China Southern Airlines

Horrible airlines. My parents took roundtrip from DEL to SFO (April 26-​June 13, 2016) using them. Tons of issues:
(a) AVML (vegetarian meal) not served. They had to stay hungry due to lack of vegetarian options
(b) The in-​flight staff can’t even speak proper English. They couldn’t understand anything.
© In the return trip, flight got delayed, therefore in the second hop, baggage couldn’t be transferred. The bags arrived next day in Delhi but they were soaked in water and everything was completely ruined. They said it happened due to rain in Guangzhou. Seriously?
On contacting the airline, they said your parents didn’t file complain during pick-​up. Therefore, we can’t do anything. Every single purchase they made during 2 months visit was destroyed including gifts, pictures, electronics, etc.
(d) They had to stay an extra day in Delhi to collect the luggage. China southern didn’t have the courtesy to provide accommodation. They had to go to the airport again to collect the luggage.
(e) Instead of compensating, the staff at Delhi was rude and weren’t ready to listen to anything.
This is worse airline I have seen. I would strongly advise anyone to stay away and do not fall in low-​cost fare pray.

Just looking at the reviews on this page, it’s probably useful for Unilocal users to note that fully half of them are for «China Airlines», not «China Southern Airlines».
These are entirely different airlines, with entirely different standards of service.
To reiterate my review of China Southern Airlines, the fleet is good, the on-​board service is fine, and the price is extremely cheap. However, the call centre experience just seems to be getting worse and worse. If you need to call to modify a booking, upgrade, change a meal preference, or anything else… then prepare for an ordeal.
The service at the airport if anything occurs (e.g. a flight cancellation) is also a total gamble. I’ve had some bad experiences in the past with being literally ignored by staff at the service desk in their Guangzhou hub, as they didn’t speak English well and found it was more convenient just to pretend I didn’t exist.
I’ve also been given contradictory information about transfers. Last time I flew, I was told that my bag would be automatically transferred to my next flight when routing through Shenzhen. Luckily, when chatting to another passenger, I was informed that this wasn’t the case. I went down to the baggage carousel, and there was my bag spinning around. I then had to manually re-​check it for my next flight. I have no idea what would have occurred if I had taken the advice of the staff and assumed it would be automatically transferred.
So, for a direct flight, or a flight through Guangzhou, they are a fantastic option, and the price can’t be beat. Just pray that nothing out of the ordinary happens, because if it does, you’re on your own. And take any advice from their staff with a humongous grain of salt.

This is my very first Unilocal review and I signed up just so can write a review of this airline. It is the WORST ! You can not change your flight online. You have to call China and speak to someone that barely speaks english. After 30 minutes giving all my information, then they tell me I have to email them my passport … and call them back … after calling back, they tell me the email system is down. Then call 3 more times to finally give my changed flight information all over again to confirm. After all that, they inform me that they dont know if my baggage will be forwarded to my final destination or I have to pick up the luggage … that I would I have figure it out at the airport during in a very tight connection … how could they NOT know !!! Finally out of frustration, I cancelled the flight to book on a non native China company. Dont book them !!!

I LOVED flying with China Airlines – this experience even made Air China look more crappy. Flights were on time, flight attendants were all nice and lovely, food was decent, and roomy. A couple attendants even made sure to tell us where our connecting flight’s gates were. Two flight attendants (one male and female) even went out of the way to explain in any way they can because of their limited English, and I truly truly appreciated that. Our luggages all made it to our destinations safely (I’m looking at you AIR CHINA). Overall experience was so so pleasant that I would fly with the same airline over and over again!

My sister’s Honeymoon to Thailand was cancelled because they required a Visa, which was never indicated by the airline company. The company didn’t require a visa, unless there was layover which then people are suppose to have a visa (never was stated during the purchase). They couldn’t change flights nor get further assistant. The people working at customer service did nothing to help and all they did was giggle in the corner. China Southern Airlines is the worst airline company, they have no respect, no customer service, and possibly racist. Notice customer who speak Chinese have a lot more customer service than non-​Chinese speakers. Don’t waste your money here, $ 2000 down the drain!

If only I could give this terrible excuse for an airline minus five stars! Their customer service is an oxymoron. Their people are ill-​trained, rude and struggle with basic English in San Francisco. They ruined my trip to India and gave me nothing but lame excuses. Avoid this airline like the plague. China Southern cost me $ 2000.

Update of my previous review as the carry-​on weight check is getting out of hand at SFO on another flight. I have diverted all my China Airlines route onto Delta and other Skyteam partners. Hopping through Narita beats the indignity suffered with China Airlines any day of the week!
—
China Airlines is trying to drive away all their economy business passengers with the never-​ending reduction in service quality.
I am not sure what the other reviewers are raving about, but the new 777−300ER is ruined by China Airlines. Most other 777−300ER operators have a 3−3−3 seat configuration for economy, but China Airlines decided to add an extra seat. The 3−4−3 configuration means reduced seat width, probably the narrowest in the world and an even narrower walkway. The width reduction means a very very very uncomfortable ride. I have been a loyal SkyTeam member and have been on China Airlines’ 747 and A330 countless time and those planes are much better in terms of comfort. Seat padding is thin and hard on the new 777−300ER, resulted in an misery of 13.5 hr from SFO to TPE.
One more thing that really angered me is their SFO ground staff. Apparently, China Airlines is instituting a new carry-​on weight limit of 7kg. During check-​in, the staff looked at my computer roller bag and never mentioned about weight issue but I was later stopped at the gate. The gate agent weighted my bag and wanted me to check in my carry-​on computer roller bag. NO WAY would I let China Airlines check in my bag with electronics. 7kg, are they kidding? An empty high quality roller bag would probably weight 4−5kg on its own. For those high tech business passengers from the SF bay area that may need to carry more than 1 – 2 computers, this is your nightmare becoming true!
Because of my SkyTeam Elite status, I got a bulkhead seat near the emergency door. During boarding, I watch several passengers, stopped near the bulkhead open area and started to pull stuff out of their outer jacket or off their bodies and put the items back into their carry-​on suite case. In one stance, I saw an gentleman that removed enough items from his jacket and on his back, to fill an entire carry-​on size luggage! While I saw that with much amusement but quickly realize they are forced to do so with the new crazy carry-​on weight restriction.
If China Airline did the weight reduction out of safety, as one person suggests, it is clearly not working because a lot of people are workaround this limit. I, for one as a SkyTeam Elite member, refuse to lose my dignity by resorting to this type of tactics, so I can bring my electronics item onboard. I checked most of other Skyteam member airlines, including Delta Air Lines, and none has this level of insanity when it comes to carry on weight limit.
As a loyal SkyTeam and China Airlines passenger for many years, this is finally the straw that would force me to switch alliance and airlines. EVA Air is suddenly the no brainer choice when flying to Taiwan.

Wow! Only reason why I gave this a one star is because of a nice young gentlemen that helped me checked in, he had made my experience awesome at the beginning of the process. But from what happened after went downhill and this airline don’t deserve a star at all!
Let me start by saying the boarding process was horrible! I’ve never experienced a bad boarding process ever and this had marked the spot!
An old man started weighing bags after bags and let me tell you every Asian looking he let them through even if the bags was a few pounds over! When it was my turn I was over 1 pound that’s it! He then started talking in Chinese and even swearing in Chinese, like I don’t understand the Bad words in Chinese come on. He then started raising his voice at me for no reason and let me tell you I’m a shy guy. He started yelling «you pay now for over, give me credit card pay now!» I was like wow bro you let the other passengers through with 3 – 5 pounds over and when my bag is 1 pound over you start bitching at me?!? Excuse my language people!
He then took me straight to the counter and kept insisting to pay for my small luggage and that it will have to be checked in, even with my medicines and important things that was in it. Though the young gentleman that helped me at the front saved the day he started asking me to just take a pound off and it will be ok, i did but then here comes mr grumpy old man «no you can’t do that let him pay and check bag in» how racist this old man was to me, just because I didn’t look Asian enough wow! So the young guy told me he has to check it in but he won’t charge me. What a life saver! Yet to have my small bag checked in was a bummer because I was afraid my small amount of clothes won’t make it to Manila! I wish to find this old man one day and tell him how racist he was and rude and he deserved to get fired! If you don’t look Chinese or Taiwanese you’re up for some surprise with this old man! I have made numerous emails and comments about this old man and yet to hear from China airlines!
Also if your in Taiwan as well the boarding process is horrible they start by from seat numbers and everyone just starts boarding even without the seating process, this leaves you no space at all for the overhead bins for your luggage cause everyone wants to put their jackets, bags and personal items in one bin! When the rule clearly states one carry-​on in the overhead bin and one personal item under the seat in front of you! Apparently this rule don’t work with Asians.
Food was awesome in the plane and the entertainment system with the usb charger was very helpful for a long flight! Sorry for this long review but I think everyone should know what I went through. Thanks China Airlines for a nice ride!

My first experience with China Airlines:
We bought online tickets thru one of the travel sites.
Travel site said: Check with airline for your seat assignment
Called China Airlines this morning, and found out they do not assign seats for «online tickets» until THREE HOURS before departure.
This was not communicated to me in advance of purchasing these tickets, and so I’m posting this review at every location of «China Airlines» to warn all others.
Note that we *could* have booked this same route through Korean Air for about $ 35 per ticket (per person) extra, and would have our seat assignments NOW.

Worst customer service at the SFO China airlines counter. My friends are flying back to Taiwan and the man working behind the counter embarrassed them by making them open their luggage and to transfer stuff because they were over the limit for 1 kilo. They had no problem transferring the things but it was so tasteless how he said they had to do it now so they got on the ground and started unloading and rearranging. Then the guy helped another customer and kicked their stuff to the side while we were closing up the luggage. There were other attendants that could help the other customers but they were so busy staring at us. They are so unprofessional to a fault.
Afterwards we wanted to make sure their luggage went through the conveyer belt and a young woman gave me a very mean look and asked me what I was doing and I told her we were just making sure their luggage went through the conveyor and didn’t get left behind. Trust me, it happens! The young woman told me that «SFO doesn’t do that and told me luggages are somewhere else». Baffled, I was like what are you talking about??? Then realized she must have thought I was getting my luggage. Hello. Common sense is clearly not there. She was like a pretty person with no sense of logic. She was the one watching us while rearranging the luggage. When I repeated why I was there and NOT to get luggage (obviously) she said I can’t stand there. She must be the boss of that floor, a public place to stand btw. Nowhere near the doors to their place. So lame. It’s just unforgivable behavior the way they are acting. The fact that it’s all purposeful sounds Crazy from me but trust me, you will feel it.

WORST, they are totally rude at customer service. Especially dealing with US people they behave arrogant. They make you go through 3 – 4 immigration checks, then 3 – 4 security checks, when you ask questions, they start speaking their own language. They will tell you not to use cellphone when you board (even on airplane mode), the air hostess will call a marshal, who will tell you rudely that it is China law, if you don’t obey, you will be prosecuted in China. Worst airport customer service provided. My family has decided never to visit them, never to buy China products.

If you use this airlines, pray that everything goes as planned. If something does go wrong, it could turn into a terrible experience. My family just went to the Philippines last Christmas with a round trip ticket on China Southern Airlines via LAX and China. The trip to Manila went well, but the return trip sure did not. It started when our connecting flight from China to LAX broke down resulting to a 3+ hour delay. While in China, nobody from the airline even bothered to inform the passengers that there was a delay. We found out about the delay via the departure screen. The plane was an A380, so you can imagine the number of passengers who was caught by surprise when the departure time on the screen shifted 3 hours forward. Again, nobody from the airline provided us with any update or explanation. 3+ hours later, we finally left. Once we arrived in LAX, as expected, we missed our connecting flight to Sacramento. The airline, as expected, booked us with a flight to leave LAX to Sacramento 2 days later. Hotel accommodation was also provided for 2 nights. That’s it though. I asked the airline representative about food vouchers. Her reply, not the policy of the airline company to provide food vouchers. Great! now we have to feed ourselves while we’re stuck in Los Angeles for 2 days. 2 days later, we checked in to our new flight, Delta Airlines. Another surprise, Delta charged us for our checked in baggages. We explained to the female at the counter that we are entitled to 2 free checked in luggage each on our flight. The female responded that this is now a domestic flight, and she have to charge us the fees. She told us to demand a refund from China Southern Airlines. So, we got home. The next day, I tried to contact China Southern Airlines, using the number they provided on there website, to demand a refund for our luggage fee and ask for some refund for our meals while in Los Angeles. For the pass week now, I have been trying to talk to someone on the phone but failed. The phone will just keep ringing or a message will play saying that no one is available to take the call right now. No messaging system was provided or even any email was listed on the website. Like I said earlier, if you decide to use this airline, pray that nothing goes wrong, because if something does, CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES WILL LEAVE YOU HANGING! WORST COSTUMER SERVICE from all Airline carrier.
If someone from China Southern Airlines is reading this, reply to this posting and PROVIDE A WORKING PHONE NUMBER SO I CAN CALL YOU !!!

SF to Bangkok lands you in Wuhan China layover (have to exit through customs, get you bag, to re check in and go through customs again). Wuhan airport had no heat and you have to wait for your plane in 40 degree temps. Never again …

I had attempted to go through China Southern Airlines to get to my destination in Delhi, India from San Francisco. Unfortunately a bit of a traveler’s visa issue left me at the check-​in counter, with nowhere else to go.
Firstly, the airline did absolutely nothing to try to attempt to get me a voucher, or change my flight. They kept telling me I needed a correct visa to change my flight, although I was in the process of fixing the visa issue as quickly as possible.
Secondly, one of the employees did try talking to what seemed like a superior in the company, and the superior seemed to be giggling to themselves at the issue. I was already very upset, and this wasn’t helpful.
They instead gave me a number to call. I stayed on hold for a half hour before being disconnected, and then another half hour before I gave up. The customer service here is non-​existent, I felt so taken advantage of in that I couldn’t receive any money back for the flight that I missed, nor could I cancel or change anything.
So, I’m currently writing this, with a return flight from Delhi, India later this month booked with China Southern airlines, and I’m not even in India quite yet.
While the price was right, I would strongly suggest using a more trust-​worthy company who attempts a bit more customer service.

Let me start off by saying that my expectations were extremely low before my trip. After reading all of the other Unilocal reviews I was not looking forward to my 17 hour flight to Thailand on the Boeing 777. After the flight however, I couldn’t be more sad to leave the plane. The staff was wonderful, the plane interior was modern, the seats were comfortable, there was ample leg room, the entertain selection was phenomenal, and the stewardesses tended to my every need. I can’t speak on behalf of their other plane models, but I have nothing but great things to say about China Airlines international Boeing 777.

There is an 888 number listed for their LA office. I called that number thrice and never got a human. I was put on hold for over 45 mins and suddenly an automated message regarding flight arrival times played and then the line dropped.
Customer service: Non-​existent.

I attempted to book direct and had my info kicked back several times before finally going over to Priceline to book the deal they had going. The aforementioned should have been a red flag, but nevertheless, I am a glutton for a good flight deal. I booked this flight in August, and I’ve attempted to select seats for a long haul that will likely sell out. It is now nearly November, and I have not been able to get ANYONE from China Southern Airlines to respond to my email inquiries (I’ve sent FOUR to EVERY email they have available), I’ve been placed on hold through their customer service call center (both the USA and Chinese #s) for 30 mins+, I’ve sent a message to their Facebook account only to be forwarded to their jobs portal (WTF??), and WeChat ALL TO NO AVAIL. I have not even boarded the damn flight yet and already I am regretting supporting this airline.
CHINA SOUTHERN: PLEASE GET WITH MODERN TIMES AND ALLOW CUSTOMERS TO BOOK THEIR SEATS VIA YOUR WEBSITE. The option is there, and is pretty much useless (crashing as soon as you get to selection). If you’re going to have a USELESS feature on your site, then at least allow third party vendors like Priceline to facilitate seat selection, OR, RESPOND to customer service inquiries. Good grief.

My father booked travel from Taipei to LA through Vayama. They were able to get him two flights: 1) from Taipei to Guangzhou, then 2) from Guangzhou to LA. Due to weather conditions, the plane from Taipei couldn’t land in Guangzhou, so the airline gave them a hotel to stay at for the night and put them on the next flight to LA. My parents are supposed to leave together to Taipei in a couple of days and they still hadn’t received their e-​ticket confirmation.
We discovered that my father was considered a «no show» on his Guangzhou-​LA leg, and Vayama didn’t notify him of the situation. The airline (China Southern) that was in charge of his Guangzhou-​LA travel didn’t notify my father either and has been impossible to reach to confirm what the status is of his return flight. We are frustrated and have found customer service agents to be unsympathetic and unhelpful.

My mom book this airline from Lax to china, with connecting flight in taipei. Everything was smooth till we were notify that our connecting flight CI-​523 had been delayed (⁰⁹⁄₂₈) for 3hrs, then it was 5hrs, then we were told it was delayed till the next day 24hrs!!! We were told by China Airline staff that they don’t have any hotel rooms in or near the airport that can for us to rest because they are overloaded with passengers been delayed, our options were A go find our own hotel room for the night & find our way around in a city that we are not familiar with or B wait 24hrs inside the airport. Never again travel with China airlines, this is a nightmare.

Seems like a lot of negativity for this airlines and I’m not sure why… although I’ve heard stories about the staff being rude or unaccommodating. However, the prices for tickets on this airline are usually among the cheapest and affordable. The new Boeing 777−300ER on long-​distance flights are much more comfortable.
I’ve flown China Airlines all my life as a Dynasty flyer, from a kid til now and I’ve had no problems with them although I don’t require much to be satisfied since most of the time I sleep on the plane. I don’t fly quite often enough to be anything but their most basic tiered member so I’m not sure I’m experiencing any special perks compared to non-​members other than accumulating mileage. I’m not a tall person so the seats are fine but please do your research to see if the space is accommodating for your height (tons of places to look online these days…). The food is whatevers, but I eat just about anything so don’t take my word on that. They have an in-​flight entertainment system with movies, shows, music, and all. Sound quality could be better but it’s serviceable.
If you aren’t high maintenance, you should be fine flying them as long as you know all the restrictions regarding the ticket you purchased. I see a lot of complaints about people asking for all these exceptions and adjustments and whatever to accommodate them. PEOPLE IT’S A GODDAMN BUSINESS, FOLLOW THEIR GUIDELINES, KNOW YOUR FARE RESTRICTIONS, AND LEARN TO READ. Stop looking for special favors and shit and complaining when you don’t get them
However, the website is not user friendly and hard to navigate and sometimes certain staff personnel can be a bit rude (but that can happen with any airline).

bought ticket on a sunday and flew monday @ 1:40 am. Paid 603 for a week stay in manila. Not bad for a last mjnute trip. Pal’s price was 915. Huge Difference! Aircraft is boeing 777. Huge and newer compared to PAL. A 2 ½ Lay over in Taipei was okay. FreeWifi helped to keep me entertained. Transfer was confusing at first since it was my first time flying with them. Taipei to manila was 15 minutes late but still no biggie. All flight attendants are attentive. They may not serve drinks frequently but hey. You can always ask.
Going back. Boarding was 20mins late. The plane was an airbus. But had a good legroom. Lavatory smelled. But i dont really care. Its not like im sleeping inside it. Layover in taipei was supposed to be 5hrs. But due to the delay and transfer. I waited at the gates for 3.5 hours which flew by really fast. They had a big waiting area so i was able to relax, stretch and even laid down. Unlike if you fly direct with Pal. Boarding gates cant even accomodate all passengers.
Plane was boeing 777 but it was extremely huge and looked brand new. I was just in awe. Coz like i said ive been flying with PAL and thought they were the best. Now i know im just paying for non stop flight. Bottom line is if youre wanting to save money and dont mind the negative things i mentioned. Then fly with China Airlines! You can thank me later!

My first Unilocal review to a whole new level of service that no other vendor comes close.
First, you could try to call the 1 – 888 contact number listed here to see if you are a luck winner to be able to speak to anyone; best of luck! I wasn’t one at this low season Monday afternoon. The software doesn’t tell you if you are placed on hold or have been disconnected no matter which key you have pressed.
After we received a bookings confirmation and paid online a month before the flight time, packed up and arrived at the airport on the big international travel date, we were told there was no record for our bookings reference number printed on our confirmation email.
I asked the attendant to write this news down on a piece of paper with her name and contact number, I don’t have to explain repetitively to many people later on; then we bought a new ticket on the spot based on that day’s price; you can imagine the price difference. She wrote «customer failed to purchase ticket on our website», no, no, no, the confirmation email and the credit card statement show it was a successful purchase. Ok, she changed the language and added her name and phone number. The phone number written on the sheet is not a working number. Maybe a typo, or something else, your guess is as good as mine.

Today I tried to experience my first ever China Southern Airlines flight from San Francisco via Guangzhou to Bangkok. After all, they had a good price (below average) and new 787 airplanes. My first inkling something was amiss was the fact I could not locate/​log onto my record on their website via any of the methods they provided (ticket # or Record locator). I tried to join their loyalty program and the confirmation text never arrived after 8 attempts. So … I went to the airport the next day and checked in (quick and efficient) and went to the waiting area. That’s where things began to melt down. when it was apparent the flight would not depart on time as the boarding time listed was AFTER the departure time listed on the gate board. Then another delay was posted. A third delay was posted and I made the calculation that I would not make my connecting flight now that the flights was almost 3 hours delayed and my transfer time was 2.5 hours. And I was skeptical this flight was ever going to go as the flight crew had been on the plane for almost 3 hours and still had a 15 hours flight ahead. so I asked «what my options were.» I was told I could stay overnight in Guangzhou at the airline’s expense and travel out the next night or I might have to re book a flight from SFO. They were going to get on the phone right away and let me know. That was 2pm. I was finally rebooked at 7:30 p.m. In-​between there was general chaos as employees walked haphazardly around the waiting area passing out Pepsi, water, chips, and meal vouchers. No announcement was ever made regarding a flight cancellation. I found out by going up to the desk and asking as I noticed the flight crew leave and people start to leave the boarding area. I was told it was cancelled and they would be making an announcement on what to do. I reminded them I was waiting (now for an hour) for someone to re-​book my flight. This just went on and on with different answers or non-​answers from employees. Bottom line. they were new at this and whatever (if any) procedures were supposed to be put in place for a flight cancellation are either very inadequate, non existent, or implemented without a positive passenger experience outcome. When I asked an agent what the flight cancellation policy for China Southern was she said she did not know. Let’s sew what happens on my return trip. I;m flying China Airlines on my outbound flight.
Update: I returned to the USA from Bangkok on China Southern Airways through Wuhan. They seem to be dealing with being the «new guy» in some markets. Check in in Bangkok was confused by no signage at the check in desk. By process of elimination I determined that China Southern was checking in at desks 6 & 7 because the other 10 desks were occupied by other airlines as indicated by the overhead signs. Checked in and was upgraded to economy plus as the flight was fully booked and the tour groups were huge. I found out at check in that I would have to get my luggage in Wuhan which required me to go through Chinese immigration. Upon arrival the immigration officials were confused about what to do with a ticket-​less passenger without a visa who wanted to enter the country, stay in the airport, and get on the flight to San Francisco 8 hours later. They sorted it all out in 30 or so minutes and were quite courteous. I was pulled aside to have my luggage checked by Chinese customs and every orifice of every bag was emptied onto a table. One hour later and after explaining multivitamins, a CPap machine, my past visits to Laos and Taiwan (as indicated in my passport) I was allowed to pack all my bags again and be on my way. The Wuhan terminal does not allow one into the passenger waiting area until two hours before a flight so I, along with about 400 other passengers waiting to board international flights, encamped in the outer lobby for many hours. I mention the transfer process because it is onerous and should be revealed to passengers at the time of booking.
I arrived back in San Francisco and while waiting for my luggage a CSA employee approached me and said welcome back and asked me if my return was better than my departure (he recognized me from before) and I had to say — yes!

TL;DR — I would fly China Airlines to Asia again.
So to start off, I purchased a ticket on
to Thailand (via Taiwan) with China Airlines without having done any research. It was cheap, I’m a frequent flier and I had flown other Asian airlines without issue, so I didn’t pay too much mind. It was only after I told a friend that I began to get «worried» (per his stern warning) and my frenetic research began.
First off, if you’re going to fly with China Airlines, buy your ticket *directly* from their website. As horrible as their English-​language website is (more on that later), dealing with a third-​party agency to modify ticketing (aka Kayak/​Vayama) is a nightmare!
Anyway, after my research began I started to see all of the horrific reviews on here and
. Things like: the planes are unsafe, tall people will suffer, no in-​seat entertainment, rude agents and flight attendants, etc. With few exceptions I did not experience *any* of this. Your mileage may vary.
The China Airlines English-​language website is a joke. When you see if it for the first time, you will know what I’m taking about. Additionally, if you do not purchase your ticket directly from their website *and* you’re not a «Dynasty» member (their rewards program), you cannot choose your seating until 24 hours in advance.
The China Airlines app IS decent and much easier to use than their website. Highly recommend, I used it to check in and get my information on screen for the agents.
When you get to SFO for the long, late night flight to Taipei, the line will be long and fairly desperate looking. Lots of people with huge carts of boxes addressed to the PHL and Vietnam standing around with their elderly parents and gaggles of kids. You will say to yourself, «aw crap». Fortunately the line moves fairly quickly. I was resourceful and used one of the two electronic kiosks *before* the line queues to check in. Once I got in line all I did was drop bags/​change seats and the agent was friendly.
At the terminal gate, it gets a little more hairy. The sort of clientele that use China Airlines is the sort that bumps right into you without thinking much in Chinatown. This is my PC way of describing it. Hence the customer agents get a little «loud» trying to corral up the passengers. They literally have to yell at people to stay in line and not bum-​rush/​gaggle around the gate. The non-​Asian people on my flight kind of watched in a mix of laughter/​dismay. PRO TIP: do not bring a bag to put into the overhead storage bin. They have *separate* lines and the line for people with just bags under the seats goes much faster.
Flight to/​from Taiwan — China Airlines uses 747−4s. For those who don’t fly that often, these are big hulking planes that were in their hayday in the 1980s. That said, these planes are incredibly reliable and the 747−4s I flew to and from Taiwan had new Recaro seating and tons of in-​screen entertainment. They’re also mechanically renovated — there is a whole video available in the in-​flight entertainment system that talks about it. Eventually they will be phased out but there are really no safety concerns in the meantime. There is also an international power socket (will post pictures). You could even make a satellite phone call from your seat ($ 7.99 a minute). Two meals occur with water/​coffee/​tea breaks in-​between. My only grievance is they never came around for trash and free alcohol was never offered.
Flights between Taiwan and Thailand (to/​from) — the flight from Taiwan to Thailand was on a brand spanking new 777-​xxx ER which was a pleasure to fly on. The flight from Thailand to Taiwan was on an older Airbus A330−300 which also had plenty of in-​flight entertainment (and a cool feature where they put a camera on a bottom of the plane, and you can watch the scenery below from your screen).
My biggest complain on the 747s: the bathrooms. They start getting gnarly half-​way through the flight. You’ll see what I mean.
I am 6’4″ and could sit comfortably in my aisle coach seat for 12+ hours so long as the person in front of me did not recline. As in, my knees were still an inch or two away from the seat in front of me prior to reclining. Inevitably that would happen so I would have to get creative and move around. This is the same for every airline in coach. The seats go up during meals and the flight attendants enforce this.
I checked two bags on all 4 flight legs without no issues.
Oh, and just like any other international Asian airline, the flight attendants are hot. On the way to Taiwan, they were incredibly friendly and attentive. On the way back to SFO, they seemed much more rushed and annoyed, but still helpful.
Anyway — would I fly China Airlines again? Maybe. They are affiliated with Skyteam/​Delta versus Star Alliance which I use regularly, so probably not unless they were a bargain (again). Just know that you will not have the same experience was you would with Eva Air or Singapore Airlines (or even Cathay

Overall, the airlines and service is not bad, but the real problem is their aging fleet. The seat cushion was near flat and my ass (I don’t wait that much and my ass ain’t that fluffy) hurt, even though I was sitting in business class. The seat does not lay flat (EVA Airlines seats can stretch to 180 degrees, but it’s not completely flat, but angled)
Compared to EVA Airlines, China Airlines amenities are a distant second. The entertainment system (when it worked) had great material.
I didn’t sleep much on the flight as I spend most of the time watching TV so I did notice their staff was very attentive to all the passengers, even when they were asleep. One time, I noticed one of the ladies helped put back the blanket to an older couple that had slipped off. Another time, they turned of the reading light and put the book and his reading glasses away to a gentlemen who fell asleep reading and everytime they walked by, they would ask if I needed a refill on my coffee.
Price wise, it’s at least few hundred dollars cheaper than EVA Airlines for comparable class, and if I have the few extra bills ($ 800 more) I would fly EVA …