China Airlines

Shanghai Pudong-Taipei Taoyuan on new B77W the lounge at Pudong is disaster (China Eastern lounge) 3-4-3 layout of economy class cabin is really uncomfortable friendly cabin crew and wonderful IFE hot lunch served for this 1hour 20 minutes journey. Back Taipei Songshan-Shanghai Hongqiao on old A330-300 still clean and we'll maintained again very nice cabin crew and good lunch served wonderful lounge at Songshan airport with plenty of hot food and drinks.

I was flying from Taipei to Toronto with a connection in LAX. The policy is that you must re-check baggage when entering the US and flying out to another destination i.e. Canada. With a 2 hr 45 minute layover in LA we figured we'd have enough time to grab our baggage and re-check into Air Canada. Our flight left over an hour late because China Airlines decided to accept passengers from another flight to make more money. We arrived 45 minutes late in LAX and by the time we got our baggage and ran to the other terminal we were late and they would not let us check- in. We brought this to the attention of China Airlines staff but they put us on another flight to Toronto that was 7 hours later! Gave as $100 each discount on our next China Airlines flight. Staff were unhelpful and the entertainment computers were directly underneath the center seats of the plane so I could only stick one foot through the bottom of the seat at a time. It was the worst experience flying I've had and warn everyone that considers traveling with China Airlines to book with someone else.

Christchurch to Sydney return on business class. It is a very poor business class offering from this airline. Purchased a promotional fare from their website to try this airline while they operate this route over the summer season. Few days later I was contacted by the airline asking for more money as the fare on the website (which we have seen advertised for at least three weeks) was apparently incorrect. Of course I refused to pay more and after few emails and phone calls we came to a resolution but the whole situation was just badly handled. On the return flight from Sydney check-in agent was outright rude telling us we are not given any lounge access as we paid cheap tickets. In general it was a bad experience from the airline which is trying to break into this route. Never again!

I fly CI for my annual trip to Bangkok from Calgary. It's an interline route using Westjet from YYC to YVR and China Airlines for YVR-TPE-BKK and return. They continue to use the old tired A343 for YVR-TPE lag which is showing its age although preferable to me due to the 2-4-2 configuration as I tend to pick a window seat. I am finding their service is going downhill over the last four years especially for inflight entertainment and the meal. The meal from YVR was stale and inedible so is the breakfast on the TPE-BKK and TPE-YVR leg. Brand new B777-300ER for TPE-BKK which had great cabin and IFE interface. Fair value for money but service could be a lot better for the money.

I booked a round-trip flight from LAX to Saigon last October. The flight from LAX was delayed 2 hours. Before landing in Taipei for a connecting flight to Saigon the flight Captain announced Connecting flight to be 12.30pm instead of 10.30am as scheduled. After we landed there were no China Airlines staff members to be found. Our group of passengers finally stumbled upon a security officer who directed us to China Airlines' counter on a separate floor. Long lines and only 2 overworked employees helping us to get the connecting flight. Contrary to the flight crew announcements the connecting flight was scheduled at 2.30pm not 12.30 as announced. Adding insult to the injury China Airlines gave us a meal ticket in Taiwanese Dollars worth about $3USD not even enough for a hamburger. Due to this poor service I would never fly China again.

All of my flights were pretty much on time and my luggage didn't get lost but my experience was that this airline offers no frills. Unfriendly staff with poor English skills. Tired cabins and dirty toilets. Poor quality food and such a dated and difficult entertainment system. I bought a cheap ticket so I guess I got what I paid for!

SIN-TPE-SIN. Both ways it was an older A330 - seats were a torture for a 185cm guy like me. My knees hurt being constantly pressed against the seat in front so I had to stay in very uncomfy position and/or stand up frequently. IFE was horrible being an old plane what you get is a not more than 6-7" screen and no matter how you play with brightness and or screen position you won't see much. Resorted to music in the end. Games were slightly newer. Cabin crew were nice but their English command was poor. We all know that you get what you pay for but we also know that nowadays in airlines world that is not entirely true. There are very good and cheap carriers operating in Asia. China Airlines is not among these in my opinion. At least not on Singapore-Taipei route.

NRT-TPE-BKK - Have not flew CI for sometime and was bit dubious. What an improvement CI has made. Both on the A330. The flight were on time good selection of inflight entertainment. Food was okay for economy and better than KLM's Business Class intercontinental. The thing I love about CI was the option to view take off and landing real time on your screen. I cannot fault the trip and service whatsoever.

Flew LAX-TPE-BKK and return. The most important thing to know about CI (as of Sept ’14) is that if you purchase your economy ticket through an online service (like Kayak or Expedia) the airlines policy prohibits you from getting a seat assignment prior to day of departure. Unfortunately online ticket purchasers don't find this out until after they've plunked down big bucks on a non-refundable ticket. This lack of a passengers capability to select a seat in advance (not to mention the lack of transparency) is reason enough for you to take your transpacific business to another carrier. The planes used on the transpacific segments of my trip had a tight economy seating configuration with little legroom. It felt pretty much like flying a domestic carrier in the US. Food general service and in-seat entertainment was on par with other airlines on this route. Flight attendants were pleasant. The one benefit of flying CI is that transfer to connecting flights at Taipei's Taoyuan airport is smooth enough to accommodate fairly tight connections time-wise. (This is not the case in Beijing or even Hong Kong). Unless you get an incredible deal on your ticket and you don't care where you sit on a long flight I'd give CI a pass and book with someone else.

Flew KIX-TPE-BNE return trip at the beginning of September 2014. Seats on the TPE-BNE leg is new. The ones I flew specifically were B18360 on the outbound journey and B18358 on the inbound journey. The interior of the these birds is upgraded compared to the other A333 in their fleet. The seat recline was 170 degrees and the feeling was very similar to the business class seats on the Garuda A333 fleet. Food on the outbound leg was fabulous. I do travel regularly but it was one of the best meals that I have ever had on a plane. Sleeping was no problem as the seat reclines to 170 degrees or more. The food on the return leg was lower quality but what can you expect on an inbound flight? The seats were the same as the ones going there and we did have a wonderful night's rest. To sum it up I am very satisfied with my travel experience and I look forward to my next flight on C class with CI!