I arrived at LAX at around 10PM for my 12:05AM flight to Taipei. While the rest of the airport is pretty quiet at 10PM, Tom Bradley International Airport is bustling at that hour. That's not surprising, given how many late night flights depart from the terminal, in particular to Asia. While the economy queue at…
Continue reading: Review: China Airlines Business Class 777-300ER Los Angeles To Taipei
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
In the ending of the report you mistyped 'transatlantic' instead of 'transpacific', just letting you know.
You mistyped 'transatlantic' instead of 'transpacific' in the last paragraph, just letting you know.
Great review. It's my home land but I haven't flown CI since Eva was formed. Impressive that they had Johnny Walker blue on the self service bar.
Fdw
So does this mean we could see a potential China Airlines a350 trip report in the future? 😀
"...overall this is one of the best transatlantic business class products I’ve flown"
Your dad would say "Zhat isnt zha vight ocean Bennie"
Unlike some other airlines, this plane had plenty of room for your feet. That was in the window seat though. Do you know if that was also true for the center seats, since that's where my wife and I would be sitting.
@ Robert Hanson -- Yep, on this plane it's the same in the center and window seats.
Just incase you haven't read the above comments (despite you replying), you got the wrong ocean 😉
How can a PA block your entire computer? I would understand if it just blocked the internet connection, but otherwise how is it technically possible?
How did that image appeared? Fullscreen? Or in your browser windows?
Now i am really curious about this thing.
Given the lines at security I assume those in the know can walk over to T4, pass through security there and use the connector to TBIT airside ?
Perhaps this was mentioned elsewhere, but is this bookable with miles? How many?
Thanks!
Great report - my last trip to TPE I flew BR there and CI back and was able to compare/contrast them
- Apparently in Taiwanese culture, the CI flight attendants are supposed to be much prettier/younger/friendlier than BR (and also conform to impossible asian beauty standards). I'm not sure if its because the more senior flight attendants get assigned to business class, bc I felt that it definitely was not the case and my service on CI was more abrupt/less friendly than BR, and I'm a native mandarin speaker.
- Funny that they took the menus away, I was able to keep mine - though I'm not sure if thats because I stuck them in the seatback pocket and they just didnt want to bother rifling through the safety cards to get them back
- I also had the filet, found it tasteless and tough as well. I still think BR's food is better even though the presentation/finishes are a bit lagging.
- CI offers a "mid-flight snack" of traditional Taiwanese fried noodles and a shrimp roll, in contrast to BR's "mid-flight snack" of a burger and curly fries (which is surprisingly good)
- CI's wifi on my flight from TPE to JFK wasn't working at all, and it took the (friendly) cabin manager a good hour of back and forth and resetting to figure it out. He was incredibly amiable though and embodies the Taiwanese hospitality mentality very much.
- not sure if you've read his blog or not, but Talk Airlines ( https://talkairlines.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/talkflying-china-airlines-boeing-777-300er-premium-business-class-ci006-tpe-lax-taipei-taoyuan-tpe-los-angeles-lax-nexgen-trip-report-part-i/) does a good job of explaining the cultural significances behind the touches and finishes in the CI cabin and meal service.
Hey Lucky, what was that liquor next to the Blue Label? Curious if it was some other type of expensive blended whiskey.
Lovely photos once again.
Not really digging the cabin color scheme. I find it too "over the top".
Did China have the camera on the 777 like Cathay? If not, seems only a few carriers have the camera as part of the IFE. Extra cost perhaps? Always wondered why the case for very few airlines adding the camera to the IFE. It would have been standard in the flight deck to help with taxiing.
I'd still hesitated to fly with the likes of China and Air France to be honest because of the safety record.
I flew China Airlines first class on this route in 2011 in a 747. It was about as nice as this, including the Johnny Walker Blue, only the cabin was more private since it was just a dozen or so seats. I don't even remember the seats being much bigger. The one nice thing was the seat had a massage function, which was pretty sweet when we hit turbulence. Couldn't tell if it was the seat or the plane that was vibrating. On the way back though, our plane had mechanical issues and we got put in one that hadn't been updated since the 80s. There was actually a cassette player in the seat. The tv screen was teeny and just had a bunch of movies playing with different start times, so you had to pick the channel when the movie was starting or you'd miss a chunk of it. I don't even want to guess what coach was like on that plane.
Looking forward to my CI flight next month CTU-TPE-MEL. Crappy old seats but if pineapple cakes and fancy scotch feature that will go some way to making up for that.
Hey Lucky, have a choice to use my Delta miles (thanks to the AmEx bonus!) on a J-class transpac and it boils down to Korean (on the A380) from NYC, or China from LAX. Which would you go for?
Really, really not a fan of the decor and overall colour scheme of the cabin. Looks like you're settling in to a mud hut. There's earthy tones and then there's swamp.
I will say the snack bar is easily the most impressive bar I've seen in business class (excluding proper bar areas like on EK).
Excuse me while I cry. Ben missed out on really good Taiwanese (plane) food and also the beef noodles in the lounge!
CI has some of the most comfortable sheets (technically comforter) and pillows that I've ever had in business class. Comparable to CX F. You have to ask for it separately and I don't think it was proactively offered on my flight. I used the comforter as a mattress pad and used the light blanket as a blanket as the cabin wasn't super cold.
We flew it from JFK-TPE in May and loved it. We did check out the snack area midflight and a flight attendant was very helpful and explaining what everything was. Though we just grabbed one thing, she insisted on piling our plate with so many snacks. 🙂
I look forward to flying them again!
The departure boards are always fascinating, I'm surprised Air NZ has two flights to Auckland an hour apart also?
I have found that there is no pre takeoff champagne service on a lot of carriers out of the USA. Not sure if it is just non USA based carriers.
I have asked about this several times, and the response has been the same. They have to pay customs duty on the champagne if served on ground, and that is all-to-hard/expensive for the airline to deal with.
Is this your understanding, or am I being fed an line?
I like CI: very good choice for BKK-AMS on the A340 ( same seats as this one). Always good crews ( same for EVA) and a comfortable ride at a reasonable fare. Also offers some good J fares from Australia to NZ ( with restrictive timings of course).
Regarding the sunlight: I've wondered about this and settled on two factors.
Firstly, in northern Japan in midsummer, the sun rises at 3:55am anyway. Weird.
But more importantly, you're underestimating the extent to which you were flying in from the east. Japan is one hour ahead of Taiwan, but the Kuril Islands (which look like they run north of Japan on a map, but actually fan out easterly on a globe) are three hours ahead, and Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is four hours ahead. What looked to you like a north-south bearing on a flat map was actually several time zones east of Taipei. Chasing the sun, you were narrowly skirting the aftermath of a 4-6am dawn, hour after hour after hour.
I think CI's 77W is not as good as you said if you fly them regularly. The tray table actually block your knee if you lay down, their seat is actually narrow and tight; and many more. All because this cabin was designed by a designer who did not fly. As a very frequent CI flyer and top elite; CI's cost reduction during past 6-7year has negatively impact everything. Sad
Suggest you to switch to EVA or Cathay if China Airlines can't please you. I'm sure you'll find something that suits your need given you travel to frequently. There's no excuse to stay within their FFP if they're that appalling to you.
Great comprehensive review! Thanks was wondering how Air China stacked up to others and it seems in business its very similar and the cheaper price point seems a bargain.
Ben: On this plane right now. They still serve Pol Rogers. Also, they serve Johnny Walker Blue, which is highly unusual in business class.
As I was eating my congee breakfast, I went back through some old photos of when I flew your CI in first class (thanks to Delta irrops). The champagne? Pol Rogers. The blended whisky? Johnny Walker Blue. It seems that while they've eliminated first class, they've kept the alcohol service basically the same, which is mighty impressive.
I used to think that English fluency was required from all FAs working on airlines, but I suppose it is because Taiwan is a Mandarin speaking country with no immersion environment for English. Therefore, English abilities will be limited.
Lucky, what do you think about this?
Love the part your mentioned about a family trying to sit in business class cabin then got booted. Funny you reported this. I had the same experience when I used Airasia(premium lie flat bed) last year. I personally gave her the boot.
Due to Coronavirus outbreak have just changed my Biz flight with Air China from AKL to Europe via PEK to China Airlines via TPE.
This will be my 3rd time with CAL - the only diff this time is that the 1st leg is on their 777 and the last leg on the 350.
I was smiling when I read your review and the summary points. It was like I was having the very same conversation with my buddies when describing the hard/soft products. Your review was almost identical! The only thing that I think you ‘missed’ in your summary is that whilst the food was the weakest part of the experience - the quality of the wine choices was as a good as some 1st Class flights - great review and thanks