Originally Posted by
AsiaTravel2019
I am looking to book a personal trip to Asia this year and while I prefer ANA and Asiana for J, I am tempted by the Chinese airlines super-cheap business class.
I've searched and read the horror stories. Anyone have any recent experience? The YouTube reviews seem decent. I've read about the crew smoking, the bad food, the lack of customer service, etc.
Is there any one that's better than the other? I am open to joy-riding any of them. (China Eastern, China Southern, Air China.)
Apologies in advance if this is in the wrong forum, still learning the ropes.
They're all pretty much full flat beds these days. What else do you want?
(You might not get the 'experience' of Singapore Airlines, but the money saved will buy you a case of vintage champagne, a flat screen TV, a couple of dinners at a top restaurant and a couple nights at a five star hotel!)
But as
TPJ says - it's actually not that bad. The crew are usually pretty good. The food is ok (no worse than US carriers, but probably not up to Japanese or top tier Asian carriers such as Singapore, Cathay or Thai), the champagne is usually cold. The drinks are pretty stiff.
Air China's IFE seems to have deteriorated recently - propably the worst IFE I've had in a long time. But ANA's is also atrociously bad.
Smoking? Some people have experienced it. Personally I haven't in many flights. And if you're going to be spending any time in China the smoke on board is probably the least of the problems.