Update: Read my full Air China First Class 747-8 San Francisco To Beijing review.
Continue reading: Air China 747-8 First Class In 10 Pictures
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I assume with this cabin layout, there is no way for First Class to deplane before Business Class?
Funny, those plates look oddly like a Corelle pattern I saw at Bed, Bath, and Beyond the other day...
With a product this poorly executed, why they even bother trying to sell it amazes me.
FA's have to walk through first to serve the forward most business cabin? Seems like a lot of traffic through the first cabin.
The problem with calling this product F is that it invites comparisons to the competition. Vintage champagne, caviar, seat side tossed salad, farm-to-table ingredients, customization of service to fit personal needs, cappuccinos and full bedding. The experience was functional, not memorable.
"I assume with this cabin layout, there is no way for First Class to deplane before Business Class?"
Actually, I think CA gave the opposite as the reason for F in that part of the cabin. Easier to assure that F does deplane before J, and enjoys the widest possible cabin. Remember that L2 is the door most often used in a single jetway set up.
"FA’s have to walk through first to serve the forward most business cabin? Seems like a lot of traffic through the first cabin."
There is a galley between the nose business cabin and the one behind it, which is in front of F. There is a galley directly behind F, which would allow for the FAs to not bother with the J cabin.
https://www.seatguru.com/airlines/Air_China/Air_China_Boeing_747-8.php
"What is the cabin pressure of 747-800?
Is it the same as 787?"
No. As a metal plane, the 747-8 can't take advantage of the lower pressure altitude. That said, Boeing has put the 787's humidification system on the 747-8, which is also helpful.
I once flew their 777-300 to FRA from PEK and the first meal service literally consisted of pizza.
We flew Air China's Forbidden Pavilion in their 777 on a trip from Houston to Beijing back in March. Your description pretty much sums up our experience. Great seats and service, considering the language barrier, and nice amenities including the PJs.
Are the seats upholstered in silk? If so, that´s impressive, even if we don´t know how long they will last...
Last year we flew IAH-PEK in the Pavilion Class and there were only us. They did not load the F meals I could sense that as the FA told me "not to be bothered with the menu as there was none of the dish available." Then she recited 4 different main courses to choose from and informed us 3 of them only 1 available, and the 4th had 2 available...
Not only the foods not memorable, they were barely edible.
Same amenities. The cloth bag is really flimsy though ironically I find it good to store a Tom Tom GPS when I need to minimize the space used (versus a hard case).
As for services, well, can't say it was good or bad.... They became very casual due to we are also Chinese... The crew just came to chit chat a lot, to the point I wanted to tell them to go away and let me have a few hours of sleep...
Never again for us to fly them.
The meal looks worse than the dog vomit DL served last summer in Business Class from ATH to JFK, and served on the same linoleum used for the floors in the lavatory.