China Eastern Airlines

Flight from PVG to NRT on A321. I have read many negative comments on China Eastern and was a bit worried. Check- in was fast and staff very friendly. The lounge was rather poor. Also boarding was slightly chaotic but once on board all was fine. The business class seats offered quite some space. Food was good drinks ok. IFE not existent but who needs this for a 2.5hr flight anyway. Overall a nice experience.

On my return flight from Denpasar through Shanghai to Osaka the flight was delayed out of Bali for an hour with absolutely no information there was a gate change with no information and we had to clear immigration in China collect our bags check them back in and re-clear immigration. All in it was pretty annoying especially considering I had arrived at the airport after midnight for a 3.40am flight. But these irritations aside I found the service prompt and friendly the food about as exciting as I have had on any other airline and the value for money exceptional. Of course a trip across the Pacific on a new A380 is more comfortable but for short and medium haul flights this airline is not incomparable to what other full service airlines have to offer for the same length hauls. It is ridiculously cheap. Return from Japan to Bali on a full service airline cost me less than a flight from Australia to New Zealand (half the distance) on a budget airline where I have to pay for my own luggage food and drinks and entertainment whilst sitting on a hard faux leather chair with my knees under my ear lobes. I don't know what people expect when they are practically flying for free but I thought China Eastern was wonderful given the price!

Unfriendly check in. No knowledge or desire to seat passengers comfortably. This leads to getting on to a half empty flight and discovering people are packed in to the middle rows when half the other rows are empty. Delays - almost never leave on time. Communication about delays is poor/non-existent. Stewardesses often with very little English skills. Their programming is to simply follow a checklist. Abysmal food. Eat before you get on or take your own food. Many planes arriving in Shanghai supposedly their "home airport" get met with buses. Poor thin seats with little padding and minimal recline. Dirty toilets. Entertainment system or lack of. No in-seat entertainment. Small dropdown screens every 5th row with subtitles too small to read. Don't think business is better. MU business is maybe on par with other airlines economy in terms of food and entertainment. Complete lack of understanding of service culture. If service is important to you avoid MU.

China Eastern was a great option for a cheap flight. Flight from Vancouver to Dubai. First leg Vancouver to Shanghai was a brand new plane with great inflight service. Next leg was Shanghai to Kunming and then on to Dubai. Plane was a little older but still in good shape. Inflight service was very good. I was a little scared when I first read the comments but then realized that some people just love to complain.

ICN-PVG-WUH. Our flight was suddenly changed 1 day before scheduled departure. It was a pain to get in touch with the airlines and make rearrangements. Then flight was delayed 4 hrs - originally at 10pm but left at 2am. Had to stay in airplane with no air conditioning and with bad service. Food was horrible.

Phnom Penh-Shanghai-Tokyo. Food on both flights was awful. Baggage was not checked through despite flying China Eastern all the way and so had to endure a tortuous transit procedure at Shanghai. Flight from Shanghai to Tokyo was delayed 1.5 hours. Reason given was Air traffic control. Both planes were old. The headrest could not be adjusted and stuck into my back making it very uncomfortable. Worst of all was the temperature inside economy class on the second flight. It must have been close to 30 degrees inside the cabin. Clearly something wasn't working properly but no explanation of apology given. I complained to one staff member who just said "mmm yes it is a bit hot isn't it." First time flying China Eastern and almost certainly the last.

My husband and I travelled on MU551 from LHR-PVG and 3 days later on MU561 from PVG-SYD. The trip from London was fine the A330 plane was near new seats not that comfy but ok. The food was fine not western but it is a Chinese airline. Entertainment was good choice of films not great but enough. Flight attendants appeared aloof but came regularly around the cabin with water. No bar service apart from red wine. Flight from Shanghai to Sydney was also ok - an older plane with drop down screens and subtitled movies. Staff again appeared aloof however served water regularly again no bar service except limited red wine. Food was not brilliant. The worse thing was the Chinese passengers who would not follow instructions from the cabin staff! A couple of things to bear in mind - The Chinese do not deal with strangers well whether Chinese or Western even if it is there job to do so it is there culture not to smile at people they do not know. A lot of comments have been about lack of alcohol well this is a Chinese airline the Chinese culture is not a big drinking culture white wine is uncommon and spirits only for the wealthy. All in all the staff were polite but had a job to do which they take very seriously. I think one has to remember this is not a western airline and the main thing is they get you from a to b safely. Both flights were on time.

I will never be flying them again. I did not run into a single polite staff member. Yes there was the typical "hello" when getting on the plane and of course the asking of "what do you want to drink?" but I rarely saw a smile. One of my flights was delayed 3 hours! However I didn't know it was delayed until it was close to the take off time and the screen above me finally read that it was delayed an hour. Another hour later it was delayed another hour. Another hour later it was still delayed. Not a single apology was given to passengers. Not even on the plane. On top of that I missed my next flight. Do not recommend.

Flight MU738 Melbourne to Shanghai and connecting with MU5186 to Beijing - 19th July 2013. Aircraft clean seats comfortable our attendants courteous food satisfying and delicious and the service was great. Variety of movies and in-flight entertainment was second to none on the leg to Shanghai but on the leg to Beijing we had a drop down screen and with no headphones the subtitles were too small to read so I read a book. This was our first trip overseas and we were glad there were no delays.

Our return leg from Shanghai to Melbourne was as good as our flight over. We travelled on flight MU737 on 28th July. We had the same type of aircraft as on the forward leg and were once again extremely pleased with the aircraft meals service and in-flight entertainment. We even managed to get a reasonable amount of sleep in Economy class and our flight was punctual.