China Eastern Airlines

PVG-SIN on Shanghai Airlines aircraft but operated as China Eastern flight. My previous trip with China Eastern Airlines a year ago was delayed 4-8 hours both directions, but I'd thought they would do better this time round. Both credit cards on ceair.com was repeatedly rejected and had to call the service hotline to make a booking. Airline hotline took the booking, but declined to take down my FF (told me to look for my partner airline, basically it is not their responsibility). Check-in directions were confusing at PVG (went to the wrong international flight counter) and check-in staff wasn't that helpful. Plane was new, but service left much to be desired. Blankets ran out halfway through the cabin and I was basically told "sorry but you are on your own!". The toilet was in a messy state (I will leave it at that). Passenger next to me decided upon himself to take up all 3 seats next to me and left his feet exposed while sleeping - the stench was unbearable and I had to tell the passenger off. The hard product means little if it is not backed by its service. There was good variety for food but it would have been unfamiliar for anyone outside of China. Considering that I paid over $1k for this economy ticket, this is one of the worst value for money I ever had.

I flew business class. The seat was uncomfortable, but the worst thing happened on the ground. In both cases, I had to layover in Shanghai for 24 hours. The first time, they said it was my mistake. The second time, the plane was late, and the fellow pushing my wheelchair told my Chinese traveling companion that the plain would be delayed until 4 pm and then left us in a crowded, noisy, uncomfortable waiting room. The staff said they were going to give the passengers lunch - although I couldn't see how that would be possible. We went upstairs, fortunately there was an escalator there, ate and came back to find nowhere to sit, and no new information. We went back upstairs, and 30 minutes later were approached by a young man with a wheelchair. He did not speak English, but informed my companion the plane had left without us. Finally, they gave us a ticket to Bangkok and I had to pay for a hotel and he flights to Chiang Mai - about $400. Through it all the ground staff was rude, inconsiderate and unresponsive.

MU is certainly not my preferred airline in China, however on this route there is no choice. Plane left on time, clean and pretty new. The nuisances are: No recognition of your Gold Skyteam membership, bags even with priority tags always last on the belt, preparing for landing 30 minutes before actual touch down, which means they wake you up to put your chair upright and open up the sunshades. Cannot comment on food, as I do not eat airline food. Coffee is horrible watered down slightish brown liquid - no diet sodas. English? Forget it.

Vancouver to Beijing and Shanghai to Vancouver with 3 domestic flights: Beijing to Xi'an; Xi'an to Wuhan and Chongqing to Shanghai and was mostly satisfied. The long haul flights had pillows, blankets and headsets prepared on each seat. Three meals were provided with some choice and were decent by airline standards. A glass of wine was included with the main meal. Water was offered on a regular basis. Tea, coffee and soft drinks also available. Good selection of Chinese, International and Hollywood movies as well as games, e-books and other entertainment. On arrival in Shanghai Pudong we learnt that our ongoing flight to Beijing had been cancelled due to bad weather. Although we were transferred to an earlier flight we had to collect our luggage and collect new boarding passes which had already been prepared. This process was somewhat confusing and the boarding passes lay on the counter like a deck of cards with passengers randomly going through them to find their own. The information board showed that the new flight was delayed with no ETD or whether it would even be leaving that day. A rep came to explain the situation. He spent 10 minutes giving a Chinese explanation and in English, simply said we do not know. Suddenly he received a call on his mobile and said we may be boarding. After a mad rush to the gate it transpired that this was not the case after all and everyone returned to what seats were available, or the floor. Half an hour later the flight was officially called and we were on our way. The shorter, domestic flights offer food service but no entertainment. On one occasion we experienced a 2 hour delay after we had boarded the plane, due to a sudden storm. Dinner was served during this delay, before take off, and was a good use of time. I do not know what the flights cost as they were part of a tour package, but based on service and comfort I would recommend China Eastern Airlines.

One our recent trip to China we flew China Eastern Airlines on 5 different planes and all were on time. The planes were new. The food was edible and plentiful. No complaints about this airline. We would fly with them again.

PVG-ICN-PVG-SYD, all in business class and all on A332 equipment. This trip was an eye-opener. Pu Dong airport has issues, however the only thing there that is within the control of China Eastern is the lounges. They're pretty basic, and not of an international standard, or even close to what you might find in Singapore or Hong Kong. However rudimentary, they are still an escape from the over-crowded terminal 1 at PVG. The PVG-ICN-PVG sectors were on the older angled-flat business seats, which were entirely fine for 90-minute sectors. Full hot meals with two choices of main and a few wine choices were offered on both short sectors. Again, quite satisfactory. The English-language skills of the crew were not the same as those on the PVG-SYD sector, but one must remember that these were flights between China and Korea, and so it's entirely reasonable to expect that the crews will be best at communicating in Chinese and Korean. Blankets, pillows and slippers were provided on the short sectors. It's worth noting that the economy cabins were very full on the PVG-ICN-PVG flights, but business class was a ghost-town in both directions. Not so on the PVG-SYD sector, a ten-hour overnight sector on the A332 equipment designated as 33E, i.e. 6-abreast seating in business class, with 180-degree recline and a significantly larger entertainment screen, and two business-cabins separated by a galley. There was only one empty seat of the 30 in the split cabin, the passengers were about half Chinese nationals and half Australian, with a couple of Europeans and a Canadian to boot. On boarding we were met by the Purser/Service manager, a young woman of Chinese heritage who spoke excellent English with a distinctively Australian accent. We were escorted to our seats and offered sparkling wine, orange juice (with pulp, not the overly-processed kind) or mineral water. Soon after that, menus were presented. The flight had a full dinner service, from which passengers could choose Chinese style with two choices of main course, or Western style, with two choices of main course. Dinner was served course-by-course and there were no trolleys used for either drinks or food. Table-cloths were used. Breakfast choices were either Chinese or Western. The wine-lists had a (real) Champagne, three reds and two whites, which in my opinion is entirely enough. A decent selection of soft-drinks, waters and juices was also on offer. Amenity kits (with Clarins products) were already at each seat. Dinner service began soon after takeoff, and soon after the closing of all the window-blinds (this was common to all the MU flights on this trip, and I found it both odd and a little irritating, however this is what the crew are trained to do!), after which pajamas and slippers were distributed. The seat reclined completely flat, the pajamas were soft cotton, and the duvet was soft and thick. Interestingly, the cabin temperature was kept quite low on this flight, in contrast with other airlines from Asian countries who, in my experience, keep the cabin temperature warm enough to grow orchids in Iceland. I was woken hours later by the clinking of cutlery in the galley, and having returned from the spotless bathroom, was offered breakfast. The dim sum were hot and tasty; everything on the tray was tasty. Breakfast was offered as passengers woke, rather than throwing the lights on and insisting people wake-up because the trolley is coming. Very civilised, and other airlines could learn a lot from this. We arrived in Sydney on time, and I must say that China Eastern was surprisingly good. I didn't have sky-high expectations, but that was wrong. The English skills of the crew on the PVG-SYD sector ranged from very good to excellent, and the crew were attentive and very polite. All in all, a positive experience on MU for a very very keen price. I would gladly fly with them again in business class.

PVG-SIN. Interesting experience. After some exercise walking around the terminal to check in found the Biz class check in and found the service courteous but the area run down in appearance. Made it through immigration and security easily but struggled to find the correct lounge. Once there it was not worth the effort. Uncomfortable seats and well worn furnishings. Strolled down to the gate and learned that departure time is the real boarding time. Fought my way through the line onto the bus and then shoved my way to the stairs and made the climb. I found if I didn't assert myself I would keep getting cut in front of the line. Once onboard seats were old style angled beds. Service was courteous and smiles were plentiful. My jacket was ignored until about 3 hours into the flight. My meal order was taken chicken ordered and beef delivered. Debated pointing this out but decided between my language skills and the crew's skills I should enjoy the beef. I think there were inflight announcements from the cockpit but they were difficult to hear. I did have to ask for water about halfway into the flight and after asking got regular top offs. Would I do it again? Probably but would not do a TransPac. For a five hour trip service and food was up there with service I have received on US carriers.

Economy Bangkok to Fukuoka via Shanghai on 22 May return 1 June. All flights new aircraft B777 BKK-PVG and B737 PVK-FUK. All flights arrived on time and service was excellent. This is the fourth time I have flown on China Eastern and this trip was typical of my previous experiences.

June 1 from Kunming to Shenyang flight boarded on time but did not take off due to mechanical problems. After one hour back to the gate no information - nothing. After 1.5 hours boarding again without any announcements. Then another 45 minutes on the tarmac before taking off - all in all 3 hours late. No apologies. Food inedible announcements (if any) not audible. Airplane (after change to another one) brand new and clean. As usual no recognition of your Gold Skyteam membership. Luggage last on the belt even with priority markings. Too bad there isn't a good alternative between Kunming and Shenyang at a decent time.

Flight from Xi’an to Hong Kong should take 2hr 25min. Flight departed on-time at 1pm but further delays resulted in arrival in Hong Kong 12 hours later at 1am. Delays were due to bad weather in Hong Kong leading to diverting flight to land in Guangzhou airport at 5.30pm. Cabin crew didn't notify passengers of the diversion until plane was about to land at Guangzhou 4.5 hours after departing Xi'an at 1om. Passengers remained on board for 1.5 hours until we were bussed to terminal at 7pm where we only stayed for 30-35 minutes and re-boarded the plane at 7.30pm. A very light meal and bottled water was provided to passengers who had a few minutes to consume the meal. Passengers remain in the take-off position at their seats for the next 2 hours without any clue until the plane finally took off at 10pm. After landing the plane in Hong Kong the passengers remained on the plane for 2 hrs until 1am. Due to many planes in the queue from the delay the baggage claim pickup added more delays along with the delays in getting public transportation to leave the airport. At this time the public buses had ended leaving only a few choices - taxis airport express train and private cars. The cabin crew failed to communicate clearly the delay to passengers failed to allow passengers to be in a comfortable position during the delay provide refreshments during the time (2+ hours) on board plane waiting for bus to go to terminal or waiting for gate to be available. The cabin crew needs to communicate better in the future. 12 hour travel time for a 2h 25m flight from Xi'an to Hong Kong.