China Airlines

I fly CI for my annual trip to Bangkok from Calgary. It's an interline route using Westjet from YYC to YVR and China Airlines for YVR-TPE-BKK and return. They continue to use the old tired A343 for YVR-TPE lag which is showing its age although preferable to me due to the 2-4-2 configuration as I tend to pick a window seat. I am finding their service is going downhill over the last four years especially for inflight entertainment and the meal. The meal from YVR was stale and inedible so is the breakfast on the TPE-BKK and TPE-YVR leg. Brand new B777-300ER for TPE-BKK which had great cabin and IFE interface. Fair value for money but service could be a lot better for the money.

I booked a round-trip flight from LAX to Saigon last October. The flight from LAX was delayed 2 hours. Before landing in Taipei for a connecting flight to Saigon the flight Captain announced Connecting flight to be 12.30pm instead of 10.30am as scheduled. After we landed there were no China Airlines staff members to be found. Our group of passengers finally stumbled upon a security officer who directed us to China Airlines' counter on a separate floor. Long lines and only 2 overworked employees helping us to get the connecting flight. Contrary to the flight crew announcements the connecting flight was scheduled at 2.30pm not 12.30 as announced. Adding insult to the injury China Airlines gave us a meal ticket in Taiwanese Dollars worth about $3USD not even enough for a hamburger. Due to this poor service I would never fly China again.

All of my flights were pretty much on time and my luggage didn't get lost but my experience was that this airline offers no frills. Unfriendly staff with poor English skills. Tired cabins and dirty toilets. Poor quality food and such a dated and difficult entertainment system. I bought a cheap ticket so I guess I got what I paid for!

SIN-TPE-SIN. Both ways it was an older A330 - seats were a torture for a 185cm guy like me. My knees hurt being constantly pressed against the seat in front so I had to stay in very uncomfy position and/or stand up frequently. IFE was horrible being an old plane what you get is a not more than 6-7" screen and no matter how you play with brightness and or screen position you won't see much. Resorted to music in the end. Games were slightly newer. Cabin crew were nice but their English command was poor. We all know that you get what you pay for but we also know that nowadays in airlines world that is not entirely true. There are very good and cheap carriers operating in Asia. China Airlines is not among these in my opinion. At least not on Singapore-Taipei route.

NRT-TPE-BKK - Have not flew CI for sometime and was bit dubious. What an improvement CI has made. Both on the A330. The flight were on time good selection of inflight entertainment. Food was okay for economy and better than KLM's Business Class intercontinental. The thing I love about CI was the option to view take off and landing real time on your screen. I cannot fault the trip and service whatsoever.

Flew LAX-TPE-BKK and return. The most important thing to know about CI (as of Sept ’14) is that if you purchase your economy ticket through an online service (like Kayak or Expedia) the airlines policy prohibits you from getting a seat assignment prior to day of departure. Unfortunately online ticket purchasers don't find this out until after they've plunked down big bucks on a non-refundable ticket. This lack of a passengers capability to select a seat in advance (not to mention the lack of transparency) is reason enough for you to take your transpacific business to another carrier. The planes used on the transpacific segments of my trip had a tight economy seating configuration with little legroom. It felt pretty much like flying a domestic carrier in the US. Food general service and in-seat entertainment was on par with other airlines on this route. Flight attendants were pleasant. The one benefit of flying CI is that transfer to connecting flights at Taipei's Taoyuan airport is smooth enough to accommodate fairly tight connections time-wise. (This is not the case in Beijing or even Hong Kong). Unless you get an incredible deal on your ticket and you don't care where you sit on a long flight I'd give CI a pass and book with someone else.

Flew KIX-TPE-BNE return trip at the beginning of September 2014. Seats on the TPE-BNE leg is new. The ones I flew specifically were B18360 on the outbound journey and B18358 on the inbound journey. The interior of the these birds is upgraded compared to the other A333 in their fleet. The seat recline was 170 degrees and the feeling was very similar to the business class seats on the Garuda A333 fleet. Food on the outbound leg was fabulous. I do travel regularly but it was one of the best meals that I have ever had on a plane. Sleeping was no problem as the seat reclines to 170 degrees or more. The food on the return leg was lower quality but what can you expect on an inbound flight? The seats were the same as the ones going there and we did have a wonderful night's rest. To sum it up I am very satisfied with my travel experience and I look forward to my next flight on C class with CI!

We have flown eight segments with China Air over the last few years. The last flight was last week. Never on any flight have we left the gate on time. On the last segment Taipei to Bangkok. The steward said they had to shut down the video system. I was watching a movie. Around 45 minutes later I asked them to reboot the system or turn it on. They could not do it. Several stewards tried to no success. The food was served and the trays were left on the tray stand for about 45 minutes. So anyone wanting to go to the bathroom had a problem. They had bright lighting on well into the night. overall a poor flight. One seat we had was broken you could feel it in you back anytime you moved it would make a loud noise. Very inconvenient for us with all the late leaving flights and quick transfers. We tried this airline over United where we really felt the service and planes were very substandard. I really do not see much difference.

CI916 and CI8 July 31. I traveled from Hong Kong to LA. The check-in service is not as good as I expected. She confirmed me in an exit seat but I found I was in the last-narrow row seat. The only thing I was not satisfied with was the seat space. China Airlines does not give as much as leg and feet space as other economy's for the last row passengers. The food - ok. The cabin - ok. Maybe I will choose China Airlines again but I will not recommend to my friends and families.

Flew LAX-TPE-HAN in refurbished 747 to Taipei and A330 to Hanoi. I was very impressed with the 747 as the seats in economy were very comfortable even for the entire 14 hour flight. The crew were very friendly and happy to help. The food was okay but its airplane food so what can one expect. The flight to Hanoi was almost empty so we were upgraded to premium economy. We were served an entire lunch on this flight even though it was only 3 hours. Then flew from HCM-TPE-LAX. 747 on both flights however the plane for the TPE-LAX flight was older. The entertainment system was outdated and barely worked. The seats were also uncomfortable and left me sore after the first 5 hours. I would recommend China Airlines great value for your money and they seem to be taking passenger comfort into consideration with their updates.