Air China

[Knobby 217]

Am really thinking of booking with Air China, Looking at Sky Scanner for £550 with 4 free seats from Heathrow to Bangkok in November.

That is nearly £500 cheaper than the flight I was looking for, which was Emirates from Stansted. The price from Stansted is nearly £1000 plus 4 seats 

Looking at reviews for Air China the carry-on is only 5kg, the meals and inflight entertainment are not the best, and some reviews say the screen wasn't even working.

Thinking about it I could take on sandwiches and snacks, take my laptop loaded with movies and TV series. 

I could get around the 5kg limit by taking my laptop stuffing some things in the laptop bag and using self-check-in. In the past using self-check-in nothing got weighed when you only got carry-on. 

Then if the screen doesn't work or the selection is rubbish I got my own entertainment. Taking snacks gets around the meal choices.

So, what do you think? 

Go for it. or wait and see if prices drop for other airlines and airports?

 

[Bimale75 487]

Done air China on short haul. somebody was “cuffed” for smoking in the bathroom. The combination of smells from all the packed lunches was overpowering and the man beside decided it was okay to hack, cough and spit into a cup all the way through the trip  

Ymmv but …
Let me put it this way. That will be an epic journey long haul.
but it’s out of London so may be better 

[ARI23 3,008]

5 or 6 year ago I had a fly to Chengdu on Air China. During the night one lady was watching movies on her tablet. The sound on, without earphones. I stopped a flight attendant : could she ask the lady to put the earphones ? The flight attendant was embarrassed : sorry sir, I can do nothing. People here (cf in China) do as they want.

The price will have to be very good to choose Air China again.

[Danum99 576]

I suggest you wait for prices to drop. They do things differently from the rest. A short 1 or 2 hour flight? Maybe. Big Maybe! 

But anything more? Don't risk it. 

Dan

[Rocco 363]

Based on 20+ years of flying worldwide while I was still working, I can safely say there are no bigger pigs on a plane than Chinese people. Use Air China at your own risk! The comment about hacking and spitting are spot on.

[American Eagle 343]

I flew Air China from LA to Beijing, Beijing to Chengdu, Chengdu to Beijing, and then Beijing to LA and had no issues at all. That was in 2012, so quality could have definitely slipped.

[gainsbarre 2,395]

I have been checking prices for September October
There is brussels bkk via Vienna with Austrian for 589eur

Verstuurd vanaf mijn SM-A536B met Tapatalk

[Bimale75 487]

On 8/28/2023 at 6:00 AM, American Eagle said:

I flew Air China from LA to Beijing, Beijing to Chengdu, Chengdu to Beijing, and then Beijing to LA and had no issues at all. That was in 2012, so quality could have definitely slipped.

Actually thinking about it. I also did the Beijing la route in 2012.
More recently a number of internal flights. 
I think the airline hasn’t changed in quality of their service offering.

I think what has changed is the quality of the passengers. (God that sounds awful )

[Knobby 217]

Update.
Booked with Air China.
All the other airlines still to much for me.
EVA dropped to £700 but still a high price.
Air China £556 and the seat selection (4 seats) free!
17 hours going , 20 back.
Flight times work for getting the train both ways to Heathrow and back.


Sent from my SM-A805F using Tapatalk

[Rocco 363]

2 hours ago, Knobby said:

Update.
Booked with Air China.
All the other airlines still to much for me.
EVA dropped to £700 but still a high price.
Air China £556 and the seat selection (4 seats) free!
17 hours going , 20 back.
Flight times work for getting the train both ways to Heathrow and back.


Sent from my SM-A805F using Tapatalk
 

Good luck, hope it doesn’t disappoint!

[Knobby 217]

13 minutes ago, Rocco said:

Good luck, hope it doesn’t disappoint!

I have seen mixed reviews about the airline. Mind you I have used Cathay Pacific & Ethiad and while I didn't totally "hate" each of those flights I was very underwhelmed with the experiences.

I am not expecting perfection, 5kg carry-on limit, maybe not the best meals and  maybe the screen won't work (so I read)

I can get around these factors, Get snacks to take on at the airport,  take my laptop with movies loaded and kindle and do the neck pillow work around ( take out the stuffing and fill it with things like socks and t-shirts)

[Knobby 217]

Big update,

Flight cancelled 

I got an e-mail the other day from Air China telling me the flight from LHR to PEK had been moved to another now later time.

This meant I would miss the connection to BKK and spend a night in the airport.

No thanks, I don't think so.

So after phoning them, I cancelled the whole thing. They have acknowledged the cancellation request and said they will pay it back. Mind you they hadn't taken the money from my card yet.

I noticed on Skyscanner the flights advertised by them have changed, now 20 hours to BKK instead of 15.

I would imagine others have been cancelling.

 

 

[ARI23 3,008]

2 hours ago, Knobby said:

Big update,

Flight cancelled 

I got an e-mail the other day from Air China telling me the flight from LHR to PEK had been moved to another now later time.

This meant I would miss the connection to BKK and spend a night in the airport.

No thanks, I don't think so.

So after phoning them, I cancelled the whole thing. They have acknowledged the cancellation request and said they will pay it back. Mind you they hadn't taken the money from my card yet.

I noticed on Skyscanner the flights advertised by them have changed, now 20 hours to BKK instead of 15.

I would imagine others have been cancelling.

 

 

It's not only Air China.  Since the end of the Covid crisis, Airline companies twist their schedules and rotations for a number of good and bad reasons (not enough planes, lack of employees, rentability, ...).

Client not happy ? Cancelling ? They don't care, they make so much money. 2023 will be a great year for the travel industry.

From IATA (International Air Transport Association) (June 2023) :

• Airline industry net profits are expected to reach $9.8 billion in 2023 (1.2% net profit margin) which is more than double the previous forecast of $4.7 billion (December 2022).
• Airline industry operating profits are expected to reach $22.4 billion in 2023, much improved over the December forecast of a $3.2 billion operating profit. It is also more than double the $10.1 billion operating profit estimated for 2022.

[jaredblanc 2,421]

On 9/17/2023 at 6:51 AM, ARI23 said:

It's not only Air China.  Since the end of the Covid crisis, Airline companies twist their schedules and rotations for a number of good and bad reasons (not enough planes, lack of employees, rentability, ...).

Client not happy ? Cancelling ? They don't care, they make so much money. 2023 will be a great year for the travel industry.

From IATA (International Air Transport Association) (June 2023) :

• Airline industry net profits are expected to reach $9.8 billion in 2023 (1.2% net profit margin) which is more than double the previous forecast of $4.7 billion (December 2022).
• Airline industry operating profits are expected to reach $22.4 billion in 2023, much improved over the December forecast of a $3.2 billion operating profit. It is also more than double the $10.1 billion operating profit estimated for 2022.

Yeah, agreed. Airlines are making so much profit over a huge uptake in travel and they're milking money with what they're charging for flights. 

Thai Airways re-scheduled my flight from Singapore to Bangkok on Christmas Eve and unfortunately that re-scheduled flight wouldn't had worked for me as I'd miss the flight once I arrive in Singapore.

So I have to take a later flight (so stuck in Singapore for a bit longer) so instead of arriving at 6pm on Christmas Eve, I arrive at 10.30pm in the evening. It wasn't my plan to arrive in Bangkok too late in the evening for the Christmas parties.  

Not as bad as Knobby's experience with Air China though.

[Markm 1,010]

Ever heard of the saying crash test dummies. Aeroflot , any thing Chinese . And that’s what you are. My flight into Singapore in singair was delayed because of a china air caught fire just before take off. No way get fucked fuck off would I fly Chinese . But I was looking fwd to your flight report lol 

[oliver17 11,592]

On 9/22/2023 at 6:38 AM, jaredblanc said:

So I have to take a later flight (so stuck in Singapore for a bit longer) so instead of arriving at 6pm on Christmas Eve, I arrive at 10.30pm in the evening. It wasn't my plan to arrive in Bangkok too late in the evening for the Christmas parties.  

You should be OK because the "official" CIB Christmas party is usually on Dec. 25, not Christmas Eve.  However, they usually draw a huge crowd on the 24th, and many of the girls are still shaking off hangovers on the night of the 25th.

 

 

t

[jaredblanc 2,421]

Yeah, that's true Oliver.

I would be also be keen to head to the parties on Christmas Eve at LLB (since I missed it last time). It looked like a big event.
And it's close proximity to Cindy's so would head there if Cindy and Singter are hosting another party this year.

https://www.bangkokladyboys.net/forum/index.php?/topic/11406-christmas-party/

[Knobby 217]

On 9/23/2023 at 7:29 AM, Markm said:

Ever heard of the saying crash test dummies. Aeroflot , any thing Chinese . And that’s what you are. My flight into Singapore in singair was delayed because of a china air caught fire just before take off. No way get fucked fuck off would I fly Chinese . But I was looking fwd to your flight report lol 

I was preparing myself for the worst.