Jet2K

While making a connection in Beijing to YVR from PVG, I visited the Air China Business Class lounge and took some pictures. The general design is very similar to the First Class lounge, as well as the domestic First and Business Class lounges, and it is certainly a nice place to relax and have some refreshment and food. Here is the photo report:

http://AirlineExpert.com/_CA_PEK_Intl_Biz_Lounge_p1.html

Ben Ell

Out of interest, because the CA website is horrible, is the lounge open 24/7? (business or first lounges)

I'm thinking of taking a trip later this year which has to pass through PEK, about a midnight arrival and 8am depart, so was hoping to get into the lounge and crash/keep myself occupied/fed between flights.

wavyfly

I flew out from PEK two weeks ago. The flight was 2am. The lounge will be closed after my flight and opened at 5am for the first flight.

Between 2am and 5am, you need to double check.

Jet2K

I am sorry I neglected to note the hours of operation of the lounge.

I called Air China in the US and was told that while the lounge(s) are open 24 hours, I cannot stay there overnight. I am not sure whether this information should be trusted.

The rep did request my ticket number and itin and suggest that she may be able to find more information.

Here is a listing of lounges from Priority Pass, which included several Air China lounges in PEK. Keep in mind that lounges sometimes are on seasonal schedules and could change their hours.

Notice the second lounge listed will stay open until last flight of the day, and reopens at 5:30 am.

Jersey Joe

I spent a few hours at the CA first class lounge the other day and it was a great experience. There a few few sleeping pods and 2 showers, of which I took full advantage. Decent buffet and snacks and pretty fast internet connection. The staff were extremely nice and helpful, which is the complete opposite of what the staff on the actual CA flights were. Flying CA from JFK-PEK-CAN-SGN-NNG-PEK-EWR was the single worst flying experience I've ever had. Planes were old and cramped. TPAC flights had zero entertainment! Meals were horrible. Staff were miserable. I flew CA b/c I got reward flight with CO miles. As far as I'm concerned, CA doesn't deserve to be in Star Allicance.

I'm curious - has anyone had a different experience on CA?

jiejie

No difference, that sounds like classic CA both hard and soft product. I won't fly on CA (or any other Chinese airline) long-haul TPAC or Asia-Europe. I was permanently cured of that back in 1987 when they were good ol' CAAC. I will fly them domestically in China, which time-limits the suffering. And recently in a case of MX issues on a TG flight, had to fly them regionally within Asia as the best of a number of sub-optimal Plan B choices. In business, and it was not too bad for a 6 hour flight. I agree they have no business being in Star Alliance, but then again, there are players like US Airways in there too!

miikka

No complaints here. All my CA flights have been good so far, they aren't luxury or super-excellent but those flights have been good and nice. I have seen much worse and I wouldn't say that they do not belong to Star Alliance. I think we have even worse examples about domestic or international flights inside Star Alliance.

On re-routings they have been very nice, usually they have complied to whatever I have requested but it usually takes a bit longer than with the Western carriers (who usually just re-route according to their policies and do not listen to my wishes so much).

Everyone has their own preferences and that's why alliances are good - if you don't like one airline, you can easily switch to another and still get some miles collected. I will keep using CA also in the future as there hasn't really been anything to complain.

moondog

Next time you are stuck in SHA at 11a and your CA flight to PEK goes mx, try grabbing a seat on the 1130a MU flight that departs from the very next gate... not going to happen. Of course, you'd have no better luck if you were holding a ticket on MU, FM, CZ, HU, or any other relevant carrier; that's just the way the system works.

toyotaboy95

Things will improve a lot when they receive their 77As to replace the 744s, the A330s with PTVs are quite modern. Meals aren't that bad, but it really depends on your nationality - because some foreigners find particular Chinese food disgusting (on Youtube, there's a video about brown-coloured 'disgusting' Chinese food on CX and how the pax were expecting dimsum - the food was actually minced meat with sauce, a traditional Chinese dish). Staff on my occassions were quite friendly and seemed to enjoy their jobs.

Steph3n

I had several intrachina flights on CA and found the onboard staff and FC lounge staff to be very friendly.

The quality of the english on the staff was varying, but some of them quite good, I am able to do basic communications in chinese but they enjoy practicing english on me so I let them.

I was surprised at the catering on a 45 min flight at 7am:




Lounge wise, they have one in the domestic side that is business and first split also, and it is alright with sleeping pods and all, but the catering is pretty poor, mostly it is bowls of instant noodles except 1 hour at lunch and 1 hour at dinner when they bring out some highly popular noodle bowls.
(i.e. 10 would come, 10 would be gone in 30 seconds)
Over in the international departures area they have a similar setup and the catering is much better.


I didn't do any long haul but the planes I was on were clean and modern with drop down IFE, better than some US airlines.

a bit off topic but not really, I liked that Air China did not clutter the FC seat pocket with crap, it only had the safety card in it, no other bogus stuff, magazines and newspapers were on an overhead rack on the rear bulkhead.

Jet2K

Thank you for sharing the pictures Steph3n, they sure look better ^ than any 45 minute flight I have taken outside of China.

I also have had generally good experience on Air China, both domestic and long haul in Business and First class. Before flying Air China, my expectation was so low for everything (aircraft, crew, food, lounge, ground staff, ...etc.)

Interesting that you mentioned about the cabin staff enjoy practicing English on you, I have had the same experience as well, and I think it is not just Air China (the company) try to improve, but also the individual staff themselves that are showing pride in their job and looking for opportunities of self-improvement.

Now that I have personally experienced quite a number of Air China flights, I have significantly reset my expectations, and Air China will have to live up to the relatively high(er) standards that I have seen. I think they are far far away from the CAAC images of the 1970's, and they will continue to gradually improve. The gap between Air China and the other Asian carriers will most likely decrease further over the next few years.

Clipper801

My experience has been similarly favourable too. I have now flown several segments on CA (all intra-Asia/China regional service and none intercontinental long haul), all in business class and I have no hesitation in flying them again.

MU is the only other Chinese airlines that I have flown (also in regional business class) and CA is far superior.