saiwai

This would be more of a comparison between 2 airlines on the same route in business class and not a full review. I am usually a OneWorld flier (normally on Cathay or MH on this route) but due to the timing and price, I flew on China Airlines instead! One week later I flew on Malaysia Airlines and all I was shocked that there could be such a difference in both airlines! Both flights was from Taipei (TPE) to Kuala Lumpur (KUL). Both flights have almost similar timing departing from their hub, CI has a morning departure from TPE and MH has a morning departure from KUL. There aren’t many photos but I think the food offered is enough to tell the difference between the two.

China Airlines
CI721 (TPE-KUL) & CI722 (KUL-TPE), both aircraft is operated with 777-300ER.

CI721 2017/09/30 (TPE-KUL ; 08:50-13:30)
The aircraft was beautiful at first sight, but as I settle in, it felt dark and the fake wood finish seems a little cheap, but over the seat was very comfortable. I guess nothing beats a lie flat seat on a 4+ hour flight. I know the route rotates between a 330, 350 and 777, but I guess it’s still way better than what MH provides. There was a huge pillow and duvet on every seat.
Upon settling down, the crew serving my aisle came and greet me and confirmed how to pronounce my last name. The leading stewardess also came and made sure I know how seat worked and made sure I knew where everything was.
I was able to view the menu online before the flight and nothing really interest me so I opted for the Low Calorie meal instead. On CI they serve a snack not long after takeoff, a full sized sandwich. In the normal menu, they had a Chinese Radish/Turnip Cake while I was served a zucchini sandwich as part of the special meal. The sandwich was heated before serving, but the zucchini remained a crunch, not soggy at all. It was one of the best sandwiches I had in a long time. It was light yet you can taste the freshness of the vegetables.

Then we rested for a while and about 2 hours into the flight, we were served the full meal. The Low Calorie meal was steamed fish with vegetables and rice. The side salad was a roasted chicken salad without any dressing but I guess that’s what I get for a Low Calorie meal. The meal was basic, with almost no taste but the rice was fluffy, fish flaky and the vegetable was a tad overcooked but still really tasty. The serving size was huge.

Then we were served dessert, the low fat meal came with a tasteless coconut milk agar thing, and the crew knew it tasted bad just by looking at it so they gave me an extra ice-cream .

Although this was a morning departure, they served a snack at departure followed with lunch at a later time. The food was great and serving size was more than enough for this 4 hour flight.


CI722 2017/10/01 (KUL-TPE ; 14:40-19:30)
They seemed a little flustered at boarding and was later revealed, as the leading stewardess remembered me from the flight before and came to me and apologized for not greeting me earlier as there was some problem with the IFE system and she was making phone calls back to the office in Taipei. In the end movies and TV shows was unable to play, music and games are not affected. One thing I think they could have done better was to inform the whole flight on the PA system on the IFE system not working, instead of passengers pressing the call button when they couldn’t watch a movie and the crew had to apologize to each passenger and explain the situation.
The seat was identical to my previous flight.
So the famous satay that Malaysia Airlines serves on their flight, guess what, China Airlines serves them on their flight too. Thou CI only serve Chicken satay but the taste was almost identical to the one they serve on MH.

Again, a snack was served right after departure and 2 hours later they served the main meal. I opted for the curry and it was good, noting really special about this meal thou. Again, serving size was huge.

This real star was the dessert. They had a choice of ice-cream or cakes. I opted for the cake and it was really good! Not overly sweet and still moist. I don’t normally eat cakes but I managed to finish the whole thing. They offered me a second serving of ice-cream but I declined.

The leading stewardess came to my seat before landing, thanks me for flying with them and told me that there would be ground crews at the gate with coupons which we can later in compensation for the IFE not working.
Overall, I was really surprised with this trip, it was truly one of the best meal and crew I had for this route.


Malaysia Airlines
MH367 (TPE-KUL) & MH366 (KUL-TPE), both aircraft is operated with 737-800.

I have to say, the nightmare started with check-in. There were only 4 counters checking in the whole flight, 2 for economy and 2 for business class. The business class line was about 20 people deep. The group in front of me, about 10 in their group, only had 2 of them in business class while the others were in economy. Those that were in economy kept on saying that they were worried they would be refused to check in at the business class lane, but as they approach the front of the line, the check in agent agreed to check all of them in. I was sure that they hold no status. It did take me more than 20 minutes to check-in. Still annoyed.

MH367 2017/10/07 (TPE-KUL ; 15:10-20:00)
Upon boarding, well, it is a 737. There was a small almost flat pillow and a really thin purple blanket on the seat. The flight was delayed slightly without any explanation. It’s a recliner seat with the buttons not really working as it would get stuck and I have to poke the button to make it stay in place. The crew did address me by my last name. Right after takeoff, they served us the famous satay, it was really good as usual.

For the main course, I chose the curry… the taste was ok, but the serving was a joke. The salad and fruits was all served in a single tray. It really felt like an economy class meal. The meal was finished within a hour and the crew disappeared. No drink rounds, nothing. They did appear almost immediately after pressing the call button thou.

About 2 hours before landing, I wanted a cup of Teh Tarik, as soon as the stewardess came to my seat, the seat belt sign came on. She said she would serve me as soon as the seat belt sign was off. And surely after 30 minutes, the seat belt sign was turned off but my drink was nowhere to be seen. As I was about to push the call button again, the seat belt sign came on again and did not turn off until landing. Well, the seat belt sign was turned on for more than half of the time, except for one really bad turbulence, the whole flight was smooth. They would switch on the seat belt sign as long as there was a nudge. As I got off the plane, the crew did apologize for not able to serve me my drink, but she did not pro-actively suggest anything else during the flight.


MH366 2017/10/10 (KUL-TPE ; 09:25-14:20)
So this flight, the crew didn’t even bother to acknowledge as the passengers was boarding the flight. I was never once addressed by my last name. As I was on the last row, I noticed that economy class had the exact same blanket we had in business class, minus the small flat pillow. Again the flight was delayed but it was due to Singapore? No idea how it works but at least we were informed.
So it was an identical flight and we had a choice of breakfast. I would usually go for the Nasi Lemak, but as I just had a Nasi Lemak in the lounge, I decided to go for the eggs and smoked salmon instead. It was all served in a single tray again but when it was placed in front of me, I was confused. Did they really load the meals correctly? Was this actually a business class meal? It was bad. Fish overly seasoned with salt and the egg was dry and hard.

This time I did manage to get my teh Tarik, but again the seat belt sign was switched on for more than half of the flight. A little nudge and the seat belt sign was on even thou it was a smooth flight.


Final thoughts
CI wins hands down. The serving portion, the taste and the crew was much better. CI was a little more expansive than MH but you get what you pay for. The IFE choice on CI was way better. Would I pay to fly on MH in the future? Maybe, if the ticket was dirt cheap, and for the miles. CI was definitely better than MH, but I think it is also better then Cathay on their HKG-KUL flight. I would gladly pay more to fly on CI in the future, but if MH or CX/KA has dirt cheap business class fares, I would gladly fly with them for the miles.