China Eastern Airlines

MU 5030 was to depart Bali (DPS) at 3.40am on July 22 and arrive Shanghai (PVG) at 9.45am. Without notifying anyone the flight departed at 7.10am. MU5030 left Bali at 7.00am and arrived at 1.15pm in Shanghai July 22nd. I missed my scheduled flight to Los Angeles MU 583 as it departed at 1.00pm. About 20 perturbed travelers that missed their connecting flights all stood around for nearly 1.5 hrs waiting for a van ride to a hotel. My next days flight on 23 July went smoothly departed Shanghai at 1.00pm and landed in Los Angeles at 10.30. This business class flight to Bali and back to LA was about $4200. The next least expensive was about $1000 more. You get what you pay for.

Seoul (ICN) from Calcutta via China 18-22 July 2013. Itinerary as follows: CCU (MU556) - Kunming (MU747) - Shanghai (MU5033) - Seoul and return as follows: Seoul (MU2034) - Qingdao (MU5437) - Kunming - CCU (MU555). The best flights given the value for money. All flights were on time except flight MU5437 from Qingdao to Kunming (return journey). This flight has a history of arriving late. In my case it arrived 1 hour late. Inflight staff were cordial given extra snacks and drinks. Overall highly recommended.

Travelled with family of 4 from New Delhi to San Francisco and return. With the type of fare I got it was quite comfortable and may be the shortest time between these sectors. Only problem I faced while going was Vegetarian food that my family did not receive at all. I checked with my agent and LA office on my return flight for Asian Vegetarian that I really enjoyed. If food is served as per needs I think one of the finest flights with this kind of budget. I will refer to friends with a caution for food instructions so that Vegetarian lovers do not suffer.

Shanghai Pudong to Singapore a mid haul trip of 5 hours. Unlike all my previous experiences with China Eastern's old aircraft's this was a brand new airbus A300. The business class seat featured full flat beds ample space and very attentive service by the attendants. There was decent inflight entertainment with large touch screen TV. I would highly recommend this flight for this sector in the new airbus since the cost is even less than a Singapore Airlines economy ticket. The same cannot be said of the older China Eastern Boeing 767.

YVR (Canada) to CMB (Colombo) through PVG (Shanghai). There is really no respect for passengers. They cancelled our connection flight and wanted us to catch another plane going from Hongqiao airport (1 hr on the road) - help desk mentioned about a shuttle service but no clear indication given where I could find the shuttle bus. You have to transfer with all your baggage and then check in again having to stand in many queues throughout the journey.

SYD-PVG in economy. Not what I was expecting. Previous MU flights have been on newish planes with tight legroom and no individual IFE. This flight was on a brand-new A330. There were very big individual TV screens with a great user interface and very clear screens. The choice of films wasn't huge but it was varied and it was easy to find something good. The headphones aren't great - you'll need a two-pin adapter to use your own ones. There was lots of legroom and the seats were the type that slide forward to recline. This is really important on a flight into China as people recline as far as they can; the person in front of me reclined all the way but this did not impinge on my space. Food was OK - not spectacular but better than I expected. Service was friendly and not intrusive: I find some airlines are too insistent on disturbing me to offer me things I don't want but this did not happen on MU.

My wife and two kids traveled from LAX to PVG. There was no way to get seats together before check-in. Agent at LAX was very rude. The boarding process was horrible. Once she boarded the plane she had two middle seats and the third seat was somewhere else. Flight attendants made no attempt to seat them together. We had ordered special vegetarian meals (in advance). They did not have it. If you have any other option don't take this airline.

MU563 Shanghai to Delhi July 5. They boarded the plane and then announced a 2 hour delay. The in-flight service was less than friendly. When I asked for a sandwich it was given to me in my hand in a cheap cling wrap without a plate - this is in Business Class. The entire crew struggled with English communication was very difficult. In Business Class while they had a decent choice of movies the remote used for it was ancient. What really upset me after the final good bye and thank you announcement in Chinese they give a gracious bow with hands folded but there's nothing like that after the English announcement.

MU 563 MU573. DEL-PVD-SFO - 30th May SFO-PVD-DEL - 1st July. Excellent experience. I have traveled with a lot of big and costly airlines and China Eastern comes close to them. Food service seats and entertainment all was super and at such a reasonable price.

Recently returned from a trip to Thailand and had an awful experience with China Eastern Airlines (JFK-PVG-BKK). Before the trip: I spent hours on the phone trying to get hold of a representative to get a seat assignment. No luck. On the outbound segment I missed my connection in JFK (due to a delay from my home city) and could not find a CEA representative anywhere in the terminal. After hours on the phone I was rebooked to a flight the next day. Once I arrived in Shanghai I learned that my flight was cancelled (due to weather not the airlines fault) but the airline could not provide any assistance. A mob of passengers flocked the gate agent. Finally the flight was reinstated for 2.30am but again there was no clear communication and no guaranteed rebooking. In sum total chaos and no help from the airline.