BigE

I was eventually able to link my accounts, after many attempts. I don't know what magic finally did the trick. I initially used my regular password instead of the consumer password (whatever that was) and got the error message about using the consumer password. I tried the '1111111' default and also my birthdate, but they didn't work. Eventually I tried again to use my regular password and that seemed to work, even though it didn't the first time. My theory is that China Eastern is teaching people to be persistent.

NWAsilvELITE

Followed your advice and it worked for me. The last time I tried, it had been about 5-10min on the phone and then went back to try and it worked. I am now confirmed with joining SPG and China Eastern and SPG mobile app and emails to confirm. I agree with the persistent. Was having the same issues as everyone else and then all of a sudden it just worked.

Samli

So i followed your advice and tried being persistent. tried with the original password, changed password, 11111111, YYYYMMDD, and back to changed password. After several attempts, when I try to login, it now says "The account has been locked"
ilogin.ceair.com/sso/starwood
I emailed them to ask for consumer password. But who should i contact about locked account? SPG or China Eastern?

barracuda93

Just for info, check in agents are indeed completely unaware of the partnership and its benefits, but once I told them I do not refer to alliance-wide benefits and they gotta look for a specific thing called "Greater China connection" , they were able to confirm my lounge access right and issued a lounge pass. Didn't really need it, since had complimentary access with Priority Pass anyway, but wanted to check how it works.

kcaluwae

Next week will be my first China Eastern Flight AMS-PVG-HND. And back a few weeks later.
So I wonder in these 3 airports if we will have lounge access and how it works. (My wife is joining me on this trip)

Looking at barracuda93's reply you need to ask for a voucher which gives you access. Is access given only to CE's own lounges or also to Skyteam partner's lounges?

Anybody maybe some experience about these lounges:

AMS : China Eastern is not mentioned on Skyteam's website but I suppose they make use of KLM crown's lounge as well. Not sure if I would be able to pay for my wife's access to this lounge.
PVG : China Eastern has his own lounge here and I noticed this lounge is also listed on loungebuddy for paid access.
HND : Again no mention of China Eastern but I suppose they will make use of the TIAT lounge? Not sure if I would be able to pay for my wife's access to this lounge.

SHLTP

I Have gotten access in tokyo and Chiangmai at a partner and Thai Airway Lounge when I booked MU flights in spots without their own lounge. I feel like in HK I got a Sky Team shared Lounge.

In pudong depending on which one you get access to id suggesting taking food and going to second floor where it is much quieter and more comfortable. The first floor is a zoo.

once I figured out how to link accounts it hasn’t been a great benefit

porkie

I was flying business on CE two weeks ago from HND and there is a SkyTeam lounge on 3rd floor where we get access, pretty nice one with nice range of food and beverages though nothing fancy.

The PVG lounge is very disappointing, especially if you keep in mind that it's their flagship lounge. Overcrowded and understaffed, nothing more than a place to sit.

barracuda93

I am actually surprised to hear that someone got access to Skyteam lounges outside of "Greater China connection" network with China Eastern Silver: it should not be the case according to T&C. But it's awesome, if it works.

Did anyone get access to China Airlines lounges at TPE in the same manner while flying not to HK or China?

kcaluwae

My experience for the outbound segment.
Went to KLM Crown lounge (number 54 if I remember correctly) and was allowed access based on my boarding pass which showed CE Silver status.
The fee for a guest was a whopping €45 so we kindly refused. In theory I would have been able to ask if any of the other people that approached the lounge were allowed to enter a guest but I didn't think about this at that time.

In Shanghai you have to go through security when you transfer and the lines were crazy so we didn't make it to the lounge.
We were opped-up for our second segment from Shanghai to Tokyo, Business in B777. Flat bed seats. A pity that this flight was only 2h30.

In my experience the service on board in both economy and business is pretty good. The meals in economy are not really great and most of all tasteless but the staff is very much present in the cabin during the whole flight.

Fred S. Romero

After hours of trying to figure this rubics cube, I decided to create a "Consumer Password" under the "Password Service" link on the sidebar. Do not change the Query Password. Click on the Consumer Password tab. Use your 8-digit query password for your original password and then create a new consumer 8-digit password and click submit. Then use this password along with your FFID when you go to: spgchinapromo.com/

It did the trick for me and should do the trick for you. Why do they do this? I imagine China Eastern does not want SPG or any other hotel, airline or rewards program to know your CE query password. So they make you create an external "consumer" password. Sheer paranoia is the only plausible reason for this otherwise useless step that I could think of. GOOD LUCK!

aircow33

I recently just got SPG Platinum, how long does it take for my china eastern account be upgraded to Silver? I signed up and linked the two accounts while I was still spg gold. Unlinking and re-linking didn't seem to help.

barracuda93

Supposed to take few days. Their support is useless btw.

aircow33

Hrmm it has been over two weeks now, Anything i can do?

barracuda93

Have you tried contacting either support?

ftrichard

I flew China Eastern for the first time two weeks ago one way from Shenzhen to Shanghai. I've previously successfully linked my accounts and I show up as a Silver Elite on their App.

I gave them my status number and the boarding pass showed "Elite" which let me use the priority boarding queue. I also got an invite to their lounge in Shenzhen which I used. They gave me a seat at the front of economy which seems to be some sort of domestic premium economy albeit with no discernible service or product difference to the rest of the seats except they're at the front. I had something similar on China Southern some weeks ago when I also used my China Eastern Silver Elite number to get "Elite" written on my boarding pass though I didn't get lounge access. On China Southern, we got a bottle of water upon boarding in these curious premium economy rows that the rest didn't get.

Now, I'm waiting for any points at all to show up. Nothing yet on my China Eastern account and nothing of course on my SPG account. The app is so awful that I cannot see if I got any points for the China Southern flight in March. It shows a balance of 3000 points but there's also an overdraft allowance of 3000 points so I don't know if these are the same thing. Anyway, nothing yet for my one-way flight two weeks ago on either China Eastern or SPG accounts.

Given how world-leading many things are in China (trains, payments, on-line commerce, delivery logistics etc.) their airlines appear to have the world's worst IT systems and general performance. It's surprising.