Never Again (China Eastern Air)

Member Name: jac_hurst

Product:	China Eastern Air
Date:	22/11/05 (2354 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: Terrible experience that threatened to ruin the holiday of a lifetime

I am writing this to warn anyone thinking of flying with China Eastern Airlines. PLEASE DO NOT DO IT. Admittedly the flight was dirt cheap. £515 (inc taxes) each took myself and my fiance from Heathrow to Sydney and back. We were trying to save money as we have both recently graduated.

The flight out went without much to report apart from the toilet overflowing and wee spilling down the aisle. The air hostess had to unblock it many times! Disgusting. The smell was also difficult to bear. The TV's didn't work properly, the food being terrible, the seats uncomfortable, the plane dirty and very 70's/80's.

Stopping at Shanghai was confusing as no one spoke English (I should have brought a translator). We made it to Sydney in one piece which was good and rather surprising.

The problem came on the way home. From Sydney to Shanghai we were placed near the back of the plane. As we are both 6 foot 2 inches we struggle with legroom and when the tiny Chinese girls infront of us decided their chairs were going all the way back it spelt problems for the rest of the journey. Finally we reached Shanghai and on the way out of the aircraft, spotted the rep who was holding a sign for out hotel. Not the Ramada but the EastLand Luxury Hotel. When we said we were going to that hotel he laughed at us. Not amused we went through passport control where our plane tickets and passport were with-held for no reason. After 20 minutes we got them back but the rep had disappeared. I was really unhappy now. We were made to wait for over 2 hours for transport to the hotel. When transport turned up we were barged out of the way by Chinese citizens. Now, when you are told you are going to be put in the Ramada or somewhere similar you expect somewhere similar not the dump of a hotel that is the Eastland "luxury!!!!!" Hotel. I wouldn't call toe nail clippings on the floor of a dirty, smelly hotel room, luxurious. Also the beds were rock solid. They literally were as hard as wood. The bathroom was disgusting. The grout hadn't been cleaned in well over 2 years (at a guess) as it was orange and black in places. Black hair littered the floor and I was concerned that we would catch something. The location was terrible aswell. It is placed within a poor and I would have to say, rough, part of Shanghai. After a really bad nights sleep we made our way to breakfast. Simply put, it was certainly not up to Ramada standards!!!! I immediately marched to the reception and demanded a bus to the airport. As no one speaks English I had to wait for over an hour to catch the next available hotel bus.

It was a horrible and to be honest, a slightly scary experience. To say I am disappointed would be an understatement. I feel robbed and can't help but feel that the £100-£150 saved by flying with China Eastern was the worst saving I have ever made. It nearly ruined our great holiday to Australia. I will never again fly a long haul budget airline and I advise you to never go near these guys. They are lying cowboys!

Summary: The worst airline experience