Review: China Eastern Business Class 777 Los Angeles To Shanghai

I flew China Eastern once from PVG-HKG. The passengers were Chinese tourists, and oh my gosh were they bad! They were yelling and screaming the whole flight, and ate their really smelly food on the ground. And when we landed, they reached into the belt at baggage claim to retrieve their bags. And the flight attendants did nothing about it, and just ignored them. I will never fly China Eastern Airlines again!

Given the crew's lies about the cigarette smoke, l would have called them out about the cappuccino lies. Poor service is bad enough, but when they're outright lying to people, it's unacceptable, imo. "You said you didn't have a machine, why did you lie? What are you drinking?" They probably wouldn't care but might think up more plausible lies next time.

Thanks for the pics of First Class - however it looks like somebody left their iPhone at the seat plugged in to charge!

I've noticed that Emirates uses the Nespresso pods on their flights, yet their cappuccinos taste horrible in Business Class.
Not sure if First Class is different.
I'd advise you to book Emirates Business Class at least once and review it.

I actually think that duck fettuccine looks pretty good...but, this is coming from someone who loves cafeteria food off all kinds (school, hospital, etc.)...

Wow! That "braised duck leg with fettuccine" looks truly repulsive. And the fact the crew held the espresso machine only for themselves and the smoking in the cabin by the crew. Why do you keep flying chinese airlines??

I wonder when China Eastern's propoganda minions will start chiming in.

Why were they burning cigarettes in the oven?

You keep mentioning you don't like China Eastern's seat trimmings, yet have no problem with American's blob of grey drabness? Okay...

FWIW - I'm sure the Chinese hate AA as much as you people hate MU... plus I doubt they'll miss you and your Delta SkyMiles redemptions... so carry on

And we're off ...

@Imperator
Because every Chinese who says anything good about China Eastern is a government-hired propaganda minion.

The Chinese menu looks good and I bet it was, disappointing neither of you guys tried it. MU is just a throwback to old school state owned enterprises in China a decade ago. You don't order the Western food at a Chinese state owned company. Ever. Chinese catering on MU in F to LAX is actually good and quite authentic, I can't see why J should be much different. Plus the Long Jing tea (highest-end Chinese green tea) in F is lovely and presentation spot on, definitely more expensive than any of that sorry western western booze selection. It's on your J menu, and I bet it's the exact same as whats served in F, same with the other teas. When in Rome!

I was expecting worse given my initial expectations from the first posts. I like how this review seems fairly balanced. Given the bed worked fine, if you could've eaten the Chinese food things seemed "decent".....minus the smoking....and certainly with potential.

I trust you don't eat lamb either. " I also don’t eat veal (at least let the animals live a little before slaughtering them, in my opinion!), which left me with the braised duck with fettuccine"

My wife is from Shanghai and knows people who work at China Eastern. She flies back and forth between San Francisco and Shanghai frequently so she's very familiar with the airline. The one thing most westerners might not realize is that most of the business and first class occupants are not paying customers. Few chinese citizens will actually pay at the counter for an official upgrade, instead a quiet conversation is had with the lead flight attendant for a quid pro quo upgrade in exchange for cold hard cash. As a result - the flight attendants don't look at the passengers in biz/first as real customers and the "customers" come to expect a poor service because they had never actually paid for biz/first. China Eastern operates more like a mainland domestic carrier than an international carrier, you can't compare it with the likes of Cathay or Singapore.

As an American married to a Shanghainese women, these...unspoken rules do irritate me but I caution against any quick judgement of another culture. Let's just say things work very differently over in China, and if you spent some more time in China learning the culture there - you'd know what i mean.

Regarding the food, as the poster mentioned above - you have to order Chinese food when on a Chinese carrier. If you've spent some time in Shanghai you'll know how bad their interpretation of what western food is, and that's in a tier 1 international city. It would be equally unreasonable if I were to expect AA to have authentic Chinese food. As a fellow international traveler, it confounds me that you wouldn't try the local cuisine to broaden your horizon. Would you travel on JAL/ANA and choose the spaghetti over their excellent Japanese cuisine?

I still say the seats look good. I guess some folks crave something a little more ostentatious .

Why are comments being deleted from this website? Are they moderated for pre-approval?

i took the same flight once. The food was indeed mediocre, but at the same level as UA/AA flights i took. Service? Major Asian airlines (Chinese, Korean, Japanese) are way better than any american airlines. And i don't believe any crew would have smoked in the cabin. if you are the only one smelled it, go see a doctor about your nose.
and, yes, i'm a Chinese government-hired propaganda minion. lol

What an utter gong show. The only thing missing was the cabin crew "selling" ypgrades.

So is anyone saying anything good about AA an American propaganda minion? Ironic, as AA is probably one of the worst airlines in the skies, way behind the likes of MU etc.

J, give it a rest. No one cares.

You DO know that lamb is often slaughtered younger than veal, right? 😉 I've always found the veal argument funny.

What if you had Wendy on this international flight and this unpolished crew on that old broken A330? I think a lot of how we rate airlines is due to chance. A lot of people say after one bad flight "NEVER AGAIN!" in the same way people have a good flight and say "wow this airline is awesome." I have spent several flights talking with China Southern and Air China FAs, at times discussing what happened to the FAs on your China Southern first class flight. I figured out the reason why FAs sleep in first or business class. Management, in an effort to save weight/cost, don't put enough crew beds for the FAs, which is why you have previously seen them sleeping upright in jumpseats or in the first class cabin. Combine their hours with the constant shifts of time zones and Chinese travelers, you might see why their job ain't easy. It doesn't excuse straight up broken seats and lying but perhaps you might want to talk to them a bit more before rushing to judge.
That being said, I just finished a Singapore Suites flight that left me with a seriously bad taste when the purser greeted me by saying "You are not who I expected you to look like" with an expressionless face. As a 24 year old with a baby face, I was then carded during the meal for ordering champagne, which has never happened in first class. Yet on my Singapore regional business flight, the crew shower me with gifts when I mentioned I had a little sister and the purser even shared some of her own pandan cake with me. It is all chance and people have off days and on days.

Just like in economy class, you don't get a choice of coffee and tea brands. Perhaps the 'branded Illy coffee' was for First Class passengers only.

I live in Shanghai and have flown extensively on all the Chinese carriers and I am afraid to say this is the standard. It is a serious problem in China in general where service is not viewed as an important thing. No matter where you go, service is invariably bad. I am not sure why this is the case, but it might have something to do with never having to compete for business. There are so many people that they never need to worry about filling seats, as people need to fly anyway.

I also don't get why they are not flexible on the menu, what difference could it possibly make if you had the western starter and Chinese main? I just don't get that at all. Also, on the coffee machine, I would have definitely called them out on that shit, that is ridiculous. I don't see this kind of thing changing any time soon, so MU will remain light years behind other Asian airlines.

To the guy who posted under the name J, give the defense a rest. You don't need to defend it out of national pride. MU are a poor airline, there is no doubt about that. AA are miles ahead of them.

Thank you for the open and candid review of China Eastern business class. The lie flat seats, and the service, all come with a much higher price than coach class. I often wonder about the actual differences in service and comfort between airlines in business class. Korean Airlines goes to most of the places I visit in Asia, and they have a more expensive product with their business class. Air Canada business class is very nice to Beijing. However, there is no AC business class lounge in Beijing. I am thinking of trying China Eastern or China Southern business class, but if the service is as bad as you describe, I will gladly pay more for better business class seats and service, and choose JAL or Korean. I am truly amazed that the pilots were smoking during the flight. That should be reported to the NTSB.

I'd rather flying with AA, United and Delta, than Flying China Eastern airlines, The Service and food is extremely horrible,
Yap, I Experience Flying with MU, and never ever again, Service sucks, Food extremely Inedible, A Miles Miles Behind Cathay, Singapore, Asiana, ANA, JAL, and even Delta Airlines,

> Unfortunately that’s where the positives end. The service was sloppy and borderline rude, the constant smoke in the cabin (and lying about it) was unpleasant, and the main courses were disgusting.

Yup - that's my experience with China Eastern. Awful in a way that US domestic airlines can't even compete with. That said, what else is a person to do with 150k delta points?

I will be taking this flight in July. I'm disappointed about the food....I also don't eat lamb or veal. Guess I'll be packing some power bars in my bag! And, I cannot tolerate cigarette smoke so I pray that won't be present.

The stink of The chinese Food permeated the entire cabine. The coffee weak and powdered crap. Sçreams, rude, and animalistic noises. Chinese airlines.

I took this flight in Business Class today. Here is my review:

Seating: not nearly as comfortable as other Business class seats I've experienced. Bed laid flat, but it was extremely narrow and hard to find a comfortable position to sleep. The seat was also pretty hard. Pillow was small and hard- I found a second one, which helped a little. Blanket was fine, but the cabin was kept so warm I didn't really need it.

Service: Friendlier than I expected based on the reviews here. Quick and efficient. They never once asked if I wanted a refill of my beverage- I had to ask. I was surprised a few times by the flight attendants bickering in the serving area (which unfortunately was right in front of my seat).They weren't even trying to be quiet about whatever they were arguing about.

Food: Absolutely the worst I've ever had in Business class. Based on the reviews here I ordered the Chinese dinner. It was a lot of fish and gray glutinous blobs of something I couldn't identify. The lobster was so over cooked and rubbery I gave up. For breakfast I decided to opt for the Western menu and had an omelette. It was decent but a little dry. The flight attendant poured me one tiny cup of coffee and when I asked for a refill (twice) she seemed surprised "oh you want more?" Well, yeah, I can drink three tiny tea cups of coffee.

Amenities: the toiletry bag is pretty paltry- comb, toothbrush and paste and two teeny tiny samples from Clarins. I was given pajamas, but they were so heavy that I would have suffocated in the overheated cabin.

Entertainment options: pretty good. A few new movies, and TV selections.

Cigarette smoke- luckily I did not detect anyone smoking

i've never flown China Eastern biz class but i have flown China Airlines and China Southern airlines Biz class. Both had mediocre food (which China Airlines being horrific...the worst to date....easily beating out AirFrance). But the China Southern flight had pretty good service I must say. And the hard product was very nice. China Airlines' service was the worst ive ever received in biz class and their hard product was absolutely laughable. Had to ask for refills on wine and after 2 refills in one 7 hour flight the attendants became annoyed with me. And the wine cup sizes were about 2.5 ounces. Geez...

MUCH better product on Delta. But the price is higher with Delta...

I flew MU LAX-PVG recenlty and then DL PVG-LAX. I was really impressed with MU. The hard product was great and the soft product was just fine. It probably helped that my expectations going in weren’t high. And then on the way back on DL I was disappointed. DL was no where near as nice as MU in either the hard or soft products. On DL I didn’t even eat because the flight attendants didn’t get up to even try to start service until more than an hour after takeoff. I would recommend MU over DL on the route any day.

I have flown MU and experienced cigarette smoke in the cabin during the flight. The chinese passengers and crew i had to deal with were a bunch of pushy, uncultured Neaderthals.

@Bob

Please leave your self-serving condescending comments to your "cultured" "non-Neanderthals" self. Your comments added no value whatsoever and only exposed your racial bias. (BTW, are you African? If not, you are as Neanderthals as the Chinese.)

I will fly MU any day over the lousy US 3 on trans-pac routes.

@Bob

There's a thing called spell checker for you "cultured" “non-Neanderthals” to use. A piece of advise? Use it before you engage on name-calling.

I flew business on the China Eastern 777 twice in past two weeks. First flight from LHR to PVG. Second flight from PVG-JFK. Here are few notes:
- I really liked the herringbone seats. They become a comfortable flat bed. On both flight, I slept very nicely.
- Smoke. I read this review before my two flights and I was really worried about these smoke accidents. During my two flights I never smelled any smoke in the cabin, but I did smell cigarette smoke in the first class bathroom on my first flight. No smell on the second flight.
-Food. I found the quality of the food different in the two flights. The food on the flight originated at LHR was not good. It looked old and not inviting. On the flight originated at PVG, it was a different story. It looked fresh and inviting. My speculation is that they may carry their food from China, so it is fresh when the flight is departing from China...not as fresh when flying back...pure speculation.. it may just be thata the local LHR catering provider is bad
- Media: pretty decent list of movies. It would be good if you can turn off the Chinese subtitles which take 1/3 of the screen. Not much music selection
- Crew was friendly and did a good job on both flights

In conclusion, I had a good experience. Flights got me to the destination on time, I had very good sleep and enjoyed the comfy space to work on my laptop and watch movies. I will be happy to fly China Eastern again. Good luck and safe travels!!!!

If I book a business class with Air China, China Eastern Airlines, or China Southern Airlines through an online booking website (Expedia, Justfly.com, et) how can I be sure that business class seat will be a flatbed?

Unfortunate, but then, cultural and corporate practices seem to add up to an unpleasant experience by western standards and expectation, at least.

As a longtime aviation mechanic, what concerns me is those same cultural and corporate influences adding up when it comes to maintenance and repair.
Also, the pilots disregard for well established rules and norms about smoking makes me wonder about what other inconvenient details they might see as irrelevant.

I have read accounts of the willingness to cheat or otherwise find their way around training testing and certifications requirements on the part of many Asian airline personnel.
This would be owed unfortunately to cultural realities and norms., of what are referred to as "third world/developing nations" of which China is definitely one.

IMO the only Asian airlines who hold a first world standard through out the entirety of their operation would be those of Japan.
The Japanese take great pride in whatever they do and strive to do it as best as it can be done. A distinction that is simply part of their cultural realities and norms.

I've just flown with CE Seoul via Shanghai to London, although I went cattle class. I must say the food was absolutely awful, and Im not a picky eater, if it doesn't move, I'll eat it! The cabin crew didn't smile, and I observed they were they not particularly helpful to others ( I didn't need them for anything). But, the flight price was sooooo cheap that I'm not going to complain, if I had paid Emirates prices then I would but you get what you pay for. I just stocked up on Pret on my erturn flight and was a happy bunny. I did spot my pilots buying cigarettes from Duty Free, but I was at the tail end of the plane so can't say if they smoked or not. Just to mention that if you do fly cattle class, then the seats in the tail are 2-4-2 configuration and this felt much roomier than the usual 3-4-3 so it didn't feel so cramped. I will fly with them again because if the low prices but my next booking is business class for the same price as economy on some of the top carriers. If you want a no frills flight this is the one, just pack a lunch for yourself!

Hi,
I have booked our flight to HK from Gatwick in January 25. As I have a lung condition that requires me to not be in a smoking environment I am a little concerned that the crew are allowed to smoke in flight. This may be a big problem for me if they do on our flight.
Thanks for bringing it to peoples notice, I have flown on Chinese airlines before and never noticed it.

You are probably confusing China Airlines and Air China probably. They are flag carriers of 2 different countries: Respectively Taiwan and China