Is China Eastern's customer service really this bad?
Apr 6, 2019, 10:39 pm
#91
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Christchurch, New Zealand
Programs: NZ Elite; QF Platinum; CZ Gold; MU Platinum; Marriott Titanium; Accor Platinum
Posts: 1,467
My experience as a regular on MU on AKL-PVG route is that for the price the airline is hard to beat. They are both night flights so I never eat the meals but they offer fully lie flat beds at the price of competitors' premium economy. I have always slept well. Over the two and a half years i have been flying these airlines I have noticed marked improvements in the quality of English spoken on board, the FAs are always very friendly and the wines are drinkable. Sometimes they don't serve the whites cold enough but this is a cultural thing and easily solved with the addition of a couple of ice cubes!
The toilets are also kept very clean, which must be a challenge for the crew.
I even find the MU lounge in PVG to be OK (western wine and spirits offered and loads of room) and in AKL they use a partner lounge.
These are not luxury or "honeymoon" type experiences in business like you might get on an EKA380 with the onboard bar etc but for a functional business class product at a good price, where resit is important, i can recommend them.
The toilets are also kept very clean, which must be a challenge for the crew.
I even find the MU lounge in PVG to be OK (western wine and spirits offered and loads of room) and in AKL they use a partner lounge.
These are not luxury or "honeymoon" type experiences in business like you might get on an EKA380 with the onboard bar etc but for a functional business class product at a good price, where resit is important, i can recommend them.
May 9, 2019, 8:42 am
#92
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Flying Blue Plat, Air Europa Silver, IHG Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,010
Horrible airline! I have flown with all of the 19 SkyTeam members. My flight with China Eastern was the worst ever.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
May 19, 2019, 1:34 am
#93
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 10,222
Horrible airline! I have flown with all of the 19 SkyTeam members. My flight with China Eastern was the worst ever.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
May 19, 2019, 2:03 am
#94
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,011
Horrible airline! I have flown with all of the 19 SkyTeam members. My flight with China Eastern was the worst ever.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms
If you want us to take your opinion seriously, try out one of their better products, and get back to us. Declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.
May 19, 2019, 11:56 pm
#95
Join Date: May 2009
Location: MAD/LAX/MNL/PIT
Programs: DL DM, PR, TG, UA, CX (Asia Miles), BT, AY, AA
Posts: 906
Horrible airline! I have flown with all of the 19 SkyTeam members. My flight with China Eastern was the worst ever.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
Recent flight BKK-PEK was 5 hours in Y so I expected a decent level of comfort as a STE+. Instead: wafer thin seats, miniscule legroom, vile food, no soap in the bathrooms, no IFE, surly staff..Next time I would just fly AirAsia, it can't be any worse. I wish SkyTeam would remove MU from the alliance. This airline does not value our business.
Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you, but I now place MU in the 60th percentile. Nearly all airlines have a bad plane or two, which they tend to put on low margin routes, such as BKK-PEK.
If you want us to take your opinion seriously, try out one of their better products, and get back to us. Declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.
If you want us to take your opinion seriously, try out one of their better products, and get back to us. Declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.
Many of us who fly MU are also STE+ (me being one of them) but I'll say this again: the best way to enjoy MU is to have very low expectations. Same with any other airline, really. If you want to compare horrible experiences with SkyTeam carriers, I'm currently in PRG silently fuming at OK for delaying my flight to WAW. Mind you, I turn around later in the evening, so OK effectively wasted two hours of the time I could've spent running errands and enjoying myself in Poland.
(Update: now I'm fuming even more since my flight has been canceled and I'm stuck in WAW for the night, so now I have to rebook all my flights back to LAX. If this is how they treat elites, then I'm VERY likely never flying them again.)
If you've flown MU multiple times like many of us on this thread, then I'd take your word with more weight, but I'd have to agree with moondog here: declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.
Last edited by Akiestar; May 20, 2019 at 12:07 pm
May 20, 2019, 5:55 am
#96
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 36
My only experience with them is China domestic. The lounges are ok. Nothing great but it does the job. In flight, the service is generally good. Seats are not the best but they are comfortable enough. The price is also usually competitive in J.
May 22, 2019, 7:28 am
#97
Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: FR
Programs: FB Plat
Posts: 298
For the record, I have an upcoming booking with MU in J and just tried to book via email the transfer service offered at arrival at CDG.
My tickets have been bought via an OTA and MU first replied that I could not benefit from this service as my ticket was not emitted in France but in the Netherlands. I replied back asking for them to quote where I was suppose to read such a restriction on their website (it exists on some versions of the MU website but not on the French one, where you only need to be on a MU flight on a 781 ticket). They replied with a BS disappointing answer.
Later on the day I received multiple phone calls. It was a MU agent trying to reach me to get some information to send to the Amsterdam office so that they could try to book the service. Apparently there were not able to do it themselves in Paris with their system. A day later I received the confirmation of the limo and the agent called me again to make sure I had well received it.
What looked at first like a bad J service from MU appeared to be in fact proactive agents doing their best with the same poor IT system you have to endure as a passenger! ^ (maybe with a pinch of cultural misunderstanding) Will report back if the limo arrives at CDG though...
My tickets have been bought via an OTA and MU first replied that I could not benefit from this service as my ticket was not emitted in France but in the Netherlands. I replied back asking for them to quote where I was suppose to read such a restriction on their website (it exists on some versions of the MU website but not on the French one, where you only need to be on a MU flight on a 781 ticket). They replied with a BS disappointing answer.
Later on the day I received multiple phone calls. It was a MU agent trying to reach me to get some information to send to the Amsterdam office so that they could try to book the service. Apparently there were not able to do it themselves in Paris with their system. A day later I received the confirmation of the limo and the agent called me again to make sure I had well received it.
What looked at first like a bad J service from MU appeared to be in fact proactive agents doing their best with the same poor IT system you have to endure as a passenger! ^ (maybe with a pinch of cultural misunderstanding) Will report back if the limo arrives at CDG though...
May 29, 2019, 4:57 pm
#98
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,399
I wasn’t going to reply again....and this is my final contribution to this discussion. You just don’t get it....things are done differently outside the US-you might not like it, but they are. You might find that inexplicable, but they still are. You are going to have to make your peace with this. MU probably move 200,000 passengers a day...they just don’t care. While suing people in small claims, venting on social media (most of which isn’t available in the PRC) and contacting the US DoT is a big deal where you live, in the rest of the world it is of no consequence. It will have no effect at all with MU. I hope you are able to let it go, because it now seems you are getting close to the line of rational/irrational. In future, I strongly suggest that you fly TG, or a non-stop US airline if there is one when you return to Thailand. I realise it’s a bit more expensive, but they are generally more Western in their approach, and that seems to be a better fit for you. I hope you can walk away from this, and maybe later when your anger has dissipated, can reflect on this as part of a bigger picture.
I'm somewhat confused. Is the OP taking batteries/chargers to Thailand to store there until he moves to Thailand in eight years? Or is he selling them? Are these items not available in Thailand for purchase?
May 29, 2019, 5:24 pm
#99
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Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Minneapolis: DL DM charter 2.3MM
Programs: A3*Gold, SPG Plat, HyattDiamond, MarriottPP, LHW exAccess, ICI, Raffles Amb, NW PE MM, TWA Gold MM
Posts: 100,399
When I've flown CX in business class, there was a western meal choice which was like country club food: good and well prepared from quality ingredients but old fashioned. The SQ business and first class book the cook options gave me the same impression.
May 29, 2019, 6:20 pm
#100
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: Shanghai
Posts: 42,011
Have you ever tried JL F from Tokyo? That's the only airplane food I've ever encountered that was downright good!
Jun 9, 2019, 8:31 am
#102
Join Date: Sep 2014
Programs: Flying Blue Plat, Air Europa Silver, IHG Plat, Accor Plat
Posts: 1,010
Ten years ago, I would have agreed with you, but I now place MU in the 60th percentile. Nearly all airlines have a bad plane or two, which they tend to put on low margin routes, such as BKK-PEK.
If you want us to take your opinion seriously, try out one of their better products, and get back to us. Declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.
If you want us to take your opinion seriously, try out one of their better products, and get back to us. Declarations based on single data points are statistically useless.