China Eastern Airlines

✅ Verified Review | Okinawa to Siem Reap via Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines. Hell on earth! Our first leg was late by an hour. That was both a precursor and the best part of the trip as it involves this airline. The crew was cold and the drinks were warm. When we arrived at our layover in Shanghai there were no representatives to assist passengers with directions. We ended up finding our gate with no assistance (and no smiles from any airport personnel). We arrived in Siem Reap two hours late. Luckily we had a great time in Cambodia! When it was time to return home the adventures began. While waiting in line at the ticket counter several Chinese tour groups started fighting amongst themselves. Then after we checked in and moved to the security lanes some of the members of these groups started skipping past the queue to get to the checkpoint. Mind you, this is still the good part. We were scheduled to leave at 2255 (10:55 pm). Our first delay was two hours. The airline counter said it was because of heavy traffic in Shanghai. We then sat around for another five hours with no word on when we'd leave or what the delay was. At approximately 1030 (am) we were given a coupon for food within the airport and told that the new time was set for 1230. By this time the tourist groups were literally in full revolt. Arguing with each other and verbally assaulting airport staff. No airline staff because they were nowhere to be found. Finally at 1500 (3:00 pm) we were put on a bus so we could board the plane. The flight from Siem Reap was uneventful but noisy. When we landed in Shanghai I asked on of the attendants for assistance finding where we needed to go in the airport. She led me and my family to the bottom of the stairs (at the airplane) and pointed to the bus. The transfer area in Shanghai is foreboding at best. When we walked to the queue a worker was berating a lady because she was asking where she needed to go next. Our process was uneventful that night but because of the delay we couldn't return home until the next day. Therefore we had to stay in a hotel out in Shanghai. That was another experience in and of itself but if dirty carpets, low water pressure, hard beds, and cigarette smoke smell is your thing, I know a place. At 0555 (5:55am) the next morning with no notice we got a knock on our door and a man speaking only two words - bus now! This part actually went smooth and the plane left only thirty minutes late. More cold flight attendants and warm drinks with one extra bonus. Not going to say why but we also got sick after the flight. Four days later and I'm still using Pepto Bismol (to help with nausea and diarrhea) . Funny part is my trip in Cambodia was only three days so the aftermath of the airline experience lasted longer than my trip. Never will use this airline again!

✅ Verified Review | Bangkok to Chicago via Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines. Very bad food, I did not eat it was so poor. The plane was very warm inside. Flight attendants are robotic and just seem to want to get their jobs done and sit down, and they speak very poor English. One flight attendant reached over me and slammed my video monitor shut so she could set up my dinner table without saying a word. It was so rude it was funny. She didn't think she was doing anything wrong. The website was horrible and it is impossible to contact customer service by phone. to end on a positive note. The plane was very nice.

✅ Verified Review | Seoul Incheon to Vancouver via Shanghai. Check-in at ICN is horrible - flight scheduled to leave at 4pm, we arrive at airport at 12pm, took 1 hour at ICN just to get through lineup. Another 30 minutes delay due to "passport unable to be scanned, it was a problem with Canada". At least they tried to expedite me through Security with a Fastpass, but even then, with a 4 hour window, we barely made our flight. Nobody enforces the 1 Carry on rule - many passengers carrying 3-4 bags of Duty Free in addition to the Carryon, making Carryon Space unavailable. Whats the point of rules then? Landed at PVG, went thru transfers quickly, but recheck through Security for Vancouver flight. Boarding time was 11:05, and as we were seated in row 72 (yes - 72) - we supposedly to board first. However, as this is Shanghai, nobody follows the rules and as a result, everyone just mills around and pushes into a queue to board first. Unable to use "Airplane Mode" on cellphone due to Chinese Civil Aviation rules - therefore, even if I was to take my phone and try to charge with USB port, cabin crew frowned upon this - yet others were able to listen to music on their iphone? If you speak only English, God help you - you won't be able to communicate with airline staff. China Eastern Airlines Staff will randomly ask randomly selected passengers to join CE "club" thing - again, as they don't speak English, we declined whatever they were pushing onto us. At least we had 2 meals and had choices of 2 options each time. On a positive note, prior to landing, they had every participate on Tai Chi stretching exercises. Treat China Eastern Airlines as a discount airline that gets you to A to B. if you're going A to B to C, God Help you. On top of that, upon arrival at YVR, airline lost bags and apparently the Ground Crew are not China Eastern Airlines staff - they are from Swissport - therefore, any lost bags are not handled by CE and therefore, unable to get any sort of lost baggage number for insurance clams. Only use this airline if you're going to one destination without a transfer and able to speak Mandarin.

✅ Verified Review | Wuxi to Beijing on A320 aircraft. Excellent service from the ground staff, lounge, and the crew. The breakfast served is delicious. All these came with a decent price. I would recommend China Eastern.

Chicago to Singapore via Shanghai. China Eastern had a great offer on the ticket price. I expected some marginal service and food but I was proven wrong. Good pilots and crew on board. They didn't speak English very well like but still very courteous to help you. My special meal order was average and inflight entertainment was loaded with movies. Leg room was larger than any other airline. Bathrooms were kept cleaned all the time. They did not offer any hard liquor but that did not bother me much. Onboard interior was nice and clean.

✅ Verified Review | Auckland to Bangkok via Shanghai. After reading bad reviews and wondering if we had done the right thing, we were surprised. Plane was on schedule for both legs. Okay,you don't get the service of some of the top airlines but you don't pay the price. Meals were pretty basic but edible.

✅ Verified Review | Frankfurt to Tokyo via Shanghai. We chose China Eastern because I had travelled with them before and were satisfied. But it is most likely our last flight after experiencing amazingly poor behavior. We left Frankfurt and arrived in Shanghai on time and then began the nightmare. We were told that the flight to Tokyo would have a 2 hour delay because of mechanical troubles. At 3pm we came back to our gate and we were told that the delay could be longer and maybe the flight will take off at 7.30pm, meaning 6 hours delay but the information was vague and there was no real communication from China Eastern. Nobody really took care of us. At 7.30pm, the good news arrived, we can go onto the plane. We were really happy after a 23 hours trip from Frankfurt, we were waiting for take off 10 minutes, 25 minutes, 30 minutes, again zero communication from the crew about what was happening, "the weather is bad maybe we will take off soon, but it's not sure, we don't know". We try to keep calm and wait for more information and an exact time of take off. At 11.30pm after 4 hours in the plane without having moved or received something to eat, we heard the official and cold news: "the flight is cancelled, thanks, leave the plane". We went out of the plane, took the bus back to the terminal and in front of the terminal door we waited again for half an hour without any words or explanation from the China Eastern crew. After 27 hours from our departure, 10 hours delay from our transit flight, we thought that China Eastern would take care of us but nothing happened. Nobody took charge with something to eat, with a hôtel for the night. We went again to China Eastern desk to have some information about how we have to manage this situation and when we can finally go to Tokyo, but after have waited quietly during another half an hour, no real answer and no solution. These people wanted to hurry to close the desk. I took the decision to manage my family by myself and found an hôtel were all can sleep a little bit after nearly 30 hours on the trip. We saw that the first flight to Tokyo was at 7.30am, so we had to come back early to take this flight. The day after we came to the check-in and again there were no real solutions offered to the customers from the canceled flight MU539, but we could check in and take off to Tokyo Narita and not Tokyo Haneda. We were so upset, tired, unsatisfied that we took the decision to go to Tokyo as soon as possible also if Narita was the worst solution - but even better than stay in Shanghai. We finally arrived in Tokyo at 11.30am Sunday November 23rd in the wrong airport and China Eastern Airlines lost our luggage on the way, so that the nightmare continued... To sum up, we arrived in Tokyo after a 38 hours trip and nearly 19 hours delay. Wow, nightmare hardly describes it.

Shanghai to Zhu Hai. I was pleasantly surprised with my experience with China Eastern. We took the first flight of the day, so we were on time and actually landed early. Anyone that flies in and out of Shanghai knows this is no small feat. The cabin was clean and the seats were comfortable with ample room. The surprise was on a 2+ hour flight, we received a full breakfast and a stuffed bun. The breakfast was passable, but the bun was actually quite good. The service was quick and business-like with almost all speaking English to the non-Chinese speaking passengers. Overall, I would fly China Eastern again without hesitation.

✅ Verified Review | Paris CDG to Sydney via Shanghai. Paris to Shanghai leg left on time and arrived early. The cabin crew were efficient and friendly and included (on flights from Paris only?) a number of Western crew. The English standard of Chinese crew seems to be improving. Meals (Chinese and Western) were not up to previously enjoyed standards. Lie-flat beds and PJs did the trick. Shanghai-Sydney leg was ready to leave 15 minutes early, but due to airport congestion sat at the gate until 55 minutes past scheduled departure time. This delay was not made up in flight, so landed late. After 4 hours in Shanghai, another night flight to Sydney. Meals good this leg and plentiful beer, wine and spirits and the flat bed made for a good flight.

✅ Verified Review | Los Angeles LAX to Okinawa via Shanghai PVG with China Eastern. Flying with CE was not a pleasant experience. We chose CE because of price but, especially for international transfer with a child in our case to OKA, I would pay more to ensure sanity on future trips. Check-in at LAX was nightmare and staff couldn't seat my wife, child or myself together (all middle seats as well). We ended up not using our child's purchased seat because they couldn't figure out how to seat us together and of course, no refund. Attendants were cold but helpful (extra blankets) and my child ended up sleeping on floor at my feet. All flights inexorably delayed (30 min - 2 hours.) Worst part was connection in Pudong Shanghai. Expect extra screening and attention from military police. Although screening allowed our child's bottles, military took our child's milk on PVG-LAX portion just before stepping on plane. At least we were seated together this time. We will never fly CE or through China again.