I don't want to offend anyone please dont take my post the wrong way.
Hainan ? 3 star? 4star? Just not keen flying some of the lesser known asian airlines and how do they stack up against the others? Like anything you get what you pay for (i'm guessing). Flew chinese once. Not keen to do it again?
Here's a review by an Aussie based site of Hainan:
Hainan Airlines Review – A330 Business Class They did fly as a guest of Hainan, so factor that in. 'Lesser known' to whom? To us Aussies that only get a handful of airlines? Or to those that live in Asia? Or the rest of the world?
China has a dozen or more airlines. While many of them have the same genesis in the old CAAC, Hainan is a privately owned carrier. It has the top '7 star' rating on the Aussie based safety ratings website:
Hainan Airlines - Airline Ratings
Getting this back on to topic, alternatives are a real option these days when considering Lifemiles because (a) Thai airways no longer releases premium space in advance (only 14 days at the moment, we'll need to see what happens after their mileage devaluation in November) and (b) the weak Aussie dollar. About the minimum you'll get away with these days on Lifemiles to Europe from AU is $3600 including taxes (that's based on the 145% bonus promos, it will be more than this on the regular 2-4-1 or points plus pay). But availability on whom? You can fly Air China, maybe, and maybe, possibly ANA. And you have to find dates. And Air China has some pretty terrible connections on the way home.
Hainan is cheaper than the above, and other carrier such as Vietnam or China Airlines are around $400 more. But come with full flexibility for the dates your want, the number of seats you want, the destinations you want, and you earn points.