Air China

Not Verified | They are a bit cheaper than the rest, but not worth the appalling service and attitude of Air China. Everything was bad from the seat not secured to the plane properly, rude staff, terrible food, app unworkable, wrecking your luggage, etc. etc. When I returned home I contacted customer services and they are the worst I have ever encountered. Every reply I got was a lie, asked to be contacted by a manager at least a dozen times, ignored. Don't fly with them, in the long run it will be more expensive!

✅ Trip Verified | Air China rather surprised me and left good impression in overall after my journey. Might be due to reduced expectations before the trip based on their experience as rather budget airline, but I enjoyed the flight. The ticket price was surprisingly low, twice lower than alternative flight to Taiwan. But check-in luggage was included and the airline was very transparent about their fees. The website seams outdated and fails to load sometimes. Online check-in requires patience, as it might take multiple attempts to complete it. Airport check-in is on contrary fast. Due to operational requirements Air China flights in MXP are parked on remote stands, so boarding is done using stairways. The aircraft to Beijing was Airbus A350-900 - airline's most modern aircraft. The seat was comfortable, pleasant material, comfortable headrest, legroom was a bit small (I am 193cm), but would be rather sufficient for most travelers. IFE had a bit limited choices, but collection was rather up to date. There is a big choice of Chinese films and music and few games. After departure meals were served quite fast. The quality was "okay". The food felt as if it was stored frozen (which was the cause for both segments), but portions were decent size. Snacks were available on demand for the entire flight. The next flight was on A330-300, which is mostly used on regional routes (China and close international destinations), so cabin was a bit outdated, didn't feature an IFE and seats were rather hard with smaller legroom than A350. Headrest didn't regulate but for 3 hours flight to Taipei it was fine. As it was a morning flight, they offered breakfast. Every aircraft had a universal 110V power outlet, supporting European, US, Chinese and British plugs. On A350 USB outlet is also available. In general I was satisfied with the trip.

✅ Trip Verified | Customer service was awful in flight, at the airport and online. The food was average at best and cheap quality drinks. To make matters worse I was unexpectedly moved from extra legroom seat to one with less space. The entertainment screen and USB charging port didn't work on 3/4 of the flights. I encountered issues with the website after I booked my flight. Lastly, the service in the airport lounge was awful, with poor English communication throughout my experience. Overall appalling experience. I would not recommend this airline due to these numerous disappointments.

✅ Trip Verified | Flight on time from Beijing to Frankfurt. Seat range is great even footrest provided in economy. Service quick and had enough to drink. Open bar during night. Two meals in a 10 hours flight. At night they serve a sandwich and yogurt which was pretty dry but okay. For breakfast eggs or Chinese congee with Chinese egg. I liked it. Everything was fine.

Not Verified | Just awful! The entire airline seems to not care about customer service. The food was absolutely disgusting. On my outbound flight (CA837) the screen didn't work, and when I asked they were already aware of this. Only really an issue as it was a 13 hour flight, then they left my bag in China for two days Even with functioning entertainment the choices were limited or heavily modified by the Chinese government. I have never been with an airline that does so many unnecessary announcements.

Not Verified | Air China is cheap it got us to China on a budget. The experience from Sydney to Japan (Tokyo) was ok, goodish even. My husband and I were seated together, meals were ok and we had frequent drinks offered. On the way home from China to Sydney my husband and I were seated apart. We booked together. People with children were seated apart which was appalling. Children shouldn't never be separated from parents. On this flight we were fed a sandwich with a muffin and yoghurt at midnight. A sandwich is not appropriate plan food. Sandwich was stale. We were then given a hot meal 5 hours later with no drinks beforehand. I was so confused the other flights we were given better meals and more drinks. We were dehydrated. Went the toilet saw there was self serve drinks and chocolate but no announcement of this service. Very strange. We should have served drinks every 2 hours. If you need to get somewhere cheap this will get you there otherwise it's not a pleasant experience. My review would have been better 3 stars if it wasn't for our last flight and being separated and fed sandwiches. They need more western films on the tv. Do not separate people when they have booked to sit together! Good way to upset people.

✅ Trip Verified | We flew from Frankfurt to Bangkok via Beijing. Legroom is great compared to other carriers. Two warm meals on a 9 hours flights in economy is great. Even had a foot rest. Food was good for economy. Drinks in a bar mid plane over night. Only the seat on the first leg was a little hard. The 3-4-3 configuration on the Bangkok leg had more cushioned seats then the older 3-3-3 config. Overall great experience. Flights on time. And the transfer in Beijing was easy.

✅ Trip Verified | Ground staff in Hongkong was nice and friendly. I arrived at the final call and off we went to Beijing. My neighbour complained that the airplane was old as you could not charge your telephone there. I have the feeling all the domestic Air China planes have a bit of an old fashioned feeling, but I guess it is just the colour of the seats. The food on board was okay, they first asked me which choice I wanted and then told me that one was not available. :-) Of course it was not a problem, I did not really care. Normally I ask the attendant to "surprise me" and just hand me a random meal, but most flight attendants don't like that game. What I did not like is that Air China had rescheduled that flight to arrive one hour later in Frankfurt, so my connection was a bit tight. Unfortunatelly, we spend a lot of time taxiing in Beijing (guess up to 40 minutes) until we finally left. There was no snack after boarding and drink service consisted of a stewardess walking around with a water bottle. I did not sleep that well, as my seat on that B777 was not that comfortable. Then we arrived in Frankfurt and of course I missed my train. My neighbour was worse, they had checked her in for a connecting flight with a connection time of 20 minutes in Frankfurt, which is ridiculous, I wonder why Air China did that. If they reschedule their flight, they should also change connections for passengers. It seemed the cabin crew was watching the passengers, as I woke up and had my eyes open for about 2 minutes I was handed a sandwich. Breakfast was okay, I always opt for Western Breakfast with Air China, as I do not like that "rice with water". In general, not only when handed by Air China. If Air China has competitive prices, I would recommend this airline and use them again.

✅ Trip Verified | My Air China experience mirrors my last experience with this airline. Check-in in Frankfurt was rude like always and done by Lufthansa staff. Our plane was delayed by 60 minutes, but as I did not have any tight connections, I did not care. The in-flight entertainment was good, they had interesting movies to keep one occupied. The food was good and the staff was professional. As it was an overnight flight and I was pretty tired I did not have a lot of interaction with the crew. Transfer in Beijing was a bit of a hassle, as so many notes (including on Air China website) tell you you have to pick up your luggage in Beijing, go through customs to enter China and then check it in again. Even at the airport in Beijing signs told us to pick up our luggage, though they said in Frankfurt my luggage will be checked through to Changsha. So I waited a bit at the baggage claim and as the delivery was finished without my suitcase, I continued into China. My next flight was okay as well, I remember we did only get a muffin on that domestic flight of 3 hours and there was basically no in-flight entertainment for non-Chinese, but I had something to read, so no problem. Arrival in Changsha was on-time, I guess. I had quite some time to catch my train, so I was not that critical.

✅ Trip Verified | The only positive part of our experience with Air China was onboard the flight; the flight attendants were amazing. Unfortunately, the service we received on the ground in both Tokyo and Beijing was so awful, that I would never recommend this airline to anyone as a result. We had a pocket Wi-Fi device that needed returning to the company's kiosk in the same departure terminal we were in at Haneda airport Tokyo. Unfortunately, immediately after check-in, we were ushered straight into the line for the departure gate to go through customs and didn't get a chance to return it before going through. We went to the information desk and were informed that this happens often, and that all we need to do is go to our gate and the gate crew can escort us back through customs to return the device, as we had plenty of time before our flight. We thanked them and we went to the gate where there were two Air China staff behind the counter. I went up to the counter and was met with a rude stare from the female staff member who, while typing, said to me "What? What flight?" - so I responded, "I am on the Air China flight - I just wondered if you could please help me" and I pulled out the device. She immediately looked back at her computer screen and while typing said abruptly "We cannot help!". I thought, in that moment, that she was looking something up for me as the exchange was so abrupt so I stood there waiting awkwardly for a few moments, but it turned out she was just completely ignoring me and didn't acknowledge me any further. When I realised I was being ignored, I said okay, thanks, which she ignored as well, and I walked away - this took place in front a whole bunch of people in the departure lounge. For some, this may not even be an issue, and I do acknowledge that the mistake of not returning the Wi-Fi device was our own fault of course, but I personally don't care at all for this kind of unnecessarily rude, dismissive customer service. She barely acknowledged me, looked annoyed the moment I stood in front of her, and then legitimately ignored me until I went away. I would have understood completely if our request was declined, but I will never understand that kind of treatment. Following this, when we arrived at Beijing Airport, we had to go through the passport/ticket scanners. After scanning my passport face-down, I tried to scan my ticket face-down as well. It wasn't working, so I was taking a little bit longer than normal, and out of nowhere I hear someone say "face up". I look up, as I'm not sure where that voice even came from as the place was extremely quiet during this process and the airline staff member was standing quite far from me. Because I didn't immediately click that I was the one being spoken to, the staff member got annoyed at me and then shouted from the other end "face up" - this only startled me further so I fumbled trying to do what she said, which only prompted her move closer and shout once again "face up". This whole area was completely quiet, and there were four or five lines of people behind me, so I was genuinely embarrassed. Again, these might not be a big deal to some, but I've never, ever received this kind of "service" from another airline. Wouldn't bother with this airline ever again as a result, and will actively encourage friends and family members not to either.