Xiamen Airlines

✅ Trip Verified | Sydney to Fuzhou. The service in flight was good. The food was fantastic compare to Air China. Too many peoples onboard during the flight. We had to wait when we arrived Xiamen.

✅ Trip Verified | In my entire life of flying cheap, this is the first airline to ever make me cry, out of frustration and feeling beaten up. Not once, but twice. Booked a trip from Sydney to Fuzhou via Kunming. I arrived at Sydney airport only to find out that my Fuzhou - Kunming has been changed (amusingly and amazingly) to earlier than my flight from Sydney. Talked to service desk, couldn't help, gave me a number to call. Called all the numbers he gave, none worked. Went on Google and called the number online. They speak Chinese in their automated voicing system. I had to get the guy from the service desk to go through it for me. Eventually answered but staff was so slow and gentle (my flight was in 2h). He tried to book my connecting flight 2 days later. I was crying so much, begging him that we have schedules booked and everyone will leave me behind. I don't speak Chinese and I don't know anyone. Finally managed to find me a flight the next morning. Put me on hold. Came back half an hour later saying their system crashed. Told me he couldn't help anymore, and that I have to hang up and call back and go through the line again. It was 1h before my flight and I still couldn't get my flight confirmed. I was crying so much that the guy at the service desk told me to charge some international calling on my phone and then he helped me call the airline in China. They got it sorted out in like 15min. I went through everything, got to the gate and my flight was annouced delay. For the return flight I went to the airport at 4am for my flight back at 7am. The girl at check in counter gave me 5 words of horror : "We can't find your flight" Turned out flight was cancelled (ah yes again) and have to take the one 5 hours later. Fine. Waited a few hours, went to check in again. This time there were 5 other words of horror: "Your passport number is incorrect." Uhm... Sorry? Double checked my booking. My passport was entered correctly. So imagine being by yourself, running around China airport trying to get this sorted when they don't speak English. No, seriously, save yourself the trouble and never fly with this airline. No matter how good their in-flight service is, it can't compensate all the time and emotions I have wasted on this. Never again. Period. I'm cheap but this is way beyond imagination. I am now making sure non of my friends or family is flying with them.

✅ Trip Verified | Cebu to Xiamen return. Economy: food OK service okay but no personal TV. Business class: food OK service good but still no personal tv, I was given an ipad to watch movies.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Manila via Qingdao. Most impressed. Better than any Delta or United flight I've ever used. I was fed many times and received respectful treatment. I was particularly impressed by Xiamen airport. The view from the taxi port was as stunning as a ranked wonder of the world. LAX was particularly unremarkable. For an international airport it was just pathetic. Maybe 40 years ago LAX's art deco design was charming, but it just looks like a roadside tourist trap now. Doesn't even have usable wifi or updated drinking fountains.

✅ Trip Verified | Beijing to Fuzhou, and the experience is not good at all. It disappointed me a lot. I have to admit the food & beverage are decent. But I got cold before the flight so I tried to ask for a blanket from the cabin crew. The lady was not so nice and showed obvious impatience for such normal request; she told me she will remember but she never got back to me. The AC was strong and I had to suffer it for 3hrs.If possible, I will try to avoid Xiamen Airlines and also not recommend my friends to take it.

✅ Trip Verified | Vancouver to Manila via Xiamen. Horrible service and no English. They lost my bags and didn't give compensation. 15% refund on being refused boarding without a reason. Worst airline. They pretend they can't understand English and care less about foreign travellers. Intentionally belligerent towards us.

✅ Trip Verified | Xiamen to Guangzhou. Whilst it was an old aircraft it was very comfortable and clean. The crew were lovely and for a short flight the food was very good. The facilities at Xiamen airport are mostly supplied by the airline and are first class.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Bangkok via Xiamen. This airline is the biggest scam! I booked a flight from Los Angeles to Bangkok with three hours layover in Xiamen city. At the airport I was told that I can’t use Xiamen airlines because I don’t have Chinese transit visa. Xiamen airport does not have transit area for transit passengers so everyone has to go through customs, get out of the airport, and then walk back in to check in for the next flight. Be advised, you can’t get out of the airport unless you have Chinese visa. I have never heard that you need to get a transit visa for couple of hours layover. I was told to cancel my round trip with Xiamen airlines and get a refund. After 6-7 hrs of phone calls with the airline, I was issued 15% refund of the total cost. The agent explained that somehow my outbound ticket was activated (I flew with a different airline but they still activated my ticket!) and the “activated” ticket was 85% of the cost and I’m only getting 15% refund for the return flight. Don’t be fulled by this airlines! There is a reason they offer cheaper prices... they will streal your money and you will end up paying double.

✅ Trip Verified | Hong Kong to Xian via Xiamen. I had to book Xiamen Airlines because I would have to have an extra day in Hong Kong, so decided to stay in Xiamen over night. The flight was first delayed 1 hour then 2 and the 3:55 that’s almost 4 hours and another airlines flight to Xiamen went through so it was not the weather that caused the delay, by the time the third delay appeared on the board it was too late to cancel my hotel booking and get a refund, once I got out at Xiamen airport I had only two hours between my flight and next flight check-in, I first asked for a compensation, they said sorry, then later I asked for a hotel refund since clearly this was their mess up that led me to the mess up, also denied, then was told that the airport free hotel had no place and the lounges wouldn’t open for another two hours, will have to take my next flight soon and will have to have a sit down with a manager of some sort, of this is how they run their business I would stay clear of Xiamen Airlines and be careful considering to booking a ticket with them especially involving a non direct location.

✅ Trip Verified | Los Angeles to Seoul via Xiamen. We booked this airline because 3 of us could go round trip for the price of 1 major carrier! Such a deal - R/T LAX to ICN (Seoul Korea) for $450 per person! If you are not Asian or don't like Asian food - please pack your own food. Found this airline to be just as professional, efficient, and friendly to fly with. Our flight did have to go thru 2 Chinese ports of entry (Qingdao & Xiamen). The flight was very comfortable due to the new airplane (Boeing 787-9). I noticed the increased air pressure (6000 ft elevation) and increased humidity did not dry me out and felt good at the end of 14 hours in flight. The flight staff was very courteous, attentive, and tried their best with English but Google translate came in handy to communicate. Wifi was available but not very good - too many people using it and not enough bandwidth for streaming. Food was good - 2 hot meals and 2 cold snacks in-between kept you full and satisfied. Very Chinese cuisines on all 4 legs of the flight (2 international, 2 domestic). Just remember, the airline is Chinese and therefore will serve Chinese food - don't expect Panda Express type food like the US. The food is primarily pork based with some fish, chicken or beef offering. If you elect vegetarian or muslim or any other special needs food, make sure you request this 24 hours before your flight. I saw some western folks unhappy with seeing unfamiliar Chinese food being served on a Chinese airline - I had to chuckle watching them eat the bread and desert for their meals. The only issue which is not the airline's fault was going thru Chinese immigration. We did not have a Chinese visa which is normally required for landing in China, but 50+ countries can "transit" thru China if you can prove your final destination is outside of China. The government issues a temporary transit visa for those that are going thru the country - it's good for 24 hours. At our 2 hr layover for refueling, Qingdao was the worst - they scrutinized and held up the entire non Chinese group of passengers looking for errors & past problems. They pulled 2 passengers out of the group for failing to register with a local Chinese police agency the last time they were in China. Military uniformed people surrounded them making you feel like you are in a communist country.... The airline staff was very good at preparing you for Chinese immigration - having your itinerary with you, boarding pass with correct name spelled, etc. Landing at Xiamen was much easier and nicer immigration folks. We even had time to visit the First class airport lounge using our Amex Plat card. Return trip was good and we even had an overnight layover and the airline provided a hotel for the night at no cost which was nice. We did have to pay the taxi rides both ways so remember to bring some Chinese Yuan (RMB) currency. We got to also go on a tour of the city on a double decker sightseeing bus that took us all around the perimeter of the island. Overall, a very nice new and fresh airline to fly with for many Asian countries.