For the past 2 months, together with my wife Sofia, I’ve been traveling throughout South East Asia. A byproduct of this trip was the opportunity to fly a number of new airlines and airplanes, and try out various aviation products available in this part of the world. The majority of them have been well reviewed…
Continue reading: Review: China Airlines Business Class A350 Kuala Lumpur To Taipei
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Great guest review, nice photos, looked like a magazine shoot. Did every single photo have to be on like f/1.8?
Not a dig at you specifically but why do you bloggers always review first and business class when 95% of flyers are in economy? These reviews are pretty useless for the vast majority of flyers. You would certainly get more views if you reviewed economy cabins and experiences.
Oh how I love Yaroslav's reviews!
Lucky and Yaroslav, I went to a gallery show the other day for Jeffrey Millstein. He does large format transportation photos:
Thought you might enjoy his work.
You would certainly get more views if you reviewed economy cabins and experiences.
Lol - that's not how this works.
Snack Bar is only on long haul. Their food and beverage on long haul is upgraded as well.
The photos were great, and a really good review. And I was impressed with his shoes... I initially thought Mr. Lucky final got rid of the old sneakers that show up in some of the reviews.
@Donald Osborne
This is a blog about redeeming miles and points with a large focus on the premium experience. If I’m going to be dropping a wack load of miles I’ve gone to the effort of collecting, you bet I’m going to research for the best possible ways to redeem them. There are also plenty of economy class reviews out there that get consistently published, you just have to look. If this blog doesn’t satisfy your reading/travel interest requirements, pick a door!
Agreed on Yaroslavs reviews. Loving the great photography and style of writing. More!
Airlines want you to sit your back end down and shut up. Why would they encourage you to walk around and bother FAs even more???
I thought Ford had been dropped for a moment there until I saw the actual author
WOW that cabin is beautiful. I usually don't care too much (and laugh when Lucky complains about "puke colored" Asiana cabins), but man, China Airlines did that right. Good photos don't hurt either!
@Donald There's a lot more variation with Business seats vs Economy seats. My employer pays for me to fly business on trans-pacific and trans-atlantic flights. I read the reviews here to see if I'll be stuck playing footsie with my seatmate (Lufthansa A330 config), or in a middle seat of a 2-3-2 (Emirates) or even worse, a 2-4-2 (United 777s).. and I choose who to fly accordingly.
Yaroslav - this review is incredible. Second only to Lucky in terms of writing, and in terms of photos the best I've ever seen on this blog. Holy cow.
@Lucky - more from him!
Great photos and review, but one small request would be to have more pics of the lounge itself rather than close-up shots.
China Airlines sounds like a sleeper in terms of how good they are in Asia. The news is filled with the bling of Singapore, Cathay, JAL, Asiana, etc. but every review I read of China Airlines seems like they are consistently good with a great hard product. I just wish it was more convenient for me to fly with China Airlines so I could try them out.
Gotta agree with most, great review, and those pictures are absolutely stunning!
I know these photos are considered really good quality and pretty, but they're less utilitarian than what we usually expect on this site. We don't need a blurred background when looking at seat controls or one specific piece of food.
Probably the minority opinion, but on the technical aspects of the seat and the meal, I think the more traditional, less artsy, photos are more useful.
Still, great review.
The China Airlines Lounge is only open 3 hours 11:30-14:30. That’s rather like emirates who invested in a great lounge at LAX and it’s only open a few hours and not to other carriers
KLM Passengers use the plaza premium as do other skyteam carriers. The times don’t coincide
You should really try Lucky Air next time you're in China. They've got some 330s with flatbeds despite being a LCC.
I agree with Matt. Photos are nice, but they're too artsy. They don't show enough of the cabin, seat, etc.. Should invest in a wide-angle lens.
These photos look awful. Their image quality is poor, and they are not focused properly. Looking at them makes me feel nauseous. The writing is also boring. Where are these comments coming from?
Great review.
By the way, what's served with the satay is cucumber and, unlike what the Taiwanese (?) FA told you, "lontong", a form of rice cake, that tastes like rice and is to be consumed together with the satay.
Airline review photography is usually very sterile, so I appreciate that yours has some artistry. Very nicely done, and makes me very eager to sample CI's A350 business offering.
It is refreshing to see a post with beautifully composed photography. Do you mind telling me which camera you use? Do you use a full-frame? For reference, I use a Nikon D5 with customized lenses. Absolutely love your photographs!
Nice review as well, but I am still averse to flying on PRC-based airlines.
Impressive use of a camera's f-stop and depth of field variations should not be flimsily criticised as 'artsy' to passively-aggressively demean it. I find people who use this term et al to generally be lacking any creative skill whatsoever themselves, and are truly resentful of those who do - jealously is a curse!
Lucky - this guy's writing style is utterly impeccable, and the photos incredible. More reviews from Yaroslav please!
Great. China Airlines is one of the great airline turnarounds...from the grim years of military control and the appalling safety record to, in just a decade or so, one of the very best in the region. Perhaps Garuda is in the same category.
I really like CI and this is a great report.
Great review love your writing style almost as good as lucky although one critic as others have said the photos to artsy I am more worried about clear photos that show the product. Though that photo of the A350 at the gate is stunning. Also VA (Virgin Australia) have a similar hard product and their soft product is really good.
You may have stripped the metadata this time, but I'm not fooled. These must be from the same Leica SL as the QSuites photos. The low-light smoothness and dynamic range of these pics make my eyeballs feel like they've died and gone to heaven. More please!!
For those commenting about the (admittedly awesome) shoes, you can find more info here:
https://solecollector.com/sd/09053/adidas/adidas-hu-nmd-tr-noble-ink-bold-yellow-footwear-white-ac7360
Really liking the new style of the pictures and thanks for including the actual wifi speed - I know I complained about that before so I really appreciate it! 🙂
First of all, thank you all for such high appraisal of my article. It means a lot, thanks so much! Also never thought my sneakers would get a good share of compliments :))
Now, to answer your questions:
@Robert Woodhouse, you're right - a lot of photos are shot wide open, both to accommodate for the poor lighting situation, but also for subject isolation.
@John, thank you for the suggestion - I have looked into Mr. Millstein's photos and they are incredible and inspiring.
@Matt, @SD, I can certainly understand your argument - an airline product review's photography should be first and foremost an accurate representation of reality. That is the standard and what most if not all prominent aviation reviewer's deliver. I'm not a professional reviewer - just someone who had been reading this blog for many years, interested in aviation and all the amazing products we have in the sky. I'm also a hobby photographer. When I had a chance to combine the two in my initial QSuites review I wanted to give the photography a twist, approach it - as I do with my travel/reportage projects in a more expressive, vibrant way. Would this become the new mainstream - no, of course not. But is there a place in the aviation review world for an alternative approach - I would think there is.
@Jeffrey, thanks for the clarification about the "cucumber"
@Jared - it's a Leica SL with 24-90 and 90-280 lenses
@JParker - haha, yes - you are right, it's the SL again
To everyone else - thanks again for the overwhelmingly positive response, I'm endlessly glad you had enjoyed the article!
Yaroslav,
Thanks for your reply. My preference is for your Q-Suites review, which had a nice mix of closeups and wider angle shots. This China Airlines review seemed to have an overemphasis on macro shots. Looking forward to your next one.
Amazing review and beautiful photos, Yaroslav! I shall be visiting your blog from now on!
@Lucky
I took this flight last year when it was still operated by a 3-class 744 sold as 2-class. I was on paid J and ended up being the only pax in the former F cabin. However, I also found the crew to be unwelcoming and on the lazy side... two hours after take-off, lunch still had not been served and they couldn't provide any reason for such delay.
Great pictures and report - really enjoy reading it.
I often fly China Airlines and EVA between Europe and Asia. China Airlines has better hardware especially with its new A350 and better IFE, however, as you described the crew lack pro-activity. In my experience even during long haul flights the bar on a350 wasn't in full use. And there was no mattress or seat pad.
EVA, on the other hand, uses 777ER for long haul flights. The planes are more dated and more noisy but the service is second to none. Better amenities, more comfortable duvet/pillow/mattress and much better food and beverage quality. Perhaps the most expensive champagne on business class and they just kept topping up! I don't need to ask for anything as the crew are so attentive.
One of the best reviews I've read here. Gorgeous photos and detailed notes of the experience. Well done!
China Airlines A 350 Business Class Review.
YOU MUST BE PAID FOR THESE REVIEWS!! I AM ALSO 6.3 LIKE YOU AND COULD NOT LIED DOWN, I BOOKED BECAUSE OF YOUR REVIEW WHICH STATES YOU HAD PLENTY OF ROOM IN THE BED!
‘’The good, the bad and the ugly’’
Where to begin.
China Airlines says their BC seats are 1.97.
Outbound i flew amstrerdam-taipei-sydney in seats 10 A and 10 K.
Those seats are not 1.97 because i am 1.93 and i could not lie down .
I called the head purser and asked him if all the seats in BC were the same. He said they were. Second lie by China Airlines.
By chance, on the second flight i saw seat 18 K was empty so i slid into it and made it flat...To my utter amazement that seat was ‘’longer’’ and i was able to lie down. I then tried 18 middle seat, same as 10 A/L, impossible to lie down.
So, i spent a big part of my holliday calling and mailing with China Airlines insisting they move me to 18 K for the return flights sydney taipei amsterdam.
Thanks to Yuri at customer service for making it happen, i greatly appreciate that. Though even the 1.97 seat had me lying very uncomfortably as the beds are not straight but you lie kinda crooked like on some of the Singapore airlines seats.
So. First of all, China Airlines lies about the seat length cause all the other seats other than the ones i tried are about 1.90, or 1.88 as i could not lie down at 1.93. They are therefore most defintely not 1.97. This in my mind is called misleading your customers and not giving you what you have paid for and have been promised. I have no words to say how disgusting i find this, not to mention the stress of a 13 hour flight and a 9 hour flight unable to sleep.
The cabin crew are all very friendly, the food is okay and the movies are new and good.
With more and more tall people flying in business class i find it morally reprehensible that airlines not only do not cater to that but that several, including emirates and airfrance and now china airlines lie about the length of their business class beds ( i have had the same horrible experience as described above with airfrance and emirates)
@iata
#iata
#skyteam
@skyteam
@china-airlines
#china-airlines
@klm
#klm
Love all the photos on China Airlines of Taiwan. Great review too and enjoyed reading it pretty much everything.