China Eastern Airlines

I flew China Eastern Airlines from Bangkok to Shanghai with my mother (who needs a wheelchair). The plane arrived Pudong airport without any equipment to help my mother out of the plane. On return the plane was delayed for 1 hour and again the plane was not at the gate (we had to take shuttle bus). I clearly asked the ground staff to prepare service to send my mother to the plane as she couldn't walk up the high. The ground staff confirmed that the plane was at the gate and no need for that equipment. Finally, gate changed and we had to go with all passenger on the shuttle bus to the plane and stood there for 20 minutes waiting for the elevated car. We couldn't book even the seat which usually reserved for disabled passengers. During the flight, the food was so terrible and I asked for a second can of Tsing Tao beer. The answer was "there is only 15 cans on this flight and they are finished".

Bangkok to Toronto via Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines. Everything was great until we were delayed and missed our connection in Shanghai. Total incompetence ruined our flight rebooking and trying to get into a hotel. Constant deception and lack of integrity by China Eastern Airlines staff prevented us from getting a hotel and we had to sleep on the floor in the airport with hundreds of others. The ground staff should be fired.

China Eastern Airlines staff is not friendly at all. Check-in was okay, but our first shock was the lounge. Food and drinks are a total no go. Onboard a menu card was handed over, we choose a glass of champagne, and with the dinner white wine. Both were served at once! Food was served fully on plastic dishes, and this for over 6 hour flight. After dinner no hot drinks were offerd at all. Our request to get another glass of champagne was without success. The answer from crew was that they don't have more. Flight was not full at all. Cabin crew was really rough and almost Tunable to understand English. We will try to avoid this airline and China Eastern Airlines should be kicked out from SkyTeam.

I flew China Eastern Airlines return from Sydney to Shanghai and Shanghai to Moscow. Never have a I flown with a worse airline - especially the last leg, where at dinner they give you 1 alcoholic drink. If you are silly enough to ask for another one, they tell you there are no more - a cheap and nasty airline service. Cabin staff are rude and when I had the audacity to ask one young lady when I would be getting the Immigration forms, I interrupted her laugh and chat with her friend, and I was told to wait. She then begrudgingly said she would get them. I was not the only one concerned as we were pretty close to Sydney. Do yourself a favour and never fly China Eastern Airlines - or worse Shanghai Airlines.

Chengdu to Songpan with China Eastern Airlines. Chengdu airport is a nightmare for check-i,n as all airlines check-in at the same counters. Fortunately as a Skyteam Elite Plus member, I could check-in with my family at the business counter which made things a whole lot easier. Chengdu to Songpan is a quick 25 minute flight at best, as Songpan airport is about 3000m in elevation. Unfortunately airport delays usually mean this flight takes around 1hr. Being the first flight of the day, departure was not delayed too much and the 737-700 was comfortable enough for the short flight. One issue on all China Eastern flights has been the lack of air conditioning provided whilst on the ground and to some extent also during flight. No air provided on the ground (no ground power unit hooked up either), made the aircraft very stuffy and uncomfortable. The temperature during flight was also on the warm side adding to the lack of comfort. Same problem again on China Eastern for the return back to Chengdu. One bottle of water handed out on boarding which is all you would expect for a flight of this short duration.

Arrived early, made seat request. Check in staff totally ignored you and gave you seat that was allocated. No explanation, nothing. No smile, no apologies. First and last time I will fly on China Eastern Airlines.

In summary, if you have another choice besides China Eastern, take it. The planes are modern and so are the entertainment systems, but that's about the only positive aspect. My main complaints are as follows: 1) The planes are rarely on time. I fly China Eastern frequently within China for business due to lack of choice (there are few domestic airlines and they're all about the same quality) and I would estimate that their on-time departure rate is less than 20%. If I'm only delayed one hour I feel lucky. On this particular flight we were stuck at the gate for ~1.5 hours. 2) Their policy on electronics is outdated. Mobile phones in flight mode cannot be used during the entire flight. Also, most other airlines now allow small electronics to be used during takeoff/landing, but not China Eastern. 3) I love Chinese food, but what they serve is awful. I'm from the US originally, and I thought US airline food/service was bad, but China Eastern takes "airline food" to another level of inedible. 4) The service is also not friendly and intrusive. When you want something like water it's hard to get their attention, however, when you're sleeping mid-flight they'll make it a point to wake you for the meal service.

I flew from Taipei to Dubai via Shanghai and Kunming. The experience was horrible from beginning to end. I often take low-cost airlines (WizzAir, Ryanair), so my expectations of service quality are not high. But the huge difference is that those low-costs clearly state the limitations, so you know what to expect. Not China Eastern. My Economy ticket included 2 pieces of baggage of 23 kg (46kg in total). It wasn't written on my ticket, maybe because I bought it through Airtickets24. I arrived at the airport with one suitcase of 31 kg. They strongly insisted that I have to repack it to 2 separate pieces, so I had no choice but to buy a box and to check-in with two huge pieces of baggage (both half-empty. I will never understand the logic behind this (Economy plus and Bussines can check-in 2 pieces of 32kg, so it wasn't the problem that 31kg is too heavy for one piece). I was told that my baggage would be sent directly to Dubai, so I don't have to pick it up for my 14 hour over-night layover in Shanghai. But when I arrived there, they changed the info, I had to pick it up and spend extra money to store it at the airport. The check-in at the Pudong Airport in Shanghai was a mess. My flight wasn't listed on the board. I had to stand in the queue to ask where the check-in is and then stand in the long check-in queue for an hour. The staff were not nice at all, the flight attendants probably don't know what a smile is and they spoke to me only in Chinese, only after my puzzled look would they repeat it in English. The food was not edible and I got the noodles for all of the 3 meals? To be fair, the snacks that came with it were edible and drinks were OK, so I could eat something small. You are not allowed to use your phone even in flight mode during the whole flight. However, you are allowed to use your laptop, tablet or Kindle in flight modes. On the first flight we were waiting 1.5 hour for take-off, of course without the possibility of doing anything except sitting straight in our seats (even no reading). It was hot onboard after 5 hours. As I said: terrible experience.

1 hr flight within China. Booked in China but website doesn't take foreign credit cards. Booked via tour operator and that worked out fine. Surprised that MU-website showed sold out seats but there were plenty at the tour operator's site. Flight smooth. Limited English, snack literally thrown at me and attendants refused to collect the garbage. They just put it in the seat pockets. All in all quite ok.

I have never experienced such a dreadful service. The flight from Ho Chi Minh to Shanghai was delayed and I was notified even considering that was an overnight flight. At the Ho Chi Minh airport no one took responsibility or tried to communicate with Shanghai to report the delay and ensure that passengers in transit can be transferred as soon as possible to the next flight. When I arrive in Shanghai it was even worse. The ground staff did not speak English, no one could help me or tell me where should I go to change my flight to Beijing. I had to pick up my luggage and find the check in counters and someone who can guide. Staff had limited English skills in a large international airport and I had to consult about 6 counter desks without any positive response. Finally I was booked in the next flight. And while waiting the staff at the business lounge told me that my flight did not have a time of departure and offered me to change me in another flight 1 hours after! No one could ensure if my luggage will be changed to the new flight even. As I said really the worse airline ever. I'm writing this waiting at the Shangai airport for my flight to Beijing (whenever that happen).