China Airlines Cnx-tpe

[kudroz]

I'm planning a business trip to San Francisco and I would like to avoid flying through Bangkok because of long layovers. I was looking into CNX-TPE-SFO on China Airlines instead of CNX-BKK-TPE-SFO on EVA Air.

I googled China Airlines and found discussions about bad safety records and some other crazy stuff. I was considering flying with China Airlines, but I'm not so sure now. I never liked flying in the first place - so it somehow helps me to see that an Airline has a good safety record; I enjoy my flight much more.

What are you thoughts on China Airlines?

*edit typos

Edited February 1, 2010 by kudroz

[haybilly]

Personally I have never flown with them but my neighbour has and was saying that he found them very good--I'm sorry to say that I haven't read the reviews that you are referring to though--these would worry me, if they are picking up on safety issues;

[doppa]

i've flown with about 10 times now and found them extremely good, the only time i didnt fly with them, i took eva instead, and didint think their comfort was up to chinas' standard, so in my book there just fine.

[doppa]

sorry , that was supposed to say we flew china.oops

[elektrified]

I've flown China Airlines CNX/Taipei/LAX and back. Great service, good pilots, highly recommended.

[Bobr]

I've flown them between Thailand and the USA 3 or 4 times and thought they were a good airline. Eva is better, but I would take China Airlines over any of the USA carriers. They had a fire on a plane that had landed at Narita a few years back, but their safety record has drastically improved, and they are not, and never were by any means a fly-by-night operation.

Edited February 1, 2010 by Bobr

[Deez]

Definately reccomend. Avoiding BKK makes travel so much easier. Have flown CA many times.

[Firelily]

I have flown China Airlines Europe to Thailand and a couple of times in the region. Probably the best service I've tried, but most of the passengers are Chinese, and those folks just cannot be quiet and sleep through a night, or sit and relax during the day, they enjoy the crowd and make the best of the opportunity to socialise. That would be my concern for a long-haul flight, which is tiring and stressful anyway. But if EVA is your alternative, and you fly via Taiwan, it's going to be the same....

[Tywais]

I've also flown them from/to US and was happy with them.

[Mario2008]

I have flown frequently with both and I must say I prefer EVA air. They have a much better safety record and I have heard cabin crew from other companies recommend EVA. But the safety problems with China Airlines seem to be something from the past, not the present.

[TheWalkingMan]

Flown a couple of times on the NRT-TPE-BKK route without a problem. However, I will admit that I was a bit nervous due to their past safety record.

TheWalkingMan

[heybruce]

I've flown with China air round trip to the U.S a few times. I can't believe all these comments on how good they are, I think they cram more seats into economy class than any other long haul airline. Maybe the preceding comments were from people flying business or first class, or they're from very small people. I don't know what their safety record is, but they are definitely the cheapest to the U.S., which is why I endure them.

[kudroz]

Thanks for all the comments! I've decided to give it a try and will report back here once I made the trip. Prices are very interesting, THB 32,000 for a CNX-TPE-SFO roundtrip. I'm excited to skip Bangkok. Alternatively I could just do CNX-TPE on China Airlines and then fly EVA for TPE-SFO.

[BlackArtemis]

I haven't flown China, only EVA and Thai (when they still offered BKK to JFK).

Personally I think EVA has slipped dramatically. I flew their middle class from BKK to EWR last year and they no longer offered hot towels and other toiletries, their outlet couldn't power my 15" laptop. When i flew Thai Air, their economy was the same size as EVA's middle class and they had outlets that could power a 15" laptop.

My Prof who brought me over on a semester abroad has switched from EVA to China when he brings 30 kids to Thailand each year and likes them very much.

[mcgriffith]

Unless you fly the EVA Evergreen Deluxe class (the middle class mentioned above) really no difference between CA and EVA.

I flew EVA BKK-LAX last August. I found the seat pitch a little tight in economy class. It was a brand new 777, however, so no complaints re: equipment.

I paid (on a special promo fare; not available now) 21,950 B BKK-LAX-BKK. That's not a typo, and that was the out the door price. An additional 3170 B on TG, CNX-BKK-CNX.

All the EVA flight legs were completely packed- no wonder, at that fare...

[thailandlover]

Wikipedia lists China Airlines accidents; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China_Airline...s_and_accidents the most recent in 2007, and prior to that 2002, 1999, 1998, 1994, 1993. so,, while their track record has improved in recent years (retraining of what was mostly retired fighter jet pilots I think I read somewhere), its still not got a great safety record.

That said, their service is ok, but as stated, it can be very noisy especially if flying from North America transiting through Taiwan as the Taipei-Thailand route picks up alot of Chinese tour groups.