China Eastern: Mileage Runner's guide
Nov 26, 2017, 3:58 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Location: west coast best coast
Programs: TINDER GOLD, STARBUCKS GOLD, COSTCO EXECUTIVE!!
Posts: 3,987
China Eastern: Mileage Runner's guide
I flew a bunch of these, and am happy to help out.
China Eastern is mainly used for Delta fliers to MR status: all their revenue fares earn 100% MQM as a "Tier 1" Partner.
China Eastern is an attractive choice because of their rock-bottom fares in both Y and J. Their fares are extremely cheap, and often given values of 1-3cpm, particularly for North America-Asia fares with connections.
Delta MQMs:
You earn 100% MQMs per mile flown on all fares, and typically the long-haul flight is in the discount economy fare class. However if you have any connections within Asia, sometimes these will be a higher fare class, including B and Y. These earn 150% MQMs and are calculated separately.
Delta RDMs:
You earn based on distance. Until Jan 2018, it's 30% for T, and then 25% after (cheapest fare class). You earn all Medallion bonuses.
So if you were Diamond, you earn 120% bonus of the base miles calculated. So the 30% T fare earns 66% RDM. If you have the option of upfaring to V (which earns 50%), I would do that if the costs are marginal, because V earns 50% base and therefore 110% of miles flown. The math benefits you.
Skyteam Elite Plus Benefits:
On-board welcome: I would say maybe 10% of flights as a Skyteam Elite Plus (Gold or higher Medallion) you would get greeted on board similar to how they treat their own golds. The majority of the time this does not happen.
Seat assignments: no benefits at all. You still have to pay for preferred seats, otherwise you are limited to the same general seat selection as all other fliers. Gate agents/check in agents may have some lee way but nothing is guaranteed. The system will also auto assign you like general pax (including middle seats) you must must must check with an agent for preferred seating.
Lounge access: you get access to the ever-so-crowded business class lounge at PVG. It's definitely above average for China, in my opinion, but may fall short of your expectations if you compare it to DL Sky Clubs or the nicer AF lounges. Only China Eastern Platinums get access to the First Class lounge section. When at out-stations, be careful: if you are flying economy and hold status, they will by default give you the worst lounge. Business/First pax get the invitation to the nicer lounge. For example, at JFK you will be given an invitation to the Alitalia lounge, despite being able to access both Korean and Air France as STE+. (Which is not saying much, since both of those lounges are crappy Priority Pass lounges, but still better than Alitalia.)
Priority boarding/check-in: No issues here, but I find for check-in desks rarely is status ever enforced. Multiple times I was checked in normally despite my number not being on the reservation, and then having to go back to have them add it in. What is the point of a business class counter if anybody can sneak in?
Free/op upgrades: Don't count on it. It rarely, if ever, happens. You can purchase it at the airport, but I don't know the cost. It's also possible to buy on board via the IFE, but the price was outrageous.
On board experience:
Smoking: yes, they do it. Either the pax, or the crew, or the pilots, for about 30-40% of my flights there were phases of the flights where you can smell smoke.
No cell phones: All Mainland Chinese carriers ban pax from using cell phones in-flight, even in airplane mode. It becomes a game of cat and mouse with the cabin crew if you really are desperate to use your phone.
Amenity kits (in Y): none. Blankets and pillows are provided for long-hauls. Intra-asia only gets blankets, with some pillows by request.
Wifi: it's available on most long-haul flights. And it's FREE. You can preregister or just do it on board, I have never seen the free code limit reached. It's also tied to your ID and Seat Number, so you need both these things handy, and be careful if you have switched seats. Also only one device can be signed in. Use your laptop or tablet, obviously. It's also slower than Gogo, in my experience. Oh, and it's censored because it goes through the Chinese Great Firewall. So make sure you have a VPN if you need to access Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
Food: it's average, if you like Chinese food. The selections are always both meat options, so if you are vegetarian you MUST pre-order or simply starve. If you have Western tastes, you may not particularly enjoy the meals because it's usually a selection between rice or noodles. There is also not much of sides (dessert, salad) either. You may want to bring snacks. The nice thing is that they serve two hot meals for long haul.
Drink: purely awful. Chinese red wine, or Tsingtao beer. No spirits. And even the soft drink selection is limited. They also do not give you personal bottled water on board other than what comes with your meal.
Service: surprisingly decent. They will disappear throughout the night as with most long-haul flights but they will always get you what you request. In my opinion, they are extremely patient and understanding.
Announcements: annoying as all hell. PIlots seem to either leave the seatbelt sign on all flight, and flash it when there's turbulence, and everytime they do that, the crew is forced to make an announcement. When this happens, all the screens on board light up brightly and wake up everybody up, in addition to the announcement.
Other pax: sometimes a problem. Have had several flights with old Chinese folks stay up all night chatting very loudly. One flight a young blonde backpacker girl also snuck into J, and the crew just let her do that. If you also are blessed to have an empty row on your flight, defend it! People will try to sit down on the other end and move around a lot.
IFE: acceptable. not that much worse than Delta Studio in terms of selection, but still OK if you fly them just once or twice.
China Eastern is mainly used for Delta fliers to MR status: all their revenue fares earn 100% MQM as a "Tier 1" Partner.
China Eastern is an attractive choice because of their rock-bottom fares in both Y and J. Their fares are extremely cheap, and often given values of 1-3cpm, particularly for North America-Asia fares with connections.
Delta MQMs:
You earn 100% MQMs per mile flown on all fares, and typically the long-haul flight is in the discount economy fare class. However if you have any connections within Asia, sometimes these will be a higher fare class, including B and Y. These earn 150% MQMs and are calculated separately.
Delta RDMs:
You earn based on distance. Until Jan 2018, it's 30% for T, and then 25% after (cheapest fare class). You earn all Medallion bonuses.
So if you were Diamond, you earn 120% bonus of the base miles calculated. So the 30% T fare earns 66% RDM. If you have the option of upfaring to V (which earns 50%), I would do that if the costs are marginal, because V earns 50% base and therefore 110% of miles flown. The math benefits you.
Skyteam Elite Plus Benefits:
On-board welcome: I would say maybe 10% of flights as a Skyteam Elite Plus (Gold or higher Medallion) you would get greeted on board similar to how they treat their own golds. The majority of the time this does not happen.
Seat assignments: no benefits at all. You still have to pay for preferred seats, otherwise you are limited to the same general seat selection as all other fliers. Gate agents/check in agents may have some lee way but nothing is guaranteed. The system will also auto assign you like general pax (including middle seats) you must must must check with an agent for preferred seating.
Lounge access: you get access to the ever-so-crowded business class lounge at PVG. It's definitely above average for China, in my opinion, but may fall short of your expectations if you compare it to DL Sky Clubs or the nicer AF lounges. Only China Eastern Platinums get access to the First Class lounge section. When at out-stations, be careful: if you are flying economy and hold status, they will by default give you the worst lounge. Business/First pax get the invitation to the nicer lounge. For example, at JFK you will be given an invitation to the Alitalia lounge, despite being able to access both Korean and Air France as STE+. (Which is not saying much, since both of those lounges are crappy Priority Pass lounges, but still better than Alitalia.)
Priority boarding/check-in: No issues here, but I find for check-in desks rarely is status ever enforced. Multiple times I was checked in normally despite my number not being on the reservation, and then having to go back to have them add it in. What is the point of a business class counter if anybody can sneak in?
Free/op upgrades: Don't count on it. It rarely, if ever, happens. You can purchase it at the airport, but I don't know the cost. It's also possible to buy on board via the IFE, but the price was outrageous.
On board experience:
Smoking: yes, they do it. Either the pax, or the crew, or the pilots, for about 30-40% of my flights there were phases of the flights where you can smell smoke.
No cell phones: All Mainland Chinese carriers ban pax from using cell phones in-flight, even in airplane mode. It becomes a game of cat and mouse with the cabin crew if you really are desperate to use your phone.
Amenity kits (in Y): none. Blankets and pillows are provided for long-hauls. Intra-asia only gets blankets, with some pillows by request.
Wifi: it's available on most long-haul flights. And it's FREE. You can preregister or just do it on board, I have never seen the free code limit reached. It's also tied to your ID and Seat Number, so you need both these things handy, and be careful if you have switched seats. Also only one device can be signed in. Use your laptop or tablet, obviously. It's also slower than Gogo, in my experience. Oh, and it's censored because it goes through the Chinese Great Firewall. So make sure you have a VPN if you need to access Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.
Food: it's average, if you like Chinese food. The selections are always both meat options, so if you are vegetarian you MUST pre-order or simply starve. If you have Western tastes, you may not particularly enjoy the meals because it's usually a selection between rice or noodles. There is also not much of sides (dessert, salad) either. You may want to bring snacks. The nice thing is that they serve two hot meals for long haul.
Drink: purely awful. Chinese red wine, or Tsingtao beer. No spirits. And even the soft drink selection is limited. They also do not give you personal bottled water on board other than what comes with your meal.
Service: surprisingly decent. They will disappear throughout the night as with most long-haul flights but they will always get you what you request. In my opinion, they are extremely patient and understanding.
Announcements: annoying as all hell. PIlots seem to either leave the seatbelt sign on all flight, and flash it when there's turbulence, and everytime they do that, the crew is forced to make an announcement. When this happens, all the screens on board light up brightly and wake up everybody up, in addition to the announcement.
Other pax: sometimes a problem. Have had several flights with old Chinese folks stay up all night chatting very loudly. One flight a young blonde backpacker girl also snuck into J, and the crew just let her do that. If you also are blessed to have an empty row on your flight, defend it! People will try to sit down on the other end and move around a lot.
IFE: acceptable. not that much worse than Delta Studio in terms of selection, but still OK if you fly them just once or twice.
Nov 27, 2017, 8:58 am
#2
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 69
This is great, thanks a lot. Doing a JFK-PVG-SIN MR next month .. How about how long before departure time do they start boarding flights? .. Have heard everything from 30 min to 1hr... Also, are there any decent food outlets in PVG Term 1? .. Thanks again
Last edited by Jsegui; Nov 27, 2017 at 9:28 pm
Nov 29, 2017, 8:34 pm
#3
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: SAN
Programs: DL Diamond 1MM, AS MVP, SW ALP and CP, b6 Mosaic, UA Silver, Hyatt Glob, Marriott LT Gold
Posts: 223
Great post, nearly everything spot on. A few things to add.
Delta MQMs:
You earn 100% MQMs per mile flown on all fares, and typically the long-haul flight is in the discount economy fare class. However if you have any connections within Asia, sometimes these will be a higher fare class, including B and Y. These earn 150% MQMs and are calculated separately.
Save your boarding passes--sometimes the miles don't credit. There are several reports of this.
I had success asking nicely at check-in for a bulkhead or exit and was given a bulkhead.
There's a newish lounge in PVG T1 that is very nice, see Shanghai Pudong (PVG) lounge questions...
I was quoted $1600 o/w from LAX-PVG. Somehow captured a unicorn and caught an op-up to J from PVG-LAX. I could not have been happier.
Delta MQMs:
You earn 100% MQMs per mile flown on all fares, and typically the long-haul flight is in the discount economy fare class. However if you have any connections within Asia, sometimes these will be a higher fare class, including B and Y. These earn 150% MQMs and are calculated separately.
Seat assignments: no benefits at all. You still have to pay for preferred seats, otherwise you are limited to the same general seat selection as all other fliers. Gate agents/check in agents may have some lee way but nothing is guaranteed. The system will also auto assign you like general pax (including middle seats) you must must must check with an agent for preferred seating.
Lounge access: you get access to the ever-so-crowded business class lounge at PVG. It's definitely above average for China, in my opinion, but may fall short of your expectations if you compare it to DL Sky Clubs or the nicer AF lounges. Only China Eastern Platinums get access to the First Class lounge section. When at out-stations, be careful: if you are flying economy and hold status, they will by default give you the worst lounge. Business/First pax get the invitation to the nicer lounge. For example, at JFK you will be given an invitation to the Alitalia lounge, despite being able to access both Korean and Air France as STE+. (Which is not saying much, since both of those lounges are crappy Priority Pass lounges, but still better than Alitalia.)
Free/op upgrades: Don't count on it. It rarely, if ever, happens. You can purchase it at the airport, but I don't know the cost. It's also possible to buy on board via the IFE, but the price was outrageous.
Dec 8, 2017, 9:30 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Denver, Colorado
Programs: DL Diamond, AA EXP (2.2MM), Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold
Posts: 185
Thank you for the information. Curious to know how PVG is for transit, in particular INTL -> INTL? What is the minimum time you'd allow? I'm looking at something that has a 2.5 hr transit.
Dec 10, 2017, 11:31 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2013
Location: west coast best coast
Programs: TINDER GOLD, STARBUCKS GOLD, COSTCO EXECUTIVE!!
Posts: 3,987
That's more than enough. If it's all on one ticket I wouldn't care about MCT because they'd just rebook you.
Dec 14, 2017, 1:17 am
#6
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programs: KE Skypass Morning Calm Member, OZ Club
Posts: 2,350
Flying ICN-PVG-BKK. Can we transit with duty-free liquor (in sealed bags obviously) MU to MU in hand? Both flights are in fact operated by MU China Eastern, NOT FM Shanghai Airlines if that makes a difference.
Dec 14, 2017, 10:27 am
#7
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta PlM, 1M
Posts: 6,363
Did you consider buying in PVG or onboard the second flight?
Dec 14, 2017, 10:41 pm
#8
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea
Programs: KE Skypass Morning Calm Member, OZ Club
Posts: 2,350
Yeah I mean it's not THAT big of a deal. I can always just buy it in Shanghai, but you know Koreans. The bf and I are taking a trip to the giant Duty Free department store and just buying a ton of stuff the day before our flight. We then pick it up and carry on board the plane. Much easier. Thanks for the reply!
Dec 23, 2017, 1:22 am
#9
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 12
I've flown with them a few times.
A few notes:
I will probably fly with them again. I would only pay a little more for delta and just because of the free liquor.
A few notes:
- Although food/drink is below average and the attendants barely speak english... They are very attentive especially compared to American/Canadian competitors. (I'm looking at you Canada Air.)
- Free internet is confusing to get activated. Take note of some instructions before hand or you might never get it to work.
- Between booking the flight and traveling, I had gotten a new passport. It took me nearly two hours to talk to someone. They did allow me to choose a preference of aisle seat over phone though, whilst I was talking to them.
- These flights are extremely crowded due to their low prices. Some of the older Chinese people did not have the greatest hygiene.
I will probably fly with them again. I would only pay a little more for delta and just because of the free liquor.
Jan 1, 2018, 10:36 am
#11
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: ATL
Programs: Delta PlM, 1M
Posts: 6,363
I also have not had any luck using the website. Either the fares it finds or horrible, or they do not actually ticket when I click through. I guess I could try calling MU direct once I find a fare and see how that works.
On another thread (perhaps the MU thread over on the DL board) some suggested Kyack, but I saw worse pricing there than on Priceline.
Jan 1, 2018, 10:20 pm
#13
Join Date: Mar 2014
Posts: 187
Hipmunk often finds the lowest fare bucket for MU. However, I would shy away from using Justfly, as they might change the price unexpectedly and without letting you change your decision on their new price. Cheapoair does alert you to the new fare, but they don't offer a free 24 hour cancellation so be aware about that.
Jan 2, 2018, 3:22 am
#14
Join Date: May 2006
Location: GA
Programs: VA-PLT, QF-GLD, DL-GM, UA-ex1K, AA-exPLT, HH-DM, IHG-PLT, MR-GLD
Posts: 8,242
I was able to book a domestic flight PVG-CTU on the MU website, one way for two people. It was extremely challenging to get all the fields right on their forms, especially in the payment fields, but eventually it went through. Their price was cheaper than anywhere else I looked.
I also booked a one-way MEL-PVG-PEK on their website successfully. It priced in AUD, and was comparable to what I found elsewhere.
I thought it was particularly funny that at one point in the booking process their seat assignment logo was actually a logo of an airbag exploding on a passenger from the automotive industry.
I also booked a one-way MEL-PVG-PEK on their website successfully. It priced in AUD, and was comparable to what I found elsewhere.
I thought it was particularly funny that at one point in the booking process their seat assignment logo was actually a logo of an airbag exploding on a passenger from the automotive industry.
Last edited by CPMaverick; Jan 2, 2018 at 4:07 am
Jan 2, 2018, 9:54 am
#15
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: YYZ
Programs: Skymiles GM, UA Silver, Marriott Titanium, National EE, Hertz 5*
Posts: 383
Priority boarding/check-in - I have had people ask (and prove) status before entering the very exclusive SkyPriority check-in area (two aisles worth of space). SkyPriority baggage tags in my experience don't make any difference.
