China Eastern Airlines

Flew Kunming-Dhaka return and back to Shenyang with MU they should change their code to AL (always late). I must admit however that there were announcements from the cockpit in English! A first time ever after flying 10 years with MU. MU would not be my first choice but no alternatives from Kunming to Bangladesh. MU is way behind CZ when it comes to service food quality and general appearance. Business class lounge in Kunming had a very nice breakfast with bacon and eggs but you have to be early after 9 am it is gone. Recognition of your Gold Skyteam status is non existent.

Overall review I flew out on the 17 November 2014 from Paris To Shanghai with a connecting flight to Manila before I left I received an email informing me that my Manila segment was cancelled due to operating difficulties and offered the options to cancel some other day or accept the day layover in Shanghai having already booked an onward flight from Manila I argued that they should transfer me to a different airline at their cost which was accepted. Needles to say on arrival in Shanghai the transfer option to a different airline had been cancelled I was transferred to a hotel for the night which was a reasonable standard hotel. No further comments on the outward Journey accept the food on the Manila Flight was something I could have got at a 7/11 before boarding it was a suppose worse as I had no choice once aboard. Return flight 17/03/2015 Manila Shanghai-London. 1 week before departure on ringing China eastern to recall my flight details was informed that my London segment was cancelled (due to operational difficulties) and that I would have to lay over in a hotel for a day at their expense. Flight MU 212 took of on time from Manila and had been in the air for 30 minutes when the captain announced that there was fog over Shanghai and we did not have enough fuel on board to wait for it to clear (he said 40 minutes) we would be returning to Manila so after burning off enough fuel to land we had a splash and dash to Shanghai we had enough time to get a snack in the shops at Manila as nothing was offered by the airline we took off again about 3 hours behind schedule. Food again was very poor on landing at Shanghai was transferred to a poorer state hotel where the staff had very limited English and poorer quality rooms then the hotel on the way out was picked up by coach in the morning and transferred to the airport.

I flew on two domestic sectors KMG-JHG JHG-KMG and one international sector KMG-SIN. Domestic flight was interesting. I checked into the Domestic Skyteam Elite counter at Kunming Airport and gave them my Garuda Gold card (Skyteam Elite). They had never seen the card nor heard of the airline before. Thank goodness I could speak Mandarin and understood the question the counter staff was asking another puzzled colleague and could tell them it was an Indonesian carrier within the Skyteam. After checking in for me she tagged my luggage with priority baggage handling which was only accorded to Skyteam Elite Plus members but hey I wouldn't complain. The one hour flight from KMG to JHG was short. It was operated on a B737-200 which was relatively comfortable on the second row of the economy cabin. I had the aisle seat and slept through the flight. There was no personal IFE on board. Water and a packet of candies were distributed as you boarded the aircraft. On my flight back from JHG-KMG I had the same puzzled look from the check in counter staff about my Garudamiles Gold card. The Skyteam/Business Class counter was not open which was strange. The domestic queues for economy class was long. Flew the B737-300 and the aircraft had a slightly newer configuration than the flight from KMG-JHG. It was a full flight and the crew were just busy trying to get every one on board. Flight was okay. Same bottled water and a pack of candies as you board. For the KMG-SIN International leg we had to clear immigration at KMG and collect our luggage. Get out of airside and proceed to landside departures to check in. Checked into the business class counter as there were only two counters and which every was empty served me. Again had to explain to them about Garudamiles. Flew on an A320. The best configuration and seat comfort with blankets provided. Before departure a cabin crew came to me and spoke to me in Mandarin welcoming me as a Skyteam Elite member and offered me a bottle of water and politely told me to speak to any of the crew members should I need anything. Thought that was a pretty cool gesture to recognise the Skyteam Elite members even for the lower of the two premium tiers. There was no individual IFE but there were screens on board which you could watch Just for Laughs without the sound. Earpieces were not provided but given the flight was at 1045pm scheduled to arrive into Singapore at 2am I slept through most of the flight. The supper was just a box of bun and cake some peanuts and water. You could ask for other beverages which I got an orange juice. This flight carried only 60 passengers and i was fortunate to get the fourth row of three seats in the single aisle aircraft all to myself with room to stretch. Overall I would fly China Eastern again. That's also because I speak some Mandarin and it was easier to communicate with the crew who were always polite.

I am amazed at the bagging that the Chinese carriers get on this site. I am based in Qingdao China and do a minimum of 20 domestic flights every year mostly on China Eastern and Shandong Airlines. I have been using Chinese carriers now for 13 years. My last trip was from Qingdao to Bangkok and return via Shanghai Pudong. Checked in at Qingdao and my bag was checked all the way to BKK flight took off from Qingdao on time and landed on time in Pudong. Flight itself was uneventful aircraft was an A320 breakfast in a box was served along with your choice of drink. There was a slight delay boarding the Bangkok flight boarding was from an underground "gate" which of course meant a bus ride to the plane. Flight was on an Airbus A320 no IFE and due to the inevitable backlog at Pudong took off about 1 hour late. The service on board was good was able to get a couple of beers before lunch although lunch itself was horrendous but not to worry as there is plenty of good food at our destination Bangkok. Flight did make up some time en route but as I was going on holiday (Chinese Spring Festival) I wasn't bothered. Baggage was on belt by the time I cleared immigration. The return flight whilst having a MU flight number was actually operated by China Eastern's sister airline Shanghai airways. Flight was on a Boeing 737-800 and was pretty uneventful lunch was a delicious Thai curry so much better than the lunch served on the inbound flight- different catering I guess. Arrived at Pudong on time then had a 5 hour wait for my domestic MU flight back to Qingdao. There is not much to do at Shanghai Pudong Terminal 1 -however found a nice restaurant on level 2 of terminal 1 called the Hope Star restaurant where you can have a nice cup of coffee and an edible sandwich for 80 Yuan (ca $12) which is a very good price for an airport and you can sit there in a comfortable seat for hours. Flight back to Qingdao was on an Airbus A330 which is actually a leg of a San Francisco-Pudong-Qingdao flight so was equipped with IFE however due to the short flight time 1 hour 15 mins-nothing worth watching. All in all a good trip I have been flying now for 40 years averaging 30 flights per year been flying long before the introduction of IFE so I know how to amuse myself on a flight-modern travellers are too demanding and cannot amuse themselves. I believe that the Chinese carriers are very good-I do not need constant updates from the flight deck I am not a movie or rock star and do not need the cabin crew to be falling all over me. I will admit that there are communication issues with the Chinese carriers but when you board the flight smile and say Ni Hao you will immediately have broken down some barriers. You get much better value for money and service on Chinese carriers than you do on similar flights in Europe and the US. Now long haul flights well different story you pays your money and you take your chances.

Flight from Nagoya to Shanghai. 3 hours delay without any compensation. No passenger communication at all from the ground staff at Nagoya. While seated in the aircraft next to an emergency exit. A male flight attendant tells me the emergency briefing of Not to touch the emergency door! The flight was set for 2.5 hours from this we had constant 2 hours of moderate turbulence - what bothered me the most was that the flight crew did not even once speak with the passages explaining the situation on why and the probable estimation of the turbulence. The cabin temperature was set extremely high. An overall rating for this quick flight. A full nightmare from arrival at the China Eastern counter until leaving the airport with my bags at my destination. This company has zero customer care and support.

Had 3 flights with MU last week 2 domestic and 1 international. Had rather booked with another airline but no choice. All flights delayed one to two hours. No apologies no explanation. As usual no English spoken no recognition of your Elite status bags last ones on the belt. Compared with China Southern is this airline far behind in service level. Price was right but that is really the only good thing I can say about it.

I had a round trip from Toronto to Dhaka and back to Toronto. There were two stops in China at Kunming and Shanghai. At both stops they gave us all our Baggage back as they don't take the baggage directly to the destination. At one of the stops we had to wait 12 hours for the next flight and they did not provide a hotel or food coupons. There is no entertainment no TV on the back of the seat no toys or books for kids no personal items like toothbrush or paste or socks. The food did not taste very good and there was also not a lot of it. Overall the service was very poor.

From Bangkok to Shanghai the meal was very good. On the return flight no meal was served and we were given a tray of wrapped biscuits-that's disgraceful. On flight from Shanghai to Harbin and return Chinese passengers asked us to swap seats. My friend refused but the stewardess basically insisted I comply.

Had to fly Sydney to Beijing. Qantas sells a codeshare with China Eastern so decided it seemed most efficient flight. What they don't tell you is that you have to get off at Nanjing and clear customs. That is the passenger has to not the baggage. The flight then becomes a domestic flight so service basically stops. When you arrive in Beijing you have to do a baggage clearance through customs. Was very confused about the seat belt sign. Although the pre-flight safety video said "when the seat belt sign is illuminated return to your seat and fasten your seat belt" the sign was never not illuminated. When I asked how we knew it was okay to move around the cabin there was no response. When asked how did I know when I had to return to my seat I was told there would be two "dings" from above. Unless you ask you have to assume it's safety by telepathy because nobody tells you anything. In business class was offered the hand written menu. Yep hand written on a piece of scrap paper. How very rustic. The choice of drinks was limited and once you chose one that was what you drank the entire flight. Well the entire flight until after Nanjing when there was no gin and tonic served because it was now a domestic flight albeit the same now tired looking tech crew and aircraft. The seats were comfortable enough but the aircraft was tired and in need of fixing things such as rips and tears on seats and around the cabin. Not sure the nose tissues really worked as hand towels in the toilets as they tended to break up a bit too quickly for one to dry one's hands. Why bother? The headset for the IFE was a DYI: you are given a headset and the batteries to install into it. That's a first. The IFE offered bore no relation to what was indicated in the one and only inflight magazine (no entertainment guide) between two seats. It was torn and weather beaten on 3rd January. Qantas should be ashamed and embarrassed selling this as a business class codeshare. Next time it's Hong Kong and Cathay. And if you're flying business class don't expect any priority exit from the aircraft.

Flew China Eastern's airbus 320 from MEL to LAX via PVG (stayed in PVG for couple nights). I am a frequent flyer and I have to say the most airlines are very similar these days and China Eastern is no exception. All of our flights are on time and seats are reasonably good it's the first time I've seen China Eastern use personal IFE at the back of each economy seats good range of movies. However their staff service standards were quite different in each flight something they really need to improve in the future. Our MEL to PVG service was much better than PVG to LAX flight ironically food was the other way around though overall I consider it's value for money.