyway friendly cabin crew and showing nice short films and cartoons for the kids. A pity that they are less and less punctual.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 25 July 2008 : by Janne Petersson

Customer Rating : 5/5

Copenhagen-Prague-Bratislava and return. The three first flights more or less on-time, pleasant cabin crew but not the most modern planes around, however clean. Free catering, including Czech beer on CPH-PRG (PRG-BTS, the catering is more limited; a soft drink and a bag of pretzels).

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 26 June 2008 : by Vince Danz

Customer Rating : 3/5

CGN-PRG-CGN on an ATR72 both ways. Service was fine. Plane was in good condition. Departed and arrived on time. Took a while for luggage to reach the belt in PRG. FAs were nice. Spoke German, Czech and English. Prague airport a bit boring but easy to navigate. Good value for the money.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 31 May 2008 : by B Henrikssen

Customer Rating : 5/5

PRG-OSL and back. Prague airport clean, bit longer queue on checkin. Plane a bit old, but clean and comfortable in economy, also snack was ok. FA polite, all service quick and perfect. Return flight was the same experience, the plane was new and felt more comfortable. Landing in PRG ok, plane attached to stand but we had to go downstairs and use bus.

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 30 May 2008 : by P Gatineau

Customer Rating : 4/5

STR-PRG return on ATR42. Cabin roomy, quiet and clean. Seat pitch enough for this short flight. Both flights on time. Inflight service far better than competitor with a small meal box (cake and yogurt for breakfast, sandwich and cookie for dinner) and drinks of choice (wine included).

CSA CZECH AIRLINES review : 29 April 2008 : by Dave Jaros

Customer Rating : 4/5

PRG-ZRH-PRG day return in Business. Web check in for PRG departure smooth with cabin luggage, used VIP lounge (handled by the airport, not airline) so no CSA ground staff met. Morning departure on B735, load factor about 80%. Seats comfortable enough, leg space adequate, FAs attentive, welcome drink before takeoff. No IFE in this old plane. Breakfast served just after 20 mins. Evening departure from ZRH delayed. Checked in from PRG already, but no priority boarding at the gate. New A319, seats narrower (3 seats in row - middle seat converted into table). Again nice CC, welcome drink the same, light dinner (cold plate similar to breakfast but with couscous and green pepper + cake, tasty), no after snacks or little extras. This type of meal was just common in economy few years back, however without porcelain or table cloth. LCD screen with flight info and Prague short movie. Information about connecting gates given from cockpit before landing. Experience meeting the expectation, however a cut-down service comparing to five years back.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Y Kovacs

16 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-PRA-KSC. Greatly disappointed that flights from EWR are no longer available. Also lay over in Prague is so short that there is not enough time to get luggage loaded onto connecting flight. This was the second time my luggage did not arrive with me.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Z Martin

12 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Six flights with CSA this year-to date (Skyteam Platinum FF). Must admit that the level of service on European flights seriously decreased and CSA´s onboard service plunged into average or even below. New timetable also includes an error regarding minimum connection times for domestic flights in Prague, which makes you wait for over 5 hours for your connecting flight even though there´s a flight leaving within 50 minutes from your arrival - but the booking system will not let you book it.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Tomas Besler

4 April 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

CDG-PRG. Very good flight. Much better than AF on the outbound. Plane was an older 737-400, but very clean and overall OK. The snack was great. No idea about longer flights, but Europe flights are OK with CSA.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Marry Dagenais

17 March 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Vienna-Prague-Montreal. Why I cannot give them 0 star? It was a nightmare, very chaotic at the transfer desk - they told us we have no reservation from Praque to Montreal? We had to go out through the custom, waiting with a small baby. They told us you have no priority that we have a baby! Everything was a mistake of the transfer desk, they didn't check well our names!

CSA Czech Airlines review by S Saunders

21 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Prague-JFK Business Class. This airplane is ancient, seats are old and uncomfortable. The movie was from 2005, and only one screen on which to watch the entertainment. The food was atrocious. Who thinks it's a good idea to serve fried spring rolls as a snack? By the time this fried food gets to us, it's been sitting around for only knows how long and is a soggy mess. The airline bills itself as The Best Airline in Eastern Europe. I would be frightened to experience the other ones. While the convenience of PRA-JFK is great, I would suggest making the connection in FRA, VIE, CDG, LHR and taking a real airline if you are going to pay this kind of money.

CSA Czech Airlines review by John Lumby

11 February 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

I have had 8 flights with this airline. On the last occasion, Sofia Airport closed due to bad weather. CSA managed to bus all affected passengers to a hotel for the night and arrange onward flights for the next day. I found the operation to be about as good as it could be under the circumstances. However I agree with a previous comment that CSA have not yet quite got the hang of what is "business class".

CSA Czech Airlines review by Matt Garnett

10 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

Toronto-Prague-Berlin - great flight, had exit row seat with lots of leg room. No problem having bathroom in front, no one ever crowded my space. Very friendly and attentive staff. Good food and everything on time.

CSA Czech Airlines review by P Shapira

8 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

FRA-PRG-SOF Economy. An unpleasant experience. Flight 4 hours delayed leaving Frankfurt; arrived late in Prague, of course missed afternoon connection to Sofia. Very chaotic at transfer desk at Prague Airport (could be solved by simple queuing system). Czech Air declined to put us on evening flight, SkyTeam Platinum Medallion Membership gave us no priority. CSA put up in Tranzit Hotel at Prague Airport (hotel is OK, we did get to go to the Christmas Market in Prague, the only bonus of this trip). Next day, flight to Sofia left late. Plane in poor condition. Food not worth discussing. However, baggage did not arrive - both for us, and many other passengers. Very chaotic at Sofia airport baggage desk. Bag arrived three days later. Lesson: When it work's CSA's hub operation at Prague is fine, but when it does not, it really doesn't work well!

CSA Czech Airlines review by Michael Smolders

5 January 2008  Customer Trip Rating :

CDG-PRA Business Class. Arrived at CDG 2 hours before departure. No-one at check-in desk until 30 minutes before departure time. Advised that flight will be delayed. No priority boarding for business class or even by row number. However once onboard no complaints with Czech Airlines. Food was good for a short haul business flight and service was pleasant.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Paul Jacobsen

11 December 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

ARN-PRG-RIX return in Economy. It was a very positive experience. Service on-board was attentive and polite, even if not overfriendly. On European flights CSA offers better catering than competitors. I was surprised to be served a cold meal with drinks and coffee/tea. On the negative side the seats looked old and worn-out, but had generous legroom. Internet check-in did not work in Riga, although CSA website advertised the contrary. Transfer at Prague is short and painless; even a 30-minute- connection is easily manageable.

CSA Czech Airlines review by S Tai

30 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

JFK-PRG Economy. Flight attendants were very polite and friendly. Not so good is the plane: a really old A310 with the worst entertainment system on long-haul flights I have ever experienced. While this is not so important, a really negative impression was the ground staff at the CSA check-in: the woman who checked me in was in a very bad mood, not smiling, not saying anything, just mechanically doing her job. When I requested a priority baggage handling tag (as a Skyteam ElitePlus member), she refused and said that this would only be done for CSA Gold members. When I replied that Skyteam advertises this service to ElitePlus members, however, she put a tag on a bag. Then, she also marked my boarding pass with four big "S" letters in red, which is a request by the airline for extra- security checks for the passenger who carries such a boarding pass. In other words: I had to go through extra-careful security simply because I remarked that ElitePlus members normally get preferential baggage handling tags. If CSA employs people who do are in such bad moods, they should at least make sure they don't let it out to innocent passengers.

CSA Czech Airlines review by M Sjolund

23 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

I have been flying CSA twice a week for 2 years, mainly between LHR and PRG - but for 4 months this was between PRG and RIX. LHR to PRG lands 15-20mins early 99% of the time. PRG is a clean airport - walking time from gate to passport control is short - baggage availability after flight is pretty quick. Inflight economy class is okay for only 1hr 45min flight - seems to be more room than Air France or KLM. Planes are a little dated - I think CSA should invest more aggressively in more modern fleet than they currently are - and look at putting on bigger equipment (A310?) at peak times of the year. Inflight meal in economy is pretty good. CSA business class is terrible - I started flying LHR to PRG in business class and soon realised there was little point between LHR and PRG. On short-haul this is simply economy class with a curtain - pretty much the same as with most airlines European routes. Food is actually worse than in economy class. However, CSA business class on long- haul - if you want business class, pick a different airline. CSA have absolutely no idea what business class should be. IFE also extremely poor.In-Flight Magazine 'Review' - is pretty good in English and Czech - with fresh and interesting content. PRG to RIX / RIX to PRG was always a good service - RIX is a nice airport too - passport control in RIX is not very good - baggage collection in RIX is far worse than even LHR. Food on this route is worse than between LHR and PRG. Crystal Lounge at PRG is really excellent. I don't notice many stag and hen parties on CSA - these guys tend to pick easyJet. Have noticed CSA ticket prices continue to rise over the last 2 years.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Gael Breizhat

6 November 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

CDG-PRG-EVN return on Czech Airlines Economy. Very nice indeed. CDG-PRG Air France A320 and the others on Czech Airlines. So I could appreciate the size width difference. Czech is more comfortable. Nice flight attendants, service and meal. Connection in PRG Airport is quite easy, but may be risky if the plane is not on time, which is often the case to or from Armenia.

CSA Czech Airlines review by Christopher Lalor

26 October 2007  Customer Trip Rating :

BRU-PRG return in economy. Aircraft was 737-400 series with the advantage that if you get seat rows 6,7 or 8 they have extra leg room as they are fitted for Business class. Small snack served on board, the evening flight back to Brussels included a complimentary glass of wine. The crew were polite and helpful. Only real complaint was the check-in at Prague, only 1 person checking in 5 flights, it took 40 minutes to check in, should take no more than 10 - 15.