nycflyer

I don't doubt CA is stepping up their game given high standards at nearby competitors, but with no critical feedback this reads more like an ad than a trip report. You made effort to present beautiful photos, which is commendable, but the boosterish tone makes the report sound unbalanced.

Some questions one could ask...
Was there any wait at check-in, how did the boarding process go? What were you offered before takeoff, did they take and store your coat? Were you addressed by name? What were the choices for wine and champagne, what was the name of the Chinese wine that was fantastic? Did you try the tea menu, what were the choices? How was the level of English, French of the cabin crew, were there French cabin staff? Which movies and shows were available on AVOD, how does the selection compare with SQ? Why is having a whole book on embroidery that great?

No ill will intended, but every C service has limitations, it is good to hear both sides of the story in these reports.

travelinmanS

I took CA recently from PVG-Australia, which admittedly is on the 330 and not the 777-300, but service was average to poor and food was bad. Despite a half full cabin FA's couldn't be bothered to serve you after dinner and you get a ridiculously small bottle of water to last you the entire flight. All in all I wish I had taken Qantas. The 330 seat (lie flat) is not bad but the video system is very average with poor choices.

I'd still prefer AA or UA over CA to the US and Aeroflot over CA to Europe.

JPCAG

+1 ^

Just flew CA107 from PEK-HKG in First

Unbelievably comfy for an A321

Stewardesses..........awesome!!!

bearbrick

Hi , good report but you took pictures f everything incld the pajamas but the actual seat when it becomes a bed. ..?
Why is there a need to give pjs in C class anyway ....

Was there cigarette smells during the flight ?

TPJ

Nice report - thanks for sharing!

CA Business looks great - you almost made me wish to fly with CA...

Jac747

Nice report and maybe I'll consider CA in the future....

quirrow

Then I might be on the 332, since it was full lie-flat, and I believe CA uses the 332 on the YVR-PEK routes too according to the FA serving my flight between PEK-SIN. FYI, the PEK-SIN routes is wholly served by this full lie-flat configuration in C.

I might be in the minority but I had a better dining experience onboard CA than in Qantas. I was served a half-raw steak on the Qantas A380, and a melted ice-cream on another flight to CGK. Service wise, Qantas crews are more pro-active at offering refreshments while one would need to call for service on CA which I think is due to cultural behaviour where Asian passengers might find the frequent incursions by staff to be disturbing.

But if CA flies the full lie-flat configuration on the 332 between YVR-PEK and with the 777-300ER service from LAX-PEK, I don't see how AA or UA can be better across the Pacific.

PointsNmiles

The F looks great - I think I will try them at some point.

Doug_1970

I've flown CA on several intra Asia flights and have been very impressed - on a ICN - PEK flight last year the plane had the same seats as the one in the OP's pictures.

tiramisufan

Those aprons, not best looking imho.

Travel K

Thanks for the TR! It is great to see other options out there and CA J looks pretty nice! Although I like F as much as anyone else, having solid options for J is something I am going to need in the future.

tommyleo

You make good points, but your accusation that my tone is "boosterish" couldn't be more off-base. I'm a VERY critical person, I can assure you. (You should see some of the criticisms I've sent to individual airlines! )

But yes, my reports will always be limited because I am reporting based on my personal preferences. (I'm not trying to be a journalist.) For example, I don't drink much alcohol, so I didn't report on the entire drink selection. (I only had that one glass of wine.)

As for your other questions...

- There was no wait at check-in due to the dedicated C and F check-in area, as shown. Boarding process was simple: C had priority boarding (which is routine for long-haul C, no?).
- Drinks were offered immediately upon boarding.
- I'm not sure if I was addressed by name, mainly because I don't care either way.
- I'm not a big tea drinker, so I can't tell you how good the tea was.
- English was spoken well. I had no problem conversing with any of the FA's. Everyone else in the C cabin was Asian, so I have no idea if the crew could speak French.
- I rarely watch movies on flights, but my gf (who was with me) said that the American movie selection was "at least a year old." So that's a definite weakness.
- I thought that CA's publishing a whole magazine on Chinese embroidery (in addition to a massive "regular" inflight magazine) showed a real effort to educate us about Chinese culture. Keep in mind that I'm used to reading US Airways' mediocre magazine, so my benchmark is quite low.

tommyleo

Good point. I should have gotten a pic of one of those empty seats laid out as a full bed. I can assure you, however, that the seat goes completely flat with no incline.

And that leads me to your next question: "Why is there a need to give pjs in C class anyway?" Well, if I had slept in my clothes, they would have gotten wrinkled and had become a bit sweaty (the comforter provided was very thick). I was very glad to be able to change out of my pajamas after sleeping!

I did not smell any cigarettes during the flight -- and your concern is understandable because I have read occasional reports of cigarette smells on CA flights, almost certainly originating in the cabin.

Boghopper

It matters a lot which A/C you're on. If you're on one of the older planes with older business class . . . awful. This new product and service looks pretty nice.

bearbrick

Why the negativity ? Have you ever flown CA in C and to Paris ?
Why should there be French cabin staff ? Isn't a French speaking staff enough ?
OP needn't be so anal about the name of wine why must he ? , etc, what I get from this report in particular was the FEELING AND IMPRESSION , which goes a long way in expressing OPs experience in a genuine and refreshing way ... And NOT UNNECESSARILY NITPICK .

Nitpick reporting tend to bore me and usually an extension of a writers huge ego and his oh so extensive experience in travel .

I suspect you went into your rant with too much baggage making your post very biased and looking for problems fr the sake of it.

DO YOU APPLY THE SAME LEVEL OF SCRUTINY FOR ALL AIRLINES YOU TRAVEL ON ?

I thought the trip report was wonderful and gave a good insight into an airline that has a rough ride reputation wise .

And with such a refreshing report I think they HAVE indeed been trying .
Now I hope they can sustain and maintain it.

Quite often the downtrodden never gets the chance for a reprieve and worst of all never given a chance !

I have flown CA long haul many times , furthest being sydney on a330 series , often mixed bag but always very competent and generally efficient and they know their job type of airline .

So I will certainly try CA again esp in their long haul premium .
Just hope they maintain the quality of their hardware and not spend too much on fluff and gimmicks ....eg pJ s in C