Air China

First class Beijing to Sydney. They started boarding economy class passengers before first and business! It was only when staff noticed me standing in the first class queue that they figured that I should probably go in now. The first class cabin is nice and I liked my seat. However, service onboard was horrible. The flight attendant barely spoke English, and when she asked what I wanted for dinner, I didn't understand half the choices. There was no printed menu, so I had to make a choice based on what little words I were able to grab from the flight attendant. The food was okay. There were maybe 5 dishes that were mostly good, except for the main dish which was some type of meat that didn't taste good. I didn't get a wine list at any point. The entertainment system was ok, but not that many choices in terms of US films and shows. And the ones available had Chinese subtitles that you couldn't turn off. And before each title started there were long commercials. After the flight attendant turned my seat into a comfy bed, I didn't see her for the next 8 hours or so. She didn't set foot in the cabin. So no way to order more drinks or snacks. And there was no bar or lounge area. I saw the flight attendant again maybe an hour before landing when it was time for breakfast. Food was good and comprehensive. Generally I would not recommend Air China if you plan to shell out for a first class ticket!

When we arrived at Beijing airport at 10:30 pm to check in for our flight to Paris we were told that the flight was delayed to 5:50 in the morning due to thunderstorm. I couldn't believe that as we had previously flown in much worse weather. It wasn't even raining but I won't argue with the decision Air China made as safety is a priority. We were already so tired and we weren't happy as our return flight to Korea with Air China had already been rescheduled inconveniently. It was very hard to access to the wifi at the airport so It was very difficult to change our pick up arrangements to accommodate the late arrival in Paris. I asked the Air China Duty manager at the check in desk to let us stay at the hourly hotel in the airport for a couple of hours as we were tired and a shower was needed considering the humid Beijing weather. I am very unhappy with how we were dealt with. One of the duty managers told us he understood how annoying the situation was for us. Furthermore, He said he would do anything he could for us so I requested the hourly hotel and he made a phone call. After he was on the phone for a short time he said, unfortunately, there were no rooms available . As much as we were frustrated and annoyed, I thought he couldn't really do anything more for us at that time. I asked him if he could put us on the waiting list for a room at least, so if any rooms became available we could get one. He said that wasn't a problem and he said our names were on the list. Although we were tired and frustrated we had no idea he was lying to us so we were quite polite and cooperative, I wish I grabbed his name at that time as we later discovered almost everything he told us was a lie. After we went through customs and security we headed to the hourly hotel as I wanted to double-check our names were actually on the waiting list. They informed us that there was no list as they had plenty of rooms available for us if we were willing to pay. We explained to the hotel attendant what we had been told and his response was that Air China said they were not willing to pay for it. With the help of the hotel attendant we tried to call the Air China Duty Manager but of course he wouldn't answer the phone. I also called the customer service desk of Air china and finally got through to somebody after several attempts and considerable time on hold. The lady told me that she couldn't help because I chose English therefore the line went through to LA Air China so that she couldn't help us. I don't know where to begin to complain about this situation. The way we were dealt with is totally unacceptable. First of all, how the manager lied to our faces like that I still can not believe he thinks he can do that to customers. I have never seen anyone so unprofessional and dishonest when representing a big company. If customer service is only for Chinese speaking people and English speakers only get a dummy speaker and they can't actually help anyone with the problems, they might as well be up front about it. Then they could have saved my time and money for making all the international calls like an idiot at 2am in the morning. I emailed the customer service. All I got was the number that I originally called in the first place! Ridiculous!

SYD-PEK-TPE-PVG. A long queue formed 3.5 hours in advance (half an hour before check-in opens). This is a long flight, so arrive early to get a decent seat. The long haul offered two meals. Dinner was edible but breakfast was better. Drinks are free flow and crew are happy to serve water. IFE is channel-based (you don't get to choose the show on demand, rather what is being shown), and it may not interest those who don't know Chinese well. Did not hear the Captain speak for this long stretch, and crew's English announcements can be hard to hear. Flights to and from TPE: Breakfast appeared to be simpler. Captain did give announcement for this stretch. Wifi IFE is available for flights to and from TPE, but Air China specifically bars mobile phones from accessing this system. If you don't have a laptop, you are probably out of luck. Premium economy seats are empty, and are basically the same economy seats on SYD-PEK (channel-based IFE). ATC delayed 1.5 hours both directions. Overall a decent value for money, if you have China on your visit list and don't really mind about the IFE. Be aware of ATC delays if you only plan to transit.

Do yourself a favor, pay a bit extra and fly any other airline if possible. Alternatives on this route will be EVA air, for example. Worst customer service, delayed flights that will screw up your entire trip, terrible rules in Beijing airport. For example, once the first leg was delayed and screwed up our plan to get out of the airport and spend a day in Beijing, we tried to get on the earlier flight to San Francisco to avoid spending 6 hours on the airport. The staff at the gate refused to even talk to us. They said we need to get out through immigration and customs, go to the Air China ticket office and talk to them to get on a standby. Seriously? Did you try going through security in China? They take out every battery and examine it manually. Also, if they didn't have any seats, we'd have to go through security and check in process for our original flight again. Once you finally make it to your flight, there is no use of mobile devices, even when in the airplane mode. My 6 years old daughter wasn't allowed to watch movies or play games on her inactive old iPhone (basically an iPod). Flight attendants do not smile, they are rude, answer no to any request. There is no alcoholic beverages on intercontinental flights (if you care). Try asking for extra Coke mid flight and see the reaction. Food is terrible. Never again I will consider Air China for my business.

Check in was smooth and no big queues. Boarding smooth, flight took off and landed on time. Seats and aircraft clean and neat. Quiet a new aircraft. TV screens for each seat with a some choice of English and Chinese/Japanese Lagrangian movies. All seats with blankets and head sets. Food predominantly Chinese and Japanese (understandably), Soft drinks beer and Alcohol served before meal. Toilets were clean. The onboard duty free was decent and well conducted. Typically, Chinese returning passengers, carry a lot of hand baggage. Great flight for the price compared to ANA/JAL. We were so apprehensive before booking online (reading many negative reviews). I strongly recommend Air China for this sector.

The worst customer service I have ever received. My flight is delayed 5 hours which causes me to miss both of my connections, and when I asked what my new options were at Phuket Airport they refused to provide me with any information, and just shoved the Beijing boarding pass in my hand. When I tried to explain I didn't have to take that specific route, just somehow I needed to get back home to Orlando. In Beijing, I explained my flight was delayed, they completely ignored me, spoke among each other, and handed me a ticket with a middle seat when I specifically requested an isle seat. I asked where my flight was from JFK, several times, and they just yelled "booked! Booked! Check JFK"! I get to jfk, didn't know what airline I was flying home from or at what time, and I found they intentionally gave me the worst seat on that flight (fortunately Delta is courteous enough to let you choose your seat, so I was able to fix this). Air China was the worst flight experience of my life.

Usually I fly Etihad for Geneva - Chengdu route, therefore I can't help but comparing the 2 airlines. Both are national carrier of their respective countries, however, the difference is obvious. I just want to mention some main points: 1) The crews are not really warm nor patient, which happens to almost all Air China flights I have taken. I am not sure whether it's because majority of the passengers are Chinese. I am not going comment on the behavior of the passengers themselves, as a service provider, the least you have to do is smile and be courteous. On the other hand, I can't say all Etihad crews are excellent, but I have encountered some who are really sincere and hospitable. 2) The entertainment system is really outdated, the control is not sensible any more and the movies are really lame. On the contrary, Etihad has a great selection of movies and easy to use system. Besides, it has considerably provided each passenger a small pouch with an eye mask, a toothbrush with toothpaste, a pair of ear plugs plus a pair of socks. I suggest Air China to have more trainings on the attitude of their cabin crews and how to provide exceptional customer service.

We used this airline from Melbourne to Beijing CA166, and Beijing to Houston on CA 955. The first airplane was filthy and worn out. The second was better but the flight attendants didn't speak English and it was hard to get a smile out of them. Even customers flying in business class mentioned that the menu was bad. Overall, the menu and beverage options are very limited and the service is very poor. Our children, my husband and I went over 12 hours without a meal - all the meals offered at Air China have a spicy taste. We were expecting a fair menu for all cultures and especially a fair menu for our children. Our toddler couldn't even get a second order of apple juice because it was all gone! During our first flight with Air China from Australia to Beijing, I asked to have a replacement of food from steak to chicken, thinking it was less spicy, and I received a chicken meal prepared with extra cardamom. I asked the flight attendant about it and he said that all customers that returned their first meal get the 2nd meal with an extra spice taste! This is an absolutely ridiculous statement, and obviously the menus are customized to Chinese customers only. Very poor service, very poor menus and beverage options and very poor experience!

Flew Melbourne to Shanghai return 2 weeks ago. Cancelled one leg of the flight as I had made other arrangements and was told that I had to repurchase tickets when I arrived for my return flight. Of course this was only after spending 5 hours at the airport calling the US and Beijing office from Shanghai. Their staff in Shanghai and Beijing had no way to change tickets, nor did they take any interest into what should have been their responsibility. So after writing an email 2 weeks ago to discuss these issues, still no response. Finally ended up calling their hotline which was directed to their US office - surprise, surprise there's nothing they are willing to do to help.

Used a check-in machine at Stockholm Arlanda airport to get the boarding card and seat selected. Worked nicely - my earlier attempts to check in via internet failed even on several attempts. All flights on time. The seats however were very cramped, 30-31" pitch at the most so people with long legs beware. I had a window seat and both mine and my neigbour had broken screens. The stewardess tried to restart several times without success. So a long haul flight without entertainment, I was not surprised. The meal was okay but not tasty. Same meals in both directions. Chicken or Pork. Free beer or wine (okay but not nice) was served - but only after the meals which was strange, again I was not surprised. I would only use Air China again if on a very tight budget or if I saved a lot of time.