Xiamen Airlines
 

I am on a business trip in Asia.

I have business in Xiamen China and for the first time I flew on Xiamen Airlines.

They make all US carriers look bad.

The US carriers should be ashamed of the flying experience they offer.

Xiamen flys mostly brand new 737-800 and provide a hot meal in economy.

The staff is very friendly and attentive to customers.

Shame on you US legacy carriers.

Xiamen Airlines
 

yeah, you'll find that most asian carriers provide meals in coach. some airlines have new planes, some don't. but keep in mind many asian carriers are propped up by state funds and have route monopolies, decreasing the need to cut fares to beat competition.
Americans want cheap fares, not hot meals in coach. so blame American consumers, not the airlines.
The service culture us different in the US and Asia. Quelle surprise

Xiamen Airlines
 

I flew Xiamen airlines this past summer from Chengdu to Xiamen... Had the entire exit row to myself; sprawled out and slept while my 20 classmates (study abroad) gave me the stink eye. It's great being bilingual ;)

I suppose taxpayers never bailed out the US airlines or supported the US commercial aviation infrastructure with public funds:p Everyone wants cheap fares, not just Americans. Asia, including China, has numerous low cost carriers and all provide better service than US legacy carriers. The culprit for the current state of US aviation is not the consumer it is the institutional shareholders. A problem for much of US industry....

That really depends on how you define good service. Let's take Spring Airlines, for example... awesome employee attitude across the board and really low fares, but the most painful airplane seats I've ever experienced. All US legacy carriers are far more comfortable and have first class cabins. I would also say that food is generally better on US airlines than on Chinese airlines. Sure, meal times have been compressed, but when food is offered, it tends to be pretty good (I have no problem for paying for Buy on Board snacks/sandwiches/salads). Meanwhile, I got food poisoning from a meal on CZ a few weeks ago (rancid dumplings).

I'm trying to book a flight on their Chinese site (they don't have a Thai site), but it's not letting me proceed. The origin is BKK, but they seem to want me to enter a mainland Chinese phone number. So that's a few strikes right there.

(Also, prices on their mainland site seem much lower than those on any other. I'm sure that's part of SkyTeam's philosophy.)

Why would this be part of ST's philosophy? And since when would ST have a philosophy that would dictate the prices that their member airlines charge?

I've flown with Xiamen Air quite a bit - it s a good airline. Xiamen is a bad airport for international transfers as you have to clear immigration and customs and then wait for the next check in to open.

Try looking to book the XiamenAir ticket through a travel agency - the cost comes out roughly similar.

Xiamen on long haul
 

And now Xiamen is starting service to AMS and CDG. And in Jan 2017, NYC. They have more 100 aircrafts.

what do you mean by starting... they have been flying to AMS for quite a while now...

I just want to point out that the OP's experience is not the same you would get flying most Chinese airlines domestically.

I've worked in China for almost 7yrs now and when I have to fly domestically a lot of the times I can't get into one of the better air lines due to as this thread stated monopoly on routes.

Chinese domestic airlines have MUCH smaller spaces in between seats than you will find in an American or European airline. Also, they WILL NOT let you sit in the emergency exit seat if you cannot speak Chinese. That second point is a bit of an annoyance to someone who is tall as I am. Due to my work booking 20-50 seats to fly a large group around, I can't even grab a business class seat.

Two of the best domestic airlines I've used are Xiamen Airlines and Hainan Airlines.I believe China Eastern which is also a Skyteam member was a horrible flight for me legroom wise...no way to sit properly.

I disagree with the last post. With few exceptions, Chinese airlines are pretty good wrt space, and some planes are very good. 95% of the time, I grab reclining exit rows (the chinese language requirement is understandable and REALLY easy to fulfil) or bulkhead aisles, but normal seats are perfectly fine.

Sorry, but I just can't agree with you. However, to give those reading a fair look, I am 193cm and therefore taller than average. In 9/10 flights I take within China my legs cannot sit straight into the chair in front of me.

I guess if you are of average height then it would seem fine.

Since this thread is talking about Xiamen Airlines, I challenge you to name a single US or EU carrier that has better average seat pitch on 737s/320s.

I've just returned from a trip where I flew MF AMS-BKK/NRT-AMS (via Xiamen) in economy. Pretty decent flights for the price I paid.

Had the 787 for the AMS flights but unfortunately the 787 was not flow on the NRT route. Still pretty decent legroom for economy. The outbound was pretty empty so we had 3 seats for the 2 of us. The inbound was completely full. Service was decent, although most of the food (except from AMS) was pretty bad....

The biggest letdown of flying them for me was the transfer at Xiamen airport. I had pretty long transfers on both flight (5+ hrs) which is good for any possible delays, but since both connections were on time I had to spend them at the airport. And it's not really setup for (international) transfers. Not only is there no transfer area, you have to clear immigration (where they cannot seem to find your western name on the transfer list), but check-in for international flights only opens 2-2,5 hrs before the flight. They make you wait the rest of the time in the arrival area where there's nothing to do and even decent seats are nearly impossible to find. Not a pleasant experience.

And when you travel from AMS you also have to deal with the stuck-up KL b*tches that only point you to the self-serve terminals, which take a lot longer than a manned check-in line (with bags). And don't believe, although you baggage receipt says otherwise, that your bags will be going farther than Xiamen. They won't. You will have to pick them up and recheck them there.... some notice of that would have been nice.

All in all they have a pretty decent product in the air, but the transfer in Xiamen is a big letdown... so I'm pretty sure I won't be flying them again.