Review: Sichuan Airlines Business Class A330 Jinan To Los Angeles

Hold on. They had no snacks but served your seat mate an instant cup of ramen?

I always wonder if there comes a time in your travels Lucky in which you determine that some premium economy and (even) economy products are better than business class products on certain airlines. Would you put any 'lower class' products above this business class experience?

@Lucky, is there a reason why you didn't wait and do the review when they had their A350 in service? You have waited for other airlines (El Al, Azerbaijan) to put newer planes into service before flying and reviewing so wondering the particular reason you wanted to review Sichuan Airlines now as opposed to waiting.

I guess if this was the most direct route for my travel, I might do it if the price was right...? I'd just do my best to buy a bunch of sandwiches and drinks and stuff them in my backpack. Even if it's an airline with good food, I like to eat on planes while I watch movies... 🙂

Air Mauritius had (and still has, I think) the same seats on their A340s. I flew it in 2013 and also slept decently, despite the angle. With that said, definitely not a cutting edge product

Hysterical!
You should do a list of bottom 10 worst international business class products.

I can definitely share your frustration and obviously the product mainly caters to a domestic Chinese clientele. For example, the mid-flight snack being the cup of ramen is perfectly fine for a Chinese carrier. My mom takes a ramen anytime over the snacks on the offer on AA/CX/EK/QR... business mid-flight

Another very interesting example is the drink list. Genuine Chinese do not use wine as the food-accompanying drink, but rather, tea. Yes, tea to the Chinese is a lot like wine to the Westerners, in that people do appreciate a very subtle difference in quality for tea. But for wine, they just call it red wine and white wine, exactly like the Westerners only call tea black tea and green tea. The drink list is obvious for Chinese customers.

If Sichuan Airlines will have some business success, it means that even on a transpacific route, focusing on largely domestic customers is enough to fill the plane including the C cabin.

@FC: Here is the top 7
https://onemileatatime.com/worst-business-class-products/

@Leeza1
Thank you. Looks like the post can be updated to top 8.

1. The hot towel was beautifully folded

2. The sauce on the pasta looks like, well, sorry, it looks like cum

I'm kind of disappointed you didn't order the 'peanut milk'. I've never heard of this, and so curious. Is it similar to 'almond milk'?

The downside to Lucky's job revealed. Getting stuck 14 hours on quite substandard business class. There's a lot better ways I'd prefer to spend that time!

I agree with @Michael that there is a cultural difference in expectations.

Also thinking it's a pity that you dismissed the IFE options because you didn't find anything familiar. For me, one of the fun parts of travelling with different airlines is the chance to watch films/tv shows from different parts of the world. I have seldom encountered cases where there were no English subtitles. Give it a try next time!

That "duck" thing from breakfast is a traditional Sichuan cold chicken dish and is usually served as an appetizer. I bet it's pretty good though it's odd to be served for breakfast and even worse for an unadventurous foreigner (no offense!).

Sichuan Airlines is known for their services but apparently they have a lot to catch on their understanding of international long haul services.

@Brad She probably brought her own. It's not uncommon for Chinese travellers to bring their own ramen in case plane food sucks.

Oh god, that looked really horrible. What must economy have been like?

It even makes BA look ok. Crikey.

Those seats seem like the old slants that QR had on their A330s, which are a bit tight, but actually quite comfortable. Hopefully someone from Sichuan is reading this review, like the CEO at China Southern did, and the soft product will improve.

I never eat the meals that the airlines serve, even in first class. So I can’t speak for the quality of the food mentioned on this report. (And yes @douglas singer, I’m pretty sure its cum) But I can say this report is very accurate. Everything is quite subpar. However, it is in fact not the worst angled seat, and you can definitely get some sleep. So for the right price, I would go as far as saying that it could be “worth it” depending on your needs. I paid $1,500 USD for a round trip ticket, $750 each way. I slept a good 8 hours on the flight. So, if you can overlook the cheap wine and the cum on the food, a cheap business class flight with this airline may not be so bad.

I’m sure there were a few passengers in Economy who paid more for their ticket than I did for mine!

While on the China airlines subject

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-airplane/sichuan-airlines-co-pilot-sucked-halfway-out-of-cockpit-captain-says-idUSKCN1IG0A1

This sounds a lot more serious than it was initially reported yesterday.

Interesting. Based on price of $1000, it was a bargain. These look like recycled United business class seats that my past employer paid $4000 to $5000 for only a few years ago..before Polaris. Right now UA, SFO - Chengdu is around $1800 R/T in coach with minimal recline

I would use this service if going to Chengdu. Despite shortcomings and based on my early Asia flying experiences (any one remember Dragonair, old HK airport to PEK" L1011? seats 3-5-3 in coach and 3-3-3 so called business) This Sichuan flight is pure luxury.

Having flown domestic Sichuan flights in coach, a number of times, they are way better than any US domestic product.

In China the other name of Sichuan airlines is Peasants International......

The myth of Sichuan Airline serving great food is so freaking annoying, I recently flew them for multiple segments and only get snacks - Here in China legacy carriers are still suppose to serve hot meals most of the time.