PaulST
Established Member
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
- Posts
- 1,196
I’ve just returned from a brief trip to Auckland and thought I’d try China Airlines since I haven’t flown with them before. I managed to get a one-way ticket on CI51 for $346 so I thought that was reasonable value.
Check-in: I had an issue with my credit card as I’ve just changed them over therefore I didn’t have the actual card on me that I used to buy the tickets. I ended up having to sign on to internet banking and show them the purchase. Odd, but anyway.
Express Pass: I was given a card and customs was all pain-free.
The lounge: China Airlines use the Sky Team lounge at Sydney airport. Over-all, it’s fine although it was very crowded at 1000-1200! The food and drink were only average (the Qantas F and J lounges at SYD have raised my expectations too much I think).
Boarding: PB was enforced and a flight attendant took each J passenger to their allocated seats. I’ve had that on EK F and BA F before, but never in J.
The seat: It’s OK. It’s in a 2-2-2 layout so the window seat will have to step over their neighbor to get to the aisle. I suppose this would be made easier by the fact that they’re angle-flat seats so the foot end isn’t far off the ground. This was fine for a 3hr flight, but it wouldn’t suffice on the longer-haul leg between SYD and TPE. The cabin colours certainly haven’t aged well (probably not helped that my last few aircraft have been 1-2 year old 789s). Otherwise there were a few places to store bits and pieces.
Food/drink: We were offered juice or water and a bag of dried nuts and bits. Nothing fancy but adequate. I was surprised that champagne wasn’t offered since it was an afternoon departure (just – 1240). But I wasn’t prepared for the lunch which would have been the worst meal I’ve ever had in an aircraft – economy class flights included. It was meant to be snapper and fettuccine but I suspect mine was subbed for shredded cardboard and whatever comes off the floor of a fishing trawler. Neither had any taste and the texture was horrible. Dessert was a mango sorbet and fruit (surprisingly fresh).
The service: Over-all it was really good. They struggled with my English so small-talk was a no-no but food was dished out and removed promptly and my drinks were kept topped up.
Would I fly with them again? No. Everything was adequate and they were well priced, but there are just too many other better options. I know that if I fly QF, NZ or EK across the ditch I’ll get a good hard product and a friendly chat. There’s just the spark that I get from chatting that I never got with CI (or JAL, for that matter, on DME-NRT and NRT-SYD) due to the language barrier. I wouldn’t avoid China Airlines, but they’re not going to be on the top of my list next time I fly.
[video=youtube_share;VXxUfnra9kw]https://youtu.be/VXxUfnra9kw[/video]
Check-in: I had an issue with my credit card as I’ve just changed them over therefore I didn’t have the actual card on me that I used to buy the tickets. I ended up having to sign on to internet banking and show them the purchase. Odd, but anyway.
Express Pass: I was given a card and customs was all pain-free.
The lounge: China Airlines use the Sky Team lounge at Sydney airport. Over-all, it’s fine although it was very crowded at 1000-1200! The food and drink were only average (the Qantas F and J lounges at SYD have raised my expectations too much I think).
Boarding: PB was enforced and a flight attendant took each J passenger to their allocated seats. I’ve had that on EK F and BA F before, but never in J.
The seat: It’s OK. It’s in a 2-2-2 layout so the window seat will have to step over their neighbor to get to the aisle. I suppose this would be made easier by the fact that they’re angle-flat seats so the foot end isn’t far off the ground. This was fine for a 3hr flight, but it wouldn’t suffice on the longer-haul leg between SYD and TPE. The cabin colours certainly haven’t aged well (probably not helped that my last few aircraft have been 1-2 year old 789s). Otherwise there were a few places to store bits and pieces.
Food/drink: We were offered juice or water and a bag of dried nuts and bits. Nothing fancy but adequate. I was surprised that champagne wasn’t offered since it was an afternoon departure (just – 1240). But I wasn’t prepared for the lunch which would have been the worst meal I’ve ever had in an aircraft – economy class flights included. It was meant to be snapper and fettuccine but I suspect mine was subbed for shredded cardboard and whatever comes off the floor of a fishing trawler. Neither had any taste and the texture was horrible. Dessert was a mango sorbet and fruit (surprisingly fresh).
The service: Over-all it was really good. They struggled with my English so small-talk was a no-no but food was dished out and removed promptly and my drinks were kept topped up.
Would I fly with them again? No. Everything was adequate and they were well priced, but there are just too many other better options. I know that if I fly QF, NZ or EK across the ditch I’ll get a good hard product and a friendly chat. There’s just the spark that I get from chatting that I never got with CI (or JAL, for that matter, on DME-NRT and NRT-SYD) due to the language barrier. I wouldn’t avoid China Airlines, but they’re not going to be on the top of my list next time I fly.
[video=youtube_share;VXxUfnra9kw]https://youtu.be/VXxUfnra9kw[/video]
