I hate the new UA and refuse to fly them whenever possible, but I would take them every day and twice on Sunday over any mainland Chinese carrier. Food, entertainment, drinks, service are all horrible on all mainland airlines. Seats are nicer but that doesn't make up for the overall terrible experience.

What the OP should be doing is the Dragonair/Cathay combo flying from CAN x HKG x EWR/JFK. This is by far the best option on his routing. If that fails look at Asiana CAN x ICN x JFK