Airline General thread

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>>1166042
I've flown them twice, several years back, they were neither notably wonderful nor particularly terrible. My memory is there were jokes about their safety record at the time, but jokes are not data -- if you are concerned maybe look into that, just to cover your bases.

Like almost all airlines, despite the praise of those who are fans of a few, or the fulminations of those who hate others, airlines are not that different -- they all offer you a moderately unpleasant experience (in coach, at least) with the benefit that you are allowed to get to your destination quickly or, in some cases, at all.

>>1166042
I think a poor safety record should be the only criteria for rejecting an airline which is otherwise cheaper/more convenient. A few inflight peanuts and meals aren't worth $400.

http://www.jacdec.de/airline-safety-ranking-2015/

It's good enough, go for it.

I've flown China Southern to from LAX to Bangkok via Guangzhou. They're fine I just remember the seats were had almost no padding and the terminal at Guangzhou having absolutely no food options. That sounds bad but considering how cheap they are it's totally worth flying with them.

>>1166042
they're fine. if they were bad in the past, that's beginning to change. I've flown with them 4 or so times over the last year and can honestly say it's better than a western LCC.

Took an internal flight in China with them. The food was literally a tray of plain rice with there of the saddest looking prawns I've ever seen and the Chinese passengers do whatever they feel like but it was fine.

Flying to Shanghai with China Eastern. I've heard some bad stories from people, is it as bad as it sounds? What should I prepare? Bring my own food? Water? Blanket?
I heard they charge you for everything, via credit card and I don't have one of those.

>>1166421
I had some good noodles and rice on my CE flight. Its a little more stuffy on their planes and the only in flight entertainment was a movie playing on a big screen tv. This was like 2 years ago on a flight from Shanghai to New York. It was a "bad flight" but only because of simple shit like shitty seats, shitty entertainment, long as fuck, and chinese people just being weird in general. I would fly with them again if it will save me alot of money.

>>1166421
There are almost always delays and their food is shit. Free beer though so load up

>>1166421
I flew on them this past May. It was on an obviously new airplane so my experience is probably better than most. They have a screen on each seat back so you can watch whatever you want and charge your phone. Movie selection was alright too. Food was crap though. It got me from LAX-SIN round trip with no delays for $500 though so I'd fly them again no hesitation.

>>1166480
Oh and blankets are provided for free but bring something else as well because I was freezing. I've never been that cold on an airplane before.

>>1166421
China Eastern's safety record is more than fine, like most Chinese major airlines. Their planes are mostly (very) new.
The only downside is that their flights are definitely not the best, even by China's major airlines standards. And food doesn't really entirely depend on the airline, to be honest, but rather of the country it's from.

>>1166042
Yeah they're fine. Not the best service around but good enough. Is a slightly better in flight meal and entertainment really worth $400 and 2 nights at your destination?

>>1166562

it comes down to the cost of the food. it wouldnt what country the food comes from if they are spending 1.50$ per meal. A different airline might spend 8.50$ so of course the food will be better etc. So you get what you pay for. A better rated airline will have better food for example. but all in all, before I fly, I buy an 18" turkey, avocado and bacon sandwhich on sourdough so I dont have to suffer through crappy meals

I'm looking to fly from ORD in Chicago to HKG in a few months with Air China via Beijing. This will be my first time taking a flight abroad
I've done a bit of research on my own but come up with several different views. In short, the Hong Kong SAR's visa requirements include proof of onward journey, a passport valid for one month past your intended leave date, and proof of "substantial funds" for the duration of your stay. It's that last part that gets me. I'm not sure what they would consider substantial funds, though I've heard the standard requirement is 20,000 HKD.

Could anyone tell me if Air China checks for these requirements? If so, what would I need to provide as proof of substantial funds?

>>1167348
I have never had anybody check my bank balance -- my sense is that this is more of a "if we decide that we want to refuse you entry because you are a jerk, this is one thing we can use to justify it" thing. Don't look poor or be a total jerk you should be fine.

I didn't see this thread earlier, or else I wouldn't have made this one: >>1167152

I was real close to booking with China Southern, if it was just me, or if I was with my wife the entire time, I definitely would have. I actually got as far as booking, but my credit card flagged the transaction for fraud. Then the seating charts weren't loading, and I couldn't make sure me and my wife were seated together. And one of the legs had only a 1 hour layover between flights. Too many red flags that could turn the wife's birthday to shit real quick. Expecially with me not being with her on the return flight. Proce difference was about $300 for more piece of mind, going with Delta/Korean Air.

Personally, I don't gove shit and would have went with China Southern if it was solo travel.

Question about airline miles.

How do you credit miles to a partner airline while flying? Just show them the number while checking in? What if you prefer to check in online?

Question about airline miles. May be stupid.

How do you credit miles to a partner airline while flying? Just show them the partner's membership no number while checking in? What if you prefer to check in online?

>>1166042
I live in China, and I always fly China Southern. Maybe I am just lucky, but I have never had a bad flight.

>>1167423
When you book the flight it will ask you. For instance, when I was booking with China Southern the samw page that asked me what my passport was asked me what frequent flyer program and number I wanted to use was.

>>1167525
What if the program I want to credit is different from the airline I am booking on?

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>>1167534
You are lacking in comprehension. It will list all of their partner programs. When you book your flight it even shows how much miles you get based on your fare. For China Southern, it's 25% for economy saver, 25%-50% depending on the flight for economy standard, 75% for economy premium saver, and 100% for economy premium.

>pic related

FWIW if you see a cheap fare from one of those chinese airlines, with some time on google flights you can sometimes find a fare from a carrier like delta, united, cathay etc that would be almost matching the cheaper fare.

As a rule of thumb check gateway cities first and then try open jaw itineraries

What's with CS being so cheap?

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Used Qatar to fly this summer. It was that or Aeroflot(Russia). I was amazed by how comfy the seats and how respectable the cabin crew was.(asked for a good seat when checking in)

Last time i was on a plane for longer than 3 hours was with Canada Air wich was JUST tier if i can remember.

Flying with Hainan Airlines in december. Anyone with some info on them?

>>1166042
I don't have an opinion on any Chinese airline except to say that if you have to go through Beijing, try to do it on CA because they're the only ones that get to jump the queue of delayed departures that always, ALWAYS happens at Beijing airport.

>>1169575
CA?

>>1169575
Useful tip, noted for the future.

>>1169581
Air China

>>1169575
>if you have to go through Beijing
The other thing is that if you have to go through Beijing, you're going to get delayed.

Air China Business Lounge is 330RMB and has no time limit and an open bar. They have decent western breakfast (sausages, scrambled egg, bread but no toaster) and decent Chinese food and a coffee machine with actual beans but they have an OPEN SELF-SERVICE BAR.

I was there two days ago, I drank lots of Irish Coffee and had a scotch and coke and took my starbucks travel mug and mixed a very strong Gin & Tonic. The next flight in cattle-class was pretty easy desu, just sat there in an exit row sipping my triple-size gin&tonic for a few hours.

The most I've been delayed in Beijing was seven hours, flight lounges are the place to be for it.

Avoid the generic airport lounges though, their idea of snacks is pot noodles and biscuits. Only ever go to flight lounges run by airlines.

The only downside is that almost all flight lounges advertise wifi but they actually mean that you can use the airport free wifi which is always shitty, overloaded, drops connection and blocks most VPNs but even the stealth VPNs don't work because it's too fucking slow.

>>1166042

Any carrier allowed to fly into Australia i would be happy to fly on - we have very strict aviation safety regulations, and strong unions which maintain oversight on government agencies - so if they let them fly over large dense cities like Brisbane & Sydney (airports are literally in the city limits) they can be considered ok - widebody longhaul jets anyway.

flying MSP > ORD > YYZ later this month, both through american airlines. the layover at ORD is 37m long... will i have enough time to transfer between terminals after landing? no checked bags, just a carry-on

Thomson are pretty much the worst airline, aren't they?

Don't want to start a new thread.

What site do you guys use to track cheap airfare? I'm looking to go to Copenhagen and one way flights out of Cleveland run almost 3k year round, I couldn't believe it. I have to be looking in the wrong place.

>>1171073
i use skiplagged

>>1171076
Enjoy your B& from airlines.

>>1171082
what, you think i'd actually take the hidden-city flights? i use skiplagged because it can also find the cheapest legitimate fares

>>1171082
>>1171088
What? Can you guys give me some info? Is it safe to use? Should I take some type of precautions?