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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5/10

'crew provide better service"

(China)

Verified Review | I usually fly with Air China,but there is no vacant seat in business class,so I have to choose economy class seat. However,the crew in economy class provide better service than I expected. I told one of the crew that I am a vegetarian,unfortunately,I forgot to reserve a meal for myself, and I was surprised that the crew got me a special meal with vegetable and egg during the meal-service time. I really appreciated.
AircraftA321
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RoutePEK to XIY
Date FlownSeptember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"really bad customer service"

(Austria)

Verified Review | Shanghai to Beijing. Extremely bad customer service. Flight was cancelled due to "bad weather", although other airlines had still operated flights into Beijing. However, after a long talk with the ground staff, I was rebooked onto another flight the next day. This was a quite old and disgusting Boeing 737. We had to wait in the plane for about one hour before finally had taken off (with over 30°C outside) and I had to sit in Economy Class although Premium Economy was booked. Food (some kind of chicken) wasn't good as well (just eatable). I asked at the counter to get a refund of the difference between Premium Economy and Economy, but they told me that they are not responsible for this ocasion and that I should contact the European customer service although I'd booked the ticked online from the official Air China website. Back home and now already 4 days ago, I've sent a mail to Air China in Austria but haven't got a response till now. So maybe I'll now take measures to get some money back. Summarized, never fly Air China unless you want your flight to be delayed (over 70% chance!!) or even cancelled with a really bad customer service as well.
AircraftBoeing 737
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSHA to PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"crew are not interested"

(United Kingdom)

London to Chongqing via Beijing. I use Air China purely as it has the most frequencies as I travel to China frequently. The aircraft are normally dirty, crew are not interested and service is very poor. The seat belt sign remains on all the time as they quote safety, even when turbulence. Constant announcement and very old IFE makes the journey a pain. I am a member of their frequent flier and tried to use points to get a free ticket or upgrade, firstly the website does not allow it, so I emailed the frequent flyer club, no response, so I emailed again. Was told not available - I asked for other dates and not available. Basically it's a joke and you cannot use points. Terrible airline.
AircraftA330
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLHR to CKG via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"neither friendly not unfriendly"

(China)

Verified Review | Shanghai to Beijing. Plane was okay, new Boeing 747-8. Crew as usual neither friendly not unfriendly. Food was served and I wonder why they serve an empty bread. When I checked what was on the heated baguette provided I found to my surprise a tiny peace of meat in the middle and the rest was just bread. But I do not understand why Air China seem to be incapable to get some advisor to be at least a decent international airline. The food really sucks, they better serve nothing.
AircraftBoeing 747-8
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSHA to PEK
Date FlownSeptember 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
2/10

"unpleasant to say the least"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | I flew with Air China from London to Manila via Beijing with my family. I tried to check-in online a day before our flight and its system does not work and gives me a lot of error messages for no reason at all. This left us no option but to check-in physically at the Heathrow Airport. Because of my inability to check-in online and select a seat, the entire family – my wife and 12-year old son were also seated apart! On our way back to London via Beijing, and given my bad experience with its online check-in system, I tried again to use its online check-in system on the hope that it will work. I used it 2 days before our flight but simply suffered the same plight for this horrible flight. The system simply does not work. Our flight back to the UK was unpleasant to say the least. The crew is rude, and I thought that their rudeness may be due to their inability to speak English but it was not. The food is no good either.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteMNL to LHR via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
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

"seats were decently padded"

(United States)

Harbin - Beijing, 7/25/2016 with Air China. Nothing much to say. After we took off, they served a salmon sandwich and a drink. Beijing - Newark, 7/26/2016. The seats were decently padded and had a decent amount of legroom with 32 inches of pitch. There is a footrest and adjustable headrest. The IFE was slow and laggy, but over the span of three weeks, they have added many movies, making the flight less boring. The first meal was decent. The seafood with rice was flavorful, while the bun was warm and soft. The cheesecake was green tea flavored, and was decent. For the second meal, I had the beef with rice. Also flavorful, but no dessert. The bun was colder, and as hard as a rock. Overall, I would recommend this airline, but only with very cheap fares.
AircraftBoeing 777W
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteHRB to EWR via PEK
Date FlownJuly 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

"that my suitcase hasn't arrived"

(Japan)

Verified Review | My Air China flight was from Barcelona to Tokyo via Beijing. The travel took 19 hours in total and just like any other traveller, I was exhausted and just waiting for my luggage so I can go home and rest. I arrived at Haneda airport waiting there for an hour but I couldnt find my suitcase. After few minutes , an airport staff confirmed that my suitcase hasn't arrived and will need to be tracked. Worst part is, you will sign a paper which authorizes them to check you luggage without you being physical there; which I dont like because I want my things inspected infront of me.
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBCN to HND via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"either mediocre or pitiful"

(United States)

Seoul Gimpo to Los Angeles via Beijing and I have only a deep sigh of annoyance when recounting my first experience with Air China. My entire experience from start to finish was either mediocre or pitiful. Check in at Gimpo felt like a lifetime as stranded passengers from the day before were asked to line up in the business class line to be re-ticketed, causing the economy line to move faster. Once in Beijing, airport security was a disaster with the transit security line taking over an hour to complete. With my frustration level steadily rising, it only become worse when gate agents neglected to communicate that our flight was delayed due to weather and having discovered the news an hour later after enquiring. On board, cabin service was a hit or miss with attendants being a roulette of either lukewarm or friendly. Requested meals were often mixed up or forgotten as I was given the wrong meal. Finally, in adding to my string of mishaps, my priority tagged bag was put out last in the baggage carousel. The business class experience I had hoped for was barely existent on Air China.
AircraftBoeing 777-300
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteGMP to LAX via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

"Business Class lounge a waste of time"

(United Kingdom)

Verified Review | Manila to London Heathrow via Beijing with Air China. Started smoothly with check-in at Manila, however, the lounge Air China share in Terminal 1 is so poor and feels dusty. Lacking food options, only a couple of stale sandwiches and plain rice. The flight from Manila to Beijing on B737-800 was comfy enough - never tried the food as catching up on sleep. The changeover at Beijing was shocking - the queues and disorder unreal, no organisation, no Business class lanes and took over 1 hour 30 mins within the same Terminal. Then the hike to the Business Class lounge and what a waste of time that was. No cold drinks, poor Chinese food, very bland and my local budget take away does better and again, the smell of dust like the carpets haven't been cleaned since the Terminal opened. Final call for the last flight was 1 hour before the flight was due to depart, we were put on shuttle bus crammed like the local metros and waited over 30 mins before moving off to the plane and then of course delayed as per the Beijing usual. The seat on the B777-300 is a flat bed rougly 6'4"" and slghlty narrow but comfortable, the AVOD is a waste of time unless you're Chinese. Food was shocking, all cold drinks served at room temperature - do they not have ice in China?
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeBusiness Class
RouteMNL to LHR via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
4/10

"FA's were unsmiling/unfriendly"

(United Kingdom)

Having paid $265 in excess baggage (I was relocating permanently from South Korea to UK) Air China, left all baggage behind in Beijing. Along with several others from my flight we made our complaint at Heathrow lost baggage desk. I was told my baggage would be delivered within 24 hours. It did arrive, but 48 hours later. On the flight, food was average at best, beer was lukewarm, inflight entertainment was poor with controls set into the armrest meaning movies would accidentally be fast forwarded/stopped etc - very annoying. FA's were unsmiling/unfriendly but professional. Flight was too cold, with thin, ineffective blankets provided. Transferring in Beijing was most unpleasant spending most of my transfer time lined up in non air conditioned arrival hall, ready to be manhandled by over zealous military style Chinese security officers. All in all not a great flight experience (I realize not all of this was down to Air China).
AircraftBoeing 777
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteICN to LHR via PEK
Date FlownAugust 2016
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no