LINZI

Anyone flown with Air China?
It will be stop off in Beijing.
Would we need a visa? We will be travelling on an Australian passport.

Many thanks
Linzi

bcworld

If this means stopping over in Beijing then yes you will need to arrange a visa in advance...if transit and not leaving the airport then no visa required.

I haven't flown with Air China but I did read an article recently saying that Chinese airlines are now generally a lot better than people's pre-conceptions of them.

andrew63

Flown with them quite a few times domestically (in China) and internationally. Not bad and good price. However - food is chinese, your neighbour may be snorting, spitting and slurping. Mobile phones aren't always turned off either! I never had an Intl flight that had individual TVs

LINZI

Thank you both for replying

We will not be leaving the airport.

jad n rich

Did one flight with china airlines?, ( the one with the pink flower symbol) last minute xmas thing, price on usual airlines was around $3000 each, china airlines was half that , times five of us....

First meal, chinese gentleman in next row put finger on one side of nostril and let out greenest meanest snot explosion onto the food tray. Nobody else even looked up except us

An elderly indian granny, I mean 90 odd curled up with her feet on my partners lap then used the loo with the door open.

Interesting experience.

andrew63

I was trying to not to be so graphic but had to laugh. Seen all of that and more. "it's just a cultural thing"

michael_w

In 'normal' times they are a very basic airline, think Aeroflot with Chinese food. But when things go wrong ... we had a very bad experience with Air China last year, when heavy snow meant our flight was diverted to Brussels. No announcements. We were left on the tarmac with the doors closed for an extra three hours, only to be told that the flight crew had left and we had to sleep in the terminal. Then the plane took off without us - but with all our luggage still on board. In other words, they are !@#$% hopeless.
Oh and you don't need a Chinese visa if you are just in transit through Beijing airport.

LINZI

That made me laugh

LINZI

Thanks michael_w for your reply We might wait it out a little longer to see if they bring some more cheaper flights out and maybe pay just abit more for another Airline

Vey

Had a somewhat similar experience in Malaysian Airlines but I guess I was just unlucky. The service was exceptional nonetheless.

chris955

Try Emirates through travel.com.au
They are a very good airline, good food and facilities on their planes and great fares.