China Airlines

I flew on 2 international and 3 domestic flights with Air China. Overall the experience was stressful and frustrating. My booking allowed for changes to my flights but the staff I communicated with about this were unhelpful and slow. All except one of the flights departed late (between 15 minutes and 5 hours) without clear communication as to the reason for the delays and how long the flights would be delayed. It took an hour to check in for one flight due to the staff being disorganised and once I boarded that flight I found that my seat had been changed without checking with me first. The food was average. Usually I really enjoy flying and am happy with what I pay for. Air China didn't deliver and was terrible value for money.

Flight 982 departed JFK late causing missed connection in Beijing to Air China Flight 979. Air China staff in Beijing were very rude. No apology for the missed connection and they sent passengers to a dreadful airport hotel and would only pay for shared rooms. If I wanted a single room I would have to pay for it myself which I did. Air China is a member of Star Alliance and I expected them to re-book on the first available flight which would have left at 6am the next morning but they would only rebook on the next Air China flight which did not depart until the next afternoon. I arrived at my destination almost 24 hours late and paid for lodging and food in Beijing out of my pocket.

Given the at-best mixed reviews on Air China's economy class product on this site I was pleasantly surprised at the JFK-PEK-SIN-PEK-JFK trip that I just completed this morning. When I searched for the flights Air China was among the most competitive in terms of the price (only United and Delta were cheaper). The JFK-PEK legs were on B777-300ER while the PEK-SIN legs were on A330-300. Seat comfort was expected given the class nothing stellar but nothing too bad either. On all legs AVOD was available. Food was decent but as far as I could tell only Asian options for the main dishes were available (featuring rice or noodle and some protein). Portion size might be small if you usually eat big (might be a problem for Americans). Flight attendants did a few rounds bringing water but you could also venture to the galley yourself to help yourself with some water and snack. If you are Asian the flight attendants would most likely talk to you in Mandarin first. I had no problems with transfers in PEK.

Booked from SYD-PEK-LHR. On arriving at Sydney discovered a delay of 2.5 hours. Once in the air it transpired we were flying to Shanghai (with no notice of this). Arrived in Shanghai and were told we didn't need immigration cards as we were just transferring to PEK. However they made us exit the plane and walked us through Chinese immigration which took 1.5 hours. After a hellish crowd pushing through to the desk we were told to then walk back the same way we'd come and wait outside the same plane we'd just left. Rushed onto the plane and told to hurry sat in the same seat as previously. Waited nearly 2 hours sitting on the tarmac before we took off. On reaching PEK we were told we'd missed the flight to London and were shouted "go to hotel". Provided nothing in terms of information / customer service or food or drink. We had to sit and wait until 6am for any staff and had no help or English speaking customer service staff. After finally waiting until 6am told the flight would be 2.30pm. After waiting 13 hours in Beijing airport we finally got onto the flight to London Heathrow. The plane was hot / food was poor and the movies were also sub par.

SYD-PEK-SYD economy on an A330-200. Plane was clean comfortable good seat pitch good pillow and blanket. Flights left and arrived on time. Service was efficient with limited communication in English but friendly and pleasant. IFE was back of seat films a little dated but nothing offensive or vulgar so great for a family and easy to watch. Dinner was plentiful but average tasting and breakfast if European go English. Same on the return average but plentiful. Drinks are warm but that's everywhere in China not just in the air. Bathrooms clean but can get dirty quickly and queuing is not always respected. Flight was full so strict on luggage weight and allowance but the allowance is more than most airlines anyway over head lockers where plentiful and hardly used. I rang Air China and selected my seat in advance free over the phone and entered my FF details very helpful and good English. For a cheap carrier better than most direct flight on certain days SYD-PEK-SYD.

Milan-Beijing delayed about 3 hours so I lost the transfer to Sydney. I asked for assistance but the service was totally inadequate. They give me for the night an awful hotel (Golden Phoenix) in Beijing they had no accessible bus-shuttle and didn't seem to care about it everybody was unkind. Inflight the crew did not speak good english and unprofessional the entertainment did not work for a long time.

Houston-Beijing-Bangkok. Food quality inconsistent and for the most part poor. Service poor and some flight attendants rude can't have your phone on even in plane mode and staff is not bilingual. If you have a medical problem they try to ignore you. I had an asthma attack and had to beg for oxygen which they were initially reluctant to give me.

Shanghai Pudong-Taipei Taoyuan return on B747-400 excellent experience with CI arrival/departure on time only 1.5 hrs flight but got full meal and beverage service. AVOD with touch screen and lots movies cabin crew very friendly. Definitely will fly with CI again.

Hong Kong-Taichung on 737-800 and Taipei-Hong Kong on 747-400. Outbound flight to Taichung in central Taiwen which is very convenient for those who need to go to this area instead of flying to Taipei or Kaoshiung. Evening flight of 1.15hr duration warm meal was served beverages only tea and coffee though. Crew did not smile just did their job. Aircraft spotlessly clean. Return flight on 747-400 same flight duration also warm meal served this time with wine/beer/soft drinks. Very attentive FAs who interacted well with the passengers and smiled a lot. Lots of information from the flight deck too. Overall a very nice experience where else do you get a warm meal on such a short flight in Economy. Definitely recommendable and looking forward to using them again.

Took CI752 SIN-TPE-SIN and CI751. Punctuality was superb. As for on-board experience the A332 was rather comfortable with sufficient leg room for a 170cm person. The flight attendants some were not as friendly but there were those who made sure to smile as much as possible. The Personal IFE was average nothing special. My only problem with it was lack of movies. The food was okay. However we were not well-hydrated. FAs performed only 2-3 water rounds I had to keep asking for water. I liked how they gave some Taiwanese snack. The landing was quite smooth. Return journey delayed by 30 mins due to TPE jammed runway. More or less the same.

Spring break vacation. CI 31 YVR-TPE. The service in Economy was horrible some flight attendants didn't know what I was saying and the seat was extremely uncomfortable for a 13 hour flight. Legroom was only 31 inches I would expect 34 inches of legroom and a foot rest at least on a long flight like this. Inflight Entertainment on my seat was very bad it did not work seconds after takeoff. The seat was hard. The food was okay but I believe giving us paper cups for non alcoholic drinks and plastic cups for alcoholic drinks is wrong. Putting the A340-300 on the YVR route is not a great idea!

TPE-MNL. Flight delayed by 25 minutes arrival time also delayed. No drinks except for water coffee or tea. When I went to the restroom I saw that there were other refreshments in the galley. The flight wasn't full and I took a chance if I would be served an extra meal. The crew said that she would check and came back with 3 packs of peanuts. It seems that seeing the crew with a smile is a "luxury". Not surprising why Eva Air has better reviews.

AMS-BKK. Seating 3x4x2 flight 90% Full. The one big problem was that the meals were only just warm not hot as they should have been. Crew carried out their duties well. Would fly them again.

NRT-TPE return. Check-in was smooth (SkyPriority). Lounges were comfortable. But foods at NRT were poor. Cabin (744 and 333) were clean and comfortable. Cabin crew were friendly and spoke Japanese. Foods were good. AVOD was good. But no Japanese movie. Good value for money.

AMS-BKK-AMS in Economy. I registered with CAL's Frequent Flyer program and ordered a vegetarian meal which was served piping hot before general meals were served to other passengers which was an added bonus. CAL has switched to using their A340-300s on this route. Aircraft's are around 11 years old on average and every window seat in Economy class has a large IFE box underneath with severely restricts legroom. I was lucky on the outbound flight since the seat next to me was unoccupied and I could stretch my legs a bit. On the return leg however that wasn't the case and the 12-13 hour flight was particularly uncomfortable due to the cramped conditions. Seat pitch is 31 inches on these aircraft and the base moves forward when reclined which restricts legroom even further. Entertainment was generally good with the latest blockbusters on offer coupled with a wide selection of older films. BBC and CNN news channels were also available as were a good selection of audio CDs. The crew were very affable and free beverages and snacks were available throughout the flight and promptly served when requested. CAL offers good value for money and the flights run on time so I will definitely fly with them again. They just need to refurbish the seats on these older aircraft as they've done with their 747 fleet.

Flight from Hong Kong - Jakarta - Hong Kong with China Airlines CI679/CI680 in Economy class. Check in staff friendly and fast. I'm a Skyteam Elite Plus Member and used the lounges. Nice clean and helpful staff. Food and beverages good. No Priority Boarding at HKG Airport. Seat uncomfortable in A330. Food ok. Inflight Entertainment good. All Flights on time. Priority luggage in Hong Kong handled separately but ended up waiting longer. Would fly again.

Have flown China Airlines about 3 times now from Auckland to Brisbane and Sydney. Paid no more than $120 for my tickets (one way special). Ticket allowed free date changes which was a bonus! Normally pay $100 with other Trans Tasman Airlines. Friendly Cabin Crew. Great meals (not to mention complimentary beverages). Half the flight was empty of 2 services I flew which gave me rows to myself made it extremely comfortable to fly. Great entertainment system. Highly recommend out of NZ or Australia.

Round trip MNL-YVR via stopover at TPE. They seem to have done a major overhaul of their operating procedures and got their act together consistently for several years now. Their aircraft appeared to be in good to excellent condition and to the credit of the pilots involved those four landings were among the smoothest I've experienced in years. This airline may not be the best but I consider them to be very good. Fares are reasonable and given the level of service I received was good value for money.

Flew from Brisbane-Taipei-Wuhan and then Xi'an Xianyang-Taipei-Brisbane. Overall impression was highly favourable and an improvement on my previous experiences with CI. All flights were on A330-300 which is starting to look a little aged in economy class. Flights were on time or only slightly delayed and boarding was efficient. Meals were of a very high standard in economy and the mainly female cabin crew were very friendly and efficient. I noticed that the fluency of English (though I understand Mandarin) has improved significantly. Inflight entertainment was personal AVOD but selection was not quite as large compared to Cathay or Qantas. Flight from TPE to BNE was on an A330 with upgraded economy cabin. The screens were larger and seat more comfortable so this was a nice improvement. Based on these flights I will fly with CI again and have no hesitation recommending.

Flew LAX-TPE-BKK and returned HAN-TPE-LAX. All flights left and arrived roughly on time. Staff were somewhat inattentive but got the job done. Had to signal an attendant to get a second glass of wine. Seat comfort OK for economy class. In-flight entertainment was very good.