Any experience with China Southern Airline?

[rogeroc]

It goes without saying that transit times will always be a factor along with price but in many years of longhaul flights i have never known any one airline (that i have used on multiple occasions) to be consistently good or bad. I think the legroom and seat width / standard of food in economy is much of a muchness whether it be Emirates, China Southern, Eva, Jet, Etihad etc. I have quite frequently had 2 legs on the same carrier and the crew and food are good on one leg and poor on the other.  The reality is that if you are in economy your journey comfort factor is more likely to be related to the size of the peron sat next to you (or preferably none atall) than the carrier.

[Clamhua]

I flew CZ many many many years ago when they were code sharing with QANTAS, handed out pre-printed boarding passes as you checked in. Passes did not match the flyer, some old Chinese lady was me for a few hours on the way to Beijing

[CMX]

While I recognize that I'm being off-topic, I second Nancy L's view times a hundred.  Plus, there's free wi-fi in Seoul (INC). 

[KhonKaenKowboy]

When I booked on delta, they offered KE and a flight connecting in China...out of cnx.  Taxes were 62 USD on KE, but were 200 through China, which was a surprise, since pek always was low taxes.  They do change, as I am paying about 25 USD through Munich next month, but they would have been 65 a few years ago.  Thanks to the middle east for forcing the euros to lower their taxes.  The KE flight from cnx to ICN is good, but the 14 hour on the 777 is a beast, and mostly full.  Did you consider air China through pek?  One dollar beers at pek and shower without lounge usage.  Food at the ICN lounge was weak, but the wine was great....I used 4000 miles....good shower...

Edited September 18, 2016 by KhonKaenKowboy

[ilostmypassword]

Monday, Sep 19 I took China Southern from Chiangmai to JFK.  It ran on time and was no more or less uncomfortable than other economy class flights I've taken.  Food mostly wasn't great but not awful. And it costs $820 round trip.

[clokwise]

Not a direct answer to your question, but I'd recommend EVA out of BKK. Absolutely top of the line service, plus they have convenient connections out of Taipei to many major cities in the US, even Houston, New York and (starting next month) Chicago. They are Star Alliance so if you fly to BKK on Thai Airways you get to check your luggage all the way through to your final destination at CNX. Also, as EVA is Taiwanese and not Chinese, you don't have to deal with masses of unruly mainland Chinese passengers.

[heybruce]

1 hour ago, ilostmypassword said:

Monday, Sep 19 I took China Southern from Chiangmai to JFK.  It ran on time and was no more or less uncomfortable than other economy class flights I've taken.  Food mostly wasn't great but not awful. And it costs $820 round trip.

That's useful information, thanks.  CNX to JFK is about 90% of my flight if I take China Southern.

 

How crowded were the flights?  Was there a mob at check-in in Chiang Mai? 

 

Did you have any trouble reserving a seat in advance?  Any problems with luggage?  I've read some on-line reviews that indicate problems with seat reservations and luggage. 

 

Thanks for any additional information.

[KhonKaenKowboy]

I've seen quite a few of the China Southern hostesses in PEK, and they were extra hot.  Apparently, they are producing more than just smart phones in Southern China .

Edited September 25, 2016 by KhonKaenKowboy

[Asiantravel]

On ‎15‎/‎09‎/‎2016 at 6:45 PM, DipStick said:

I live and work in China, and travel extensively domestic. I only select domestic flights with China southern or Shenzhen airlines, basically because they mainly use Airbus aircraft. Comfort level they both appear to be very tightly packed, food forget it, cabin crew ok, but my wife who is Chinese and with a very sensitive nose says the aircraft always smell of the great unwashed peasant.

i live in Dongguan midway between HK and Guangzhou, last year I noticed many expats here chosing  CZ out of Guangzhou for expat home visits, but they chose them for reasons such as they were cheaper than most flights out of HK (but only marginally) and Guangzhou had easier access than HKIA.

it didn't take long for the consensus to change as they stated CZ internationally were nearly always packed with noisy (unwashed ) locals and in many cases the I.E. Systems didn't work properly, and food was very Chinese and not international.

another very serious issue with transiting in a Chinese airport is a huge percentage of air space is controlled by the military, meaning civil aircraft are regularly delayed and I mean for many hours.

its your call, but for me, no thank you .

 

 

 

I definitely agree with everything about your assessment!

When I flew between Shanghai and Bangkok after they boarded all the passengers in Shanghai they left us sitting on the aircraft at the gate for more than 2 1/2 hours. There was no explanation or apology.

This meant I subsequently missed my CSA connection to Bangkok in Guangzhou so I had to wait  until the next day. Even though  CSA admitted it was their fault for my overnight wait  they put me in one of the grottiest hotels I've ever stayed in.

needless to say I will never use them again.

 

Edited September 25, 2016 by Asiantravel

[heybruce]

I can avoid China Southern by paying an extra $200 and having an overnight layover in Honk Kong.  Is it worth it?  I've never been in the Hong Kong airport, how is it for an overnight stay?

[sharktooth]

2 hours ago, heybruce said:

I can avoid China Southern by paying an extra $200 and having an overnight layover in Honk Kong.  Is it worth it?  I've never been in the Hong Kong airport, how is it for an overnight stay?

What is your overnight stay? Airport Hotel or hanging around the airport? Hong Kong airport is huge and the facilities in the different terminals vary. Most facilities close at 23.00 as far as I remember.

 

by the way, this is the bathroom facilities in Guan Zhou airport...

 

 

Edited September 25, 2016 by sharktooth
Addition

[heybruce]

40 minutes ago, sharktooth said:

What is your overnight stay? Airport Hotel or hanging around the airport? Hong Kong airport is huge and the facilities in the different terminals vary. Most facilities close at 23.00 as far as I remember.

 

by the way, this is the bathroom facilities in Guan Zhou airport...

 

 

Lovely.  Are there squat toilets inside?

 

Regarding Hong Kong, all I know is that I'd arrive at 10 pm via Dragon Air and fly out 3:45 pm the next day on American going to Dallas-Ft Worth. With the exception of that one long layover it looks like a decent flight--as decent as across-the-Pacific economy class can be.

[Rob13]

I've used them twice.Cheap and friendly service. On the down side;  short on leg room and the food didn't look too good, when I asked for a beer they handed me a warm can. For a short flight within Asia  it's tolerable, would not want to be on a long flight to Europe or the US though.

[heybruce]

5 hours ago, sharktooth said:

What is your overnight stay? Airport Hotel or hanging around the airport? Hong Kong airport is huge and the facilities in the different terminals vary. Most facilities close at 23.00 as far as I remember.

 

by the way, this is the bathroom facilities in Guan Zhou airport...

 

 

I just checked, I would arrive and depart from Terminal 1.  With only 17 hours and no knowledge of Hong Kong I'd probably just hang around the terminal with my carry-on bag.  It looks like the terminal is loaded with restaurants, coffee shops, bars, etc., but if everything closes at 11 pm and I arrive at 10 pm they don't help me much.

 

Any seats or benches comfortable enough to sleep on?

 

Edit:  Just did more searching on the airport website; Starbucks and McDonald's are open 24 hours, but it looks like everything else closes at 11.  I hate overnights in airports.

Edited September 25, 2016 by heybruce

[sharktooth]

The airport is pretty far from down town (unlike the the old Kai tak airport), but that's a long layover man. I would either get a hotel or head down to Wanchai and go nuts with my old mates there. 

[BKKdreaming]

I was thinking of taking China southern from LAX , with the idea of "how bad can it be " , but some of these posts have pushed "how bad" farther than I think I want to go ,

 

Going thru Taiwan is OK ,  but sometimes you need to walk a long way to another terminal for transfer ,  and no one tells you that ( I know now)

 

the other cheaper flights are China Eastern and Air China , but only $100 more for EVA

 

But all these flights are so much cheaper than 2 years ago ......

 

[DarrenWng]

I flew from NYC to Chiang Mai with China Southern Airlines and it was amazing. It was the best experience I've had with an Economy ticket. They provided meals and blankets and warms towels. It was definitely a great service IMO. Not sure how things usually go, but this was definitely new to me

[heybruce]

I spent weeks checking options.  The really cheap fares that I found on ITA and Google Travel. the ones that promised to save me six to eight hundred dollars, were "no longer available" when I tried to book.  The fares that saved me a few hundred dollars were on nearly full flights across the Pacific with nothing but center aisle seats available, involved one or more overnight layovers in airports, and took 36 or more hours each way.

 

I got tired of looking, and was wasting too much time bargain hunting.  I booked with Korean Air, as I've done many times before.  The fare was reasonable, but not one of  the "bargains" described above. 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I booked a couple of regular economy tickets via the EVA website today, Swampy to LAX in mid-December. Total price all in came to about $820, with the one standard stop in Taipei for 3-4 hours each way.

 

Shopped around a lot of the different aggregator sites, but didn't find any substantially cheaper fares for EVA than those available from EVA's website, the lowest price being the booking class being one that doesn't accumulate any mileage credits.

 

Along the way, saw fares for China Southern and China Eastern that were $100+ cheaper, but really didn't want to use them for different reasons. Taipei airport is a pleasant place for a stopover, much moreso than either of the China options.

 

 

[Sandy Freckle]

I've flown with them before...., won't be using them again..., I'd rather pay a little more to be treated more decently as a passenger.