Marysunshine

Up to now, the only international airline I've flown is Air italia when I went to Italy. In march I will be flying Air China from JFK to Beijing then on to Shanghai and back to JFK. I am just curious. Are the planes old? new? Are the seats comfortable in coach? Do they serve food? It is an afternoon flight out of JFK. Is there any movie, tv, any entertainment that I will understand ?
I understand they do not take reserved seating in advance. Will I have any problem getting an aisle seat near the front of the plane if I arrive early at the airport?
I would appreciate any info or details you think would interest me.

moondog

pek-jfk uses oldish 744s with newish interiors. it is worth trying to u/g if you have the means because business class (speaking about the seats here) is quite nice by any objective standard. coach is actually tolerable as well (probably better than you'd expect), but you'd be wise to prepare your own food and entertainment, if possible.

as for pek-sha, it really depends on what type of plane you're flying. i like the 330s the best (most, if not all, are leased dragon air planes). believe it or not, their 738s are my second favorite as long as i can get an EXIT row seat (quite comfy). otherwise, i think the 777s and 747s are more comfortable.

ca has made a great deal of progress over the past several years. in fact, i would almost say that they have gotten their act together (the "almost" is due to the fact that they are still a bit rough around the edges in some regards).

Bowgie

From my limited experience, I would agree with Moondog.


May 06, I flew AC from LAX to PEK nonstop on a 747 with its rear end converted for cargo. (This doesn't affect the passenger cabin.) 2am scheduled departure meant we got a drink and snack as us passenger settle in to sleep. Decent breakfast served as we approached PEK. Seat pitch and width normal for coach; I've seen worse.


Jan 06, I flew NWA from SFO to NRT. 777 maybe? Seating a little worse generally. My seat in particular was the worst imaginable: Across from a pair of bathrooms AND immediately in front of another bathroom.
(My own fault for not familiarizing myself with the cabin seating chart prior to showing up for check-in. However, most airlines would not have jammed in seats there.) Seat could not tilt back at all because of the bathroom behind me, but the seat ahead sure could!

Cabin crew were all Americans with only one or two who could speak passable Japanese. (AC overseas crews can all manage English as well as their native Mandarin.)

50-ish flight attendent in front of me seemed to be in a daze or confused, and she completely upended a dinner tray on a pax's lap. Not a problem now because I heard NWA stopped free on-board food & drink service.

Thank you for listening to me rant.

moondog

yes, a brief stop by the nw forum could have paid big dividends in terms of your comfort. they actually fly 332s sfo/pdx/sea-nrt, which imo are a lot nicer than those ca 747-combis..... and they don't arrive at 5:20a.

i have to say --knock on wood-- that i've had great luck on ca recently. earlier this summer, i had pretty much resolved to keep my flying to an absolute minimum because i was sick of wasting days in airports while the airline people bumbled around cluelessly. however, i have flown 15 segments in the past month and all were close to on time (interestingly, not one was actually on time, but close is fine with me).

N751PR

It was most definitely an A330...unless NW has been hiding a 777 from us.

Marysunshine

Thanks for the info. I am going with Smartours so I don't have too much to say about the planes, but my flight leaves in the afternoon and arrives evening next day, so I'm not too unhappy about it.

party_boy

Enjoy China. I'm jealous....the food!

Makanmata

No need to be at all worried on CA's JFK-PKG flight. You will be perfectly comfortable, particularly if the inferior AZ -- certainly a candidate for the world's worst airline -- is your benchmark

CA uses a contemporary 747-400 on this route, with a Y cabin on par with any US carrier and a J cabin that uses the same, or very similar, seats as those that AA puts in their F cabins. Although there is no individual video in Y, they do show English language movies.

If flown both CO and CA on this route, and call it a toss up between the two PKG non-stops. CO's planes are a bit newer (with in seat, though non-VOD video), and CA's service is a bit friendlier (or more accurately stated, COs service is a bit nastier). Either way, the non-stop polar route is a real blessing, and makes this trip much quicker and easier than it previously had been.

Makanmata

Duplicate post deleted.

Marysunshine

I am feeling encouraged thanks for these bits of info. they help.

vhertling

during the last three days i had three flights with them:

PEK-CGO B737 in F (this is what they call it it is c class)
CGO-PEK B737 in F (this is what they call it it is c class)
PEK-Shanghai (Hong Qiao) B747 in C (Upperdeck)

Waht I have to say: very friendly stuff, refurbished aircrafts, cold drinks, chinese food (not bad at all), ..

Overall: why not! Itīs OK!

moondog

are you sure they call it that, because they usually charge f prices? (the only way i know to book c is to fly on the handful of flights that have three cabins and sit in the middle one)

jhm

I took SHA-PEK on CA in F and really liked it. The seat was identical to the AA F flagship suite (so it swivels 90 degrees; becomes fully flat; etc) but unlike AA, had AVOD. In fact, I probably prefer it to the SQ F Skysuite because the arm rests drop down giving a wider bed and my feet aren't enclosed in a box. The crew were very friendly and the food was okay for such a short flight (soup and cake for dessert but no entree ?!?).

jib71

I read on United's website that we can earn MP points on CA flights:
http://www.united.com/page/article/0,1360,50614,00.html

But Mrs. jib tells me that her MP card was rejected by CA at NRT and PVG last week, so I am wondering if this is delayed for some reason? Does anyone know?

(FWIW - They were happy for her to use a Cathay Pacific / China Airlines / ANA card to earn miles... it seems they work with everyone and his dog... but not with UA?)

Marysunshine

I am exceedingly eager to hear any replies to this as well.