bluemocha

Hi everyone,
I am doing a bit of homework here before traveling next year. And I posted a similar question about EVA on a different thread and got a lot of good input from folks.

Since I am also considering China Airline, I wonder if you can choose seats(either by calling or from their web site) immediately after you book your flight from travel sites or China Airline site. Or did you have to wait for a certain time before making seat selection?

If you can share your experience, that'd be great!

Thanks!

essexnyc

I live in the US and was not able to book directly on Air china's website (this may have been due to Lhasa being in my itinerary), so I booked through Expedia (US site). When the Expedia confirmation came through, I was able to immediately use Expedia's link to view and reserve seats. These seats held in the reservation.

tris06

The guy was asking about China airlines NOT air china. As China airlines dont fly to Lhasa...

To answer the original question.. Yes and no.

You can seat select online up to 90days before the flight. If you book economy ticket classes, R,Q,T,V,K,M,B or Y then you can select your seat.
If the ticket class is N,S,X. Then no you cannot seat select.

All business class tickets and First class tickets can have seat selection.

Some seats like exit seats and front row seats are blocked until check-in.

Hope that helps.

gunit770

Air china is much better though...

tris06

Saying who is better especially is objective. I think most that tried both airlines would say china kicks air china concerning service quality and etc..

I wont go any further in to this as i can only compare with China southern and China eastern and the differences are vast in comparision to china airlines.

TennisNoob

It's pretty simple.

Does China Airlines have an updated F-Cabin? No

Can't compare 1900s to 2014.

tris06

Simple reason they are not updating their first class product is because they intend to end the international flights exception.

Yes cant compare the current products in first class.. But seriously how often do people fly first willing to spend 8,000-10,000 usd on a return first class ticket?

Get real and move on. Now compare China airlines to Cathey Pacific... now yes there is a difference. Dont even talk to me about domestic travel in China which is like 1980s or early 1990's business class..

If you want to push your view by cherry picking then this can go on forever.

TennisNoob

You can compare China Eastern w/ China Airlines

But I just don't agree with CI kicks CA

bluemocha

That helps. Thanks Tris06!

Taipei

As some based in Taiwan, but also travel to Beijing a lot, I also feel in many ways Air China is better than China Airlines (CI), in many ways but not all. (as a note a prefer Eva Air and Cathay (CX) over the other two. Air China for now has better aircraft on international flights (domestic is very basic though), such as to LAX. CA has newer 777-300's, for now CI is older 747 with poor business class seats, vs CA which is newer and flat beds. CA full fare business/first seems better ground services as well. Also for frequent flyer CA flights for most part get full miles to my UA account, CI iinto DL (Delta) seems very poor. Ci has better food (at least for Chinese/Taiwanese) and maybe better service (but I still prefer BR) than CI. I think Air China has changed and improved a lot more quickly and at CI (China Air) change is much slower. CI is just starting to get new 777-300's to replace older 747's , which in the case of CX/BR/CA was done a few years ago to where I fly most (LAX/SFO to/from TPE/KHH/PEK (via HKG when flying CX)

TennisNoob

Very well written

Can compare CI to MU

I'm sure over time we can start comparing CA to BR as CA improves.

moondog

I try my best to avoid flying within China (e.g. I take trains whenever practical, and I keep longer trips to a minimum), but IMO Chinese airlines generally have pretty good hardware (this goes for both 737s, many of which are quite new, and A330s... quite comfortable). The main reason flying in China sucks is the delay problem, and that's usually beyond the control of the airlines.

TennisNoob

I know you might find it annoying I'm saying this but one big reason I'm scared of flying CA now is after listening to CA981 ATC correspondence on Youtube.

Delays for sure!

tris06

Tennis Noob you obviously dont keep up to date with CI.

Maybe CA will catch up to BR but CI will likely leap frog BR as they have 2 new types of planes coming in through within the next 2 years.

CI made a mistake by hanging on to their 747's. And i think those who use the 747's especially in Business as the standard then you have not tried their A330 long haul configured seating which is on par with many European airlines.
Hell i even asked a couple on Friday night who where in front of me out of Brisbane what they thought and they said it was really nice and basically fully flat..

BR looks like it has ordered the 787 and may order the 777x but well we all know the 787 is already booked out well past 2020 (And 777x past 2023) so that leave CI with have the A350 and B777 and the A330's (which will be by that time starting to get dated especially if they don't refurbish) for a good 4-6years. No doubt BR will have to refurbish or something to stay competitive.

Also service is being upgraded with the cancellation of First class which I have seen some pictures of the theme they will going with.. Should start within 2-3months.

The downside? Well probably the prices will go up. And you have long term veterans (Coolfish one example) on here even saying the same thing that Eva is in the short term getting a good running for its money.

Then airport facilities? Well I had been invited to the garden on level 4 a while back and its fine but nothing amazing. On the other hand i do think CI is trying (First try not really a success) to improve the lounges. I had a chat with the staff about the details of Terminal 1 lounge renovations. Which i was told they have acquired more space to expand the first class lounge and business lounge to offer more facilities. And thankfully they told me they are trying a different way to the Supreme lounge (This time a more modern theme) which i mentioned before was a bit of a flop.

CA does currently lead the way in Mainland China but it does get a lot of perks which they try to hold from the other majors. But they are too catching up, I just looked at the MU B777 to come out at the end of 2014 and it looks nice. I cant wait for some serious competition to enter the Chinese market.

That's my rant.

TennisNoob

You're Very right Tris! I do not keep up with CI because it's been the same for 10 years. Just like the same, I would not keep up with RyanAir, Aer Lingus, Southwest and etc.

And at this present time until BR does something, CI will beat BR but if you compare the time frames between the two companies, it's not really comparable.

Even after CI decides to finally revamp it's fleet, it at the end of the day will only have half the amount of B777 that BR will have.
BR was always the better carrier overall and within time.

MU will be getting there B777 AFTER CZ.
Furthermore MU will be having a 10-Seat per row design in Economy. That's painful!!!
Though I do like the design of what MU has in J, MU doesn't have the slot power the CA currently has in NA.

I don't know how you feel about flying but personally I would not fly an airline that had such a long history of it's safety record.
Same would apply if someone gave me a ticket on MH, I would try to avoid it.