Trip Reports - Has any one been on MU (China Eastern) on Asian routes?

Has any one been on a MU flight from HKG to PVG/SHA or NGB? I will be going on it soon and would like to know how the flight is.
Note I did post it in the other Asian thing but no one has responded.

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Free Audio, Video and Channel 9 On All WORLDWIDE Mainline flights THROUGHOUT COACH. Only on United Airlines. A Star Alliance Member

Yes, a few times, but it was a couple of years ago. However, we use them for a lot of corporate travel between HKG and SHA (because MU is significantly cheaper than KA) and there are no real complaints. They have a strong focus on safety, they have more English-speaking cabin crew than most Chinese airlines, and the food can be very "chinese" but then for a domestic flight in China I guess this is not unexpected. They are certainly closer to global best practice in many areas than other smaller Asian carriers (e.g. CA - see my report here). They also partcipate in AsiaMiles (though not on many of the cheaper fares).

same here, various experiences about 3 years ago. only in F and J, no Y experience. was not overly impressed, but it wasnt bad either. PRC carriers are good low cost alternatives for PRC-US long haul routes.

I flew MU from HKG to SHA last September, I was suppose to be in J but gave my seat up for my grandfather because J was fully booked and there weren't enough seat for all of us.

Anyway, the aircraft used was MD-11 (there was a last minute change of equipment from A300), the interior was very dated, part of the wall penal was torn and could see the sponge layer inside. Seats in Y were arragned in 2-5-2 and 2-2-2(if I remember correctly) in J.

Catering was better than expected, you get a salad (or cold-cut of some sort), 2 choices of main and a dessert and there were 2 rounds of tea/coffee after meal service.
Obviously, the F/As were not up to the standard of CX and SQ, nevertheless, they did their job quite efficiently and their command of English were pretty good.

IFE was limited to a few audio channels and I think they did show a short feature on the mainscreen (can't really remember what it was though.)

As this was my first experience flying a mainland Chinese carrier, it wasn't such a bad experience, certainly better than what I had anticipated!

I did a trip in F SHA-PEK on an international A340. Was the only passenger in F. Service was very attentive, but food was mediocre.

Overall, not a bad deal given that full fare F was only a 50% premium over coach.

I fly MU between PVG and PEK around twice a month. All in all, I don't enjoy flying them very much, but I stick with MU because their frequent flyer program is decent (very easy to upgrade for whatever that's worth) and they have a good reach out of Shanghai. What I like least about MU (and the same goes for most Chinese carriers): they leave those bright lights on during evening flights (I generally like to rest after a trying day in Beijing traffic), the food is aboninable (all classes), the beer is served warm, there are advertisements on the back of every seat, and the experience is little different than bus or train travel in China.

PS - Be sure to drop me a line when you're in town.

[This message has been edited by moondog (edited 10-20-2002).]

I flew them in F to SZX from SHA - nice enough and far better than CA -

Plus you get a really cheesy tie as a gift!

Oh yes - I forgot the gifts. They can make a huge deal out of giving you an MU keyring! http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

I will be in Y and I'll be in around late Dec. 30 or 31st in SHA/PVG till New Years. Leaving back to the states and high school on New Years.

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Free Audio, Video and Channel 9 On All WORLDWIDE Mainline flights THROUGHOUT COACH. Only on United Airlines. A Star Alliance Member