Air China

We flew from London to Beijing leaving only an hour in between to catch the next flight from Beijing to Macau. The computers were down and I was unable to check in online several times. At Heathrow a glitch in the system meant that our luggage could not go to Macau but we had to pick up our bags at Beijing and check in again to resume our journey. As predicted our luggage was not on the carousel. We went to Lost and Found where several staff just stand and chat. With less than 30 minutes to board our flight we were still without bags. Thankfully the lady at check-in (who did speak English and showed compassion) organised our connection located our luggage and had it transferred. On the return journey a week later the flight was delayed which meant that we did miss our plane to London. Air China organised an overnight stay. At Beijing airport we got to the check in desk to collect boarding passes. One would imagine that the person manning the London flights would have some command of the English language. This person did not speak nor comprehend a word of English. Both times we did not receive our requested vegetarian meals and were abruptly given bread rolls as a substitute. The seats are cramped and offer little leg room in economy class. The meals are unimaginative. The only good thing I can say is that soft drinks were available on request. The air hostesses are robotic unfriendly and lack customer service skills. I will never travel with this airline again and I would advise anybody else to do the same.

I flew from Shanghai Pudong to Melbourne. The food served was the smallest portion I have seen on a plane totally inadequate for this kind of flight. I visited the toilets 3 hours into the flight and it was disgusting to say the least. I reported the state of the toilet to the hostess and she shrugged her shoulders and said they would clean it in Melbourne. I had to ask for a cup of water on 4 occasion to get it and then it was almost thrown at me when after 2 hours it finally arrived. The staff were rude to say least never again!

LHR-PEK-Tokyo RT in Business. One-word comment: Impressed. More: A330 on the long legs; 777 to Narita then A321 from Haneda to PEK. All flights on time; all aircraft clean and comfortable. A330 lie-flat seat up there in the business comfort stakes. Not Emirates but better than BA. Food acceptable if (for a westerner) a little idiosyncratic in the order of service. Decent wines - no whisky onboard the return from PEK to LHR. Instant coffee! IFE is probably good if you're Chinese! Very limited choice for English speaker.

Flew long-haul SGN-PEK-LAX. Services were adequate considering the prices I paid. Leg room was better on 737-800 (SGN-PEK) compared with 737-700 (which I flew in 2007 SGN-PEK-SGN). Food portion was a bit small. Drinks service was good. Connecting at PEK took time. They should have opened one or two more counters. Two hours were just right enough to complete the transfer formality. Seat pitch on their 777-300ER was decent could stretch and sleep well. Food portions were small and a bit salty (for me). Drinks services were good during the course of the flights; we could also "help ourselves" at the galley. Overall you get what you pay for. A lot of people comparing CA with some other airlines but they forget how much they pay for each of the airline they mention.

I have been doing a lot of travel with this airline in 2013/14 and now 15 within Asia between Beijing Ulaanbaatar Singapore Bangkok and Ho Chi Min. My experience has been very positive. Lots of room planes in good condition friendly staff. Their Economy Class is one of the best. I have used this airline for international trips between Beijing Vancouver and San Francisco in all classes. A totally different experience.

I flew from PEK-YVR with Air China on CA 0991. This flight was part of an Aeroplan points redemption ticket. I can say that the quality of the airline compared to other Star Alliance members is very poor (comparing staff food seat comfort and entertainment). When I got on the flight I found a plastic knife in my seat left over from the previous flight. This was fine and I started to settle in for the flight. After the safety video and taxiing we were informed there was an issue with the plane. We stayed on the tarmac for around an hour then we all gathered our things and were bussed back to the terminal. Once there there was very little communication. Eventually our flight did go around 6 hours later. My major points with the airline: Very few staff members spoke English and those who did had communication level. Staff members also gave conflicting information about the delayed flight and were unable to answer most questions in English. All major communications were given in English but it was broken and often very confusing. Inflight the staff were not very friendly would barely make eye contact. Inflight meals were poor. The second meal they gave two options I chose the chicken option and it turned out to be the exact same meal they had served earlier. Inflight video quality is poor and screens cannot be dimmed which makes watching movies overnight very hard on the eyes. I would not recommend travelling with this airline.

Was flying to Hangzhou via Frankfurt and Beijing. Almost impossible to make the connecting flights my luggage arrived half a day later etc. On the return leg was served food of really cheap quality main meal being a cheap hotdog sausage in some terrible bread (I'm usually not difficult with food but this was terrible). Breakfast was horrible. My seat was dirty there was some food from the last passenger left on my seat on both flights. I got conned into booking with them as they are part of Star Alliance but this is complete tosh. The reality is they are worse than a budget airline.

Beijing to Delhi Dec 27 flight CA 0947 was cancelled and rescheduled and coming back from Delhi to Beijing flight CA 0948 on Jan 20 was cancelled for 10 hours and CA 0991 from Beijing to YVR on Jan 20 was cancelled for over 40 hours. My flight was cancelled and re scheduled going and coming back it was delayed in Beijing for 12 hours going to my destination. Coming back it was delayed in Delhi for 10 hours with no explanation. The result of this delay was to spend another 48 hours in Beijing. Staff spoke no English to communicate. this was the worst service I received in my life. Apparently this happens often with this airline. To my knowledge they left some passengers behind who had the same delays as me not sure when they will reach their destination. Please do not use Air China if you don't want to ruin your trip.

SYD-PEK in First Class on B777. New First Class hard product looks great is functional roomy and comfy. Inflight entertainment very Chinese focused slow and very poor International movie/TV selection. Screen size large but low in resolution for a new product. Food and Beverage service Premium Economy standard at best. After 1 hour into the flight the staff ran out of Champagne which is ridiculous with only 6 people in First class of which only 2 (including me) had a glass of Champagne. Service was friendly and tried but obvious standards are lacking displaying lack of training or procedures. In short: Hard product can compete with the best but service is not international First class standard at all.

LHR-PEK 2 day stop over PEK-REP and REP-PEK-LHR on the return. Easy to check in at all times and points in my journey. Easy international transfer at PEK on the way back people jump the queue but that happens whichever airline - that's the airports fault. Faultless flights really. The staff aren't overly friendly but then I refuse to fly BA because of their staff. The food was a bit grim but find me an airline where it isn't. The inflight entertainment on the PEK-LHR route was ok (there was no entertainment on the PEK-REP section). The only thing that really annoyed me is that you can't have your phone on even in airplane mode. This seems a little old fashioned. I paid less than £600 for my flights so I'm not complaining. Get what you pay for.