Air China

FRA-PEK-MNL vv Economy Class November 2012. One of the best priced tickets to take me were I wanted to go. We flew B777-300 FRA-PEK vv and B737-800 from PEK-MNL vv. Never felt uncomfortable onboard. Aircraft's clean and spacious on all legs. Entertainment and food on B777-300 excellent. The only that was irritating was the quality of English the crew and ground staff spoke.

The price difference between Singapore Airlines and Air China is not huge for SIN PEK. Check-in at Beijing was average. Did not receive clear direction to lounge. Hot food was finished by 830pm so had to go airport cafe for dinner. The male toilet smelled even though it looked clean. Had to take a bus to board the plane. No instruction as to which bus. Business class boarded after economy! Very long seat although the seat can be wider. Very comfortable lie flat bed as I slept 5 hours out of the 6 hour flight. The food was plentiful but not very good quality and drinks selection limited. The flight attendants were actually quite good and attentive but they lacked product knowledge as four staff unable to work out how to lift the TV screen and the economy passengers were let to rush into exit on disembarkation! As a 4-Star airline Air China is not on par with Thai Airways or Swiss International.

SYD-PEK-LON-PEK-PVG-SYD in early October. The aircraft's deployed on all the legs of the journey were relatively new. Flight attendants pleasant and the inflight food was good. I had my ipad with me so did not check out the IFE. Toilets were regularly cleaned. Flight from PVG to SYD delayed 2 hours. The airline was $400 cheaper that its nearest rival on my preferred route. Will fly Air China again for the right price.

Sydney to Munich (via Shanghai and Beijing). Our flight Sydney to Shanghai where we had a technical stop was fine. However our flight to Beijing was delayed for reportedly ‘weather reasons’ although when we arrived in Beijing with a delay of 4 hours there were no signs of any bad weather. As a result of the delay we missed our connecting flight to Europe. In the arrival hall all all service desk were closed and unstaffed despite around 40 people also missing their connecting flights with Air China. The flight attendants from our flight made the effort to call some service staff and left us. After 1 hour of waiting no one had turned up. We eventually made our way into the departure area (without having visas for China) where all Air China counters were also unstaffed. The one staff member we found was unable/unwilling to help us and advised us that Air China service desks would open at 6:30am (4 hours later). Rather than getting a hotel room meal vouchers assistance in booking to connecting flights and most importantly an apology as is standard service with every other airline we had no choice other than finding a bench in the departure hall and try to sleep there. There were families with babies/small children travelling with us and had to do the same. At 6:30am all stranded passengers queued for the service counter which also could not/refused to help us and referred us to the ticketing counter which would open an hour later. When it eventually opened the staff suggested booking us to the next flight to Munich which would depart 18 hours later. I said that was unacceptable and asked to be booked on a Lufthansa flight to Munich (4 hours later). Lufthansa and Air China are both in the Star Alliance and I assumed it was standard practice to use partner airlines to get passengers to their final destinations as quickly as possible in those circumstances. However she refused to book us on Lufthansa. I had to make the suggestion to fly via Dusseldorf (7hours later with Air China) which was reluctantly arranged. We then had to pick up our luggage and check it in again. This involved another 1.5 hours of waiting time with the result that after receiving dismissive and rude answers from baggage staff we were informed that both our bags had gone missing. We filled in the missing luggage report which took so long that it was too late to go to the hotel that Air China eventually offered (although fellow travellers reported that Air China expected random people to share rooms!). We arrived in Munich with a delay of over 17 hours. We have emailed Air China asking for feedback on the terrible experience we have made but after over one month we still have not received a response. Throughout our trip Air China staff were rude dismissive and at the first moment keen to say "this isn't my responsibility".

PEK-SZX. The outbound was a B747-400 business class was on the upper cabin. Staff service was excellent with good food. The inbound was an old B777-200 seat pitch was not satisfactory. But service and food were good.

For the price from Australia to Europe return Air China is excellent value. But traveling through Beijing and a sneaky hidden stop over in Shanghai to your destination puts a sour taste in the mouth. For a start even though you are transiting through China to you're destination you must clear customs in both Shanghai and Beijing this process is 10/10 in the stress factor especially if you are a first time traveler via these cities. As this was our first European holiday my wife and I found out the hard way that cheap airfares are cheap for a reason. As for Air China as a carrier I can not complain the service was good food typical for an aircraft seats average for comfort in economy class entertainment good. If it wasn't for the headaches and stress in transiting through China I would most certainly use Air China again.

SHA-PEK return First class (business but they sell the tickets domestically as first). The outbound was an A330-300 had comfortable flatbed. Inbound leg a Boeing 777-200 less space compared with A330 and the seat could not recline much. Flight was on time and was offered nice dim sum. The flight attendants were quite responsive.

PEK-FRA on a very old B744. Actually I chose Air China just because other airlines are full. 744 had no personal TV for economy class so if you cannot sleep on a long haul flight please consider very carefully before booking. The seat is quite good it should be a 33~34" pitch seat and I slept quite well during the flight. Two meals on the flight the first one was about 2 hours after take-off the second one was around 2.5 hours before landing. However if other airlines are available with not much disadvantage on price I will not choose Air China.

SHA-PEK return. Inbound trip was with an A333 aircraft and the outbound was with B772 both wide-body jet but the latter has no fully flat bed. But considering the flight lasts less than 2 hours it's OK. The flight arrived on time and the services in the lounge and onboard were standard. Many domestic airlines offer Shanghai - Beijing route but I think Air China gives the best offering as far as both hardware and software are concerned.

Economy London Gatwick to Osaka via Beijing in mid-August and back via Beijing but to London Heathrow in early September. Cheaper than the others by £200 + a seat. Timings of flights excellent and quick with only 2 hour turnaround in Beijing. Planes Airbus A330-200 ok with 2-4-2 pattern. Seats no worse than many other airlines in economy - maybe an inch more than some. Food quality ok. Wine only served at end of main meal! Staff fine. Loos ok. Entertainment a bit limited and one seat back terminal ropey and you need the double mono adapter. Flights all pretty much on time. Beijing transfer is a bit tricky first time - go to the "transfer passenger" queue on the far right of all other queues looks slow but works ok then down escalator and back through security. We fly long haul every year sometimes several times and for the money and on this experience we thought Air China were fine.