Originally Posted by Kurt

I did a $1,600 R/T on Hainan a couple of weeks ago: Los Angeles-Chengdu-Beijing and Beijing-Chongqing-Los Angeles. It was I class on the Transpacific flights and C class on the inter-China legs. Overall a very nice experience. There was a double-mile promotion on HU through 8/31 that I also took advantage of; which worked out to 70,391 RDMs and 17,282 EQMs (C class gets an EQM bonus, I class does not, so if you can maximize the length of your travel inter-China it is to your advantage).

HU has excellent service and its Dreamliners are very comfortable LAX-CTU was a 787-9 with the old cabin (2-2-2), which is not "sexy" but is great for sleeping. Flight attendants make up your bed beautifully when you are ready to sleep. CTU-PEK was a 787-8 with the old cabin as well (36 seats in two cabins vs. 30 seats in one cabin on the 787-9). For the return both PEK-CKG and CKG-LAX were 787-9s with new-style cabin with direct aisle access in a 1-2-1 configuration and 30 seats. While the privacy of a window/aisle is great, the seat is not (for me) as good for sleeping as the footwell is a bit narrow and for a side-sleeper like me did not allow for equal comfort when switching sides as I tend to do. If I could have an empty seat next to me I would probably pick the old-style cabin.

Business class gets you a car transfer; I had a Mercedes C-class (extended wheelbase model so plenty of legroom) into Beijing and an E-class back to the airport. Very nice!

Departing from Beijing Terminal 1 is fantastic - a private check-in lobby leads to a private security check, then directly into the lounge. It is literally 300 feet from the curb to the lounge, and it takes all of five minutes to get there. Nice lounge with good food and alcohol selection. Chengdu was not quite as nice but still OK for domestic. LAX is the "Los Angeles International" lounge that is not great, but there are other lounges in L.A. A major downside is that you have to go international-domestic and domestic-international for your connections, which means going landside and getting a boarding pass in both connection cities, then going airside again. A pain but it is not just HU that does this.

Food is excellent with an "on-demand" service with lots of Chinese and western choices. The inter-China flights have a nice meal service but as elaborate of course, being two-hour domestic flights. The only alcohol served on these is beer, but that is fine for me with Chinese food. The food and service are really nice - one flight attendant is "chef" and presents the menu beautifully. Wine/liquour is not top-notch, but that is not a major focus of mine so it's OK. Entertainment is also a bit weak, but I found enough to keep me occupied when I wasn't sleeping.

I would recommend Hainan over UA/AA/DL and almost any foreign airline. It's a great experience.