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.

From Kunming to Dakha and return a few days later. Flights slightly delayed. Airplane clean. Food inedible. Announcements in English not readable. No recognition of Gold Skyteam membership. Sometimes one can really not understand how they managed to become a member of Skyteam.

DEL-PVG 6 May. PVG-Yichang 6 May. Guilin-PVG 15 May. PVG-DEL 15 May. We travelled with very low expectations. Even then we were surprised by the shoddy service. Firstly it is a bad idea to serve dinner at 3am as soon as the flight takes off. 80% of the passengers are asleep by then. Then when it is morning we don't get a meal before landing when we are hungry. Secondly on the PVG-DEL sector there was no choice of meals except veg and fish. Surprisingly the flight had only 6 cans of beer and 1 bottle of only red wine per cabin. It is not in good taste to tell a customer that the drinks are finished. Thirdly when we reached Guilin airport security check and departure area we were informed that due to a storm our flight had landed in Nanning so we had to wait. However no one spoke English in the airport CE office was unmanned for most of the day and no information was given to passengers as per time of departure. We were forced to sit in the airport for 15 hours. They took us to a hotel at 8 pm and immediately brought us back but the flight did not leave till 3 am on 16th May. The airport was not able to provide enough meals - certainly nothing vegetarian for my husband. We were made to wait for 2 hours at the arrivals before we were packed into a bus with 12 other persons and taken to a 3 star Chinese hotel - again no reasonable breakfast or any English speaking help. In all we would think twice before travelling by CE again in a long time.

April 2nd return on April 17th. Outgoing flight MU552 plus MU2504 MU2342 MU5183 and return flight MU551. We have just returned from a 3 week trip to China. I had read all the negative reviews about China Eastern and approached the flights with great trepidation. We did long haul to Shanghai then several internal flights then one flight back to UK from Beijing via Shanghai. Apart from one very inedible breakfast I was completely satisfied with my flights. The staff were attentive pleasant and polite and the food good. My only criticism is that they don't really serve alcoholic beverages and my husband was only allowed 1 beer on the way home. For a budget airline the service was good and all flights took off and landed on time. Well done China Eastern airlines.

This is the worst long haul airline that we have ever flown with from a customer service point of view. Cabin crew were miserable and down right rude when we asked for 2 white wines. We were told that only red was available in an abrupt manner beer cola lemonade or water which when you are on a 13 hour flight was disgraceful. The food was bad we were starving and nothing was available that met our palette considering that the seats had been pre booked by Mercury Holidays I would have thought that provision could have been made for European customers. The economy seats were very uncomfortable as there was not enough padding so a very long journey seemed much longer.

I was so impressed with this airline's offer to NYC from Shanghai especially given the price. Brand new aircraft (3/4 months old) professional and polite cabin crew reasonable food plenty of water/juice offerings blankets and to top it - emergency exit aisle seats offered on both legs for no additional fee.

Traveled between SIN-NYC via PVG (RT) on economy. SIN-PVG-SIN flights were old and had no in-flight entertainment but PVG-NYC-PVG are modern (777-300) and had good movie selection however they do not turn it on until an hour after take-off and turn it off 30 min-45 min before landing. Staff barely speaks English and sometimes act rude (specially in SIN-PVG-SIN sectors). Food (including the selection) is very poor and below average in all sectors. Sometimes they only serve Beef or Pork so good luck if you don't eat either. So overall you can survive but this is definitely not ANA or Japan Airlines. I might still fly with them if tickets are really cheap (at least 1/3 cheaper).

Great round trip from PVG to SFO non-stop. On-time both ways (although I know this is not common for CEA). Plane was a new 330-200 with a well-equipped IFE. Very clean very nice. The flight was only about 40% full going to SFO and maybe 60% coming back. The stewardess told me that this was pretty normal for this flight maybe a combination of it being a new segment as well as the low season? I don't know but it was lovely. The regular economy seating seemed to have fairly spacious legroom but I didn't have to experience it since I was able to switch to the exit aisle on both flights. The gate attendant in PVG told me that there were no exit aisle seats available but they were clearly all empty when I got on the plane so I moved myself. On the way back the attendant in SFO was able to get me into an exit aisle seat with no fuss whatsoever and no additional fee either (looking at you US major airlines and your "economy plus/economy comfort" seat class). The Chinese on the flight preferred to try to get an entire empty row to themselves allowing them to lay down across the economy seats so there was no competition for the exit aisle seats. Service was friendly and polite (I speak Chinese so I can't comment on their language ability). Food was just average but not a deal breaker. Looking forward to taking this flight again. Also in SFO I was able to switch my return flight from SFO-PEK to SFO-PVG without any change fee since the original Beijing flight had me transferring in Shanghai anyway. Class! Can't imagine Delta letting you do that.

Apr 2 MU 748. Apr 3 FM 9451. Apr 3 MU 757. Apr 3 MU 2583. China Eastern Airlines must be one of the most unprofessional non-service oriented airlines available for your air travel needs. As a first time flyer with China Eastern I experienced multiple-long two hour-delays uncomfortable seating rude unhelpful airport staff flight attendants that do not speak English and to top it off a canceled flight. A connecting flight in Shanghai was canceled just a few minutes before departure with no explanation given. The Flight Status app noted that the plane that was supposed to be in the gate for that flight landed at another airport. Maybe China Eastern needs to do a tune up on their flight navigation instruments. The ticketing staff in Shanghai booked me on another flight at another airport an hour away! No compensation was provided for food hotel or transportation to the airport. To add insult to injury the agent at the check-in counter did not book my bags all the way so I had to get them for a second time in Kunming and re-check them before the final leg of my journey. Never again China Eastern.

I am currently at Pudong International Airport with my wife and our flight has been delayed three times transferring to Nanchang and we have been stuck here for 12 hours. No apology has been acknowledged nor has there been any reparations since it is China. This is my fist time visiting China and certainly my last. I refuse to fly on China Eastern ever again and will see if we can pay extra just to avoid our trip back to Honolulu being delayed. I wish I had read this sooner so that's could've simply paid a few hundred dollars more to avoid this horrible mishap.

I recently flew with China Eastern Airlines and it was a terrible experience. Without any warning or explanation my flight from Bali via Shanghai to Toronto was delayed by two days and I was told I would have a 24 hour layover in Shanghai at my own expense (technically I would not be permitted to leave the airport without a visa). When I tried to speak to a representative in Bali I was informed that China Eastern does not have representatives in the country - only ticket agents. The website does not provide a customer service email (which is a fairly unique approach) and when I finally got through to an English speaking China Eastern office operating out of Vancouver (from my hotel in Bali) I was informed that I needed to speak with the Shanghai office. Finally when I got to Shanghai nobody from China Eastern was in the least bit interested in either explaining what happened. I will never fly with China Eastern again.

Our flight was from LAX to Shanghai. Our flight left on time both directions. The plane was clean and the seats were fairly comfortable. They reclined much more than a lot of economy class flights I've been on. We were served two full meals and one snack. The food was probably a 3 on a scale of 1-5. Not as awful as I expected. Usually chicken pork beef or fish with noodles or rice. We did get salads on the LA leg. They only served red wine and beer and when the two bottles of red wine was gone that was it. No mixed drinks. Our flight attendants spoke a little English and were courteous. My big complaint was I booked this flight through Webjet and it was difficult to confirm our flight. Tried calling several times and was on hold for over 45 minutes once with no answer. Web site was difficult to navigate I eventually emailed China Eastern and was told I was confirmed. I was unable to choose seats. If you can choose your seats try rows 70-74 with window seats as there are only two seats instead of three. I was able to score these seats on the return flight. The inflight entertainment was excellent with over 50 English speaking movies to choose from as well as some foreign films and games.

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.

Was on a Qantas codeshare using a QF flight number but with China Eastern PEK to PUD. The check in at Beijing terminal 2 business class is a joke. There is no signage to the special business class check-in so I ended up at an economy clerk and thought so what. Oh no one must go to business class section which was back near the front of the terminal without any special signage. Was attended to by a most rude woman who had no idea about customer service. The baggage belt behind her to whisk away the business class bags was not working (whether it ever does or not I know not) so I had to walk back with my bags attended to by a busboy of sorts who took me back to the economy class check in area so my bags could go on the belt. Obviously no deviation from the plan allowed. He then demanded a tip! After customs and security (very helpful and most patient people given the rudeness of others they attended to) I made it to the circa 1974 business class lounge. Entry about that under lounges. In the end I gave up on the tired crowded and unhelpful "lounge" which was more like a noisy eating competition arena and went to the gate. No aerobridge just another mini bus. The flight had the same problem with the seat belt signs it was never extinguished so it seemed okay to get up and wander about when the wheels had left the ground. Although told not to use electronic devices nobody really either bothered to obey or enforce it as the pax in business must be very important and know all about safety. The aircraft (A321) was tired and dirty and in need of repair to internal fittings. Didn't bother with any IFE as it didn't seem to work and headsets were not offered. On arrival at Pudong Terminal 1 there was no assistance to find the way to the Qantas flight at Terminal 2 so it just took a bit of working out. Although I was travelling on QF indicated flights there was no one stop service and it was all very disjointed and unhelpful.

Shanghai - Yantai in Business Class. Flight on a new A320 aircraft - the Business Class section actually has larger seats with more legroom compared to many short haul business class cabins so had a feeling that you are actually getting something extra for your money. Seats in 4-abreast configuration in the business section and very comfortable. Hot meal was served with soft drinks tea and coffee but no alcoholic beverages offered (which I didn't mind as it was a lunchtime flight and I had an afternoon meeting to attend). It is also worth pointing out that you have priority going through security which is an advantage during busy times. There was access to a lounge close to the gate which was basic by western standards but adequate. Whilst some aspects of the service would be considered basic by Western standards I am told by my Chinese colleague who made the arrangements that Business class domestic fares in China are quite competitive.

We flew from Manila to Rome via Shanghai. First I had been booked for months and "just happened" to call the airline to double check baggage allowance 2 weeks before my flight and was told "oh sorry that flight has been cancelled!" Though they had my cell# and email there was no warning. They then rebooked us for the following day however the day we were to leave Manila our flight was delayed 10 hours with no updates and every time I tried to get them to work out an alternate route as delay had cost us our connecting flight to Rome I was told "we can't do that here Shanghai has it all set". Got to Shanghai and in very limited English they said they refuse to put me on a partner airline and I was rebooked on China Eastern for the following day. The next day service on the aircraft was very poor awful meals and I timed over 4 hours that not one stewardess was visible no drinks offered and with meals no diet drinks are available. We fly internationally for business several times a year and by far this is the worst airline I have flown by a wide margin. For an international airline the lack of language and customer service is simply inexcusable. Many passengers on our flight said they would never fly this airline again.

I flew China Eastern's new YYZ to PVG direct service and multiple flights within Asia. I chose China Eastern because it saved me some money. I am a veteran traveler and to my recollection I have flown over 40 airlines in various locales around the world China Eastern is by far the worst airline it has ever been my misfortune to fly. The staff were incompetent. (At the airport I asked if I could upgrade. And after 3 attempts including trying to overcome the language barrier with the supervisor I gave up). The food was inedible. You know it is bad when you choose the pasta with seafood and the flight attendant asks "Are you sure?" and shows you the food before giving it to you). The seat was uncomfortable. (Old material not enough legroom). The in-flight entertainment was unviewable and had the worst English dub ever. If the website had allowed me to leave them no stars in any category I would have because they don't deserve any. No matter how much money you may save by flying this airline it is not worth it.

Not an enjoyable flight. Staff abrupt and not friendly. Had to keep window blind down the whole flight. Cold. Food terrible. And though not the fault of the airline they work out of Shanghai Airport where the staff are truly rude and the transit area is cold miserable uncomfortable and very expensive.

We flew LHR-PVG-SYD return and were pleasantly surprised by China Eastern. After reading the reviews we were expecting the worst but the service was good the staff spoke enough English to communicate well and we had our own individual entertainment units with a good selection of recent movies. Three flights were around 10 hours and one was about 13 hours long and on all four we were served 2 full meals (generally a choice of one Asian meal and one Western meal). Seats were comfortable and had a decent amount of space in economy. Only complaints would be that it was not possible to check-in online and that their seat allocation system doesn't seem to seat people that are travelling together next to each other. We were two people booked together and on our PVG-SYD and PVG-LHR flights (which we checked in for over 13 hours in advance as they were our second flights) we weren't given seats together despite specifically requesting it for the return SYD-PVG-LHR flights at the check-in desk. We went to the service helpdesk and the woman was able to change it with no problems so not sure why the original guy couldn't give us seats together. We noticed a number of couples and groups not seated together on the PVG-SYD flight so definitely request it when checking in and follow up at the service desk if still not seated together. Seat configuration on all four flights was 2-4-2.

SYD-PVG-FRA-PVG-SYD in Dec/Jan. Second long-haul flight to Europe with CE and as with the first faultless. On time departures and usually early arrivals (30 minutes early on PVG-FRA leg). Menu choices just right and beer wine and spirits plentiful. Other amenities/facilities could not be faulted. Yes the crew's English is a second language resulting in a few communication lags but isn't one benefit of travel to gain exposure to other cultures? The provision of the courtesy car in Shanghai a definite bonus. Planning for next holiday was started by checking CE routes and will be built around one of those destinations.

We flew from London to Manila via Shanghai. The service on the aircraft was very poor with most of the cabin crew having very limited English. The food was just about edible. Getting served was very hit and miss with some crew just walking up and down the aisle with drinks and not asking each passenger if they wanted anything. It was up to passengers to attract their attention and many time people were just ignored. Some staff were friendly some barely hid their contempt for the passengers. We booked a baby bassinet but it wasn't provided and the cabin crew couldn't even understand what we wanted when we asked so we had to spend a 13 hour flight with a baby on our laps. No children's meals were provided even though we booked them. We checked the baby buggy at the gate in Heathrow. When we got to Shanghai it had disappeared and it took us several hours of speaking to unhelpful staff to get it back. Shanghai airport is a huge gloomy depressing place with zero facilites beyond basic seating and horrifically expensive shops. 8GBP for a fruit juice. All in all the worst airline I have flown with by a wide margin. For an international airline the lack of language skills and training of the staff is inexcusable and the staff's attitude to the people who pay their wages is totally unacceptable.

Very comfortable flights and CAN checking in staff helped me to change my CAN-SHA flight so that I arrived at Pudong rather than Honqaiou airport. No hassle with it and it saved me transferring between 2 Shanghai airports. The only let down was a tiny business lounge at Pudong airport. A few rows of seats without any coffee tables in front of them and just 2 tables with bar stools in the lounge. I liked the attentive service but it may be that I do not require inane and meaningless smiles at every contact like some reviewers demand. Staff smiled when appropriate and provided excellent service.

Shanghai to Melbourne on 16 December 2014. There was an inadequate announcement of safety protocols and the laminated leaflet was inadequate. The cabin was dingy from the 1970s and not cleaned thoroughly - there was rubbish from the previous flight(s) both on the floor and in the seat folio. The entertainment system was appalling. The selection of movies did not include any current releases. The "nostalgia" section contained not one but two Shirley Temple films. The screen image and subtitles were shadowy and blurred and the sound quality was very poor. No drinks were provided after take off. After 95 minutes I asked a flight attendant if I might have some water. The request was met with a surly look and the flight attendant said that drinks would be served with the meal service in 20 minutes. I asked the flight attendant for water again and after 15 minutes a plastic cup half filled was produced. Things got worse. Children were permitted to use the cabin as an activity area and continually ran along aisles shouting and squealing. The meal was lukewarm. The dinner roll was at least two days old the savoury roll at least three. The chicken dish was tepid and the rice came in a rectangular non friable block apparently not heated. Dessert was a canned peach half and pear quarter. There was no fresh fruit nor vegetables. A third glass of wine was offered - the polite question "could I have a little more?" was met with stony indifference. The coffee like the cabin was from the 1970s.

I flew CE during my vacation to Japan which transits via Shanghai. Everything was fine until the last segment back to Singapore. Of all the 3 segments made I had no problems using my phone to watch movies which I've downloaded but in the last segment from Shanghai to Singapore (MU545) I was told to power down my phone. I did so promptly as requested but after some thoughts I had to ask the stewardess again to be sure. I know many airlines already allow the use of digital devices even during takeoff and landing. Some airlines may not adopt the practice yet but to go to the extent of disallowing the use of my phone (in flight mode) during cruising was really extreme to me. All laptops or tablets are ok. I was really surprised and felt embarrassed as I felt like I was being picked upon. I've travelled with other airlines using my phone to watch movies without any problems. In the end the 6hr journey was a torture. I could only wait for my food I guess. Then food came and I was asked to choose. But by the time I was served the crew couldn't provide me with what I wanted. There was no more choices. Too bad if you don't like rice with eels. No more CE for me.

Flew on 5th Dec SHA to HKG. A330. It was my first flight with China Eastern and I would say it was a pleasant surprise. The aircraft was clean seat comfortable and plenty of leg room. IFE fair touch screen and the cabin crew friendly even if not so professional. Last but not least we departed on time. Overall the cost for the quality provided is really fair.

I flew this in September from SIN-JFK with a stopover in Shanghai. The flight from Shanghai to JFK was the worst flight I've experienced. The seats do not recline (terrible on a 14 hour flight) there is no TV at the seats and the overhead entertainment is one of the worst. The food is almost inedible. This flight is not worth it especially on a long haul flight.

Flew Guangzhou - Shanghai - Sydney on 22 November 2014. Very comfortable flights and CAN checking in staff helped me to change my CAN - SHA flight so that I arrived at Pudong rather than Honqaiou airport. No hassle with it and it saved me transferring between 2 Shanghai airports. The only let down was a tiny business lounge at Pudong airport. A few rows of seats without any coffee tables in front of them and just 2 tables with bar stools in the lounge. I liked the attentive service but it may be that I do not require inane and meaningless smiles at every contact like some reviewers demand. Staff smiled when appropriate and provided excellent service.

Flew from Shanghai to Toronto. Most passengers had two full size carry-on baggage so cabin storage was all full. Spoken English by flight attendants is poor to terrible. No on board movies. Ok unless you are Chinese and don't mind staring at a 13 inch screen at 10 paces to watch a poor movie dubbed in Chinese. Flight attendants kept insisting (twice) I turn off my iPhone (of course on airplane mode) which I was reading from even though I pointed at two other (Chinese passengers) who clearly had their mobile devices on and she did not bother them at all! Very poor operation by staff - wrong gate info displayed on monitors which did not come on until well after a huge line up formed we had to ask which counter to go to. Flight attendants did not show any pleasantness as if they did not want to be there at all.

We flew from Sydney to Shanghai. Both ground staff and cabin crew were lovely people attentive and helpful. We were feed twice and the food was very good. The seating was roomy and not uncomfortable. We took a laptop with movies with us so can not comment on their entertainment. This was our first long flight and we were very happy with the trip. Will not hesitate to fly with China Eastern again.

MU5373 (PVG-CSX) on 4/10/2014. Having read the largely negative reviews here I was hesitant when selecting a flight from PVG to CSX but decided to give it a try as the timing was desirable. I was pleasantly surprised at the end of my journey. The flight was punctual no issue with baggage food and beverages were decent and satisfying attentive flight attendants who made multiple trips to provide beverages as well as the leg room being more spacious than expected. Overall it was a very decent domestic flight. PVG airport was also fairly efficient in terms of check-in handling as well as easy to navigate around.

I travelled from Paris to Shanghai in business class. Going out the configuration was 1-2-1. Coming back it was 2-2-2. I have read a lot of negative reviews about this airline but actually it was very reasonable. The business class ticket was very cheap in my opinion. We had full flat bed seats on both legs of the journey which were very comfortable indeed. Food was average. Service was average but typical Chinese standard. Check in at both ends was efficient. For the price I paid there is nothing to moan about and would definitely fly with them again in business class.

My daughter and I recently flew Sydney to Beijing Beijing to Xian Xian to Guilin Shanghai to Sydney. I was a bit worried after reading so many negative reviews but found China Eastern to be equal to or better than many other airlines I have flown with. The planes were clean and comfortable (by plane standards) and the staff were very professional and helpful with quite good English. The meals (all Chinese) were tasty. There was usually a choice between noodles and rice but the noodles were difficult to eat because of the shape of the fork. The only alcohol served was beer and red wine with dinner. If you want to party and annoy the other passengers this is not the airline for you! On most of our flights the monitors dropped down from the ceiling so there was not a choice of entertainment but on the flight from Shanghai to Sydney we had personal monitors with a wide choice of TV movies games etc. Mine was not working and I was offered a change of seat which I declined as I spent most of my time sleeping anyway. Our planes were all on time (or close enough) and check-in and baggage claim were efficient. Overall we were impressed by the service and quite satisfied with our experience - good value for money!

Flew their new B77W from SHA to PEK in F two weeks ago. Overall the experience was mixed. Pros - needless to say brand new airplane and facilities. Above average (based on my experience on Chinese carriers) crew. Meal was nicely presented. Large IFE screen with plenty of choices. Cons - my seat did not go flat. I don't know if it's a mechanical failure so I asked an attendant to help me. She wasn't able to recline it either. Maybe acceptable for this 2hrs flight but certainly unacceptable for long haul. Annoying ads before every IFE program but overall worth trying out.

I flew China Eastern on a recent trip between Melbourne and China. The seats are very uncomfortable they are skinny and hard with little leg room. I am 6'2" tall and requested an exit aisle seat for extra leg room which they accommodated however they said there was no way one of my travel companions could sit with me and the 5 people from my group were seated at the other end of the plane from me. This would be fine if all the exit aisle seats and other seats around me weren't empty once we were fully boarded! The food was acceptable and there were regular drinks offered their English style breakfast was odd to say the least I would opt for the Asian style were I to travel with them again. The service on the flight was friendly and welcoming. The TV on any of the flights didn't work for me either there was no sound or the screen wouldn't stay up or it just wouldn't turn on. Not on a single flight did it work. It did work for some of my travel companions and they tell me they were able to watch some recent movies and TV shows with a selection of English Indian Chinese and Japanese shows to choose from. I can't really comment on the quality however as I was never able to access it. All in all it is a budget airline and you get what you pay for but it was much better quality than I expected for the bargain price we paid.

Flew Sept 10/14 Vancouver to Shanghai return Sept 25 plus 4 domestic flights. All planes were new comfy and had great staff! The 330-200's had individual entertainment screens. We were surprised and impressed. No baggage issues no problems. One of the 6 flights was late 20 minutes. It was a tour arranged by China star well done on all accounts.

We had 5 flights with China Eastern while visiting China and Hong Kong. Our largest journey was Heathrow to Shanghai. Staff were very helpful and friendly. Aeroplane was very comfortable and choice of entertainment was fantastic. Only problem on every flight there was not a Vegetarian meal for me this was booked with our Tour Operator and requested three times during our visit. The Steward on the Heathrow flight managed to find some food for me so I thank him for that.

For the price it was great bang for my buck. I flew a roundtrip from Seoul to New Delhi for $450 can't beat that. Everyone else was charging at least $1000. The plane to New Delhi was nice and had a PTV screen in the seat. The food was whatever but it an airline food so I don't have high expectations. The stewardess were a refreshing change from US carriers. I would definitely fly with them again. I wrote this review to balance all the negative things said. I was completely satisfied with everything.

MU598 Vancouver to Shanghai July 12th. MU581 Shanghai to Vancouver August 10th. I took a round trip between Vancouver and Shanghai with China Eastern. The flight attendants spoke fluent English (with a Chinese accent). The planes on both trips were new Airbus A330-200s (a huge improvement from the A340s I used to fly). The planes were clean with comfortable seats great inflight entertainment systems plenty of leg room and convenient USB charging ports. The meals were very tasty. The crews on the ground and in the air were very helpful and friendly. Both flights left on time one arrived on time and the other arrived an hour early. From the check-in to picking up my luggage at the destination the whole experience has been quite enjoyable. The fact that the whole trip cost me under $1000 made it even better!

I travel in and out of China regularly transferring at Guangzhou and then on to Kunming with China Southern Airlines. I was forced make changes to my usual pattern and ended up having to use China Eastern transferring to a domestic flight at Shanghai. I should have arrived at Kunming around midnight but due to 'unspecified delays' at Shanghai didn't clear Kunming airport till well after 4am. Return flight to Sydney was even worse. Left Kunming on time but with China Eastern there is a 6 hour wait at Shanghai for a connecting flight so my travel agent got me to transfer at Nanjing instead should have been only a 3 hour wait - Nanjing isn't set up for proper international transfers so you have to unload your baggage at Nanjing exit the domestic terminal and go through the booking process again at the international check in. And guess what China Eastern has different rules as regards baggage on domestic and international flights so I ended up having to abandon an oversized item I was bringing back at Nanjing airport. The officious supervisors at the China Eastern check in counter weren't interested in the fact that I had booked the baggage in at their Kunming counter knowing full well that I was flying on to Sydney. The kicker was that the flight on to Sydney was delayed 2.5 hours for 'unspecified reasons' so didn't even get the shorter wait time anticipated. I will in future be making every effort to avoid flying with China Eastern Airways or transferring via Shanghai and Nanjing.

I flew China Eastern Airlines from Chongqing-Jinan. The seats are very uncomfortable there is a very thin padding that separates your body from the metal under the seat. There is absolutely no entertainment no drop down TV screens or personal TV screens. The food is very nasty and tastes inedible the rice was very dry and tasted like it was over a week old the vegetables have no seasoning and tasted horrible the beef was the worst the meat tasted very dry and was under heated as though it were a leftover from another airline it was cooked in a sauce that had no flavor and tasted like water. Passengers randomly got up during take-off and landing when the seat belt sign was on and no flight attendants even tried to tell people to sit down. I will never fly China Eastern Airlines again because of it's terrible service and nasty food.

Flew LHR-PDG-SYD and returned three weeks later. Was somewhat tentative given some of the reviews on here but the price was at least £200 cheaper than next best fare. Needn't have worried the flights were punctual on all legs the planes were very clean and the attendants very helpful albeit some have limited English. The food was good though best on the legs from LHR and from SYD to PDG. IFE was excellent with a wide range of films and games. The flight booked for the return leg was changed three months prior to flying and we were informed by email. We left SYD later in the day and were accommodated in the airport hotel overnight in Shanghai which broke the journey up nicely. Would be happy to fly with this airline again.

My wife stepson and I chose this airline because I naively though they were trying to encourage travel to China how wrong I was. My wife has a mobility problem we were told by airline staff at Pudong airport that they must have the supplied wheelchair now so my wife was without a wheelchair for over one hour whilst I arranged with the information desk for a replacement wheelchair - she was unable to look in the shops or go to the toilet during this time. The crew that I had dealings with were more concerned with the requests of Chinese people before the other passengers probably because they spoke little or no English. On all the trips we had problems with obtaining a wheelchair for my wife the worst incident being on our return trip when we were checking in at 9.30am we were informed that no wheelchair was available until 11am. After nearly 30 minutes of trying to communicate with staff with a poor understanding of English and asking to speak to a manager we finally obtained a wheelchair then the flight was delayed by over two hours after being told to arrive at the departure gate an hour before take off so we could enter the plane on "priority". At no time were we given ant information for the delay and gate change and having to read the " Departures board" or ask at the Information desk. I had no inflight entertainment for the last three hours of the journey from Pudong to Heathrow.

Shanghai to Hong Kong to connect to Jet Airways for Mumbai - India 12th July 2014. This is the worst airline to travel. Most of the time the flights get delayed. Cabin crew cannot speak English. No timely announcements. Flight got delayed 3.5 hours missed my connecting Jet Airways flight. No proper care taken by ground staff at Hong Kong airport. No proper arrangement made for return to home destination.

Yichang to Shanghai on 9 June. Flight left on time. Plane clean but very little legroom. Flight an d cabin crew have very limited English. Impossible to understand the announcements. Pilot seemed to climb very high for a long time on take off. Flight was very bumpy with seat-belt sign on most of the flight. Landing was "interesting" - plane bounced onto runway. Not a pleasant experience.

SYD-SHA-YVR Economy Class. I was anxious about taking these flights as while I've flown internal flights within China on China Eastern I'd not yet used them long-haul. The aircraft interior was brand new on both legs with comfortable seats new-looking IFE screens although with quite a limited choice. The flight attendants were extremely polite friendly on boarding and very responsive to call requests. The food was adequate only in that it was edible - it was served on the SYD-SHA leg in a plastic box and on the SHA-YVR leg in a tray. The choice for both meals on both legs was just a variation of chicken/seafood rice/noodles. The dessert was okay though! Alcohol was very limited - just red wine and beer. But they were very responsive to refills (I asked early to avoid missing out). The return flight from Sydney to Vancouver was just AUD $1500 and to be honest - I felt that China Eastern has (so far) offered value for money.

Flew Shanghai Pudong (PVG) - Beijing (PEK) domestic first class on an A321. Lounge in PVG was a disappointment - I'd say below average standards across China based on my experiences. Flight itself was good. Seat was a recliner. Typical on narrow-body legroom was good but didn't recline much. Food was pretty tasty asked for beer and water and was provided. Crew came around often and were friendly. There was personal IFE but the controls were a bit difficult to figure out and the touch-screen was slow to respond. Overall a pleasant experience though minor things can be improved. Considering the price I paid (even a little less than full-fare economy when I booked a week in advance) I would definitely recommend.

June 14 KMG to BKK. Flight was on time only about half full or less. Flight attendants were polite and friendly. Food was acceptable given the only 2-hour flight. Because the airport was newly built and there were not many international flight out from KMG the international section of the airport was very spacious. Overall it was a good experience.

PVG-CCU via KMG June 8-9 Economy. My ticket clearly stated PVG-CCU. Flight was via KMG with a 23 hr. stopover. My booking for 8th June was cancelled by the airline due to cancellation of their KMG-CCU flight on June 8. At that time (a month before) I was given the option to cancel the entire booking but it was too late and any fresh booking would cost me much more so I opted for the date change to June 9. However when I arrived for check-in at PVG they refused to provide through check-in to CCU and said that I would have to collect my baggage at KMG and go for a fresh check-in. This was ridiculous since PVG is the home base of China Eastern and they can easily manage to put systems in place for through check-in for through bookings. But they refused and when I met the duty supervisor she told me to contact the check-in counter at KMG for immediate check-in. However as expected when I arrived at KMG at midnight none of their counters were open. I managed to locate the duty supervisor who refused to help out. I had to spend money and stay in a hotel. When I returned to the airport the next day around 6 pm again they refused to check me in until 9 pm.

SFO-PVG June 6 Economy. Aircraft was a A-330-200 which was quite new. Seats were good and the crew service also good. They were serving beverages and water throughout the 12 hour flight. The toilets were also being maintained by the crew. Two meals and a snack were served; which were reasonably OK. There was option of chicken-rice and beef-noodles for lunch but by the time they reached our seats (62) they ran out of the chicken. I had to wait some time and was given a vegetarian option instead. The flight was on time in fact arrived before schedule at Shanghai. However my later subsequent flights were a bad experience which is why I would avoid taking this airline in future.

I took Shanghai Airlines 767 (China Eastern Subsidiary) from Singapore to PVG then hopped on a China Eastern A340-600 on the long trip to JFK. Then a couple months later did the same thing in reverse. I loved my experience although such long flights are tough the China Eastern crew made it seem shorter. I am 6'4 so when I politely asked check-in attendants if they had any leg room seats I got them both times with no hassle and no extra charge which would never happen on any U.S. airlines. Food was decent entertainment was decent. But then again I don't fly for the food and entertainment. Staff was great and that's what counts.

I cannot recommend to take China Eastern within China as their staff is not able to speak English sufficiently. I was supposed to go from Changsha to Shanghai at 8 am this morning but the plane was delayed but nobody could tell me to the new departure was. My question about connection (3h 30min) or going via another route was understood by nobody. Arriving in Shanghai 4hrs late I just missed my connection and there was no help to rebook it (original quote: "No our fault bad weather" leaving me very disappointed waiting 12h for the next connection and never using China Eastern again.

PVG-SFO A330-200. Seats were OK. Flight pretty much on time and cabin crew were quite attentive. During the 11 hr flight they served 2 meals and 1 snack with rounds of water and juice. The meals were all Chinese but sufficient only choice of pork and fish was offered. The snack was hot and refreshing. The crew try to be friendly with their almost zero knowledge of English. The toilets were clean though no supplies inside no toothbrush or face lotion; only hand-wash. The choice of entertainment was poor though each seat had a screen and a USB port. Pillow and blanket was provided upon request. The seat belt signs were kept on for most of the flight duration. Only some airline magazines were available for reading.

Surprisingly enough online check in was not available. Flight schedule was not available online either. A330 middle cabin air conditioning didn't work. There were no air outlet over the seats. TV screen was in the middle section of the plane and people had a hard time watching if sitting by the windows. Electrical outlets behind the seats were not powered to charge the electronics equipment. The entertainment was a joke. The same low grade movies were played both ways. No music to listen to. If not because of passengers brought their own entertainment they would be bored to tears.

SYD-PVG-LHR and return April/May A330-330/-200. I agree largely with the comments of Mr Rory Moore. Areas requiring improvement are lounges in PVG IFE (a dying breed anyway) and perhaps the ground and cabin staffs' command of English. Otherwise no problems - punctual clean attentive service and excellent value for money.

Shanghai to Singapore return and Shanghai to Beijing return. Shocked that for all 4 flights there was a delay of 30 mins - 1 hour. Singapore to Shanghai flight air conditioning broke down and I was for sweating half the time. Shanghai to Singapore flight the plane wasn't even there when boarding was supposed to begin. Shanghai to Beijing return was okay albeit with the usual lateness. Domestic flight vs International Flight issue? Based on my flight experience for the past 6 months with both budget and full service airlines definitely say this airline is between Budget and Full Service in terms of overall quality.

Manila - Shanghai - Los Angeles and return. Aircraft - Manila to Shanghai was a new A321 outbound and an old A320 inbound. Aircraft was well maintained and comfortable feeling. For the Shanghai to LAX long haul they still utilised the A340-600 which didn't have personal entertainment so you're at the mercy of watching the centralised movies. Its a disadvantage specially travelling with small kids. In general the aircraft's of this airline were okay. Cabin Crew - Generally all Chinese crew. Some were pleasant some were not. They had a hard time understanding and speaking English but some do quite well. Though you could feel that they are trying their damn best. Food and beverage - Food was traditional Chinese but beware if you're travelling with children. They will most likely not be satisfied. Beverages were served in room temp. Chinese are not fond of ice. Transit terminal - PVG Terminal 1 is a bit old and if you're connecting I suggest a maximum waiting time of 3 hours in this terminal. Nothing to do here. Overall I would rate this airline okay and would still recommend to others if you can get a very good deal from them.

Flew LAX-PVG-KUL on March 28 return trip Apr 15. Outbound: Seat was hard and lumpy. Food was awful one bottle of wine for the entire plane. Return flight from PVG to LAX: Flight attendant was incredibly rude. When I asked if I may have a beer he shouted "no beer" without looking at me and walked away. I fly frequently and this was the first flying China Eastern. It is easily the worst airline I have flown. The only thing good about my flights was that they landed and were relatively on-time.

Flight from Xi'an to Shenzhen on 22nd April was delayed nearly 3 hours but there was no formal announcement of this fact. We were told to just wait. Initial rearranged departure time of 11.00 was eventually pushed back to 12.15 but the general impression was of an airline which did not seem to mind wasting 3 hours of our time. They should have explained the reason for the delay and been honest about the extent of the delays - none of this happened.

Flew LHR to Shanghai (Pudong) and back with internal flights (to HK Xian Beijing) between. Internal flights were reasonable in planes comfortable for 2 hour trips and a meal provided on each. No seat back IFE but no need for short trips. Long haul flights in new Airbus were very good. Seat back IFE with large range of choice - good quality food (what is aviation radish??) - attentive staff and regular drinks available (I do not consume alcohol while flying so cannot comment). Seat pitch very good much better than European Airlines. Overall very impressed with quality and value and would both recommend and use again.

Travelled Singapore to Shanghai return. Flight to Shanghai was overnight. new aircraft with lie flat seats departure on time. It was odd that there was no service in business class cabin after take off until breakfast not even a bottle of water. I say this because when I went to the toilet the crew in economy were busy organising meals. No big deal as I didn't want a meal but just strange. Breakfast was fresh and tasty. Flight back was in older aircraft with Shanghai Airways. Crew attentive and meal was ok. Flight was on time. Great value for money being less than half the price of other options. I would use this airline again.

Shanghai to Melbourne in March although it was a Qantas code-share flight there was not one mention of Qantas or a QF number up on the board. Overnight flight but no ear plugs mask or socks handed out. No bottles of water given out but when I went to the galley noticed they had some so when I asked for two was given them. I was lucky to be given a pair of slippers after a toilet had been flooded and it had to be mopped up by a steward. No complaints about the staff. Food was inedible. We had a glass of wine each and asked for another glass and they informed us they only had two bottles of both red and white wine allocated per cabin e.g. approx. 120 people and it had all gone.

SYD-PVG-CDG-PVG-SYD during March. Departures on all legs were within two minutes of scheduled time and all arrivals either on time or early. Cabin crew were attentive without being in your face meals were delicious especially the Chinese options and wine beer and spirits kept coming. IFE offered a great selection of international western and Chinese movies. Cabin cleanliness superb and the PJ's and the lie flat beds were wonderful. The less said about the PVG lounges the better.

My flight was from Shanghai to Siem Reap. Ground staff didn't make any announcements for boarding even though it was nearly last call I was about to miss my flight. Aircraft was A320 it looked new but economy class had no entertainment system. That was fine but the most awful thing was the crew. They were shouting at passengers. The meal tasted awful! I will not recommend to passengers wanting good service!

MU 5806 from Shanghai to Lijiang on Feb 24th 2014. Worst Chinese Airline on domestic flights considering that most of then are of a poor standard that says a lot about MU service. Check-in couldn't accommodate 2 people traveling together on the same row of seats. Flight delayed 1.5 hours as per usual due to traffic funny enough only 3 planes where delayed in Hongqiao Airport Shanghai at that time 3 of them from China Eastern. Rude flight attendants plane was new though that's the only good point. Food as always was terrible on the second flight they didn't serve dinner because of turbulence might be better off not eating it anyway. Will avoid this airline as much as I can and Shanghai Airlines that they own is the same.

PVG-PEK lounge at PVG was very tired and worn out. First class was old and outdated and did not have any IFE. Priority luggage came out last and regular passengers ignored the first class baggage waiting area as staff just watched. Very poor service.

My wife and I flew from London to Sydney (with a 2 night stopover on the return leg). We really enjoyed the experience. The lie-flat seats were very comfortable and the food and drink were mostly excellent. The cabin staff worked really hard to deliver a very high level of service. The trip went very smoothly. Transit at Pudong is very easy. You need to go to the transit desk and then back to the gate but a bit of exercise on a long trip is a good idea. Getting a short stay visa for Shanghai is also easy although the very pleasant official called his supervisor to check our printed e-tickets. The Skyteam lounge at Heathrow is fine as is the Qantas lounge at Sydney. As others have said the lounge at Pudong is below par. Overall great value for money.

We flew LHR-Shanghai-Melbourne return having chosen the airline due to a good price and a desire to stopover in Shanghai. We were a little apprehensive having read some negative reviews but found our experience with them quite satisfying. The cabin crew were very obliging and helpful and there was surprisingly good leg room. We were able to get an emergency exit aisle seat on two of the sectors without having to pay extra - this was a nice bonus! The seats were adequately comfortable. As for the inflight entertainment there is not as much variety as you may get from more well known airlines but there was enough variety to keep your interest. On the way back we had a 7 hour delay due to an issue with the plane. Although this was annoying we were given meal vouchers to use at Melbourne Airport - the value of these was more then enough for two of us to have two really nice meals! Also when we arrived in Shanghai we were given compensation there as well. Having been delayed before on other airlines it was refreshing to receive adequate compensation as this has not always been offered in the past so it was very pleasing to see how well they dealt with the situation. All in all China Eastern offer good value for money and are worth trying out. The important thing is not to expect an Emirates or Singapore Airlines experience - you are paying about half the price so it won't be to that level. However what you get for the price is very good.

30th Jan Pudong to Thailand returning 8th Feb. Easily the worst airline I've used and I travel weekly by plane. Always late I'd take a 1 hour flight delay every time as that would be an improvement. The 3 reasons given for delays (take your pick) are from 1) Late arrival of incoming flight. 2) Air traffic control or 3) The weather. All of which mask the most basic problem seems no one actually takes responsibility for delivery of a good service.

Feb 2014 - domestic flight Wuxi to Shenzhen. Rude priority counter check-in staff awful dirty lounge with little/no food or drink useless and careless staff ignored at priority queue and had to wait whilst economy passengers allowed to board onboard awful food and worst red wine I have tasted last luggage off although supposedly priority. Would only ever use again as a last resort!

London to Shanghai Shanghai to Sydney and return. All flights on time. A330-300 clean with good economy seating. Good service food was good and enough but no spirits with only beer and wine in very small offerings. Inflight entertainment excellent on rear seat facilities. Lavatories cleaned regularly.

Sydney - Shanghai - Beijing - Shanghai - Sydney. Having read many negative comments I was pleasantly surprised with this airline. Although one flight was delayed it wasn't their fault as congestion in Beijing can get quite terrible. The flight attendants were cheerful especially on the international flights and were very attentive to detail and answered the call button almost immediately which made the journey much more pleasant. A few times I saw flight attendants cleaning the toilets which passengers don't normally get to see on other airlines. Both international flights were red-eye but I got a fair bit of sleep which refreshed me coming into Shanghai and being quite tall (185cm) I found the seat pitch very good. However the meals were a bit meagre and not up to the standard of for example Qantas. Also they need to improve on in-flight entertainment as on half of the flights it was the drop-down TV and the other half was personal TV. Overall I am very impressed with this airline as it was much cheaper than its competitors and coupled with a generous baggage allowance of 46kg I would recommend this airline!

Outbound MU 552 and MU 562. Inbound flights MU 561 and MU551. Travelled London-Shanghai-Sydney in November returning in January business class all the way and it was fantastic. All flights on time food excellent service from the Chinese Crew brilliant all spoke enough English. Value for money was excellent £4300 pounds return for 2 of us will definitely fly with China Eastern again.

Awful airline company! Never on time each time delay 40 minutes to 1.5hr for recently Shanghai Hongqiao-Wuhan return Shanghai Hongqiao-Kunming-Dali. Food and beverage quality bad narrow seat pitch very uncomfortable. Even budget airline is better than MU!

PVG-BKK A330 SGN-PVG A320. Essentially China Eastern is fine nothing special and a bit rough around the edges. Flight out 30 minutes late flight in an hour late due to PVG ATC (likely congestion due to the Chinese Air Force only allocating 20% of air space to civilian operations so not the staff's fault.) Fairly new planes decent leg room blankets etc. The "meal" in both directions was actually a large showcase of Chinese snack foods. It was interesting to discover "aviation radish" and hickory kernels (actually pretty good and probably some people's idea of heaven) but it's not really a meal. A small selection of beer and wine on the first round - this had disappeared on subsequent drink rounds. IFE consisted of surprisingly good audio channels (bring your own headphones as theirs were no good.) PVG is quite an efficient if pricey (for China) airport but transferring is a pain as you now have to clear immigration customs and check-in again (count two hours). Glad I had a code share for the long haul legs of my journey - I won't be queuing up to fly them again but they're fine if I have to.

December 2013 flew to Australia via Shanghai to return 3 weeks later the flights were all on time the business class seats were great and to be able to lay flat was such a bonus. The food was fantastic and the service on all flights was first class very impressed and would fly with them again.

Return flight from Los Angeles to New Delhi (India). Read many mixed reviews and against my better judgement decided to give them a chance. That was one chance too many. On international flights (over 22 hours) you expect a few things i.e. USB or AC charger a working video screen and/or audio somewhat edible airline food and most of all decent treatment. They failed in all categories. Rudest staff I have ever encountered. Avoid at all costs.

Although cheap from Los Angeles to Shanghai and then to Melbourne a flight time of 25 gruelling hours. The cabin crew looked miserable and didn't make much effort so I felt hesitant to ask for anything. I did ask for an extra bread roll as I was starving and was given a flat out no. Nothing alcoholic worth drinking but wish I'd brought snacks. The movies and all wording on the entertainment screens was Chinese. Not very helpful if you are not Chinese. The first plane didn't even have that option. Just a drop down from the ceiling TV screen like in the 1970's. Not impressed at all.

My flights were from Melbourne to Shanghai Shanghai to Vancouver Vancouver to Shanghai and Shanghai to Melbourne. I was impressed with this airline and flights were all on time on A330-300 planes with individual large screens and great leg room. The hostesses were friendly and always happy to top up my water bottle. The meals were fine as good as or as bad as any other airline but if your looking for alcohol there isn't much available. Before arrival a video takes you through a tai chi workout to get the body moving again. I wouldn't hesitate to fly China Eastern again.

PVG-HRB connecting from an Air France flight from Paris. China Eastern claimed that business class bookings on Air France are economy on their system and failed to connect one of the travellers tickets so there was no seat for him. Checking in for the return leg China Eastern: Denied that we existed. Claimed the ticket had been cancelled. Admitted that it existed but that there were only 3 people travelling. Found the third but claimed that as his name was spelt one letter wrongly on the reservation he would not be allowed to fly - this despite them flying him from Shanghai to Harbin! Diabolical.

JFK to PVG on Dec 7 and back on Dec 29. Having read many negative comments my experience was in fact quite positive. Both flights were on time despite smog in Shanghai. Flight attendants were friendly and service were good. Meal choice included beef rice or chicken noodle freshly made canned beer was available. Entertainment was less than desired as there was no individual TV panel and little flight information was given. On return trip I was sick with flu symptoms. Staff very kind and helpful offered hot water napkin and ice bags. Overall I had very good experience will definitely fly with this airline again.

Melbourne to Shanghai return. Melbourne Lounge is Qantas Business Lounge. Quite good. Aircraft on both legs is brand new A330-300. Lie flat beds Fair inflight entertainment. Wine/beer/spirits selection is poor. Food is good though. Left and arrived on time. Shanghai Lounge is appalling. Warm beer no wine at all terrible food most uncomfortable chairs imaginable no business areas uses airport wifi which is out of range. Don't bother going to this lounge - find a restaurant/bar upstairs. Apart from this lounge overall package was most impressive and good vale for money. On board product is very good.

Four flights with the airline: one way from Vancouver to Shanghai-Hong Kong-Shanghai-Paris. Outbound trip in economy to Hong Kong was the complete opposite of what I expected. It was a brand-new Airbus with individual seat- back televisions and a range of good movies with subtitles pleasant smiling courteous flight attendants a regular supply of water periodic meals that were of average airline quality best of all a comfortable economy- class seat with decent legroom. After the Shanghai layover of several hours the flight to HK was exactly like WestJet or Air Canada: on-time followed by brisk friendly in-flight service of complimentary refreshments. My luggage arrived in HK promptly. My ongoing flight to Paris several weeks later was a true test of an airline’s customer service. I had severely sprained my ankle in HK mere hours before the flight. At HK airport China Easterns check-in crew volunteered a wheelchair before I even asked then short-cut me through immigration and security and wheeled me directly to the boarding gate even offering to help me shop at duty-free en route. During the flight to Shanghai an attentive attendant asked if I wanted a wheelchair waiting for me there. Again I was pushed in a wheelchair through immigration and security to my Paris flight which had all the creature comforts of the outbound one from Vancouver plus the flight attendant found some Ibuprofen for me. She also arranged for a wheelchair to take me through the labyrinthine Paris airport through customs right to the taxi queue. China Eastern has my gratitude and vote of approval. I wouldn't hesitate to fly them again.