China Eastern Airlines

LHR-PDG-DPS in business class on Jan 23/24 2013 on A330's. First leg on a Skyteam branded plane which had a few more rows of business class and was all very new. Seats were fine full lie flat good blankets and toiletries. Entertainment system was fine slightly limited choice. Food was a bit odd you get to select your main and then they serve a whole menu with different starters depending on the main which they hadn't mentioned when you ordered. Dinner served after take off was very good lunch served before landing was just about ok but choice was limited. Cabin staff were great very polite and quick to respond. The second leg was not quite so good it was just under 7 hours so by no means a short hop but they only served a 'snack' and I was very surprised when they said they had no breakfast. The plane on this leg was slightly older and had China Eastern branding blankets were not quite so thick but apart from that it was pretty much the same as the first leg. Staff were ok too. When I originally booked there was a 3 hour stopover in Shanghai but this was subsequently changed to 8 hours. Business class lounge at PDG is pretty ropey bad food uncomfortable chairs and painfully slow WI-FI. The Skyteam lounge at Heathrow is pretty good though. The only other annoyance was that they didn't have any visa on arrival forms for Indonesia which meant we had to find them when we arrived and then scrabble around for pens. The other thing is that it is impossible to choose your seats before you get to the airport which is pretty unusual in this day and age but having said that they did honour the request on my booking for a window and an aisle together. All in all a 6 out of 10 experience and actually one minor benefit of the changed arrival time is that you avoid the terrible traffic in Denpasar. Could easily be improved by more modern web booking system more food on the Bali hop and perhaps a slightly wider choice of meals. But then it is a lot cheaper than anybody else for this journey.

Flew from Seoul to Dhaka return via Shanghai Hongqiao and Kunming. The price was less than half of any competitor's price. I was pretty satisfied with this airline. The airplanes were modern and clean. The English level of the staff was not high but they were quite friendly and efficient. The food was reasonably good but only Chinese style food was available. The flight out of Dhaka was over an hour late departing and so I missed the connection in Kunming but the staff in Kunming were friendly and reasonably efficient in arranging another flight for the following day and a free night's accommodation in Kunming. No entertainment was available but that doesn't bother me. I don't really have any complaints about this airline.

Return Sapporo to Singapore via Shanghai. I chose China Eastern for the price. Overall I have no huge complaints. The worst part of the flight was transferring in Shanghai but CEA can't really be blamed for that. Most of the flight attendants were relatively polite. I was however not impressed with the food. On the first flight the meal was almost inedible. On the second leg the longest of the two they only gave us a snack pack with a variety of packaged snack foods. Hot meals were offered on both the return flights but they were also pretty bad. The drink selection is also very limited. There is no personal entertainment system that most of us frequent international flyers are used to. There is just a screen a few rows ahead showing Chinese TV shows with subtitles. As it was a night flight and each leg was relatively short it wasn't a problem. Seeing as CEA fulfilled their basic obligation which was to get me to my destination safely while charging almost 300USD less than any other airline I would possibly fly them again. But if I needed to take a flight longer than 5 hours I'd definitely spend the extra cash and choose a different airline.

JFK to Bangkok via Shanghai. We are a family of 4 so the price difference was significant. Had a pleasant experience and encountered no major issues. Biggest challenge was going through China but if you can handle the slow processing and tight security then this airline will serve your needs. Flight attendants were laid back but were nice enough and were helpful when asked. Food was adequate and included fresh fruit. On the flight over there were sandwiches and drinks available throughout the flight at the back of the plane in addition to the regular drinks and meals served. Warm wash cloths were passed out for freshening up. were Not many entertainment screens but most passengers had iPads or laptops for entertainment. The seats were no different than any other economy class seat we have travelled in. Don't expect luxury perfection or extreme efficiency but the price makes any cultural differences worth the ticket price.

Hong Kong to Honolulu via Pudong mid December 2012. Inflight service was terrible as was the food. The crew on board were aloof and a couple of times when I asked for a drink of water I was told to get it from the rear of the aircraft. Even for long haul flights they do not provide snacks other than nuts - even then you have to ask for them. What is more outrageous was their refusal to provide a spare US Immigration form to one of the passengers who had messed it up. Very few of those passengers who boarded at Pudong read or write Chinese let alone English so completing that form was a real challenge. The passenger behind me needed a new one and was told to get it at the Immigration hall at the Honolulu airport. The inflight service on the way back was likewise poor. The plane arrived 2 hours late at Pudong and no explanation or apologies. I will never fly this airline again.

OKA-FRA return - A332. Aircraft was ok reasonably clean however female staff were rude (male counterparts were friendly and helpful). Flight-out was pushed-back 1 day approximately 2 weeks before departure. Flights departed/arrived on-time. Food wasn't great but we flew Domestic so you get what you pay for. Getting a transit ticket in Shanghai was crazy. Almost missed leg from Shanghai to Naha (Okinawa) as gate change was not announced until we asked why our flight was not on the board at the gate originally assigned (gate attendant gave us a dirty look and no answer when we asked why the gate change was not announced earlier). Overall experience (relative to the ticket price which is considerably less than the competition) is acceptable.

Shanghai to Rome on December 20. No online check-in system and no controls at the SkyTeam Priority check- in area where I had to queue for 15 minutes. VIP lounge is below standards and my flight was not called so I was late at the gate. No in-flight entertainment system and the variety and quality of food was poor. A good note is that the quality and friendliness of the staff has improved possibly a sign that the overall level of service will follow.

CJU-PVG-SYD. New 737-800 from Jeju to Shanghai (economy) no food or IFE but it was only a 50 minute flight so that was alright seat decent for a 737 and service was nothing out of the ordinary. Business class lounge at PVG was a bit small and old the hot food section at the buffet was cold. PVG-SYD was on an A330 with lie-flat seats. Lots of movie choices on the IFE and the food was excellent. Flight attendant service was great. Would fly China Eastern again if I had the chance.

HRB-PVG. Good service for a domestic flight. Good legroom and comfortable seats. Flight attendants were very attentive and smiled. However the dinner was a disaster.

OKA-PVG-CDG-LHR return in economy. CDG-LHR leg was serviced by Air France as part of their Sky Team agreement. Delays on most flights with some explanation but did not affect connecting flights. Cabin crew were robotic with very few smiles and very curt English. In-flight entertainment ranged from nothing to HD level in-seat monitors with an excellent choice of movies and games (CDG-PVG only). Was upgraded to business on the OKA-PVG flight and was pleasantly surprised by the food. The economy food was edible. Overall good value for money and much better than I was expecting having read the reviews here. The transit in PVG is an experience I never want to experience again but that is not China Eastern's fault. Would never travel via China again just because of that.