China Airlines

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.

JFK-PEK and SHA-PEK-JFK on return leg. JFK-PEK-JFK flights were on a new B777-300ER. Full flat seats in an angled 2-2-2 configuration. Very comfortable seats for sitting and sleeping. Good food and drinks with a full bar and helpful FA's who sometimes struggled with English but could get by. Large IFE screen with AVOD although I wish they had a wider selection of English titles. Both flights were delayed by about half an hour. SHA-PEK was bang on time and was on a 777-200 which surprisingly had identical seats to the B777-300ER ie full flat - very nice for a 2-hour domestic flight. Very comfortable and they served a lavish hot breakfast on take-off. Baggage delivery was flawless. Overall very good experience and would recommend but the lounges at both PEK and SHA need to be upgraded.

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!