Boarding was easy. clean plane, crew was very friendly. I was very concerned though, when we banked left and did a complete circle in the air. An explanation from the captain would have been terrific. I made sure I was the last one to leave the plane and asked him about it when I saw him at the exit. He told me what happened but I would have liked to know while it was happening. Besides that, the coke and pretzels were divine. :)
I was so blessed by Xiamen air this trip. I was going to crash overnight in the Xiamen airport on an 11 hour layover :groan: While I was looking for a comfortable looking spot of floor, I was informed that Xiamen provides a free room in their business hotel for guests who are on layover. The only thing I had to pay for was the 28 kuai (read:super cheap) taxi to the hotel. Amazing!
Ethiopian Airlines check in staff made a pigs-ear of my check in process. First they claimed I'd missed the flight (my ticket said 2335 on 15 Dec, they changed flight to 0010 on 16 Dec, but claimed that as my ticket was for 15 Dec my booking was invalid). They proceeded to re-issue me with a new ticket a (for the 0010 fight on 16 Dec), but then also tried to change my connecting flights by one day - even though they should remain the same (in effect the flight was only put back by 35 minutes, so why change a booking for connecting flight by 24 hours?). Fortunately on arrival in Shanghai, air china check me onto the correct flight. However, to compound matters, my luggage has gone missing and, bizarrely, Ethiopian airlines issued all foreign passengers with landing cards for Japan - not China!
Food was better than most. The crew was nice. The flight departed promptly.
The touch screen didn't work, and the bar below the chair that one can step on couldn't hold itself up, and I constantly had to reposition it. The audio port of the seat next to me didn't work either. The plane definitely needs a renovation.
The boarding was fine and the flight did not feel unreasonably crowded as some international flights can feel.
The food was really quite bad. Also, the entertainment devices are out of date (double-pronged headphone jack, slow-functioning controls), but function decently enough.
Had to get off Korean air in Seoul & go thru terribly bogged down customs, just to transfer & continue on another Korean air plane - both ways! Barely made it to my 2nd plane even though I practically ran thru the big airport after the customs delay - both on my way to Hanoi & on my return. Got to Vancouver & only found out by accident that my checked bag would NOT be transferred to my Seattle flight, even though my tag clearly said to pick it up in Seattle. Had to disembark, claim my bag, then go thru the departure procedure at Vancouver all over again, with 2 customs checks: enter Canada, re board to U.S.
I really appreciated getting a meal on the plane despite the short two hour flight. I've always liked flying Korean Air due to their cleanliness, presentable flight attendants and good customer service.
The only thing I seemed to have a problem with was the volume and clearness that came out of my headphones. Although the headphones were provided by the airlines, the volume came out a little unclear and kind of scratchy. Other than that, everything was great.
China Southern's economy seats are spacious for legroom and seat width and the entertainment system is well stocked with movies/TV shows/music. Some entertainment systems will also com with a USB port to charge your device (if it's allowed to be used). All seats come with pillow and blanket to keep you warm throughout the flight.
Any mobile devices that can be used as a cell phone are not allowed to be on or used while on board the flight. This includes mobile phones in flight mode (China Southern explained to me that this is Chinese law), so don't expect to do anything with your mobile phone which means you're basically using their entertainment system. They will stop and tell you midflight to turn off your phone.
Food was horrible, no soap in the bathrooms, and boarding/deboarding in Guangzhou was a test of patience. Having been through Guangzhou twice, despite there being multiple gates for planes to pull into for arrival, they'll always deplane you to the tarmac where buses will be waiting. They'll then drive you to an arrival's terminal where you're forced through a long line that leads to a China Southern desk for them to stamp your boarding pass to wait for your next flight. This line was 30 minutes long for our plane alone and increased as more arrived. Boarding was the same where you get on a bus, stand for 10-15 minutes while they drive you to a plane that was for whatever reason was attached to another gate that no one had access to and you've climbing stairs to board again.
The airport itself is devoid of many food or coffee shops and what's available is expensive and of low quality/taste. Expect to see endless construction, many unclean bathrooms where the toilet seats don't even fit the toilet they've been attached to, and lack of soap in the bathrooms.
The crew was friendly, kind, and efficient. I received curtious service with a smile. They even left me a note while I was sleeping, rather than disturbing me. When I awoke hours later, they still happily brought me food and drink!
My main complaint is the quality of the seats. They recline decently, but are some of the hardest, most uncomfortable seats ever. This, in my opinion is unacceptable for such a long flight. On this same trip I took 45 minute flights with 5x the comfort!
Loved the comfort of the A380, the big seatback t.v screen even in economy class & the on time flights for the most part. (Of the 4 flights I took, 3 were on time departures, and only one arrived late). The ground crew at check in were always incredibly helpful at LAX, ICN & BKK as well. I loved that they always confirmed I had a special meal request & willingly accommodated my seat request as well.
Limited entertainment to choose from. (Please try and mirror the amount of entertainment Cathay Pacific and Emirates have; especially for Bollywood films). Also, the cabin crew had very limited English proficiency & it was difficult to understand their English P.A announcements at times. In addition, please note that cauliflower isn't the only vegetable an AVML can be cooked with. There ARE other vegetables to choose from. Also, the fish in the SFML smelled strange. Please revisit the menu for both meals & try to be a bit more innovative with the taste.
For travel on an 11 hour flightnon economy,
I would expect to have water or drinks offered on that small tray about maybe once an hour at minimum. We had to ask every time we wanted water or when the meals were served they weren't served with wine or water so we had to ask for that. It got to us about 20-30 min later. The service was terrible to say the least. I realize that we were in economy and not all classes are treated equal, but some water offered or wine during a meal isn't too much to ask.
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