Originally Posted by
jiejie
Ouch. not only is that a below-the-belt shot, but it is inaccurate. CZ is a full-service airline, just full service "with Chinese characteristics." They are a mainline airline and don't try to nickel and dime you to death for every little provision of service such as checked baggage fees, food, etc. My own experience with CZ (Chinese domestic routes and regional intra-Asia) has actually been pretty good and even in the face of IRROPs. I prefer not to fly them long haul for comfort reasons--but particularly in Y their hard and soft product transpac isn't appreciably worse than US-based carriers.
That said, I'm not sure 4 Skytrax stars is warranted. Unless SW gets a 2 or 3 and Ryanair gets a -3 on the same scale.
jiejie: while it's difficult to compare CZ with WN because they are different animals, if they were direct competitors (in some alternative universe), I'd be solidly on the WN bandwagon because I'm fond of them from both operational and customer service perspectives (e.g. it never takes 18 months to get refunds from them). I don't fly much F intra-China so the fact that it exists doesn't mean much to me.
WRT to longhaul, their airbuses are fine, but the 777s are among the tightest in steerage that I've ever experienced (even worse than AF, which I complained about recently).