Shanghai Airlines

Gimpo (Seoul) to Shanghai return. Ground staff good flight attendants helpful even receiving a beer prior to takeoff. First flight was Gimpo-Shanghai uncomfortable takeoff but after that no problems. Shanghai-Gimpo return - no complaints good staff no entertainment but is a short flight good landing and on time. No problems. I would recommend this airline from a cost perspective but that would be all. The best part was the 757 - great aircraft.

Kunming to SHA was scheduled to depart at 19.20 however it was delayed. So at 19.10 we were taken by coaches to a nearby hotel where we had a meal and slept until midnight. We were then taken to the airport where we were given €30 cash compensation and an airline meal. The flight left at 0210 - a B757 and we could stretch out across three seats so it was reasonably enjoyable flight with food and drink provided. The way the airline handled the delay was an example to European airlines. Also many thanks to the Chinese people on the flight who ensured that we were looked after.

They no longer seem part of Star Alliance. Shanghai to Yantai they first changed time from 1600 to 1405. Then 3 days before flight changed to 1055 as their flight was cancelled. Had a similar experience before.

CTU-PVG on B737-800. 2 hours delay. Supposed to depart at 1925 turned out to be the inbound flight did not arrive until 1945. We got on board but sat on the tarmac for another hour due to heavy traffic. Asked the crew the estimated departure time the answer was 'I have no idea'. Seats all right for domestic flight however I was on the last row right next to the lavatory and it smelled badly. Passenger's cell phones started to ring when we were still in the air just before we touch down the crew did not do anything to stop them. Not a good experience and I prefer to fly with China Eastern instead of Shanghai Air.

BKK-PVG. Had window seat but middle seat unoccupied so I got to stretch out. Cabin crew spoke little English but were friendly. Chicken with rice and veggies acceptable Economy airline food.

Shanghai PuDong - Ha'erbin. Check-in the easiest I've encountered. Took a bus a fair distance out to the plane. Flight wasn't full and they spread people seating throughout the plane. Seats good amount of space. The best flight experience I've had in China.

Vancouver to Shanghai Pudong airport connecting Shanghai Airlines to Phnom Penh Cambodia. Staff at the Shanghai Airlines desk could not track down their plane that we were to board at 7:50 pm. (Turned out to be an almost five hour delay as they kept changing boarding gates on us too). They didn't delay or cancel the flight or take our baggage. Airline staff were very mixed up and didn't seem to care too much. Many people argued with them loudly. After two hours they said we'd better re-book for the next day and they'd look into hotel vouchers for an over-nighter and a bus would come. We were very jet-lagged and understood we only had a 24 hour transit visa in China which meant we'd be in trouble overstaying the visa if we re- booked for the next day. If this happened we assumed we'd be okay over-staying because the airline should look after this. Airline staff had no idea. We re-booked anyhow but right after they found the flight and began taking on passengers. When we tried to get our re- booked ticket on the 'found' flight which was our original flight they denied our ticket - said it wasn't valid or something. The only way to get out on our original flight was to buy a ticket on it at the counter. One airline counter staff woman told my wife it would cost 160USD each for each one way ticket. Fair enough but when we paid and got our etickets and read them they'd charged us $1915 USD! Counter staff wasn't able to convert the currency from CNY to USD. We argued with them to no avail and they merely said that was the counter price. We called Air Canada from the airport and they said their agreement with Shanghai Airlines ended Oct 30 - but we booked Oct 27th. Shanghai Airlines did not honor the ticket yet had a few days remaining. Pudong Airport does not honor toll-free calls. They take a very expensive cut at their terminal business center. The young girls at the Shanghai Airlines counters looked good but didn't speak much English were not informing anyone as to what was going on with the flight and basically tricked us into buying another ticket at a ridiculous price.

SHA to HKG with B737-800. The seat was comfortable but legroom was quite tight. The cabin attendants were friendly and spoke good English. The meal was good (surprisingly sandwich on Chinese airline!). The flight entertainment was not available even though there was ear phone socket and they played some documentary on the overhead monitors.

PEK-NKG and SHA-SZX. The flight from PEK was on a very old 757 with the narrowest seat pitch I've ever seen. I'm only 5'7" and my knees touched the seat in front of me! The bathroom was ancient and had only bar soap. On the plus side the breakfast was decent. SHA-SZX was after my China Eastern flight made an emergency landing so Shanghai Airlines used a 767 instead of a 757. The 767 was new and was quite comfy. Attendants friendly and sometimes nagged a bit about putting carry-ons in other bins that had space. Food also was good on this flight. There's absolutely no in-flight entertainment! There are headphone jacks but the system does not work.

Shenzhen-Shanghahi Hongqiao. Flight was delayed for 1.5 hrs because of aircraft late arrival and air traffic control terrible service bad food and very simple soft drinks were served. Flight arrived at the T1 of Hongqiao airport while Shanghai Airlines used bus to send us to T2 to claim the baggage.