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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7/10

Air China customer review

(United States)

Late departure due to the usual congestion in Chinese airspace. New aircraft, comfortable. Efficient and friendly crew.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteHKG to CTU
Date FlownAugust 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
2/10

Air China customer review

(New Zealand)

Took a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong a couple of days ago as part of my journey back to New Zealand from China. The flight was delayed for 3 hours due to air traffic control - apparently this means that some important Chinese official is flying in or out of Beijing so all commercial flights are suspended. Was told that this happens quite often. No new boarding time was given so we had to sit by the gate and wait. I went to the lounge and almost missed the flight as no boarding announcements were made. Due to the delay I missed my connecting flight to Auckland so had to spend the night in Hong Kong. Air China staff told me to do the rebooking myself which I did. They gave me an hotel only till noon the following day though my flight was leaving at 7pm. If I wanted to eat I had to come back to the airport for breakfast and lunch as Air China would not pay for the food at the hotel. They would not give me back my luggage so had to buy a shirt, socks and underwear. Of course no apologies, no help and no compensation all the way through this experience. My suggestion- if you can, avoid Air China at all costs!
Type Of TravellerBusiness
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBeijing to Hong Kong
Date FlownAugust 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
8/10

Air China customer review

(Netherlands)

Had to choose between an 11-hour train ride for 200 dollars, or an 2.5 hrs flight for 300 dollars. Chose the latter and it was fine. Check-in in Guilin was a breeze and the security too. Lots of flights delayed but ours was punctual. English skills of crew okay, food not. No information from cockpit, but the A321 had a screen showing the route. Punctual landing in Beijing, but luggage delivery ridiculously slow. Not the airline's fault. Would fly again.
AircraftA321
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeFirst Class
RouteGuilin to Beijing
Date FlownAugust 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
8/10

Air China customer review

(Hong Kong)

I was impressed they use new aircraft to fly US route, even the flight from Beijing to Hong Kong with new A321. LAX-PEK the flight attendants were nice. The seat was really good, I think around 31'to 32'. The beverage and food was okay, not big enough for me. The price was a great deal, I got it at around USD$890 for round trip LAX-HKG (via PEK), and I got it 20 days before the departure. PEK-HKG flight was not full, and slept over other seats next to me. The weather of Hong Kong was bad then we landed at Nanning Airport in Mainland China, we stay at the airplane for 3 hours and no one knows when we will leave even the flight attendants.
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER / A321
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLAX to HKG via PEK
Date FlownJuly 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes
1/10

Air China customer review

(United States)

My rating is 0/10. We visited relatives in China from late June to early July. We made the reservation through a travel agent at US, we chose this airline for its shorter travel time and slightly lower price. Our transfer time in Beijing was 1h 40min. When we book the ticket, the airline told our agent it is not any issue. This is a lie. On the way to China, flight attendants told us that we need to get our baggage in Beijing and then return them for the transfer (this is fine, and we do this when we get to US). When we arrived, the help desk woman near the baggage claim said the same thing. However, we waited and waited, but our luggage never came out. We asked the attendant who supervises the baggage claim, she said they will be directly sent to the final destination. Of course, we missed our connection flight. When we went to change our flight, the Air China staff said we do not need to pick up our baggage and tried to blame this on us. Later, I found out they should have paid our lodging since this was their fault. Of course, they forgot to mention this. On the way back to US, our flight from Hefei was delayed for 24 hours. Basically, Beijing Airport did not allow any flights to get in that day. So after notifying us the flight had no departure time, no one from Air China showed up to assist or answer any questions. We were kept waiting and waiting. After sitting in the airport for 8 hours, finally two low-rank Air China staff showed up and could not solve anything. When the passengers got upset and asked to see the supervisor, one of the staff said the manager does not work on weekends, instead she got four security guards! We and two fellow passengers had international flights at Beijing, and were stuck. We called the airline help desk, they said they are not responsible for anything and cannot make any changes since we bought our tickets from an agent. If we need to change, we need to go to Beijing. Essentially, if you are not at Beijing, you are screwed in any emergency situations. Once we got to Beijing 24 hours later, the staff at the counter were rude, unsympathetic, and unorganized. There were so many passengers who missed flights, and Air China had only 2 staff members to deal with the passengers. If you do not insist on them providing a solution, they just brush you aside. We had to stand before them for 2 hours before it can be finally resolved. Overall, if you could, do not take Air China, the service for emergencies such as delay, particular in any other cities, is non-existing. There are so many inconsistencies between flight crew and ground staff. Beijing Airport cannot handle the amount of traffic and jam any emergency may cause. If you have to go to Beijing, make sure this is your final stop and take the fast rail to your final destination if you can.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteLAX to Hefei via Beijing
Date FlownJuly 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

Air China customer review

(Denmark)

First class Beijing to Sydney. They started boarding economy class passengers before first and business! It was only when staff noticed me standing in the first class queue that they figured that I should probably go in now. The first class cabin is nice and I liked my seat. However, service onboard was horrible. The flight attendant barely spoke English, and when she asked what I wanted for dinner, I didn't understand half the choices. There was no printed menu, so I had to make a choice based on what little words I were able to grab from the flight attendant. The food was okay. There were maybe 5 dishes that were mostly good, except for the main dish which was some type of meat that didn't taste good. I didn't get a wine list at any point. The entertainment system was ok, but not that many choices in terms of US films and shows. And the ones available had Chinese subtitles that you couldn't turn off. And before each title started there were long commercials. After the flight attendant turned my seat into a comfy bed, I didn't see her for the next 8 hours or so. She didn't set foot in the cabin. So no way to order more drinks or snacks. And there was no bar or lounge area. I saw the flight attendant again maybe an hour before landing when it was time for breakfast. Food was good and comprehensive. Generally I would not recommend Air China if you plan to shell out for a first class ticket!
AircraftBoeing 777-300ER
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeFirst Class
RouteBeijing to Sydney
Date FlownDecember 2014
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
1/10

Air China customer review

(Australia)

When we arrived at Beijing airport at 10:30 pm to check in for our flight to Paris we were told that the flight was delayed to 5:50 in the morning due to thunderstorm. I couldn't believe that as we had previously flown in much worse weather. It wasn't even raining but I won't argue with the decision Air China made as safety is a priority. We were already so tired and we weren't happy as our return flight to Korea with Air China had already been rescheduled inconveniently. It was very hard to access to the wifi at the airport so It was very difficult to change our pick up arrangements to accommodate the late arrival in Paris. I asked the Air China Duty manager at the check in desk to let us stay at the hourly hotel in the airport for a couple of hours as we were tired and a shower was needed considering the humid Beijing weather. I am very unhappy with how we were dealt with. One of the duty managers told us he understood how annoying the situation was for us. Furthermore, He said he would do anything he could for us so I requested the hourly hotel and he made a phone call. After he was on the phone for a short time he said, unfortunately, there were no rooms available . As much as we were frustrated and annoyed, I thought he couldn't really do anything more for us at that time. I asked him if he could put us on the waiting list for a room at least, so if any rooms became available we could get one. He said that wasn't a problem and he said our names were on the list. Although we were tired and frustrated we had no idea he was lying to us so we were quite polite and cooperative, I wish I grabbed his name at that time as we later discovered almost everything he told us was a lie. After we went through customs and security we headed to the hourly hotel as I wanted to double-check our names were actually on the waiting list. They informed us that there was no list as they had plenty of rooms available for us if we were willing to pay. We explained to the hotel attendant what we had been told and his response was that Air China said they were not willing to pay for it. With the help of the hotel attendant we tried to call the Air China Duty Manager but of course he wouldn't answer the phone. I also called the customer service desk of Air china and finally got through to somebody after several attempts and considerable time on hold. The lady told me that she couldn't help because I chose English therefore the line went through to LA Air China so that she couldn't help us. I don't know where to begin to complain about this situation. The way we were dealt with is totally unacceptable. First of all, how the manager lied to our faces like that I still can not believe he thinks he can do that to customers. I have never seen anyone so unprofessional and dishonest when representing a big company. If customer service is only for Chinese speaking people and English speakers only get a dummy speaker and they can't actually help anyone with the problems, they might as well be up front about it. Then they could have saved my time and money for making all the international calls like an idiot at 2am in the morning. I emailed the customer service. All I got was the number that I originally called in the first place! Ridiculous!
Type Of TravellerCouple Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteIncheon to Paris via Beijing
Date FlownJune 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
6/10

Air China customer review

(Singapore)

SYD-PEK-TPE-PVG. A long queue formed 3.5 hours in advance (half an hour before check-in opens). This is a long flight, so arrive early to get a decent seat. The long haul offered two meals. Dinner was edible but breakfast was better. Drinks are free flow and crew are happy to serve water. IFE is channel-based (you don't get to choose the show on demand, rather what is being shown), and it may not interest those who don't know Chinese well. Did not hear the Captain speak for this long stretch, and crew's English announcements can be hard to hear. Flights to and from TPE: Breakfast appeared to be simpler. Captain did give announcement for this stretch. Wifi IFE is available for flights to and from TPE, but Air China specifically bars mobile phones from accessing this system. If you don't have a laptop, you are probably out of luck. Premium economy seats are empty, and are basically the same economy seats on SYD-PEK (channel-based IFE). ATC delayed 1.5 hours both directions. Overall a decent value for money, if you have China on your visit list and don't really mind about the IFE. Be aware of ATC delays if you only plan to transit.
AircraftA333, A332
Type Of TravellerSolo Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteSYD to TPE via PEK
Date FlownJuly 2015
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

Air China customer review

(United States)

Do yourself a favor, pay a bit extra and fly any other airline if possible. Alternatives on this route will be EVA air, for example. Worst customer service, delayed flights that will screw up your entire trip, terrible rules in Beijing airport. For example, once the first leg was delayed and screwed up our plan to get out of the airport and spend a day in Beijing, we tried to get on the earlier flight to San Francisco to avoid spending 6 hours on the airport. The staff at the gate refused to even talk to us. They said we need to get out through immigration and customs, go to the Air China ticket office and talk to them to get on a standby. Seriously? Did you try going through security in China? They take out every battery and examine it manually. Also, if they didn't have any seats, we'd have to go through security and check in process for our original flight again. Once you finally make it to your flight, there is no use of mobile devices, even when in the airplane mode. My 6 years old daughter wasn't allowed to watch movies or play games on her inactive old iPhone (basically an iPod). Flight attendants do not smile, they are rude, answer no to any request. There is no alcoholic beverages on intercontinental flights (if you care). Try asking for extra Coke mid flight and see the reaction. Food is terrible. Never again I will consider Air China for my business.
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteBangkok to SFO via Beijing
Date FlownJuly 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Wifi & Connectivity 12345
Value For Money 12345
no
9/10

Air China customer review

(Kuwait)

Check in was smooth and no big queues. Boarding smooth, flight took off and landed on time. Seats and aircraft clean and neat. Quiet a new aircraft. TV screens for each seat with a some choice of English and Chinese/Japanese Lagrangian movies. All seats with blankets and head sets. Food predominantly Chinese and Japanese (understandably), Soft drinks beer and Alcohol served before meal. Toilets were clean. The onboard duty free was decent and well conducted. Typically, Chinese returning passengers, carry a lot of hand baggage. Great flight for the price compared to ANA/JAL. We were so apprehensive before booking online (reading many negative reviews). I strongly recommend Air China for this sector.
AircraftA330-300
Type Of TravellerFamily Leisure
Seat TypeEconomy Class
RouteTokyo Narita to Beijing
Date FlownJuly 2015
Seat Comfort 12345
Cabin Staff Service 12345
Food & Beverages 12345
Inflight Entertainment 12345
Ground Service 12345
Value For Money 12345
yes