China Airline

[timbershifter]

Me and the wife will be flying China Air from Bangkok to Amsterdam business class in April, flight CI 0065

Is this the newly retrofitted 747-400, anybody experienced business class on this flight, airport lounge ect.

Thanks

[cdnvic]

China Airlines or Air China?

[timbershifter]

Hi, it's China airlines, the route is Taipei - BKK - AMS

[cdnvic]

They have a spotty safety record but I've never heard anything but good about the level of service.

[Tywais]

They have a spotty safety record but I've never heard anything but good about the level of service.

I've used them before and also found their service to be very good. The only thing I can find on their site and Flight Aware is it is a 747-400. Flight Aware

[normanx1234]

I fly business on the same route every 2 or 3 months. The planes are being upgraded one by one, and a couple of my recent flights have been on refitted planes - much better seats and entertainment systems. By April you stand a very good chance of getting a refitted plane, but no guarantee.

China Lounge in Bangkok is nothing special, but since the flight invariably leaves late (0.300) its useful to have. If you are flying onward from Amsterdam you will probably not be able to use the KLM lounge there (but you can when flying in the other directrion).

[FritsSikkink]

I fly business on the same route every 2 or 3 months. The planes are being upgraded one by one, and a couple of my recent flights have been on refitted planes - much better seats and entertainment systems. By April you stand a very good chance of getting a refitted plane, but no guarantee.

China Lounge in Bangkok is nothing special, but since the flight invariably leaves late (0.300) its useful to have. If you are flying onward from Amsterdam you will probably not be able to use the KLM lounge there (but you can when flying in the other directrion).

It leaves at 02.30

[normanx1234]

Sorry, I meant that more times than not it leaves at 0.300 or later rather than the scheduled time of 02.30.

[janverbeem]

As far as I remember they use the new plane once a week,all the other days it are the older ones.

[wileycoyote]

Enjoy the flight,you will be fine

[AZBill]

I fly them alot (Paragon Member) and I actually like the airline. I have gotten many free upgrades and have never had an issue with the service. The business class on this plane is quite comfortable and the food is not bad. The lounge at BKK is comfortable enough and there is a nice spread of snacks. It is usually the best value to and from BKK from LA if you book at their site. Good value IMHO.

[timbershifter]

Hi normanx, i hope the flight is more or less on time as i got a connecting flight

to Johannesburg with KLM, arrive AMS 09:15 dept 10:20

[WilliaminBKK]

At least in J you will normally be allowed to de-plane first and your luggage will be priority tagged. Should be fine for your connection. Both airlines are members of Skyteam so they should issue your boarding pass in BKK but probably best to do online check in for AMS-JNB so you don't have to go to the tranist desk in AMS.

[Mario2008]

They had a spotty safety record, with some accidents in the 90's. But since than seem to have cleaned up their act.

I have always enjoyed their service, but prefer EVA. Also the departure and arrival times of EVA are now more to my liking.

[nong38]

Always a good idea to have a look at the safety records of cheap flights. It is also not unsual for so called well established air lines to have their off days like the time when Eithiad went to collect a new airbus aircraft from toulouse, it always pays to read the manual first and these pilots could have been up front with you, have a look on you tube, play around with the words eithiad, toulouse, airbus and crash and see what turns up!

I wont be using them!

[flying]

They have a spotty safety record but I've never heard anything but good about the level of service.

Service was not bad but a few years ago I switched to Korean Air.

I had heard the safety warning but actual experiences convinced me.

Not to scare the OP but man their planes are rickety at best.

Landing & take off's the overhead compartments shake rattle & roll so loud it is scary.

Then the landing gear sounds when they come up has to be heard to be believed.

The final clincher was when we were en-route from Bangkok to Taipei

I do not know what turbulence we hit but we were sitting over the left wing

The wing tip went into some kind of flutter & looking at it & the violent shakes

we encountered.....All I can say is I thought this was it...really

I cannot believe the wingtip did not snap right off.

Right there & then I decided never again. We fly a lot of international flights

& I have never seen before or since something like that.

[timbershifter]

Thanks all for the info

Cheers

[steve187]

Always a good idea to have a look at the safety records of cheap flights. It is also not unsual for so called well established air lines to have their off days like the time when Eithiad went to collect a new airbus aircraft from toulouse, it always pays to read the manual first and these pilots could have been up front with you, have a look on you tube, play around with the words eithiad, toulouse, airbus and crash and see what turns up!

I wont be using them!

pics here the plane was being tested by airbus, with 2 airbus engineers, with some Abu Dhabi service crew on board, they were not pilots who would fly with passengers.

[timbershifter]

Who was at fault, the airbus engineers or the service crew

On the flight from BKK to AMS at 02:30 is there a inflight service at that time

of the morning, light snack, drinks or breakfast before arriving at AMS.

The ticket say no meal

[cdnvic]

I have always enjoyed their service, but prefer EVA. Also the departure and arrival times of EVA are now more to my liking.

Eva has a 2am departure from Seattle that gets you to Bangkok at mid-day rather than midnight.

[ExpatJ]

The old buisness class seats are horrible- actually they are painful if you are taller than 6 foot-, since the head rest (which does not move) jams into your upper back forcing you to sit hunched forward the whole flight. I would prefer to fly economy singapore/cathay pacific than business class on the Air China- even long haul

[nong38]

Always a good idea to have a look at the safety records of cheap flights. It is also not unsual for so called well established air lines to have their off days like the time when Eithiad went to collect a new airbus aircraft from toulouse, it always pays to read the manual first and these pilots could have been up front with you, have a look on you tube, play around with the words eithiad, toulouse, airbus and crash and see what turns up!

I wont be using them!

pics here the plane was being tested by airbus, with 2 airbus engineers, with some Abu Dhabi service crew on board, they were not pilots who would fly with passengers.

I was under the impression that the airline had sent a crew to collect the plane, you have alternative theory I dont take unneccessary chances, I will give this airline a miss.

[Ricardo]

Technicians from ADAT (Abu Dhabi Aircraft Technologies) were performing pre-delivery ground-tests, so not Airbus-engineers or Etihad-pilots, but I bet their boss wasn't too happy ! Inshallah !

[timbershifter]

The wife phoned China Airline for a seat reservation BKK to AMS, seat 19 A-B

Return AMS to BKK seat 3 A-B ? cannot find seat No3 business class on

the old or new 747-400. Seat 3 first class? checked on website seat expert.

[MichaelSong]

We fly China airlines CI0065/CI0066 business class 3 to 4 times a year for the past 5 years and find it excellent value for money. It is true the flight BKK-AMS leaves at a rather inconvenient time 3am but this has nothing to do with the A+ service. As gold member sometimes get upgrade to first. The lounge at BKK is

often noisy but this has mostly to to with parvenues -typically of a certain nationality (NL?)- wanting to show off.

[MichaelSong]

Seat no 3 is first class ... but do not complain about changing your seat, or they will assign you the original one , it almost happened to me once !

[timbershifter]

No not complaining Michael but my ticket state 3A-B, if you look at the 747-400 seating plan there is no 3B it is

3K i think. Maybe i should should leave as is and see what happens.

[Siam Simon]

Once slept-walked from business class to first on this flight. Felt very strange when I woke up in the front cabin, which was otherwise empty, just in time to join the family back in business class for breakfast.

Always enjoyed their service in an old-fashioned but comfortable business class, but two things stopped me flying with them: Their prices have crept up and are not usually much cheaper than Emirates, Etihad and Eva on this route via the UK; Getting air miles (you couldn't do it online) was more miss than hit.