Jiangsu

I wish China Estern and Shanghai Airline both stay with *A, because I will do a lot domestic fly in China.

I don't see why China Eastern and Shanghai Airline want to quit *A .

Hamurabi2008

just my 2cts...

I also prefer CA over MU at any given time. MU let me down more times than all other domestic carriers combined (I do reside in China for the last couple of years and did/do a lot of domestic travel).

FM has old planes (can only talk about domestic service - would never fly domestic carrier internationally unless in the cattle shuttles to Macau/HK) and 'old' service. But at least it complies (mostly) to the *-standards which I do notice and appreciate (for instance: flight cancelled - the remaining free seats on the next flight are allocated based on *-status/priority and not based on 'who is shouting the loudest'-basis). I did occasionally experience difficulties to get the FM milage credited to LH M&M. I never had any issues with CA to credit my milage to LH M&M. MU to Asiamiles is a nightmare.

CA is great if you credit your milage to LH M&M - it gives terrific 100/200/300% bonus for Y/C/F (don't think any other * FFP will give you 300% status milage on domestic F on CA).
Some of the new planes (and I believe they have more new metal than MU/FM) are really nice/good and they do use them domestically between the major economic hubs (ie esp. PEK - SHA/PVG).

If FM gets absorbed into MU (not sure if they retain the brand? did not follow that) I cannot imagine that * would even ALLOW MU/FM to join * without major overhaul of their crappy operations (MU/FM that is).


Ham

Jiangsu

I will be in China for the CNY holiday, and I will fly Shanghai Airline and Air China for a couple of times. Since they are both *A, which one is better at crediting the miles into my UA MP account? Are they good?

Hamurabi2008

Hi Jiangsu,

Hope you have a great trip! Be prepared for crowded airports as everyone is travelling during that time (you probably know this if your handle is the name of a province in the PRC)...

Check your booking classes for milage accrual on UA MP. If they are eligible you will almost certainly have nil issues to get the milage credited on CA automatically (assuming the ticket name and the UA MP name is identical - can be a problem if you have Chinese & Western names).
On FM it might be a bit tricky to get the milage credited. If so, you need to go the missing milage claim route which should work fairly well (just takes extra effort and time).

In any case: keep the BP/iternaries for each segments!

As for the planes it is difficult to say which airline will be better - you would need to mention the flight numbers to check out the metal used.

As a generalization: CA has newer planes than FM.

Inflight Service on domestic travel is generally (below/on) par with those in the US - you will get food and drink service even on short hops. But don't expect a single smile.

Ground service is probably similar (I have better experience with CA check-in staff than FM but both will offer *A benefits to elites).

Don't expect any domestic upgrades if you are an UA Elite!

Hope this clarifies your confusion.

Ham

nick5000

If you fly cheap economy it is better to fly Air china, as shanghai airlines have many more cheap classes that doesn't give any miles.
On CA your chancer are bigger to get at least 50% (500min) miles on a cheap ticket.

Rejuvenated

I would not put much trust on something published out by that source.

MUFFP

It's true.It seems MU would like to join in ST.

Xiaotung

It certainly seems that way. A bad move on MU's part and would be a bad day for PVG. Star may have gained New York but would lose Shanghai. Skyteam must be waiting for this day.

jxdong

at the entry ceremony of Brussels airline into star alliance, no one from Shanghai Airlines showed up in the event.

does this mean something?

tstt

国航 上航 东方 三家都差不多。没觉得谁比谁强。
mu 更有可能带着上航加入天合。

Xiaotung

Maybe nothing. No one from Air China showed up either. A big disrespect especially for Air China as someone who claim to be the next leading carrier in the world. Rob Fyfe from Air New Zealand flew long distance all the way from downunder. There should be no excuses for the 2 in China.

Jiangsu

Hey guys ,,

I am now with *A, and flying UA mostly. But there are many destinations I want to travel to but *A is not able to bring me there. So I'm thinking of getting another status from OneWorld.

My choices are CX Macro Polo and Asian Miles, it seems that Macro Polo and Asian Miles are pretty close, people can accumulate Asian Miles points by flying CX.

CX Marco Polo can get points from flying all the OneWorld airlines, pretty much the same as Asian Miles.

Anyone familar with Asian Miles and CX Macro Polo club ?


If I need to stay in China mainland for half a year, to get the points, which program is better to go with?



Thanks !!

bniu

CA is okay, they've improved somewhat ever since joining *A since UA prolly strong-armed them into getting their act together...

CA's service is okay, i was a bit surprised to see free meals in coach but after tasting it a few times (blech), it reminded me why I'd rather pay $6 for AA's BOB. If you like cute flight attendants, there's plenty of them in asia. Whether or not they're actually competent in the safety part, I find that I'd rather be on United or American...

CA is a great airline at following the book. Their greatest weakness is when things go haywire and the book doesn't cover the situation, then, they all kind of cower around and no one wants to make any decision fearing that it could be wrong and lose face over it (though wouldn't they lose even more face by cowering and doing nothing?). and also, don't expect CA's employees to bend any rules.
We may complain alot about United, but in the end, United is pretty good at bending the rules, improvising, making exceptions, and what not to the point that we expect them to continuously bend the rules for us and get mad when they won't throw us a freebie...

And great FA's are often those who've been well seasoned through 30+ years of experience. CA fires their FA's when they hit 45-50. You just won't see any 80 year old FA's in asia...unlike on the western airlines...

MKE-MR

Marco Polo and Asia Miles are for all intents and purposes the same thing (when it comes to mileage accumulation which is what you are after). Asia Miles is the loyalty currency and where you earn your flight miles. Marco Polo Club is only for status so if you fly more than 20 segments then you might get Silver status (which still is worth almost nothing unless you're flying Cathay Pacific).

So if you think you'll be on the right airlines, then Asia Miles is your starting point. If you think you'll be on the right airlines AND fly enough to make status, AND that the status will be useful to you, then pay the USD50 fee and sign up for Marco Polo Club (but note first that many lower booking classes are not eligible for mileage/status accrual).

If you're after just the points, definitely skip signing up for MPC. Status on intra-China flights isn't going to do that much for you anyway.
Check the Cathay Pacific forum for more details, since they own/operate Asia Miles and Marco Polo Club.

Jiangsu

Hey MKE_MR

Thank you so much for your info, it's very helpful! ^ I found some info on CX forum as well.

I think I would go with Asian Miles, by the way, what's the best credit card associated with Asian Miles ? Expecially the ones issued in China Mainland? or North American, since I'm not HK citizen.