Air China

Customer Reviews

3 star Skytrax Rating
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Seat Comfort 12345
Staff Service 12345
Value for Money 12345
Customer rating from 770 reviews
4/10
3 star Skytrax Rating
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1/10

"the worst customer service"

(United Kingdom)

Unverified | Bangkok to London via Beijing. Air China provided me with the worst customer service I have ever seen. My partner could not fly with them because he missed one of his 5 last names from the boarding pass (fine I get that) but after 5 hours of being on the phone trying to fix it, there was nobody available or capable to make the change. The food absolutely sucks, so I'd pack your own. On the way back my bag got left in China, which the lady at Heathrow said had happened for the 3rd day in a row. I contacted Air China via the email address I was given, to be passed onto someone else, who said that was the wrong email and I should have emailed within 7 days. Which I did but they take at least 5 days to reply. Do not be tempted by cheaper tickets. The experience just isn't worth it.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBangkok to London via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"their staff didn't speak English"

(United States)

Verified Review | Delhi to Washington via Beijing. My flight was first delayed by more than 12 hours and I was made to miss my connecting flight from Beijing. I was still asked to board this flight from Delhi by Air China staff even though they knew that they won't be able to provide me connecting flight. So they lied to me. After reaching China the rude staff again told me that we don't know which your next flight will be, and I have to go and talk to the ticket office in the morning, and it was 11.30 in night. I was sent to a hotel where the staff was very rude and denied to help or cooperate. Once somehow after managing to reach to the airport in the morning (I had no China money) I had to run around the ticket office so I can find the flight for US. I was left stranded in another country just like that with no further information. After fighting at ticket office for long time, I was given next flight for 8 hours later, and I had to spend entire day on Beijing airport and my luggage was also not transferred to the next flight. I had to stand 3 hours in front of lost and found to pick my luggage for next check in. And their staff didn't speak English.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteDelhi to Washington via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
6/10

"austere and not at all friendly"

(United States)

Verified Review | We recently flew from Los Angeles to Bangkok via Beijing. When we arrived at LAX, the Air China desks were a little hard to find (it appeared that they do not maintain a normal presence there but rather use a communal check-in area for less frequent airlines). The attendants were fast and got us seated where we wanted. The flight left on time and the plane was new. Economy for a long flight is never pleasant, but for the most part it was a decent trip. Meal service initially was delayed, but it was served hot. Typical airline food, but free beer was nice. Overall, the FAs were rather austere and not at all friendly. We landed in Beijing, and it was a nightmare. Our connecting flight was delayed about 3 hours and the cattle-call in the area was exhausting. They loaded us onto trams to take us out onto the tarmac to board a very large widebody aircraft when it appeared many normal departure gates were open. We were dressed for the warmth of Bangkok, and it was below freezing in Beijing, so the 100 yard dash across the tarmac to board the 700-200 was miserable. As a side note, the International Terminal at Beijing was freezing cold as well and the security seemed excessive. The flight from Beijing to Bangkok was in a much older plane, with no individual IFE systems, which made the flight quite boring. For the money though, it was hard to beat (about $700 roundtrip).
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER / 777-200
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLos Angeles to Bangkok via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"absolute worst airline"

(Netherlands)

Verified Review | Bangkok to Munich via Beijing with Air China. The absolute worst airline company ever. Service on board is ok, but customer service is a complete nightmare - they are impossible to reach and let you get stranded on an airport in the middle of the night with -5 degrees without any communication. Connecting flights are off like 70% of the time, so be prepared.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBangkok to Munich via Beijing
Date FlownDecember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"a poor experience"

(China)

Verified Review | Flew from Chengdu to Yangon via Kunming, and a poor experience as to be expected of Air China. The separate international departures area in Chengdu for flights connecting in China before heading abroad is a shambles, and having to clear immigration in Kunming instead of Chengdu is just an added hassle. The flights were uneventful, though the domestic leg featured a bottle of water and no IFE, and the international flight the same (albeit with some poor quality Chinese food). No IFE isn't a huge problem, unless you're on a Chinese airline where you can't use your phone, and in a country where books are hard to come by, expensive and with a poor selection. The domestic flights in Myanmar, despite being only 45 minutes long (compared to 1.5 and 2 hour flights with CA) featured service and snacks superior to China's 'flag carrier'.
AircraftA319
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteChengdu to Yangon
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
5/10

"proceed with caution"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | London Heathrow to Tokyo Haneda return via Beijing. It was cheap and I needed to book asap. Take off from LHR was on time, surprising as they have a penchant for being late. Air hostesses were pleasant enough to communicate with - food was standard Western and Chinese option (they made a notification that they don’t have enough western options so it may run out) - this seems to be standard practice with them. I was fed and watered so that was fine. Seats are a little narrow but that is expected on a Boeing 777-300ER, however it wasn’t unbearable. Entertainment was lacking in western options but you’re on a Chinese airline, when in doubt just sleep (if you can). Passengers can be annoying with some of their habits but it didn’t affect me much. Toilets were clean, cabin was clean. The second leg from Beijing to Tokyo was a little testing - immigration staff are rude and make you throw away water, lighters and anything they generally don’t like the look of – scanned my iPad a million times and my battery pack. One female immigration officer was giving me stick because the scanner couldn't see all the components – I simply turned it over and showed her it was Made in China and to take it up with the Chinese company if she didn’t like the design of it (she wanted to punch me in the face but I give as good as I get). Flight was delayed by three hours without explanation. Finally boarded the smaller flight to Tokyo. No entertainment screen as expected for a short haul but they actually fed and watered us. I took a recent flight to Prague with BA and had to pay for everything I wanted which is appalling in my opinion, so thumbs up for Air China. Arrived at Tokyo Haneda to no luggage! If your luggage is ever lost in Haneda via Air China and your final destination is Tokyo, speak to the JAL Staff not Air China and you will have your luggage in a few hours or the next day delivered to your door. Don’t know how it works but the Japanese don’t take to kindly to Air China mishaps in Japan so albeit I had to hang around the airport for 3.5/4 hours for the next Air China flight to bring my case, I got it! Return flight – pretty much the same minus the lost luggage and the Beijing to London flight was delayed! I think as long as you go in not expecting the world for the price you have paid you will be fine. Don’t get me wrong they need to majorly improve and I think they should be suspended from being a part of any airline alliance but it could have been much worse! Proceed with caution.
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLondon Heathrow to Tokyo via Beijing
Date FlownOctober 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"the service is terrible"

(United States)

Verified Review | San Francisco to Yangon via Beijing. Very bad customer service. My wife and I flew business class from San Francisco to Yangon via Beijing. We arrived at Yangon minus all 3 pieces of our checked in luggage. All Air China rep will say is to wait for 2 days for the next flight to Yangon to get our luggage. We have to attend a wedding and would like our get our luggage sooner, perhaps Air China can send it via Thai the next day. But no one cares about doing anything other than tell us rudely to wait for 2 days. No attempt is made by Air China to reimburse for the expense of getting clothes and toiletries for the two days. All phone calls to any Air China office went unanswered. They act like typical government employees: no attempt is made to satisfy customers. They seem to think that it is a privilege to fly their airlines. I will never fly Air China again and I urge others to not just consider cost. The service is terrible. And I haven't even talked about onboard service. The flight attendants asked me to open the table for my wife, then would hand me the tray for my wife instead of putting it on her table themselves.
AircraftBoeing 747
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteSan Francisco to Yangon via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
7/10

"good value for money"

(Australia)

Verified Review | Sydney to Chengdu. Friendly staff, on time departure and early arrival. The flight was half empty! Seats are quite hard, but pillows provided. No inflight entertainment screens and movies playing are all in Mandarin. Mobile phones not allowed to be used for the whole flight. Cabin lights turned off for majority of flight and window shades lowered which is great for sleeping. Food was okay, no worse then your average airline meal. Staff continually provided and offered drinks and snacks. Overall good value for money.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSydney to Chengdu
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

"such a terrible experience"

(Germany)

Verified Review | Frankfurt to Beijing in Air China business class. The seats are not very different to Lufthansa and while confortable, they are long way below leading airlines and you get no private area from next to you passenger. I did pay cheap fare and guess I shall not complain too much about that. But I was sat next to a customer who spent much of the flight shouting across to a passenger 3 seats away, he kept spitting into the air sickness bag, and I felt quite ill and very tired by the time we got off. I talked to cabin attendants about this and they seemed to find it very funny and said and did nothing. When the meal was cleared away, they did not come into the cabin until 2 hours before landing in Beijing. Because I was kept awake by this man spitting and shouting I tried to watch movies but the selection on Air China is very poor and not suited to Western tastes. Next time I will make sure to choose Lufthansa or an airline where the fellow customers may be more polite and the cabin staff do some work. Never again, such a terrible experience.
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteFrankfurt to Beijing
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
10/10

"grateful for their diligence"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | Vienna to Bangkok via Beijing. My flight into Beijing from Vienna was delayed due to weather, so I missed my 8.15 connection to Bangkok. I had another flight out from Bangkok at 17.30 that day with a different airline, and there was no room on the next flight to Bangkok 4 hours later. The International dept went out of their way taking time to find me a different Air China flight direct to my ultimate destination, so I didn't have to spend more nights not sleeping in an airport. I was so relieved and grateful for their diligence. The food was good, I had the best seitan, chinese mushroom and bamboo shoot stew I have had and arrived that evening at my Thai destination in fine form. Just goes to show, never mind how much one has paid, a passenger is a passenger and deserves to be well-treated.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteVienna to Bangkok via Beijing
Date FlownJanuary 2017
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes