Long haul flight to Japan - Air China

[Curlybrunette]

Hi everyone,

Has anyone flown long haul with Air China?

I'm looking at holidays for next year and an unbelievable deal has come up for Japan, but the flights are with Air China which is why I think it's so cheap.

I've had a look and the reviews are pretty dreadful!

Would you do it, we'd be flying from London via Shanghai, so it's a long time flight.

Any advice would be much appreciated :-)

I’ve done this twice - London-Beijing and then London-Shanghai and then onwards to the Philippines and Japan. I’m not a fussy person at all and thought it was absolutely fine - you’re not travelling in luxury, definitely less leg room than Emirates but it wasn’t uncomfortable

Oh great thank you.

We're not fussy either (though DH is 6'3 so is more of an issue for him!), I often think that people often only write reviews when something has gone wrong, not when everything is ok/fine/good.

The price we've got is £2850 for both of us for 12 nights in Japan, including all the hotels, bullet trains, couple of tours etc and I know we'd be unlikely to get that kind of deal again or with other airlines

Thanks again

That is a fantastic deal - where is that from please?

I've flown internal flights with them, & they've been fine.
However, I think I'd upgrade to P.E. or Business for long-haul.

It’s from Exoticca, going in June which some would say is not the best time of year but the price is just sooo good I’ll put up with a bit of rain and humidity!

I went on to the Air China website to look at the flights alone and it was £500 each for the flights in economy and £2500 each in PE so I’ll stick as we are and get a massage at the other end!

I used to live in China and Air China is fine. I would not travel long haul with China Eastern, but Air China is decent.

It may not bother you, but one thing to consider is that Chinese airlines will almost certainly fly over Russian airspace - that's why their prices are generally cheaper than other airlines, because they can take the shorter route.

Chances of being caught up in any war conflict are very low (but higher than avoiding the area entirely). The bigger risk is that if an emergency landing is needed for technical or passenger reasons, it will almost certainly be in Russia.

If it’s a choice between a Chinese airline or not going I’d rather not go

but hey that’s my issue, if you’re not bothered about safety, food, other passengers then go for it

i flew to Japan with KLM & Air France which were both suprisingly good

Ha ha @princesspadamyou don’t sound a fan!

I've flown on Air China a few times, between San Francisco and Beijing - all fine no problems. This was around 10 years ago - I barely remember the flights so obviously nothing to complain about!

Sounds like you have a great deal

I'm looking at different combinations and we could go from Manchester (we're up north so it's easier), with Ethiad or Qatar, for 2 nights less, for £500 more.

That's still a good deal I think but just not as good, now I know what we could have paid...

I’ve flown from London to Beijing return and various internal flights including to and from Shanghai on an organised tour. We flew over Russia - which was good, as it’s quicker iirc. Russia is not going to shoot down a Chinese aircraft.

It all seemed fine to me, as budget airlines go. The major airports like Beijing and Shanghai put Heathrow into the shade!

What's it like on board, more leg room than RyanAir?!

Food and drink?

TV/movies?

I've done that flight twice. Unless you're flying business class, I don't think there are many ways to dress up 11 to 16 hours on a plane. You just sit there and grin and bear it. The food wasn't great but not awful either. What else can you rate a flight on?

I fly budget airlines all the time.

To me, I would rather use the extra funds to use on the holiday. No matter what airline you go, its a long haul flight. I would rather have a night of very little sleep and be able to do more on the holiday.

I would pay slightly extra to get a bulkhead seat with your dh being really tall. And book and aisle seat and the one next to that (not a window) so you can get up and down without having to ask someone to move.

But each to their own.. Some people count the flight as part of the holiday, but I just count it as travel to the holiday.

Thank you this is really helpful.

I've made the mistake of reading reviews on TripAdvisor, but saying that Air China gets 3 blobs and Ethiad and Qatar only get 3.5

We flew from London to Beijing last year with Air China. It was fine

I flew long haul economy with Air China and it was absolutely fine as far as long haul economy goes. Whenever I went to use the toilet, the flight attendant would check it first to make sure it was clean. I appreciated that particularly as when I flew Cathay business and the toilet was pretty grim.

"...for £500 more."

Just having a quick look, the cheapest flights from London to Tokyo next June seem to be around £510 with Air China. Direct flights with ANA are around £910 and BA and JAL are around £1,050

Ethiad and Qatar from Manchester for the same dates are around £645. That's only just over £100 more than Air China.

(Air France is £770 and KLM is £840 from Manchester)

[EDIT]

I've been looking at the first half of June, from 30th May to 16th June - prices may be different in the second half of June, but I wouldn't have thought they would be that much higher.

My 6'3'' son flew London - Beijing - Tokyo earlier this year with Air China, all good !

I know someone who flew long haul with Air China earlier this year. He said the window blinds had to be kept down at all times and if someone opened one a flight attendant would close it again. No idea why.

Some airlines/cabin crew aren't keen on blinds up on daylight sectors

Usual reason given is it disturbs the rest of those who want to sleep or interferes with watching the IFE (TV).

PITA if you actually want to enjoy the view.

Qatar cancelling tickets left right and centre by the way, I wouldn't book with them.

I haven’t done Air China but we have just come back from a holiday in Japan and the flight time is long and the jet lag is brutal. I don’t envy your poor 6’3” husband in smaller than normal economy seats for 15 hours + 😱