Experience with Air China, please!

[thaiatheart]

My family has always traveled Korean Air, but we were not going to be able to come to Thailand this year with their prices, so I just booked with Air China and saved thousands!  Now I'm having a bit of worry because I'm doing research after the fact that I probably should have done first.  I do realize, however, that the majority of people only go leave reviews when they have something bad to say, so I'm hopeful that we will be ok...  I could care less if I don't get doted upon for the 30 hours we will be with them.  But here are my concerns that I'm hoping some of you will be able to clarify...

 

We are flying from Washington, DC to Beijing - layover there for 8 hours - then on to Chiang Mai.

 

First of all - my daughter (age 14) is in a wheelchair.  Does anyone have experience with flying with special  needs?  (She cannot walk, will have to have a chair to get on board as well).

 

Second - carry-on bags.  My 3 boys play the violin.  They really can't take a month off of practicing, so we planned to bring their violins along.  However, I'm learning AC has a strict (?) policy regarding sizes on carry-ons.  Their cases are not huge, but they are over their limit.  They would easily go in the overhead compartment or under the seat in front of them.  Does anyone know how strict they really are?  And if they were to each take a violin does that mean they couldn't have a small additional bag with things to do/eat for the flight?

 

Third - electronics!!  I'm trying to imagine getting through that first 14 hour flight without my kids being able to use an iPad or Kindle.  Do they really enforce not using any electronics besides their own entertainment system (which I hear is pretty rough anyway)?  

 

Thanks for any input - good or bad!

 

 

 

[craigt3365]

Wheelchair service is typically provided by airport staff.  Shouldn't be a problem no matter what airline you fly.

 

As for the violins, you should be OK.  But you never know.  My friend packs his violin inside his large checked suitcase.  He does it all the time and has never had a problem.  He's got a good, sturdy, case.  Here's some good reading:

 

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g294211-i642-k6576294-Carry_on_luggage_limitations-China.html

https://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowTopic-g1-i10702-k10220931-Air_China_carry_on_luggage-Air_Travel.html

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other-asian-australian-south-pacific-airlines/1627438-air-china-very-strict-carry-luggage-policy.html

 

Overall, they are an OK airline.  Not the best, far from being the worst.

[stevenl]

These are very specific questions regarding the policy of one airline.

 

Did you consider asking your questions to the airline itself?

[DipStick]

As someone who lives in China my answers are as follows.

 

Beijing airport is very wheelchair friendly and wheelchairs are readily available, but inform the airline when checking in. It wasn't that long ago that Beijing hosted the Para Olympics. As for violins, I personally cannot see an issue.

the use of IPads on long haul flights is practically the norm, and you will probably find charging stations in every seat.

From a personal view, I would not select a Mainland China airline for international travel, but saying that their safety record seems ok

[Ricardo]

This link may help give an overall-impression on what Air China are like to fly with  ...

 

http://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/air-china/

 

They are generally praised as good-value-for-money, but with a fairly-poor overall service, I'd say.

 

Given the frequent delays in/out of PEK, it is probably good that you have a fairly-long connection-time there.

[thaiatheart]

On 12/13/2017 at 9:34 PM, stevenl said:

These are very specific questions regarding the policy of one airline.

 

Did you consider asking your questions to the airline itself?

Of course I did - and they quoted me their standard rules.  We all know that most rules are not enforced and I'm just trying to get a general idea of where we have room to budge.    My children don't sit on iPads and play games UNLESS we are on a plane or a major trip, so I don't even want to bring them along if there's not a chance we can use them.  But if we are on a plane for 14 hours and everyone around us is on their electronics and I didn't bring them because the airline told me I couldn't then I'd be rather frustrated.

[Rhys]

Generally they were fine... just did not like the noodles..

[Chivas]

Very cheap offerings out of Heathrow currently thats for sure. I was tempted at £302 because it would have been my 27th different airline to or fro Bangkok but air time and transit times were long and being tall seat size quite important so better the devil you know elsewhere

Edited December 27, 2017 by Chivas

[pattsman42]

You cannot use a mobile phone, even if it is in flight mode and they will enforce this. Otherwise acceptable for the price, there are better airlines if you want to spend more money. 3* average rating on Skytrax with mixed reviews. Don't expect too much and you won't be disappointed.