The main issues seemed to be poor comfort, poor in-flight entertainment (although this doesn't worry me), rude attendants and uncleanliness.

More important was the claim that the food was uneatable and very little in the way of drinks (including tea, coffee, water and juice) were offered or available.

The recommendation was to take your own stuff on board as even the chinese food was, according to the reviews, inedible.

Could the team or previous travellers either reassure me or pass on some useful advice please. I have travelled enough to be realistic in my expectations re in flight food etc but even so the reviews were consistent in how low things were rated. One even went so far as to say the only plus, for them, was that they arrived!

I am looking forward to this holiday so much that I don't want anything to darken my enjoyment of anticipation, but I would prefer to be pre-warned and prepared.

So I've had a look through our own customer service questionnaires where we ask our travellers to rate the comfort and onboard service of the airline used and looking at the Air China responses, the vast majority of our travellers rate them as good or excellent.

I remember another traveller asking a similar question so have dug out that thread as there was a response from SarahS - you can read this here:

forum.justyou.co.uk/forum/thread-71675.html

Lesley and Bob also commented on this thread too.

I hope these comments help to stem some of those concerns.

Kindest regards,

Julia

As Julia has mentioned I did this tour last September and to be honest nothing stands out regarding the flights on this tour, so they can't have been too bad!! As you rightly said, most people only write a review if they have something to complain about and I have been on far worse airlines than Air China! As far as I remember the seats were fine, attendants helpful and the food was acceptable. The on board entertainment wasn't fantastic but I always try to sleep or bring a book/magazine and I was fine. There are quite a number of flights on this tour and they were not an issue - as I said on the other thread, they are really about getting you from A to B and there were no problems getting any of our flights. If you are not doing the add-on, you and the rest of the group will have to negotiate Beijing airport on the way back - keep a careful eye out for signs to your gate and ask if you aren't sure; it was a little tricky but we all got there in the end!

Hope you have a great holiday - I certainly really enjoyed seeing the best of China and I'm very glad I did the tour.

Best wishes,

Bob

I did the Inspirational China trip last October and, like you, was a bit apprehensive having seen some of the Air China reviews. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. The plans are very modern and comfortable, even the loos were pretty standard long haul airline.

The food is not much to write home about, so I would suggest packing some snacks or, as I did, buy a couple of packs of sandwiches etc in the departure lounge to take with you. Similarly, drinks are available but not plentiful so you'd be wise to take your own supplies. The food on the internal flights (Eastern China airways I think) was pretty unrecognisable but you'll be very well fed throughout the tour so will probably not mind going without for a couple of hours.

The cabin crew were generally ok. I think that they may come across as being brusque because they speak little English and so seem to be barking at you when they probably don't mean to. One tip that my group quickly learnt from the native Chinese travellers on the planes is that absolutely no-one pays any attention to the 'fasten seat belt' signs. Everyone was up, wandering around the cabin, using the loos and taking stuff out of the overhead lockers all the time - so it's no wonder that the cabin crew get a little snappy!

Anyway, I hope that puts your mind at rest a little. It's a great trip and pretty full on, so you will probably find yourself catching up on sleep rather than watching the in-flight entertainment. If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to help - we all had a fabulous time and I'm sure you will too.

All the best

Mandy

Hi FranXWP,

So I've had a look through our own customer service questionnaires where we ask our travellers to rate the comfort and onboard service of the airline used and looking at the Air China responses, the vast majority of our travellers rate them as good or excellent.

I remember another traveller asking a similar question so have dug out that thread as there was a response from SarahS - you can read this here:

forum.justyou.co.uk/forum/thread-71675.html

Lesley and Bob also commented on this thread too.

I hope these comments help to stem some of those concerns.

Kindest regards,

Julia

Hi Julia

Thanks. I have checked out the link and I am reassured. Reading between the lines it looks as though they are not the best but probably not the worst either and as was said it is the arrival which is important.

Best wishes

Fran XWP

I just returned from the Land of the Dragon tour (China & Tibet) at the end of May and we had a variety of flights using China Eastern, Air China and Southwest China. I too had read the awful reviews for all of the airlines and was worried about the flight over but was pleasantly surprised. Not once did I come across any of the problems that all the reviews mentioned; however I would say that the food we were served was Chinese but pretty bland in taste, but then I've resigned myself to the fact that most airline food is not good anyway. I think the problem with the cabin crew is that their English is very limited and I got the impression anything asked outwith the usual food/drink questions were a problem for them. With the reviews in general I think the majority of passengers have a pleasant flight and don't even consider leaving reviews about them so those that do complain are usually those who have had really bad experiences and those are the only ones we do hear/read about which in turn I think tends to leave a bad impression of an airline, hence the ones about Air China.

One of the worst flights I ever experienced was with British Airways!! which is supposed to be one of the better airlines.

I had no problem with the Air China flight and would be happy to use them again as hopefully you will find out.

Enjoy your trip to China.

Jacqueline

Julia is correct I did comment on a similar post regarding Air China flight. The trip to China , which I did in 2010, was my first JY holiday and first long haul flight. I did not have any great expectations but have to say that I had no complaints about the flight. The food provided was fine and there was a choice. Tea, coffee, water etc were available. Flight attendants were polite in my experience.

I have travelled with a number of airlines and have had more concerns about well known budget airlines!!!

My advice is don't allow negative reviews to spoil the start of what will be a wonderful holiday.

Hope this helps

Lesley

I agree with all the above comments. I personally hardly read reviews and if I do, I take them with a pinch of salt as they are not all true. I think very few are genuine. Some people like to complain about everything and are never satisfied! Enjoy your holiday without any worries. You will be fine.

Jaya

Fran XWP