China Eastern Airlines

We took the China Eastern Airlines flight MU2421 from Shanghai to Kunming on Dec 5, 20155. Two times in the first leg and one time in the second leg, there was a strong tobacco smoke in the plane. As I could see nobody smoking in the cabin, I suspect the pilots were just smoking in the cockpit. This plane smelled like a ashtray.

Vancouver to Bangkok via Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines. The staff treated me like I wasn't even there. they didn't speak enough English to communicate with non Chinese. The food served was disgusting. I did not know I would have to fill in immigration form for Bangkok as my first time there, but no forms were given on the flight! I arrived in Bangkok with no idea on what to do or where to go. I will never travel with China Eastern Airlines again.

China Eastern Airlines is a terrible airline with horrible service. Generally service on the plane is quite bad and the crew is not very friendly or proactive. This is not entirely their fault : I learned that the cabin crew is not even allowed to leave the plane after a five hours flight from Shanghai to Singapore and has to work on the flight back! No wonder they are very grumpy. All customers were forced to queue in a huge line to enter there tickets into an electronic machine which could not find the booking. After that we were split into two endless lines to queue again at the check in counter. After queuing for a long time they closed down one of the counters and we had to merge into the other line. People who know China can imagine how this went. Since this was a codeshare flight with Qantas I was able to earn 1,175 miles per sector on my trip Singapore-Shanghai-Singapore. In Singapore the check-in agent happily added my Qantas number and was very professional. In Shanghai she initially refused stating that it was no use. When I insisted in a friendly and polite manner the agent grumpily added the number, rolled her eyes and said "no use anyway!" As the miles are in my account already, I can gladly say that she was wrong! I was really hungry and therefore ate the onboard food even though it was quite terrible. Please China Eastern Airlines : train your employees better.

China Eastern Airlines was the worst airline I've flown with. Starting with the wrong information given by the check-in agent at LAX about immigration and customs (you go through those in Nanjing, but she insisted we would not leave the plane there), we were in for a treat. Even though the plane was new (B-5902), if felt very old, with seats getting jammed when trying to move them and lots of noise. Food was horrible, so I would highly suggest getting a sandwich at the airport just in case. Sodas were served warm (and they only have Pepsi). Upon arrival in Chengdu, they offer no assistance whatsoever as to where to go for your luggage, and it's really easy to end up in the domestic terminal since there's no signs and nobody to help. On the way back, check-in opens at 8am for a 9.30am departure. Lines are not respected and people just cut in front of you. There's no separate line for business class, but that wouldn't have mattered much since the ones cutting in line were business class customers. Once you get to Nanjing, expect to have a choice between a local restaurant that doesn't look very good and a place that sells snacks at airport prices. You can actually see the McDonald's and Starbucks on the other side, but can't access them (I'm not a McDonald's fan, but at that point it would've been very welcome instead of China Eastern food).

I'd recommend passengers avoid China Eastern Airlines, especially if you're expecting any kind of decent service. At Shanghai airport, this airline is at a different terminal every other international airlines. Their check-in process for business class sucks- there's a long waiting line despite several agents lounging around. The lounges are even worse - uncomfortable and stained seats, stale and tasteless food, no cold beverages or ice, and completely packed, as they offer their lounge to other airlines. Their lounge is located below the departure level and there is an escalator down but none to go up. So if you have a heavy hand bag, you're going to be doing some hauling. And to top it off, flights to the US don't deserve a jetway. You get bussed there, and there's more heavy lifting to do. The airport and lounges are hot and uncomfortable. Don't get fooled by their cheaper price.

I flew China Eastern Airlines, with an Alitalia ticket in business class from Rome to Shanghai on 31st October, and then returning from Shanghai to Rome on 7th November. Flights were on time and good schedule times. Both aircraft had confortable flat seat in business class. The service was very basic for business class. Food quality was very poor. On the return flight no menu was available. The champagne, served already in the glass without showing the botle, as were all the wines, was warm and of a different product from the one announced in the list. With a full business class they had only one or two bottles of champagne wich became unavailable very soon. I discovered that they had only one botle of the wine choices, and these were of low quality. It is realy unacceptable in a business class.

Efficient check in with a 1.5hr wait in the business class lounge (don't ask!) before boarding on time. 'As new' aircraft which was kept surgically clean throughout the flight. Air traffic control delayed take off 20 minutes and flight deck kept everyone updated regularly. Arrived at the scheduled time. Professional, friendly cabin staff made for a pleasant flight, as did meal and beverage selection. Then into pj's for six or seven hours sleep.

This flight was of the standard you should always receive. Clean (spotless) aircraft with everything working, crew happy and professional and on time departure and arrival. Brunch was a nice Chinese hybrid and just right for the time of day. Compared to the inbound Nanjing to Hong Kong flight, it was hard to accept it was the same airline - CE seems to run hot and cold on domestic sectors.

The checkin went smoothly. You could not get seats until you got to the airport which is annoying but my husband and I were able to get seats together. They were no more uncomfortable than other airlines. A plug for charging electronic devices is provided. The movie selection was good and several meals were served. The only real negative was the sparseness of alcoholic beverages. There was no white wine and very little red wine or beer. On the return trip, since we had a 9 hour layover, the airline provided our group with a room in Shanghai at the Lihao Hotel. It is one of the worst hotels I have every stayed. I would not plan to fly this airline in the future but it was not as bad as I expected.

Qantas doesn't fly out of Beijing so they codeshare with China Eastern Airlines. There was a fast business class check in at the airport but when we asked for the lounge we were told there was none, but we could sit in a few comfortable chairs in an airless alcove. And no, they couldn't give us a bottle of water. We were cooler waiting in the public areas. There was no priority boarding, no priority disembarkation at the stopover in Nanking but it did have a business class lounge with comfortable seats, drinks and unappetising food. The meal selected from the menu couldn't be provided even though business class was only two-thirds full and the standard of English comprehension wasn't good even thought the flight attendants were attentive. We received a priority card on landing which expedited our way through to the baggage claim where our baggage came off last and damaged. The handling was so rough an item packed in moulded styrene to fit its shape was broken in the suitcase which was also split and scratched. So if flying out of Beijing, don't go China Eastern Airlines just to collect Qantas partner points. It's not worth it! Oh, and my entertainment system didn't work either!