China Airlines: Not great, but not bad.
Written: Sep 17 '06 (Updated Sep 18 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Very competitive fares, and reasonably good service.
Cons: Bassinet, and the food.
The Bottom Line: Given the competitive fares the airline offers, we will have no problems with flying China Airlines again.
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| arathi's Full Review: China Airlines |
Getting our annual India ‘fix’ is becoming more and more expensive these days. The good old days of finding a ticket for about $1200 a pop with relative ease, even at the shortest notice, are long gone. Planning a couple of months (at least) in advance, and hunting around for the best price (or a good travel agent) are two big requisites for finding a decently priced ticket these days.
Bangalore, the city that I travel to in India, is now better connected than ever to the world. Lufthansa, British, and many other big names fly into the city. But when our travel agent mentioned a price tag in the $2000 to $2500 range for these airlines, even with a one and a half month advance notice, we decided to try China Airlines, just because the fare was much cheaper.
Our itinerary was to fly from Seattle to Taipei, Taipei to Kuala Lumpur, and thereafter connect to Bangalore through Malaysian Airline flight. The return journey was through a connection to Singapore through
Indian Airlines, and thereafter use China Airlines to Seattle.
Good Service:
A couple of our friends who had flown the airline, had said that even though the airline took you from point A to point B just fine, but that they were nowhere in the league of Singapore Airlines. Our expectations of this airline were not very high, and so we were pleasantly surprised.
The line for checking in at the Seattle airport was about a mile long, but the people at the counter were very efficient in handling the crowd. The checking-in of our stroller (for our about to turn 2 yr old) at the gate was very smooth, and our stroller arrived promptly at every destination without a hitch.
We were allowed to board the plane earlier because we were traveling with an infant. As soon as we boarded, we got a bag with diapers, wipes, and some baby food. A little later the stewardess also brought a toy for our toddler and a puzzle for our 9 year old son. The flight crew was very pleasant, and attended to our frequent requests for water with a smile.
The Plane and In Flight Entertainment :
The plane was reasonably comfortable; as comfortable as you can get in economy class of any international flight. Our seats were right in the front of the second section of the plane, where there is a provision for attaching the bassinets. We really liked these seats because of the additional leg room, but the bassinet itself turned out to be a glorified cardboard box, and so we asked them to take it back.
The plane had a standard color scheme of blue and lavender, and was pretty clean. The restrooms were clean and stocked with soap and lotion, but no toothpaste! We were traveling a day after the British Airline incident took place, and the security was at an all time high. We could not bring our own toothpaste because of these security restrictions, and had hoped that the bathrooms would be stocked with toothpaste, if nothing else, given the circumstances. We had some dry “brush-ons” with us which turned out to be pretty handy.
The plane had individual entertainment units positioned on the armrest of the seat that enabled us to watch movies, several television shows, and sitcoms including the cartoon network. They also had the ubiquitous plane plotter feature to show us where exactly we were that that point of time, and how long it would take us to reach our destination.
We had ordered a special meal (Indian vegetarian) for all the legs of our journey. The food, though not terrible, was not good. They probably are not used to requests for Indian vegetarian meals, and hence the quality. I peeked into my neighbor’s tray, who was also eating a vegetarian meal, but one that was labeled Asian vegetarian as opposed to Indian vegetarian, and her meal looked more appetizing. Maybe next time we will order an Asian vegetarian meal.
The Fare :
The best part about China Airlines is their fare. We paid a very reasonable $1400/per person for the roundtrip ticket from Seattle to Bangalore. That amounted to almost a $600 difference per ticket between this airline and the big name airlines.
Final Note:
China Airlines surprised us! The planes took off and landed on time, our bags arrived safely and without any damage, and the service was reasonably good. The itinerary was not the most straight forward one to reach Bangalore, but given the competitive fares the airline offers, we will have no problems with flying China Airlines again.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
arathi
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Arathi Srikantaiah
Reviews written: 65
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Aditi was born on Oct 9, 2004.
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