China Eastern Airlines

Not Verified | Zero customer service. Requesting wheelchair assistance is an absolute nightmare. They promise you it will be provided but then leave you high and dry. All phone numbers provided reach only Chinese speaking staff who play a recorded message which is of zero help. I have travelled the world and have never dealt with so much incompetence in my life. Countless phone calls, emails and online form submissions get left unanswered. Frustrating to say the least. Never will I fly with China Eastern Airlines again. They should be shut down.

✅ Trip Verified | Economy return from Hong Kong to London via Shanghai. All flights departed and arrived on time, planes were very clean and comfortable, with plenty of legroom and recline and compared favorably to other airlines I have taken between the UK and HK over the years. The biggest surprise for me was the tasty food, which was plentiful and the excellent, friendly cabin crews on the four flights. The food was above average to good and much better than the last two European carriers I flew with. The cabin crew were polite, impeccably mannered, hardworking, and on the last leg between Shanghai and HK, the kept reminding everyone on the tannoy that the significant turbulence was nothing to worry about. They were so calming for the nervous flyers and it really helped my wife. There aren't many movies on the entertainment system compared to the hundreds that other airlines have, but I enjoyed watching a couple of flicks I had not seen before as well as fabulous episodes of All Creatures Great and Small on the tv section. The airline flies over Russia, so flight time is currently faster than most carriers. Transit in Shanghai is efficient, though it is true that security there is stricter than most transit cities. But it has to be done. I'll look forward to flying with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | The plane had mechanical issues and the flight was cancelled. Still spent 3 hours on the plane whilst we watched our luggage being offloaded. Only to be served food so that by the time we got off the plane the airport was closed and all systems were shut off. We finally got out of the airport on a bus at 5am, 8 and a half hours later. Why so long for such a small number of people. So disorganised in the 21st century. The team acted like this was the first time it had ever occurred and had no idea what to do. Would i travel with them again - not willing to take the risk.

✅ Trip Verified | I'm deeply disappointed by the lack of assistance and understanding from China Eastern Airlines regarding my recent booking for flights to Turkey. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I was unable to obtain a visa for my trip. Despite my efforts to cancel the flights in a timely manner, I have encountered significant obstacles in obtaining a refund from China Eastern Airlines. The lack of flexibility and understanding during this difficult situation has been extremely frustrating. As a loyal customer, I expected better customer service and support from China Eastern Airlines. It's disheartening to see a lack of empathy and willingness to accommodate customers facing genuine issues. I urge China Eastern Airlines to reconsider their refund policies and provide better support to customers facing unforeseen circumstances beyond their control. I hope that in the future, they will prioritise customer satisfaction and provide more flexible solutions in similar situations.

✅ Trip Verified | I purchased a ticket premium economy, they swap the aircraft from Shanghai to Rome and no premium economy available anymore. No communication to advise that no premium economy available, no effort was made to upgrade to business, no responsibility for they own mistakes and poor communication.

✅ Trip Verified | The worst Business Class I have ever taken. Lack of space for leg just like Economy Class. Without clean enough. The table was broke (and caused a glass of cola was poured on my clothes). Food was also bad (vegetables were too salty and fried chicken were really tasteless but not crispy). 去上海辦點事，沒想到刷新了我對公務艙的認知下限，WUH天河-PVG浦東-HKG赤臘角，武漢MU國內出發休息室都比較小，麵也沒有以前的好吃了，機上居然沒有歡迎飲品和毛巾（跟後面比都是小問題）？MU在PVG的國際休息室也沒有那麼高品質，食物都不太行，就麵還算行？飛香港的飛機同樣是737-800，公務艙只有小臂那麼長的地方放腿，而且飛機保養根本沒做吧，衛生方面也很不乾淨，小桌板一拉就歪，可樂直接潑身上了，只能說飛機維護了，但只維護了一點點。。屬於是花公務的錢去坐了超經？毫不客氣的說，超經除了寬度比不上，其它樣樣爆打。而且PVG不是MU基地嘛，機餐只能用慘烈來形容，一餐中最好吃的是水果⋯⋯主菜的炸雞和配菜幾乎沒味道，炸雞外皮還是軟的，冷菜卻齁鹹，米飯是硬邦邦的，加熱好的蒜香法棍卻是軟塌塌的⋯⋯以敝人淺薄的旅行經驗來說，這次的公務艙是所有國內國際航線最差的，無論是MU自己，還是國內外其它航司，前一程WUH-PVG相同的機型737-800都比它好太多太多。。

✅ Trip Verified | Lanzhou airport is an absolute disaster for non Chinese speaking international Traveller as nobody speaks English. China Eastern is suppose to depart from terminal 2, but my check in counter could not be found as my flight did not appear on the flight departure screens. Information counter staff unable to help. I found the counter finally in a remote corner of terminal 1. Check in had to be done via Google translate, no Lounge available. I received one cup of water throughout this almost 4h flight. No food, nothing! Budget carrier are offering food for sale, but China Eastern offers nothing on a 4h international flight; absolutely shameless. Never again!

✅ Trip Verified | Check in at Bangkok airport swift and friendly. Boarding well organised. Seats on the rather worn aircraft not very comfy, but ok legroom. Food not very good. Service was decent, but staff with very limited command of English. Flight departed on time, and arrived 20 minutes early.

Not Verified | This is the worst airline I have flown with. They cram everyone in the back section and there is a whole middle section empty but they won't let you move. The food is inedible and you can't even get a glass of wine on a 12 hour flight. The movies are very old.

✅ Trip Verified | No inflight entertainment updated, food and beverage very bad quality and no fresh products. Plane got redirected to a different airport per 4 hours, not much help or extra food from the airline.

✅ Trip Verified | The Flight Attendants wasn't quite helpful. The ticket is quite acceptable for RMB $4114 for 4 People including 1 children. The food is good, it includes snacks, main course, dessert and juice. The seats is comfortable although the seat haven't include a TV and the seats headphone jack is broken.

✅ Trip Verified | New aircraft both ways, meal service - cold box. Pretty bad on incoming leg, very good Japanese bento on incoming. No additional drinks but bottle of water, no IFE.

Not Verified | It was not a very good flight. I flew MU 543 from Shanghai Pudong to Singapore Changi on the overnight flight. It was quite disappointing. First the aircraft arrived from Singapore was late which was still ok. But the product is very old. The touch-screens are not functioning and had to use the console to control it. There was no headphones given and the service was very limited. The departure time was delayed and even the flight next to us pushed back first even though our departure time is earlier. This is quite a disappointing for a full service airline to provide such a service.

✅ Trip Verified | Brand new A350 plane from Shanghai to Tokyo. Seats were comfortable. Cabin crew was courteous. But the food was horrible. Transiting in Shanghai was chaotic and very rushed although had about 1 hour between flights. Will fly with them again but will probably not if a transfer is required at Pudong airport.

✅ Trip Verified |   Check in at Shanghai Hongqiao airport was abysmal. The rudest agent I have come across in years. The lounge was full at the time I used it, think school canteen and that's about it. Seat onboard was comfortable enough, but grubby as were the rest of the cabin fixtures. One female staff serving this cabin was courteous but couldn't speak a word of English. Sat in bulkhead row with briefcase etc by my feet, and nobody applied the expected safety rules to stow them for take off and landing. Meal box passed to me after boarding, in complete silence. The food was inedible, and working in China I normally like Chinese food. As always with Chinese airlines, not a single word from the cockpit - do they even use humans to fly their aircraft? If you have a choice, avoid Chinese Eastern like the plague.

✅ Trip Verified | Clean fairly new aircraft, not like the one we flew out of Gatwick to Shanghai which was quite old. The seats on the flight to Heathrow were modern and comfortable. The entertainment films are rubbish and there for Chinese people. The head sets are the small old fashioned cheap ones and after a while very uncomfortable, not noise canceling The food is just awful. The crew were very nice and helpful but their command of the English language is not good. Difficulty asking for sweetener it took 3 stewardesses. Flight itself was excellent. Will I select China Eastern in the future, no, even though it's cheap.

✅ Trip Verified | The cabin is clean. Flight attendants are friendly and kind. The seat is comfortable. The food is delicious and fresh. Flights departed on time. The price is reasonable.

✅ Trip Verified | It's a pretty standard airline, they fed us well, came around with water a lot (which is more than can be said for a lot of airlines), and the seats were fine. Which is all you can ask for when flying economy. In terms of value for money, it's pretty impressive. Getting through Shanghai airport was a bit of a hassle, but that's about the place, not the airline. Check in was fine, the guy who checked me in was really nice. At the end of the day, flying economy, you're never going to be in the lap of luxury, but I would recommend them as an airline.

✅ Trip Verified | I had an entire back row to myself, my flights were on time and my bag arrived with me. This is where my compliments end. Frankly, I don't really recommend China Eastern unless you don't have any other choice. With being conservative with my criticisms, I'd say its a barely mediocre airline at best. Moreover, MU is really an airline tailored for Chinese people. I based this on the language skills of the crew, food options they serve, and the limited availability of international film choices from their AVOD. The stewardesses kept speaking Chinese to me despite asking to not have Chinese spoken to me since I don't speak it. Additionally, one word for the AVOD system: boring. I flew on the newest A350 and there were only like a dozen movies on offer where most of the choices happened to be Chinese movies. As for the food, it was the worst airline meal I've ever eaten. Ordered a special LFML and the chicken that was served was the stalest and driest chicken to ever enter my mouth causing me to nearly choke. Also, ordering the special meal was a mission as I had to physically go to the airline office while on holiday since there was no way to do so online or over the phone. My advice is, don't fly this airline unless its really cheap and if you do, come prepared with your own snacks, entertainment, etc.

✅ Trip Verified | It was the first and last flight with them. 11-hour trips are always challenging and exhausting, but China Eastern makes it the absolute worst experience imaginable. From leaving you famished for six hours to not having a functional USB outlet to charge your electronics or a simple blanket for the cold. After waiting for food for six hours on the return flight, there was no alternative for a snack; I was forced to eat one of the untranslatable vegetables. After an hour, they served me a chicken sandwich that was out when I first ordered it. The male commissioners were really unfriendly, and it appeared as though we were interfering with their stroll. Additionally, communication has been made considerably tougher by the fact that they don't speak any English. The return flight somehow managed to be worse. Firstly, the check-in agent, who resembled the commissioners without the slightest semblance of professionalism or reluctance. No options, cold food. Again, we had been without food for almost 3 hours when that was all that was left. The commissioners were at least going by and offering water on that particular trip. The poor quality of the company may make any trip miserable. The "stay seated" light was on the entire time on both flights, making it impossible to know whether or not it is safe to stand up. The staff gave a bag of sandwiches at the end of the return flight as though we were on a flixbus bus. The entire journey appeared to have been on a flixbus bus, by the way. The distinction is that they never cost more than 30EUR, as opposed to 1000EUR that I’ve paid to China Eastern. Not related to the flight but with the stopover: In China, the 3-hour stopover was similarly challenging. A hundred individuals were left waiting on the ground for more than an hour by extremely uneducated staff, while a worker slept behind the desk before releasing them to board the next flight through a different gate.

✅ Trip Verified | I was a bit worried about flying with them to Japan, as it was the cheapest option, but was pleasantly surprised. The ground staff were very helpful and the flights left on time. The crew were pretty decent, they were quite laid back but were helpful too, and were kind to an old lady who got sick. The food was nothing special but decent enough and the seats ok - certainly no worse than you get in economy class from more prestigious airlines. You could take two fairly bulky bags into the cabin without any argument, too. The biggest downer was the in-flight entertainment. Very limited choice of rather cheesy movies, so if you fly with them, bring a good book! China Eastern feels quite no frills and very much aimed at Chinese customers, but I'd say it offers good value for money and above average service.

c✅ Trip Verified | I travelled with my two kids business class from Seoul to Beijing. I must say it is the worst lounge i have ever been. To start with the toilet - someone had peed in one of the cabins and it was just left there, no one really bothered to clean it. The staff who was responsible for cleaning was just chatting with her friends. The dirty dishes were around the lounge and again - chatting was much more fun for the personal instead of actually doing their job. The food - there were snacks like crackers, there were also some instant pasta which was left there. There was no wine, bier or any kind of alcohol. There were 5 oranges - thats enough for fruits. No one really bothered if there is still something left for the passengers. All the guests were very quiet but the lady working there and her friends were the most noisy ones. Do not expect a real coffee as well - just take the instant one. I do not have words to express how bad it is.

Not Verified | This is the worst airline, do not fly with them, don’t expect any sort of customer service of any kind. My ear drum ruptured mid flight no one cared, for my connecting I wanted to upgrade to business or premium economy so I called them they said there were seats available and all I would have to do is pay at the boarding desk. The people at said desk refused then on the plane I asked the air host who said it’s full, then proceeded to upgrade the Chinese lady a couple rows away and explained to the people next to her in English which is how I know what happened. They don’t care and everything about them is terrible, so is the airport. There’s no inflight entertainment the games don’t even work it’s like a Ali express tablet has been taped to the chair with stock movies. The food is terrible, they only give you one small cardboard cup of drink.

Not Verified | The flights were very good, cabin crew were very nice and helpful but our baggage never turned up. It's six weeks since we returned and we cant contact anyone. At Rome they gave us a file reference number. We made so many calls but no one seems to know where the hell our bag is and some don't even answer your calls.

Not Verified | 4 flights taken (Rome-Shanghai, Shanghai-Jakarta, Bali-Shanghai, Shanghai-Rome) and 2 of them with at least 1 hour of delay. I am still waiting in Shanghai to take my last flight. Waiting from 1 hour, no news about how much I have to wait. Moreover, the quality of the flights is very low, the airplanes are old and not comfortable.

✅ Trip Verified | What a pleasant surprise. We were welcomed on board a new B777-300 by a friendly and helpful flight crew. The last five rows of this 3-4-3 seat configuration economy cabin are 2-4-2 - and we lucked out with the 4th row from the back. The 12.5-hour flight flew by. We were worried about being so close to the lavatories, but they were kept spotless the whole flight by an amazing crew. On par with and in many cases exceeding other 3-star airlines, I believe this carrier deserves at least a 3.5 Star.

✅ Trip Verified | A pleasant surprise. Contrary to our expectations of an ancient, dirty aircraft with a sad crew, we were welcomed on board, to a fresh and airy cabin by a friendly and helpful flight crew. On par with and in many cases exceeding other 3-star airlines, I believe this carrier deserves to be re-evaluated.

Not Verified | The staff do not let me with the child on the plane. At the airport they gave me a strange explanation for why I can’t fly. I bought the tickets a few days before the flight because there was an emergency and I had to fly urgently. I was shocked by the plane denial. I left the airport, and I started working with the airline to find out what happened. I was promptly replied to my email and promised to give a written explanation of the situation. A month later I've got nothing from them and they ignore my emails. My money were returned with penalties and they don't think they need to apologize or give my full return. I’m still shocked by what happened.

Not Verified | Very average. They will get you from point A to point B on time but that's pretty much it. Seat are very small and very hard. Not adequate for long haul. Food is really poor. Small portions and poor quality. Entertainment is less than average. I would not recommend for long flights.

✅ Trip Verified | China Eastern is not a bad airline overall, but there’s a lot to be desired. The flight schedule worked out really well for me which is why I chose to fly them and connection through Pudong airport wasn’t too complicated although there is another round of security screening for transfer flights. The cabin service was attentive and efficient and the seat pitch and recline were nice as I didn’t feel squished as a person of 181cm. The food felt ample and enough to satiate. We also saved time on our flight since they still use Russian airspace to fly to Asia. Here’s what was bad. The airline’s website is glitchy and not functional. I wanted to order a special meal, but the website didn’t allow hence I called it in months in advance and got a confirmation email. Fast forward to the day of the flight, no special meal loaded and I ate the default meal without fuss. The IFE is extremely limited. There were maybe 20 films in total with half of them being Chinese movies and the rest were older Hollywood movies. It was a run of the mill flight that got me to my destination without any distinguishable quality.

✅ Trip Verified | This was the worst airline I have ever flown with. We went from Auckland to London via Shanghai and returned the same route. On two out of the four flight out onboard entertainment did not work, so we had no entertainment whatsoever. The airline staff did not seem to care and said there’s nothing they can do. They also ran out of meals as we were in the back of the plane and so gave us tasteless vegetable with dry rice. On the flights where we did have onboard entertainment, they only had a handful of old movies of which we had seen most years ago already. The table tray was also broken on one flight so the food kept sliding off and the window shutter was filthy.

Not Verified | Return from Taipei to Frankfurt (via Shanghai) was nearly as good as the outward flights from Frankfurt to Taipei. Onboard I was very pleasantly surprised by the attractive and tidy cabin, the toilets were spacious and clean, the smiling welcome. The cabin crew spoke relatively good English and were very attentive. For economy class the food was good and plentiful (the breakfast on the outward flight from Frankfurt was the best economy class Breakfast I have had on any long-haul flight!). Only major downside is they don't serve any wine at all in economy and one has to almost insist on getting a beer - they need to address this for an international airline flying many routes to Europe! The choice of movies isn't the widest either but that's not a major issue for me. I recommend seating in seat 70L and further backwards as the row reduces from 3 seats to 2 making it easier to get up without having to disturb anyone although on my own flights I was fortunate to have the seat next to me free - which also made it easy for me to work. Legroom is pretty good too and much better compared to Lufthansa's A350 which is tight. I definitely recommend this airline and would opt to use them again from Europe in future.

Not Verified |  It is way beyond terrible, I bought tickets from NYC to Shanghai and then to Qingdao. They cancelled my 2nd flight 2 weeks before I take off without any explanation, not to mention any refund! And that means I overpaid them with $1,700 only for the trip from NYC to Shanghai! The worst airline ever.

Not Verified | They cancelled my flight to Shanghai with no explanation or apology and told me to use the app or call for a refund. When I called I was told they won't be able to process the refund because I don't have a Chinese ID (I'm British). Their response to my question "How will I get my refund" was "Cannot!". The app also won't let me refund the cancelled flight without a Chinese ID. I booked my flight on the app using my UK passport. Thats $1000 (USA) I'm owed and apparently won't get back because I'm not Chinese. In any country other than China they would lose a discrimination law suit. If you're foreign and used to being treated with equality, don't book with China Eastern.

Not Verified | New York to Shanghai in economy class. I flew during COVID-19. I went with my baby, two-month old. Everything was so horrible. I will not say that much since it is a public review, but it was so horrible. I would rate a minus for this flight (worse flight that I have had!) JFK转PVG，经济舱。 我在COVID-19期间飞行，所以我被要求戴上口罩立即回国。 我和两个月大的婴儿一起去了。 一切都太可怕了。 由于这是一次公开审查，因此我不会说太多，但这太可怕了。 我会为此航班打负号（我曾经有过更糟糕的航班！）

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to Luoyang. The boarding counter is not well. Because there is not a prominent sign at the boarding gate to tell us which is the first-class queue or eco queue. So many people. waiting at the wrong queue. Because of the epidemic, only a bit of food were supplied.

✅ Trip Verified | China Eastern Airlines is the best service company among the three major airlines (Air China, China Eastern and China Southern). In the airport, China Eastern has a lot of automatic check-in machines, and there are special tutors, which is very good. There are also few people queuing at the check-in counter. After boarding, the flight attendant service was very good. When I saw that I was sweating, I took the initiative to pour ice water for me. I already took the paper towel (yes, I was in economy class). The cabin entertainment system had a small TV, but there was no WiFi. This is not good. The distance between the seats is large enough, and the seats can be adjusted at a large angle. The seats are quite spacious, very good. The bathroom is clean. The most important thing is that the air ticket is cheap. The air ticket from Beijing to Luoyang is only 200 yuan! In addition, due to the epidemic, the meal is only a small bottle of mineral water. Before that, there was dinner (fried rice).

✅ Trip Verified | Singapore to Shanghai Pudong return in December 2019. Refurbished A330-300 was used where business class seats were new with direct aisle access. Warm and kind service given by the crew, better than many five-star airlines. The areas they should improve on is catering and IFE. Meal standards are below average for business class, with no western meal option. The Business and First Class lounge at Shanghai Pudong Airport was very nice but again with only Chinese meal options. IFE was limited but acceptable for a five-hour flight. Overall though, for the price I paid, it's certainly value for money.

✅ Trip Verified | Kunming to Shenzhen in July 2019. The weather that day at Shenzhen was terrible for flights to land, so we were running into a delay and the departure time was not ensured even till 22:00. The China Eastern lounge in Kunming was not bad, with food options including Yunnan noodle, but the environment was not excellent, the light was very dim and the decoration was very old. I really that they prepared sandwich and bread for us because the typhoon was affecting Southern China, so many passengers were waiting at the lounge. We got on board at 22:10 and the plane pushed back at 23:00, not a bad delay at all. This flight uses a newer Boeing 737-800, featuring a PTV for business class and the legroom was 97cm comparing to 91cm in the old planes. The on board service was very simple because it's a night time flight, and the snack on board only included biscuits, fruit and drinks. Finally, we landed at Shenzhen at 00:30, just 10 mins later than the schedule, not bad. Overall, I paid $184 for this flight, I should say nothing did bad, but also not eventful.

✅ Trip Verified | Guangzhou to Kunming in July 2019 on a Boeing 737-800 The flight experience was fair, not among the best Chinese domestic business class, but acceptable. Checkin in Guangzhou airport was very efficient, and a fast-track security check is given. The lounge was not highlighted, very common and a bit crowded during the afternoon time. The dinner service starts at 5pm, the food choices were quite limited, but the quality was good. The seating was a 2-2 configuration, common short haul narrow-body flights, but no personal entertainment. The space was not quite spacious, and if I get it right, China Eastern's 738 actually features one the shortest legroom. However, they give out slippers on such a short haul flight. The service on board was very delightful, I feel very welcomed on board. The dinner service was very fair, the bread was quite crispy and fresh; the main dish was steamed fish, the fish was OK but the rice was very dry like sands. But the flight arrives 20 mins earlier than the schedule, and also the fare was quite cheap, $173 for one way. So I should say it worth the price.

Not Verified | New York to Shanghai. We re-booked on China Eastern as our original flight with United Airlines was cancelled due to the ongoing issue in China. We paid extra about 90USD / seat to get an emergency exit seat. Once boarded the aircraft I found that the seat was broken. I changed to another one as our row was not fully booked. No blankets and no pillows available even on request. Once airborne I found that the screen could not be turn out from the seat. But even if it would be there were no ear sets provided at all. My wife was watching movies reading the subtitles. For the food I can't give any comments as neither I nor my wife have tried it but I found it very funny that they serve breakfast at afternoon time in Shanghai. Drink selection was also not so nice, just standard soft drinks, Chinese Qingdao beer or Chinese red wine. The aircraft was pretty new however for the seats I had the feeling that they are really old. The head rest could not be pulled up enough, the seat itself was quite thin and after almost 15 hrs. of flight it was really hard to stay inside this seat. I have flown China Eastern quite a lot for domestic but for international flight it was the first time and definitely the last time.

Not Verified | I took 4 flights with China Eastern from Vancouver to Phuket via Nanjing and back to Vancouver from December 28 returning to Vancouver on January 8. Business Class cabin is worn out, very old seats. Cabin crew doesn't speak any english, food is awful. Asked for an extra blanket as I was shivering and they said we don't have, Asking for a stomach pain medicine was a nightmare. They didn't understand a single word I was saying. The captain or anyone from the flight deck did not say a one single word to the passengers during the entire 14 hours in the air. At the end of the flight, once we made it to Nanjing he started circling around for 40 more minute taking turns between descending and climbing again several times, and again not a single word from the flight deck on the why this was happening. One single worst flight in my entire life. I will never fly with this airline again.

Not Verified | Gatwick to Melbourne via Shanghai. Booked this flight for my 73 year old mother who a month prior had had her knee replaced. Wheelchair assistance was booked for every leg of her London to Melbourne flight. However, when she got to Shangai, China Eastern staff treated her like garbage for her 11 hour stopover in which she was given no assistance. Staff yawned in her face, turned their back on her and refused to look at paperwork confirming the wheelchair had been arranged. Even worse service was to follow with some mumbled email apology came a week later which was then ignored when I replied to it. Phones are never answered. Finally got a second email from someone a few weeks later, no idea who as they had no signature to their email, which ignored all the issues raised in the complaint and said "I'm sorry that we didn't receive your service at the first time. It's extremely inconvenient for your subsequent itinerary. Next time I come to Shanghai, please email me in advance. I'll let our regional manager come to protect you!" The Vegetarian meal on the flight was either fish or chicken. Both are my favourite kind of vegetable. What a joke of an airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Bangkok to Shanghai. I received an email message from the airlines stating that my flight was canceled and for me to contact them. In the email they sent me, they never provided a contact number. I had to google for their website and contact number. I called them more than 15 times on different occasion and all I got was answering machine with no option to leave a message. The email they sent me says do not reply as it was sent through an auto-messaging system. It was difficult to reach them through the phone. I have no other option but wait until I get to the airport and talk to them in person. When I get to the airport and ask them to issue me a new itinerary since the original one was canceled by the airline. They still can't help me but provide me with another phone number to call customer services. I finally got a new itinerary for my flight with China Eastern. The flight was a little more than 4 hours. The minute we boarded the plane, I can feel the air inside the plane was extremely warm. I thought the Flight Attendant will turn on the air conditioner once the plane starts to leave the tarmac but they did not. I waited for a long time for the Flight Attendant to come down the aisle so I can ask them to turn on the AC but I did not see one came by. I looked for a call button on my chair but did not find one since it was so dark in the plane. I waited for a long time no flight attendant came down the aisle. I felt exhausted and fall back to sleep. I sat in the middle seat so it was hard for me to climb over another passenger to find the Flight Attendant. On my way to the lavatory, I tried to look for a flight attendant and hopefully have them turn on the AC but did not see a single flight attendant around. It’s been like this throughout the entire flight. We were never offered drinks or meals. The seats are tiny. Even with my arms close to my body, my arms still rubbed by other passengers sitting next to me.

✅ Trip Verified | Paris to Sydney via Shanghai. An absolute shocker - avoid at all costs. It's hard to know where to start. Two of our daughters recently flew with China Eastern Airlines. The food, particularly the vegetarian options, was very poor at best and the in-flight entertainment very limited. However, the main difficulties occurred whilst transiting through Shanghai. The personal security checks on these 2 young women was very invasive. The information provided during their time in transit was extremely poor, there was a need to re-check in luggage checked through to the destination and to apply for temporary entry permit to move between terminals. After a 6 hour layover, with no contact from officials, one of our daughters was told as she was boarding her connecting flight that there was a problem with one of her bags. In a very intimidating manner she was given the 'choice' to miss her flight so the bag could be searched or to get on the flight and sign a form giving permission to have the bag searched, the offending item removed, and the bag put on the next flight in 3 hours time. I might add at this point that this bag had already cleared security and customs in both Oslo and Paris. The bag was not on the next flight and 12 days later, with too many to count calls and e-mails, we were finally reunited with the bag. Over this time China Eastern did not answer a single phone call (the phone just rang out) and replied to approximately 1 e-mail in 10+, and with limited information provided. Throughout this time they refused to provide the standard 10 character file reference code for the check delayed bag status/file information form. In the end it was calls to Qantas and the baggage handlers in Sydney that resolved the matter. We are yet to hear from China Eastern that the bag has arrived even though we picked it up 2 days ago. Oh, and there was nothing missing from the bag when we ended up getting it - so nothing had been packed that was on a banned list for China. When we finally picked up the bag we were told by the baggage handlers that in their experience we were very 'lucky' as in these sort of circumstances they have found that very rarely is the bag reunited with the passenger... No amount of discounting makes this experience worth it.

✅ Trip Verified | Avoid at all costs. If you have something important like a well-deserved vacation or business trip, you'll have it ruined by taking this airline. From start to finish, it's been headaches and frustration. The website is old, buggy and online check in is impossible. You need to arrive at least 3 hours before to avoid getting bumped, however on both trips the gates never opened until 2 hours before. Phone customer service is very difficult to reach and you'll be dialing a few phone numbers to reach someone barely able to speak English. Hostesses barely speak English. You won't hear from the pilot at all. If you have a layover with this airline in Asia you will be routed through Shanghai Pudong, a terrible airport with three security checks, passport control and a feeling that you're selling your soul for a discount flight. Food is mediocre. Online entertainment consists of a handful of heavily censored vanilla Hollywood flicks. Expect half of the passengers to stand up the minute the landing gear hits the ground, sparking a very loud shouting match in Chinese Mandarin between the hostesses and unruly passengers to put a nice finishing touch to your experience. It never ceases to amaze me how this airline became a Skyteam member. Any other airline for your flight to Asia should be used if you want a pleasant beginning and end to your journey. You deserve better.

✅ Trip Verified | Taipei to Frankfurt via Shanghai. The first leg from Taipei to Shanghai was operated by China Airlines, the Shanghai to Frankfurt leg by China Eastern Airlines, both members of Skyteam. Upon checking in at Taipei with China Airlines I was told that due to Mainland China's regulations, China Eastern Airlines cannot check through my suitcase at Shanghai, since this can only be done when connecting "on the same day". Incidentally, in Shanghai upon re-checking in my luggage I was told a different tale, namely that it's due to being "two different airlines". My comment that the implication of this justification would be that no transfer at any other global hub would ever work - more so given that they are part of the same airline alliance - was met with baffled faces. The arrival of my flight from Taipei in Shanghai was at 18:35hrs, the onward flight to Frankfurt at 00:10, so "on the next day": the ridiculousness of this cannot be overstated. The implications of this I knew from a previous Air China flight from Taiwan to Germany. It means an arduous procedure of being confronted with the increasingly aggressive and assertive Chinese surveillance state, having fingerprints and iris scans taken and having to apply for a 24hr transit visa (!) in order to then have the privilege to collect your suitcase, clear Shanghai customs and queue again for a good hour at the China Eastern Airlines check in desk. To add to this is the hassle of getting a stable Wifi connection (only available to non-Chinese nationals after a passport scan, so more data collected) to spend the time in Shanghai Pudong. At the end of the experience you are so exhausted and glad to get away that the measly service and poor food onboard China Eastern won't phase you any more. China Eastern Airlines are trying very hard to appear to be modern and service-oriented and have cheap and very tempting offers from Europe to the rest of Asia via China, but the reality is the opposite. Don't fly via China on China Eastern to save a few bucks! The hassle encountered is simply not worth it.

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to Hong Kong. Came from Budapest and had a smooth transit in Shanghai where I boarded the China Eastern flight to Hongkong on an A321. It was early morning 2nd January 2020. Priority boarding at gate as SKY team silver card. Onboard, newspapers were given (Chinese). Shared monitors showed some educational movies from underwater sea world which was nice and informative, texted in English. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1½ hour while the flight lasted additional 50 Minutes. During descend services closed down until landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Fair legacy carrier service without pay. Cheap ticket, better product than for most European carriers. Luggage transfer faultless (in custody inspected by customs which left a note – nothing missing). Full flight. On time. Mileage rendered to Skyteam account. Jetties availed for aircraft entering and exit. What is needed is a hot meal, extended time of service, and individual IFE.

✅ Trip Verified | Taipei to Sydney via Shanghai. We flew return SYD-TPE with transit in Kunming on the way to Taipei and Shanghai Pudong on the way back to Sydney in December 2019. It was our very first time travelling with China Eastern and did not have high expectations, to begin with since reading many of those bad reviews. Here is how it goes for us: Upon receiving my e-ticket, I cannot use the ticket verification function on their website because the purchase was made through the third party. However, I was able to select seats on their website - so that was good. Check-in in Sydney was easy and quick. Only then we were made to realize that transit in Kunming requires us to get our luggage and go through check-in desk again, the staff, however, said that 3 hours layover should be more than enough for all that process. Flight from Sydney to Kunming: spacious seats compared to the newer plane from PVG - SYD, however lack of padding so it's a bit hard to sleep on. Entertainment was not too bad, not extensive but since my flight was overnight, I slept most of the time. FAs were all smiley but felt a bit robotic. Meals (both dinner and breakfast) was ok for us - my husband enjoyed his braised pork belly dinner. Didn't have the alcohol so can't comment on how good or if they had enough throughout the flight. Do not expect to see nice amenities kit here. Check-in in Kunming was a problem due to the language barrier. She kept insisting we don't have proof of residency but didn't relay the message to us. Wasted about 30 minutes on things that could have been cleared right away should the staff able to relay her concern to us than going around to her manager to finally realised she made a mistake. No apologies whatsoever. Lounge at Kunming was just sad and had so little to offer. Flight from Kunming to Taipei: good seat, really good FA service, she tried her best to communicate with us in broken English and we really appreciated her for this - redemption point after what happened in Kunming airport. Check-in in Taipei was easy and she informed us that no need to pick up the luggage in Shanghai, they will be transferred to our next flight to Sydney. Good lounge at Taoyuan Airport, was very quiet when we were there. Flight from TPE to PVG: same good seat as Kunming to Taipei, good light meal served, not so friendly FA, unfortunately. Flight from PVG to SYD: I had the best service on this leg. The seat was comfortable for sleeping with nice L'occitane amenities kit. I have to applaud the FA serving my row, he was thorough. sincere and speaks English well, personally explained the new procedure on landing at SYD even though there is an announcement later on. The FA on my husband's row, however, was not as attentive, she didn't even ask what breakfast he likes and suddenly a western set was served. Overall, I think it's really not that bad and I wouldn't mind flying with them again if there was a good deal. It probably not as nice service in Economy class as many bad reviews point at - but we didn't have those issues in Business class. All four flights left on time. Do notice that the FA will tell you to not use headphone anymore around 1 hour before landing.

✅ Trip Verified | Vancouver to Shanghai. Poor ground staff service. The person who helped me check in threw tantrums at me when I did nothing to him. His attitude totally made me feel miserable, and ruined my trip with China eastern. This airline needs serious training for these ground staff. When I asked him if there’s empty seats in premium economy, he said “there’s no such thing” without even looking up. I guess he just never flew with his own airline? What does he even mean there is no such thing. And I picked a seat I wanted, he asked me “don’t you want you original seat?” I said “ cuz that was given by Expedia (Which means I didn’t pick the seat and I don’t want it). Without letting me finish, he interrupted me and said “that’s not what I’m asking, I need a yes or no” in a really really rude tone. No one ever talked to me like that. I believe their staff need to know how to respect other people. I wanted to complain this to the airline but I haven’t found a way to contact them. Don’t fly with China Eastern.

✅ Trip Verified | Sydney to Rome via Shanghai. First of all i need to shame Qantas for selling me this flight via their reward system. As a platinum frequent flyer im deeply disappointed you associate yourself and expose your customer to this airline with sub-par services. We started the journey from Sydney in a very small cramped economy seat. If you are taller than 178cm and weight more than 80kg then you are going to feel squashed in their economy seats. The staff barely speak any English and leave us stuck in our seats without water or liquids. The inflight entertainment is sub-par. Mostly Asian films. The food onboard was horrible. Absolutely inedible and tiny tiny portions. No snacks offered during the flight. China Eastern airlines also didn't recognise my platinum status at the airport in Shanghai and therefore i was not allowed lounge access. To top things off, they lost my luggage. It never arrived in Rome. I had booked my luggage straight through from Sydney to Rome at the checkin desk and had my luggage receipt handy as proof. Apparently it will take at least 3 days to find my bag and no compensation offered. I have no spare clothes, toiletries or shoes. I was just given a reference number and told to wait and hope. Qantas should not be associating with this airline and nobody who is expecting a decent flight with good service should ever fly China Eastern, I'm devastated and disappointed.

✅ Trip Verified | Hong Hong to Budapest via Shanghai. Flew on A320 on HKG to Shanghai while in a newer B787-9 on the long haul to Budapest. China Eastern marketed flights. The long haul leg was flown by their daughter company Shanghai Airlines to Budapest. Amazing experience, pure adventure. Bought this ticket some months earlier for the high season to Europe as a huge bargain for 347 USD including 2 x 23 kg of luggage which is welcomed near X-mas. It costed me in addition positioning and depositioning flights to which I volunteered as I needed the extra miles for my elite status. However, I was notified (2 months before travel) by my online travel agent (Travelgenio), that the return flight from Budapest was preponed by 1 hour. Then, I was forced to change as I would not be able to arrive in time for the new departure. I then decided to change plans completely and celebrate New Year in Budapest instead of Vietnam. Thus, I postponed my return travel from Budapest by 3 days. This was done by emails to the Travel Agent (no response) and then phone calls to Ch. Eastern in Brisbane and Shanghai. Eventually, it went smoothly and I was changed to my wish without added costs (apart from changing onward flights beyond Hong Kong with another airline). That even allowed me to do another, cheap detour to Hanoi on my way back to Hue. The homepages of China Eastern and Shanghai are difficult to penetrate and to book or change bookings from. Unless one has a Chinese telephone number. However, 10 days before departure I could access seating and chose freely my favourite seats, even got 1 of 4 legs in exit seat. However, one cannot access the entire booking unless registered with CE’s flyer program in which I am not interested. Apart from that it was a good adventure: a complicated travel where everything could have gone wrong, but all went smooth. Arrived in Hongkong early and was able to check-in 6 hours before departure as the airline have many departures daily. No queues at the check-in and the ground staff were good and answered questions though fearing speaking English. Two BPs issued immediately. Flying HKG-PVG is considered as international flights though it could be considered as domestic. That give the advantage of not leaving transit while leaving HKG and passing PVG. First flight was on an aged A320. Extremely controlled and organised priority boarding at gate where all business and elite flyers were boarding entirely before the remaining passengers. Onboard, newspapers and 10 channels of music were offered (bring own headset). Shared monitors showed some educational movies. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1 hour out of the 2½ hour long flight: during ascend and descend all services were closed down until 40 Minutes after kick-off and again 40 Minutes before landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. The second flight were by Shanghai Airlines’ Dreamliner. It was a very positive surprise and was faultless. Modern aircraft, good food and service, 2 hot meals offered at dinner and then again at breakfast. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Individual IFE on touchscreen monitors was very easy and quick to operate with a good number of Western and English translated movies. Toilets clean. Both flights took off earlier than scheduled.

Not Verified | I found a really good deal on business class flights to Singapore from Chicago. I was very leery at first due to some of the reviews but I had a very pleasant experience. The staff was helpful and the plane was nice. Dealing with the US customer service to pick seats etc is a little frustrating but overall I have no real complaints.

Not Verified | Special Needs for a Wheelchair passenger by China Eastern Airlines is ignored during flights from Vancouver to Shanghai. The in-flight service between Vancouver to Shanghai has substandard meal service and inflight service staff ignore you to provide any drinking water. The shocking encounter is that the Shanghai Airport wheel-chair porter left me abandoned in the end-corner of the terminal because I did did not give him cash. The service support is a very poor, lousy and regrettable experience. I will never ever recommend anyone to fly with China Eastern Airlines again!

Not Verified | Chicago to Cebu via Shanghai. I had knee replacement 13 weeks prior to this trip so I ordered and paid extra money for bulkhead seats. Upon arrival in China my knee was sore and swollen so I asked for a wheelchair. I was promptly told no, you don't need a wheelchair. On the return flight we did not get the bulkhead seats I paid for. I asked for an upgrade or a refund for the last leg of the flight. I was told the plane is full and that to get a refund I need to call this number. I took pictures on the plane of 12 empty business class seats. I called the number and gave them the confirmation receipt and was I ordered the upgrade too long ago and their is nothing they can do now. They are rude, unprofessional and liars.

Not Verified | Shanghai to Bangkok. Save yourself some money and time, don't book with this airline! 1) They rescheduled my flight 3 times (all inconvenient times) 2) they didn't allow route changes when calling to change the flights they cancelled. 3) Their US office has 8-5 workdays so if you work you may not be able to reach them to change the flights they cancelled. 4) They finally cancelled my flight last minute and didn't provide any alternative options. Basically, they are a scam company and will make your life a living hell, stay away and book with a reputable airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Taiyuan to Shanghai. China Eastern has a dedicated check-in and security screening area at Taiyuan airport for business class customers, which is nice. However, the lounge was very small with no toilet. The aircraft cabin was similar to domestic short-haul equipment in the US, with recliners for business class. Cabin service was excellent. Meal was nicely presented, though I don't find it tasty. Overall, it was a decent domestic flight.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Colombo via Shangai. In Shangai i was issued a boarding pass to Colombo. At the gate I was refused boarding stating that my Passport validity was only until March 2020. I requested that they let me go through & I will get help in Sri Lanka & I am a citizen of the US who will be in CMB only for 2 weeks. They refused to listen or help & used my return air ticket without my knowledge or approval, changed the date on it & put me on the return flight to LAX. Had this happened at LAX I could have got a refund on my air ticket. Now the Airline says the first leg & last leg of my ticket has been used & therefore they cannot refund. Any part of this air ticket was used only because the Agent made a mistake & did not do her job. You can't speak to anyone at Customer service as they are very arrogant & rude.

✅ Trip Verified | Chicago to Shanghai. Great flights. The plane was clean. I had a window seat in the far back of the plane. I spite of other comments, this area of the plane is quiet. Yes, it's near a restroom, but it doesn't smell, there was never a line of people, and in this area are only two seats near the rear so, lots of extra space to stretch out and stand around for a bit during the long flight. They provide a blanket and pillow and complimentary earphones. The seat backs have touch screen entertainment with movies, music, and games. I'd travel with them again.

✅ Trip Verified | Kathmandu to Seattle via Kunming / Shanghai. I flew to Kathmandu, Nepal with China Eastern without any problems. When it was time to fly home I was denied access to my return trip home. They said I needed a visa before I can leave Nepal since my layovers in China would put me over 2hrs in China. Instead I had to rebook a one way flight home some other way. I will never fly with this airline again.

✅ Trip Verified | Chengdu to Nanjing, very good experience. During the flight. I got sleepy and I cannot find my glasses. Cabin crew help me for finding. The cabin crew never give up when I all ready dropped. At last they find it. I quite appreciated about this. Thanks a lot for their help.

Not Verified | San Francisco to Shanghai. Every aspect of my experience with this airline is 100% frustrating. I completely regret everything about this flight. Even before my flight I could see that it was a mistake to choose this horrible airline. Booking has been difficult, the website is broken. Trying to fix my ticket requires a call to customer service - which means losing hours out of your life on hold. Once I finally got through to a customer service representative, they were useless to the point of idiocy. Thanks to their broken website and miserable CSR's, I was unable to select my own seat, resulting in my entire family being spread around the aircraft, my children sitting alone in center seats between two strangers. My family checked four bags. One of which was lost and another was broken. I haven't filled out a claim form yet for the lost bag, but I already know that the customer service team is staffed by subhuman, uncaring scumbags. Judging from other people's comments, I will never see my luggage again. This lost bag has had a pretty bad effect on my vacation. My children are crying. Thank you for nothing, China Eastern Airlines, you pile of garbage.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Male via Shanghai. I was a bit skeptical of flying China Eastern but I will have to say I was very pleasantly surprised. The crews on all four flights where great. While their English wasn't top notch it was better than my Chinese so have to give them points for that. Service was decent if a bit more subtle than say CX or SG. Food was on par with US international long haul in business, but did notice the crew tended to not give the non-Chinese passengers the Chinese snack option. After the second flight I realized this and ordered the Wonton Soup as my snack on the remaining two. The seats where fine, again on par with standard long haul business even if the cabin was a bit warm. Couldn't figure out how to get the WiFi to work and yes we did register prior to boarding with their app. We did the 144-hour transit Visa and spent a couple days in Shanghai before heading to Male. Was laid out in easy to follow signage. On the return we did a longer layover and the Lounge in the new terminal was good. It did tend to get crowded in waves over the course of our 6 hours there. My only gripe was none of the showers where operational because “new and water no good yet”. But all in all, have to say it was certainly worth the money and would fly them again.

Not Verified | Shanghai to London. Awful experience. Rude staff with absolutely no customer service. Food inedible. Poor choice of films for such a long flight. Only saving grace there was adequate leg room. It would seem that there is no customer service training given or the staff simple do not care. I would not recommend this airline

✅ Trip Verified | Gatwick to Shanghai. Check in was efficient. Nice new plane. Welcome on board was standard for business class travel. Seats and beds were very good. Service was excellent throughout, as was the food. I ordered fillet steak - a good test, it was delicious, pink in the middle. No issues at all, so I am surprised by negative reviews. IFE was a disappointment for a UK passenger.

✅ Trip Verified | Kuala Lumpur to Vancouver via Shanghai. Ever get that feeling when you realize that you are a fool for making a certain purchase? That's China Eastern Airlines. Horrible food. Rude staff. Poor service. Uncomfortable Seats. It's like they take pride in giving awful service. The only good thing I can say is the seats were cheap but having said that, you will get much better value paying more for any other airline.

✅ Trip Verified | Shenyang to Shanghai. I was scheduled to fly to Shanghai on 9.6 at 1:15pm. The airline informed us that our flight was delayed due to weather (typhoon Lingling). We didn’t get on board until 2:30pm. After getting on board, the captain announced that we didn’t get permission to take off from PVG due to weather issue. However, there were 4 other flights to PVG scheduled to take off between 12:00pm and 3:00pm, all of which were able to take off before 4pm, including one flight with Shanghai airline, which is owned by China eastern. I would have no problem with being delayed. However, flights scheduled to take off before and after our flight were able to take off, and some even took off right after the announcement from the captain. I am questioning the real reason that we are getting delayed. Also the in flight meal is plain as usual.

Not Verified | Los Angeles to Shanghai. The worst airline ever, the customer service is very, very bad, they cancel flights as they like, and often they sell your seat in the plane to someone else and they tell you that you are late for the flight and the plane is then at the airport, the worst thing I've ever met was Shanghai Airport. Neither respect the mother nor the child. They keep us in China for five days with my twin children without apologizing.

✅ Trip Verified | Wuhan to Taiyuan. The experience was not that good. It is a mid-night red eye flight, however, the cabin is so noisy and none of cabin crew come out to maintain the order. The snack means just a pack of peanuts.

Not Verified | Auckland to Paris via Shanghai. Airplanes are relatively new but the maintenance on board is low. Broken USB charging plugs, broken remote control for the entertainment system, broken headphones jack, broken lock in the lavatory etc. It is worse especially due to the fact Chinese airlines do not allow you to use power-banks onboard. Means you can't use your phone as an alternative for long. Another part is the service, China Eastern provides very basic service, not to say rough. It is all very technical without any understanding of what service means. Don't expect a smile or nice gesture, you won't get it. One lovely thing is the free WIFI access on the flight, but it is so restricted to western site that you can forget about Google, Facebook, VoIP, most messaging apps, Yahoo search etc. Eventually, when I arrived at my destination, I've noticed major damage to my suitcase. I've reported the damage, filled up a form, send several emails etc, 3 months passed and I haven't got any compensation yet. China Eastern doesn't answer online, they don't respond on Facebook, on their website or to emails. They are practically not there. Dreadful service!

✅ Trip Verified | Rome to Seoul via Shanghai. I traveled with this company that I was a little skeptical of but I must say that not only was it far above my expectations but it earned my esteem. Rome-Shanghai (and back) with a new A350-900, comfortable seats, clean plane and with assistants present and kind. Classic food of the economy class while actually somewhat disappointing on-board entertainment considering that it was a flight departing from Italy was expected titles at least in the Italian language. But where I must congratulate the company is the way they managed the typhoon emergency in Shanghai, I had to take a flight to Seoul and was canceled with the closure of the airport, but the company not only provided escort to the hotel with a shuttle bus but also food and accommodation for two days. Although the information was lacking (it all happened suddenly) have, within 4/5 hours settled thousands of people in the hotel with their transfers. That was really impressive.

Not Verified | Los Angeles to Siem Reap via Shanghai. Worst airline ever. Customer service is the worst. On July 25 we were scheduled to fly out of Los Angeles at 1230pm on China Eastern Airline flight 586 to Shanghai; however, the flight was delayed by two hours and we departed at 2:30pm. When we arrived in Shanghai on July 26, our connection flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia, flight number 513, had already left. The China Eastern Airline agent changed our flight and said he would give us two connection flights: the first connection was to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, then to Siem Reap. But, when we arrived to Ho Chi Minh city, the flight to Siem Reap was not booked by the China Eastern Agent; therefore, we had to buty 2 new tickets to Siem Reap. The flight delay from Los Angels to Shanghai was not our fault but the airline’s and were greatly inconvenienced. This was a horrible experience. I called and went to the office. Heard nothing yet.

✅ Trip Verified | They had the cheapest tickets from Bali to Amsterdam via Shanghai with a layover of 17 hours. (visiting Shanghai is worth it, but bring cash because credit cards won't be accepted). First flight departed before scheduled time and arrived 20 minutes early. Quite new plane Airbus A330 (2 years old) with big screen for in-flight-entertainment. Clean, comfortable and looked luxury even in Economy Class. Staff can improve their hospitality a lot. They only know few English words. Second flight departed 15 minutes later but arrived 1,5 hour earlier. Plane was the modern new Airbus A350-900 (only 6 months old) with again great in-flight-entertainment system. Plane has three camera's outside, so you can watch from your own screen what the pilots are seeing. Again staff can improve a lot. Meals on both flights were good. Expected worse. We arranged when booked a special meal because of gluten intolerance, and this meal was good as well. Also we had WiFi on both flights. Worked good.

✅ Trip Verified | We bought a Lisbon to Melbourne flight from Air France, the leg between Shanghai and Melbourne was operated by China Eastern Airlines. First we were unable to check-in for this China Eastern flight online, at the airport and in Paris, while in transit. No one from Air France could help us with this and the explanation was that the systems did not connect between airlines. When we got to Shanghai we were given boarding passes. But it was after this that all the mess started. First the flight was delayed 1 hour, no explanation given. Then the flight was delayed 3 hours. After 4 hours we were board but the plane did not take off. We were stuck in the plane for another hour, and the stewardesses could not explain why. A meal was served in the taxied airplane. We finally left 5 hours delayed, at 1am, and instead of arriving in Melbourne in the morning we got there around midday. Coming back home I tried to complain to Air France, useless, it was not their flight, although sold by them, we had to contact China Eastern. Where? There is no global European site. There were some phone numbers that answered in Chinese, big help for most of the foreigner clients. Finally I got some email from someone saying he was my complain commissioner, asking me for all the documents, which I sent. This was on 19th March. By 29th March he said he had all he needed and they would deal with it. Since then I contacted every month and had no answer back. Resuming, there is no Customer Service at all for non Chinese citizens and buying China Eastern flights in other companies is also a big no no.

✅ Trip Verified | Delhi to Brisbane via Shanghai. The requested wheel chair assistance was not provided in New Delhi airport. In Shanghai Airport we got wheel chair after a long wait, the wheel chair assistant was highly impolite and very very rude person, can't expect someone like him working at an international airport where people from different nationalities commute. At the time of boarding at Shanghai airport it was raining heavily and staircase to the aircraft was uncovered causing the passengers to get wet.

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to San Francisco. This was my worst flying experience. On our way to Thailand, our flight was delayed in San Francisco causing us to miss our connecting flight in Shanghai. No big deal we thought, until we got to the ticket counter and the guy working was trying to blame us for missing our flight. I tried explaining that our flight was delayed causing us to arrive late and miss the flight. Never did he say sorry or show any sympathy. I explained to him how we were missing a day in our already paid for resort, an excursion, and our pre paid car. He said 'so what, were getting you free tickets'. No, we already paid and missing this flight was their fault not ours. Whatever, we made it work, rerouted to Bangkok and then Phuket. Lost out on over $400. On our way home, leaving Shanghai our flight was once again delayed. They sent us an email two hours before in Chinese. This once again caused us to miss our connecting flight back home to Denver from San Francisco. I understand things happen, but they showed no sympathy and instead of offering us compensation for our lost time and money, they made us feel uncomfortable the whole time. The extra money to fly with another airline is worth it.

✅ Trip Verified | Flew with China Eastern from Gatwick to Bali via Shanghai and back to Heathrow. Flight from Gatwick was poor compared to the flight back to Heathrow. On the return leg the food was good and flight attendants attentive. However, the flight from Gatwick could be much improved. We were served food within an hour of departure and then didn't see the flight attendants again until two hours before we landed; an almost 8 hour absence. No snacks. No water. 8 hours. Flight to Bali on old a330, no entertainment and again, limited FA presence. However, tickets were extremely cheap and so long as you stock up with water and snacks before the flight it is worth travelling with them for the cheap tickets.

✅ Trip Verified | Chicago to Bangkok via Shanghai. I am a physician, normally fly at least 1-2 times/year, for volunteer medical/surgical mission work. I used China Eastern airline for the first time, flying out Jan 30. I had problem at the airport when checking in, which never before in my traveling experience. My passport has printed out my first and middle name in short and not spelled out in full as in ticket. I showed 3 different government issued IDs to identify myself. The counter agent would not issue me a boarding pass and insisted that my traveling agent change my ticket name. When I called the traveling agent, they would take 2 days, and advised me to ask the airline agent at the airport to do that for me. However, the airport agent and her supervisor refused to help me at all. They were extremely rude to me, literally man-handled me to step aside so they can help other customer. I stood there for over 1 hr. Finally, I asked my traveling agent to book me with the different airline at the same day or tomorrow flight. When I asked the supervisor to do in writing that they refused to issue me my boarding pass and the reason, she came out later and told me that she can now help me correct the name on ticket to be exactly same as the passport. The aircraft was quite old, not a lot of comforting equipment. WiFi was not working, and when asked the flight attendant, she said will let me know when function return, but she never told me for the rest of 14 hr flight. Flight attendant never once ask what I need during the entire flight, I had to press call button and wait for 30 min each time I need something. In conclusion, the service was worst than economy class, despite being business class. On the way returning from Bangkok, I did not have any problem at the counter at all, although took extra 15 min to check in due to my name on passport again. The food was also just tasted like coming from a vending machine. Even though the ticket in business class is $1,000 cheaper than other airline, I will never fly with China Eastern again. Furthermore, my brand new luggage was completely destroyed

✅ Trip Verified | This is a generic review for China Eastern. As usual, I need to add 30-49 minutes on each keg at both each airport because Chiba Eastern is too cheap to pay for an actual gate. 85% of the time when flying on MU you will need to take a bus to and from the aircraft which causes so many additional delays.

✅ Trip Verified | Cebu to Chicago via Shanghai. This was the worst flight I have ever flown. The staff was not very friendly. The food was terrible, and this has been the only airline that didn't have me verify your food choices before the flight. I was told that I needed to have done that before somehow (never has this happen before), this meant they didn't have anything vegetarian to eat unless ordered before. There was only one food option for the other people and again never had a flight with only one option. Staff did dig up a couple small things like a fruit cup, donut etc which was greatly appreciated for the 14 hour flight. Hugely dissatisfied with this flight experience and would never use again.

✅ Trip Verified | Toronto to Cebu via Shanghai. I stayed up the night before my flight, petrified of of the terrible reviews I was reading. It wasn't a bad experience, well worth the price of my roundtrip from Canada to the Philippines with a quick stopover in Shanghai. You can't expect premium service for bargain prices, but I'd say nothing was bad about this airline, just average quality (minus the wi-fi, which was non-existent). I found the food perfectly fine- no vegetarian options, but it was served hot and was serviceable, though definitely nothing to write home about. The staff were pleasant enough and had decent English, the in-flight entertainment had an average selection of movies with Chinese subs, and the plane itself was very clean and comfortable enough, if a bit cramped. What matters was every flight left on time and got me to my destination in one piece. Overall I'd recommend it for the price.

✅ Trip Verified | Kuala Lumpur to Toronto via Shanghai. Absolute worst. Booked a flight with China Eastern for May 16th (Kuala Lumpur 2a.m. To Shanghai arr 7:30a.m./Shanghai midday to Toronto 2:25pm. That same day). I then booked a independent ticket to my final destination Montreal couple hours after my planned arrival in Toronto. After couple weeks, get an email that the airline has modified my itinerary. My flight from Shanghai to Toronto remained the same, but my flight from Kuala Lumpur departs at 4p.m. And land in shanghai at 10:30pm. How am I suppose to then leave from Shanghai at midday if I only arrive hours later. Obviously I can’t. Trying to contact the airline is the worst, no email address, totally useless on Messenger, several phone number for HotLine. Unfortunately, they keep you on hold for ever and if you luckily Finally get to talk to someone, they just hang up on you. It is a rather stressing process, and costly as having to pay for all these minutes of International calls while oversea. Luckily for me, I booked through an agency which finally managed to get me on a flight a day earlier which would get me to destination. I tried still to contact the airline has they usually would have to accommodate me for the now 27 wait I have in Toronto, but they refused to do so. Even worst, they did not even apologize for the inconvenience and extra cost this is causing me. They were also denying they changed the flight at first, trying to blame the agency, telling me I should had ask for support while on layover in shanghai, etc. She finally admitted the first flight I was booked on had been cancelled,etc. Still no kind of compensation, no apologies. i had tried contacting the airline for more than 6 weeks by now, which I had proof of. For the flight experience it is not terrible but pretty average. The flight attendant were not helping people store their luggage in the overhead compartment, so boarding was a bit chaotic. Also many customer were too short to access these compartments. Seat area is spacious, thank God on a 14 hrs flight. Flight entertainment offers an average and limited selection. Flight attendant were not rude, but not really friendly or helpful. They did not respond to the service button request. We got served two meals and a snack on a 14 hrs flight. The snack was a tuna sandwich (quite hard and dry), since I don’t like fish, I asked if there was another option. The flight attendant told me next meal is at midnight. Next meal was awful, plane food is not usually that exciting, but this I could literally not keep in my mouth. Sides are really light too so can’t rely on that to fill up. Luckily they serve butter and bread so I just asked for extra. They ran out of many drinks option. On a 14 hrs flight, not being able to get any other juice than orange, or no wine available from mid flight is pretty lame. This is my first time ever writing a review for an airline, and I fly quite frequently. I have use low cost airline which offer better customer service than this. I live on undeveloped islands in Cambodia, I am not a princess nor fussy. But this was a truly frustrating experience. So much stress for weeks not knowing if I would have to buy a different flight myself and loose money. I had confirmation from agency that my flight was changed, but on airline website, no departure info was available after the modification. It only showed my return details. So until I checked in and got my boarding pass, I still wasn’t sure I was truly booked in.

✅ Trip Verified | Beijing to Dongying. It's a short domestic flight in the evening. Shouldn't expect a lot for 1 hour flight in single aisle aircraft. It's good that they still offer desserts and drink in business class. But the cabin was outdated, entertainment screen are smaller than most economy screen in intercontinental flights. Limited choices for movies and everything, hard to operate and hard to switch off.

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to Rome. For economy this is was a very pleasant journey. Had a seat by the exit which allowed for plenty of leg room. Hostesses were all friendly. The IF system could do with a refinement as the volume wasnt good and the choice limited. Also the food was not great but ok overall.

✅ Trip Verified | Beijing to Hong Kong via Shanghai. I had modest expectations for these flights with China Eastern, but I was pleasantly surprised. There are still vestiges of the airline's struggle with the smoking culture of China. - they seem to have managed to quash the habit of the flight crew to surreptitiously smoke, but in some other places, the smell has lingered. The van used to transport business class passengers to the parked aircraft smelled like we were traveling inside an over-used ashtray. Other aspects of the experience were more positive. The aircraft was clean and neat. The flight attendants were cheerful and attentive and did their best to communicate in English - I was impressed considering that the first segment was a domestic flight from Beijing to Shanghai. The meal options were well presented. Beer and wine generously offered, but no harder options were available. We departed and arrived on-time, and my suitcase was on the belt when I cleared immigration. The lounge experience was acceptable, but I will address that in another review.

✅ Trip Verified | Kuala Lumpur to Toronto via Shanghai. The worst airline ever. KUL to PVG May2 and PVG to YYZ May 3. They lost my check bag on the first flight, and on the second flight they have cancelled my pre-booked seat. When I talked to them, the attitude is, I will simply give you a seat, take it or leave it.

Not Verified | New York JFK to Beijing via Shangai. My experience was very good for the flight itself. Boarding was easy, crew was friendly, the plane looked new and very clean and the food was surprisingly good! We were 2 hours late leaving JFK with no announcements as to why (turned out the weather in Shanghai was bad where we had a connecting flight.) So, I missed my flight to Beijing and no one could speak English to help us. The only next flight was 2:45 the next day which meant we missed a day with our tour group. We also had problems finding our luggage. The airline did provide us with a hotel that night which was comfortable. My only real complaint was that none of the airline employees at the airport seemed concerned about anything or wanting to help.

✅ Trip Verified | Our ticket was from Beijing to Delhi, flt no MU563 dated 28 April 19. We checked in at Beijing, counter staff couldn't tell us whether flt to Delhi via Shanghai was on the same aircraft or a change at Shanghai was needed. Single Boarding pass was given from Beijing to Delhi with seat nos. My seat no was 38H. Aircraft at Beijing itself was delayed by 2 hours, however, no proper intimation given to passengers. Language was another problem at Beijing airport. On boarding, none of the cabin crew could clarify whether we remain in the same aircraft on landing at Shanghai or deboard and change the aircraft. At Shanghai when aircraft was almost empty, we were asked to deboard without further directions. On arrival at Shanghai terminal, we were at loss for some time as no airline staff were available to direct Delhi passengers. Wheelchair passengers and senior citizens faced special problem. After 30 minutes, seeing large number of people asking about Delhi flight, one airline staff appeared, probably on pressure from airport security. The staff herded us to various counters of immigration and full security checks (again). We had to run at every counter to catch the flight. Things could have been well handled airline by making proper announcements at Beijing airport, in aircraft and at Shanghai airport. China Eastern Airlines should take corrective measures in future.

✅ Trip Verified | Shanghai to Sydney. Absolutely rude staff at the check in. We were travelling as a couple and were given two seperate seats 30 rows apart. We asked staff to see if they could reunite us given that my wife was pregnant and I couldn't leave her alone for the duration of the flight. Staff were very reluctant to help and had a very aggressive and rude attitude towards us. It looked like staff were not expecting such a simple request and were looking at us as if we were criminals for making such a request! Very bad experience with this airline. In-flight service was mediocre and very basic.