China Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | I have been flying China Airlines (Taipei) for nearly 30 years & flying between Singapore & Vancouver for past 24 yrs. The Airline has always been professionally operated with clean cabins & immaculate Toilets (cleaned frequently by the Cabin Crew). In the past I flew in 737-400 Aircraft, 747-400, A-330 Airbus & most recently by A-350-900 Airbus respectively. All the planes were good & comfortable in the Economy Class I flew. Recently I flew in the Premium Economy Class & was impressed with the Seat & its comfort. (Better than Business Class "Split folding Angular Seats" in many Airlines). Leg room, comfort was excellent. The Video monitor was large & excellent . Baggage handling was good & smooth. The only point which did not meet my expectations was the food . I always order AVML meals (as I am a Vegetarian) & I noticed the meals lifted from Vancouver Airport are the "Worst" in the world with the caterer not having a clear concept of what constitutes an AVML (which is usually an Indian Bread, Garden Veg Curry, Plain Yoghurt, Indian Sweet & the distinctive Indian flavour taste. Further the rice used was "low grade" rice when usually it is the Basmati brand of fine Indian Rice. Sadly all this was lacking & the Caterer I believe should be changed & switched to someone who has understanding of what is an Indian AVML meal. The food from Taipei too sadly was very average. (I had better AVML meals in the past from China Airlines). The snack offerings too were very oriental & had contents which do not constitute International tastes. It is for this reason that I always carry my small packet of nuts etc & plain Yoghurt x 100 ml for my flights. Barring my disappointment at the Food served, the Aircraft was good, clean & comfortable. There were two toilets provided for Premier Economy to be shared by Business Class also. However I noticed that the number of toilets in economy has been reduced from the Standard 6 (for Airbus) to 5 now -probably to fit in additional Seats which is not good for passengers comfort. Customer Service centre was contactable on phone from Canada & efficient. These are my thoughts on the recent flight by China Airlines from YVR to SIN.

✅ Trip Verified | I was checking in at the check-in counter in the San Francisco International airport the other day. The check-in counter agent he was rude and impatient to talk to me and handle my business. His manners were unfriendly. These are real bad impact and impression. Let me want to think twice if I can get other airlines with similar prices maybe. When I flew out from Taipei to San Francisco several days ago other than going back to Taipei, the check-in counter agent was very very friendly and helpful. It was highly appreciated.

✅ Trip Verified | I read some of the reviews on the website and nearly did not get the tickets. I could not have been more wrong. The check in was done promptly and we left on time and arrived slightly earlier than expected. The seats were comfortable and the service was good. Entertainment programme was good too! Overall a very nice experience.

Not Verified | Check in Staff that are employees of China Airlines asked me to show proof of my connecting flight from Bangkok to Siem Reap which was with another airline because my return flight was Phnom Penh to Vancouver via Taipei while my departure flight was Vancouver to Bangkok via Taipei. I did comply and while I was politely asking about the policy the check in agent said that if I didn't show proof of my connecting flight they wouldn't let me board. Also, the China Airlines app didn't work so I couldn't check in and the stewards didn't return to pick up any extra garbage.

Not Verified | Because we missed our JFK connection our incoming flight was late, so China Airlines suspended our tickets. What is "suspension?" a normal person might ask. Suspension is a special thing China Airlines does. It freezes your ticket so that not even the airline that delayed you can rebook you. Then, China Airlines' office doesn't open till 12 noon. This was sad news at 2am at JFK. When they did open, they did not answer the phone -- we were on hold for 2 hours 13 minutes before some Tool picked up to inform me that, because we failed to present ourselves, China Air was imposing a $150 per ticket fee to release the tickets. After over an hour and the usual escalation, the Tool gave me a phone number and email address to which JetBlue must present evidence that their flight was late so they'd release the tickets graciously without the fee, like any normal airline would any day. So, after 15 hours on nearly continuous phone calls in the airport, we got clearance to rebook, and Jet Blue put us on Cathay Pacific. Returning home, we checked our bags through to Orlando, knowing we'd have to clear customs & recheck them in NY. Now China Airlines explained that they don't think they can get our bags from one terminal to the next within the next 9 hours for our next flight. And the food was ghastly to boot. Never, ever fly China Airlines.

✅ Trip Verified | I have never been treated so badly on any other airline I have flown. The stewardesses were terrible and repeatedly lied to me about my seating arrangement. I paid an extra $200 per flight for a seat that showed as having extra legroom and so that I could ensure my family were seated together. I have extremely painful small fiber neuropathy in my feet and legs. When my feet became swollen because of being extremely cramped I requested to be moved one seat up to an empty row of seats by the exit. I was informed by stewardess that I would be required to pay an additional $150. A little later in the flight they moved an early twenties woman into that seat free of charged because she had complained that an older lady had bumped her seat from behind. I questioned the stewardess that denied my request and that was the explanation given to me. A little later the head stewardess told me it was because the ladies seat would not recline. I personally checked her seat on the way off the plane and it functioned and fully reclined. Meanwhile my legs were trapped by a fully reclined seat now occupied by the 20 year old. My feet and legs continued to swell and were extremely painful. I don’t appreciate being repeatedly lied to by their staff. They were cold and uncaring to a disabled elderly person. The seating is intolerable to anyone 6’ or taller. They were completely un compassionate to my situation. I will never fly this airline again.

✅ Trip Verified | I would rarely give high mark to a flight that was four hours late and involved temporary rerouting to another airport, but China Airlines handled this unexpected weather diversion excellently. 8 hours in a rather cramped economy seat for a flight time of a little over 3:45 minutes is a bit hard on the body. But bad weather can strike at any time, In this case, the captain attempted to land at BKK in a storm and had to abort, After going around he tried from the other direction, but the storm over BKK had hardly moved and so it was a second aborted landing. We were then advised we would have to fly up to Chiang Mai, land there and wait it out while remaining seated. The crew were excellent. Clearly there was no additional food on board (in any case, the late lunch had been more than sufficient) but abundant soft drinks were handed around. An hour for refuelling at Chiang Mai and we were on our way back to BKK, this time with a perfect landing. As we disembarked, no-one was complaining about the extra flight time.

✅ Trip Verified | The first flight from Koror to Taipei was extraordinary. Cabin crew was attentive calling the passengers by their name. Food was very good too. On the second leg to Singapore on the A350, cabin crew was very nice too but food was average. No amenity kit for a four hour flight. Ground crew in Palau had no idea at all how to Check in a connecting flight nor the luggage allowance for business class.

✅ Trip Verified | I'm writing this review on behalf of my mom who took the flight with China Airlines in the second week of May 2023. I registered her for wheelchair services because of her back and leg problems which restricted her from walking long distance. I confirmed with the agent on the phone that she would be assisted all the way to the end of arrival. Upon landing Vancouver, she was picked up with other customers on wheelchair services in the cart. However, when finishing her custom declare, she found herself abandoned in the middle of the airport. The cart had left without her!! She had to walk all the way to baggage claim and found herself being denied of help with the luggage again. China Airlines customer reps kept passing her from one to another. Speaking no English, it was challenging for her to get connected to the Wifi at the airport. It was almost an hour after arrival that she could reach out to me so that I could sort out the luggage situation with an airport porter. Don't fly with China Airlines if you need assistance.

✅ Trip Verified | Once in the ground in SFO, despite many assurances, there was no one to help me, and without assistance I was unable to make my connecting flight to Seattle. When I asked staff at SFO about this, they said “I’ll talk to my supervisor and did nothing. Just like they did when I touched down at SFO. The staff member helping me upon seeing I was upset, told me that I did it wrong. That he was at the baggage carrousel and that if I’d have gotten help it might have been different. He told me the plane was on time. (It landed on time then sat on the tarmac for ten minutes). Then no one helped me. He was exceedingly rude, and I told him if he couldn’t help me he shouldn’t have kept me waiting 30 minutes to tell me that. He flipped me off after yelling at me.