Air China » B747-400 » User reviews

ilikepeanuts flew Air China , on a B747-400 (27/04/2010 14:04)

Airport: Our flight was from Beijing to Shanghai, in First Class. The check-in counters for First Class and Club members did not have any queue in front of them. I felt a bit proud of myself since I'm sitting in First Class *and* I'm a member. There's a lounge for Air China First Class. I spent a fairly long time in there since I arrived pretty early. Everything was expected in the lounge. The service is fine, although the Air China lounge isn't particularly famous with its food and drinks. If you are a member of a bank or something you should go to a bank lounge. I assume that the food is better there, but if you want the lounge to be neat and tidy, with a bathroom,(which most bank lounges don't have) you should go to the airline lounges. Then the announcement rang. I checked my watch, the flight was just on time and punctual.

Boarding: As usual, the First and Business class passengers get to board the plane first. So when the crew is still yelling for the passengers in Coach to get seated and stop blocking the aisle, you are already seated in your seat and drinking at least something (in my flight it was some kind of juice, don't know what). The crew helped us put our baggage up and we were ready for take off.

The service: To make you surprised, Air China is actually pretty famous for its service. The crew is beautiful (Way better than the ones in United, old and crabby). The crews always smile when they see you for some reason or another. They come to you the moment your press the "call crew" button. I really liked the service.

The seat: The seats are also what Air China is famous for. Even in Coach, the seats are comfy and soft. In the first class,(although I don't see the point of it since it's only a 2-hour flight) you can recline the seats all the way down. There's a table that can hold pretty much weight and a small(big for an aircraft) TV. Didn't check out the entertainment stuff since I had my book to read, but generally the seats were enjoyable.

The food: Just like the lounge, the food was bearable but certainly not enjoyable. Even for first class. I forgot specifically what was in the plate(First Class passengers get served with real plates and silverware, unlike the soft, breakable plastic forks and knives in Coach.), but I remember that the peas in the plate tasted like they had been there for ages and smelt like burnt rubber (it looked like burnt green rubber too!) and as for the noodles...don't even think about biting through them if you don't have fangs. Overall, the food on Air China, even for First Class, is not impressing. If you don't want to go hungry, bring your own snacks and food.

Overall: Food was not very amusing, but the others were. Try Air China next time but make sure that they don't serve any food or bring your own food since you won't like the experience of biting through raw noodles.

moomin79 flew Air China Economy class, on a B747-400 (08/10/2009 12:04)

Leaving from the spanking new Beijing Capital International Airport I was expecting at least an air bridge to board the ageing 747. No such luck as they bussed out the 370 passengers on an antique bus. 370 passengers trying to get up one staircase and shuffle through the premium cabins was no easy task for the beleaguered cabin crew and it didn't help that 95% of the self-loading cargo were carrying their entire life posessions.

First impressions - it was like stepping into the 80's - I was particularly taken aback by the offensive colour scheme of the economy cabin. HOWEVER, once we had settled into our seats on the bulkhead row, we were actually quite impressed with the comfort and the recline which seemed far superior to many modern seats.

We had heard rumours of the terrible inflight entertainment and these proved to be correct - the projector TV showing propaganda and subtitled chinese movies was a firm favourite with our fellow passengers whom were most displeased with us making finger puppets during the commercial break. Having said that, we were well prepared with books, cards and laptops to keep us entertained which is something I would definitely recommend if you take the 747 operated services. Something I was surprised about was how many social gatherings went on around the cabin - it seemed at one point that the entire cabin+crew had joined in for a social reception next to the toilets! Food was not great although we were lucky enough to get a choice - chicken or beef.

We were eyed suspiciously when asking for a second round of drinks but were given the choice of beer or wine - no spirits in economy.

Again, I would recommend taking a supply of snacks just in case you are not convinced by the onboard offering. Toilets were inspected and refreshed on a regular basis so thumbs up for that.

Not a bad flight but certainly memorable.