pep
Medlem
Orientering om rute:
Section 1: MR med B2B i PNH
14 Dec 19 HUI SGN med VN 1373 P-klasse (disc. Eco)
14 Dec 19 SGN KUL med MH Biz D
Night in Golden Lounge (Satellite Terminal)
15 Dec KUL PNH med MH Bis D
15 Dec PNH KUL med MH Bis D
Night in Golden Lounge (Satellite Terminal)
16 Dec KUL SGN MH Biz D
16 Dec SGN DAD med VN (disc. Eco)
Section 2: den egentlige julerejse med positionering i hvs. HKG og BUD
17 Dec 19 10:40 DAD-HKG med BL Eco+
17 Dec 19 20:45 HKG-PVG-BUD med MU/FM (eco S/T)
18 Dec19 12:00 BUD-LHR-BLL med BA (eco O)
28 Dec 19 15:00 BLL-LHR-BUD BA (eco O)
01 Jan 20 11:30 BUD PVG HKG MU/FM eco T/S
02 JAN 20 HKG HAN BL eco
5 Jan 20 HAN HUI QH eco
Jeg var hjemme I Jylland til julen 2019 og havde i den forbindelse en detour til Phnom Penh på vejen til Billund (Mileage Run) med MH, hvor jeg behøvede lidt TP for at opnå guldkort hos BA, som jeg maatte lide den tort at flyve 4 ben med i økonomi klasse og uden nogen form BAEC status, kun ”Blue”. Inden rejsen havde jeg FB Silver og QR Guld. Nu har jeg BAEC guld og forlænget Skyteam Silver 1 år. Hovedruten var lagt med FM og MU som havde en juledeal fra HKG til BUD via Shanghai (347 USD t/r i julen med 2 x 23 kg bagage). Det blev til 3 nye airlines og ialt 17 ben på turen. Det sidste ben er med Bamboo Air, vores nye, mirakuløse airline her i Vietnam, der med høj service og forrygende anmeldelser slår alle vore andre LCCere og endda vores legacy carrier VN airlines høj service. Flyver denne i morgen, søndag. Shanghai Airlines var en imponerende, positiv overraskelse..!! China Eastern var ogsaa fin, lidt a la Vietnam Airlines. Resten er gamle kendere...
Genrelt gik det meget godt, guldkort er nu allerede opnået hos BA og mit Skyteam Silver bibeholdt (jeg jagter guldet). Mileage Run med MH er en lise selv om det blev til 2-3 dages loungebesoeg, hvilket absolut rækker. Eneste skuffelse var maaske de 4 ben med BA, som ikke imponerer mig. Og at sove i T3 paa LHR er vildt daarligt og ydmygende sammenlignet med alle andre lufthavne jeg har overnattet i. Kinesiske luftfartselskaber synes at vaere på vej op mht. service både hardware og software. På udturen PVG BUD fik jeg 3 sæder i midtersektionen for mig selv så jeg kunne sove og bestille mad og drinks fra to sider, så jeg led ingen nød. Sædevalg med FM/MU er let paa deres hjemmeside, selv om man har købt billetten hos en OTA.
De 3 dage i Budpest og Hanoi på vejen hjem var oprindeligt ikke planlagt. Det begyndte med at FM fremrykkede returrejsen 1 time (de havde glemt der er vintertid i Europa?). Så måtte jeg ringe fra Herodes til Pilatus og fandt ud af at det maaske var lettere og mere oplevelsesrigt at lave rejsen helt om i stedet for at rode med BA som jeg har en sund, naturlig aversion imod. FM flyver kun fra Budapest 2-3 gange per uge så det blev til nytår i det fabelagtig smukke Budapest med hjemrejse til Asien nytårsdag, hvor jeg burde kunne få god plads i Økonomi (det gik helt andeledes: flyet var omtrent fyldt og FM opgraderede mig i stedet for, se herom andetsteds). 3 dage i Hanoi blev næsten gratis idet BL flyver over Hanoi på torsdage. Så smed jeg sidste ben HAN-DAD billetten væk og købte en ny enkelt med Bamboo i stedet for (40 USD) så jeg kunne rejse direkte hjem til Hue i stedet for til Danang. Dette muliggjorde at jeg kunne prøve denne nye perle som den sidste af de 17 i min snor. Lige nu er jeg i Hanoi og nyder festen, jeg har ikke været her i halvandet år!
Rejserne nedenfor er oploaded til SKYTRAX. De har ikke censureret bortset fra de nedenfor omtalte aldrende BA FA custoder som de helt har klippet væk. Mht til MU kan henvises til videolinket som er en troværdig gengivelse af Shanghai economy med det samme fly på den samme rute (kun få månder gammelt).
Vietnam Airlines Economy Class 9/10
14 and 16 Dec. 2019 Hue-Saigon-Danang on VN-airlines domestic aircraft, the A321. In Hue, check in took only 15 seconds (no lies!) as 4 counters were open. In Saigon I had to wait 2 Minutes. Had 14 kg hand-luggage only, which was, upon clarification, accepted both ways. Ticket was bought 5 weeks earlier and was cheap, only 60 USD including luggage allowance. No Mileage given in those heavily discounted fares. Free to choose seats at check-in. Transparent pricing when booking. Onboard, drink service (soft drinks) but no bites nor hot drinks offered. FAs were fine. Full flights. Almost punctual, a minor delay of 20 Minutes was clearly announced in Airport and no further delays incurred. 2nd flight on time. IFE has become a bit better though showing from only small ceiling shared monitors. Earlier IFE was a disgrace by forcefully showing foolish “Hidden Video” episodes in plenum as for Kindergarten incumbents. Arrival and Departure were quick through airbridged gates in Saigon. That’s the spirit of a 4-star airline. They are close to 4 stars, but however, not a full 4-star airline as yet.
Malaysia Airlines Business 9/10
Flew SGN-KUL-PNH and back mid December 2019 on their old B737-800 which are about to have passed their silver weddings. Check-in in SGN was a breeze as usual – I came earlier and found an open counter from the previous flight and - vupti - got all my 4 BPs issued instantly which allowed me early lounge access in the Le Saigonnais which is new and very nice though not world class. Onboard, smooth travels and nice, huge, decliner, classic, comfortable business class seats. Up to 16 seats in business which were full or almost full on all sectors. I ordered special meal which was delivered on all 4 sectors. Tried also a non-special meal on all 4 sectors. Food acceptable and 3 choices and menu cards were handed out. No alcohol, but you can bring your own discretely and they’ll accept it. 3 of 4 flights on time (first leg was 15 Minutes late). Golden Lounges in KLIA are fabulous. Slept overnight in their Quiet Area. They have discontinued their subscription on Supersport disallowing access to most important sports events on their TVs. Noddle shop is a hit! Transit in PNH was very easy and I could pass in 3 Minutes just showing BPs and go through a security screening. The Plaza Premium is a fine, 3rd part lounge that Oneworld Airlines contract to. Extremely many Chinese citizens in the lounge, likely more than 75%. This is a recent development compared to 1-2 years ago. The flights were cheap and in flexible D-class (business). They rendered a lot of miles and 160 tier points to my British Airways membership. IFE worked fine on individual monitors with many choices. Last leg offered no IFE. Newspapers and magazines available. Gatebridges made available for all passengers at all 8 aircraft ascends and descends which was very nice and quick. The cons with MAS are few but somehow significant: Very short check-in period in regional airports is a problem. Advise to come earlier and get BPs from the check-in team at the flight prior to the one you fly with. All aircrafts were narrowbody and were from last century. No alcohol available nor served unless one fly to another continent.
Jetstar Pacific Economy 7/10
Regional flight Danang Hongkong before X-mas 2019 on newish A320 aircraft. Had to change ticket prior to travel and it went quite OK though had to pay another 45 USD even that I had purchased a “bundle” (convenience packet) with the ticket adding “free services and further luggage”. I got three emails prior to flight warning about excessive luggage and charges. Flight on time. Check-In was quick and easy. No hassle with luggage though my hand-luggage was 6 kg over the meagre limit which is only 7 kilos which is almost impossible to comply with for international travellers. I had two suitcases inscribed from Danang arrived very quickly in Hongkong. Onboard, a prepaid hot food package turned out to be very delicious. Flight was full but staff were on top of passengers and served well. I recommend that Jetstar Pacific should decide clearly whether to go tom be legacy carrier or Low Cost as now it is between 2 chairs and overly focused on charging for luggage.
Shanghai Airlines Economy 9/10
Hongkong-Budapest via Shanghai around Christmas 2019. Flew on A320 on HKG to Shanghai while in a newer B787-9 on the long haul to Budapest. China Eastern marketed flights. The long haul leg was flown by their daughter company Shanghai Airlines to Budapest. Amazing experience, pure adventure. Bought this ticket some months earlier for the high season to Europe as a huge bargain for 347 USD including 2 x 23 kg of luggage which is welcomed near X-mas. It costed me in addition positioning and depositioning flights to which I volunteered as I needed the extra miles for my elite status. However, I was notified (2 months before travel!) by my online travel agent (“Travelgenio”), that the return flight from Budapest was preponed by 1 hour. Then, I was forced to change as I would not be able to arrive in time for the new departure. I then decided to change plans completely and celebrate New Year in Budapest instead of Vietnam. Thus, I postponed my return travel from Budapest by 3 days. This was done by emails to the Travel Agent (no response) and then phone calls to Ch. Eastern in Brisbane and Shanghai. Eventually, it went smoothly and I was changed to my wish without added costs (apart from changing onward flights beyond Hongkong with another airline). That even allowed me to do another, cheap detour to Hanoi on my way back to Hue. The homepages of China Eastern and Shanghai are difficult to penetrate and to book or change bookings from. Unless one has a Chinese telephone number. However, 10 days before departure I could access seating and chose freely my favourite seats, even got 1 of 4 legs in exit seat. However, one cannot access the entire booking unless registered with CE’s flyer program in which I am not interested. Apart from that it was a good adventure: a complicated travel where everything could have gone wrong, but all went smooth. Arrived in Hongkong early and was able to check-in 6 hours before departure as the airline have many departures daily. No queues at the check-in and the ground staff were good and answered questions though fearing speaking English. Two BPs issued immediately. Flying HKG-PVG is considered as international flights though it could be considered as domestic. That give the advantage of not leaving transit while leaving HKG and passing PVG. First flight was on an aged A320. Extremely controlled and organised priority boarding at gate where all business and elite flyers were boarding entirely before the remaining passengers. Onboard, newspapers and 10 channels of music were offered (bring own headset). Shared monitors showed some educational movies. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1 hour out of the 2½ hour long flight: during ascend and descend all services were closed down until 40 Minutes after kick-off and again 40 Minutes before landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. The second flight were by Shanghai Airlines’ Dreamliner. It was a very positive surprise and was faultless. Modern aircraft, good food and service, 2 hot meals offered at dinner and then again at breakfast. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Individual IFE on touchscreen monitors was very easy and quick to operate with a good number of Western and English translated movies. Toilets clean. Both flights took off earlier than scheduled. This review is posted under both airlines, rating China Eastern to 8 and Shanghai Airlines to 9. Mileage rendered.
British Airways Economy 6/10
Flew Budapest to Billund and back via LHR on 18 and 28 Dec. 2019. A320 aircrafts. Check-In in Budapest had a narrow timeslot of 2 hours before departure with long queues. I was not recognised as Oneworld elite flyer (hold a Gold Card with Qatar Airways) at check-in and had to struggle to get 2 bags accepted as inscribed luggage. Further, I was denied lounge access as QR does not honour 3rd party lounges any more unless flying on QR metal. There is no OW lounge in Budapest, so BA uses Menzies Lounge who would not accept me unless I was with an entitled OW-card different from Qatar Airways. For BA I do not have status. In London granted access to any OW-lounge. Onboard, food and drinks with hefty price tags. Not a drop of water for free. Completely like Low Cost Carriers. Flights were full, but on time. I found that the onboard charity money collection by FAs is very abusive, inappropriate, intrusive, offensive, and provoking. Luggage delivered perfectly. Return trips (2 legs) were both full flights but departed slightly early. Granted lounge access in Billund in the decent King Amlet (through my Qatar Airways gold card) and BA Galleries First in T3 in London. Loads of good, hot foods and good beers and wines. Onboard, BA are dull: No IFE, no seat back decline, all FAs are over the hill. There are hardly any FA younger than 60 years of age. As they mostly are grumpy and self-sufficient they turn me off. It has been like that since my childhood. Worst is their charity money collection among innocent passengers. Conclusion: Mediocre, not cheap. But the FFP is among the best in Oneworld and the gold status of BA is very rewarding.
Shanghai Airlines Economy 8/10
Budapest to Shanghai New Years’ Day 2020. Flew on a newer B787-9. They had opened not less than 8 check-in counters in Budapest of which 4 are for Sky Priority only; thus very comfortable. BPs issued immediately including the following flight with China Eastern the routing PVG-HKG count as international flight. As being Flying Blue Silver I was accessed to Sky Priority counters and was checked in in a few Minutes; prioritised in all queues and boarding, and eventually (at gate) upgraded from Economy to Economy Plus as flight was full in lower classes and in business. I was lucky not to have my original selected (and given) seat economy has become full after check-in. Trip went smooth, captain made kind announcements. FAs were also kind and firm though listening more than being proactive. Very frequent water rounds every 30 Minutes. Lots of food, but they ran out of wine and beers within an hour after departure. Very embarrassing but quite typical for Chinese airlines (apart from Cathay Pacific?). Bought own supplies of champagne from airport. FA off course accepted it as they know they are running short, especially on a New Years’ Day. I brought my own glasses and let them chill down my champagnes. Good food, two full hot meal rounds with options. Catered from Budapest, thus Western oriented unlike when departing from Shanghai. I had at least 6 hot meals on board (many were meals in excess as passengers were stuffed after New Year) and could have had more if I could manage. At breakfast service, still 24 dinner meals were left. Clean toilets throughout. Blankets and earplugs provided. Individual IFE was extremely good and technically the best I have seen in the skies. Content limited to some 15 Western movies but that suffices as their choice goes beyond the most popular Hollywood stuff. Simultaneously, plenum monitors display the current flight data and maps. Arrived 25 Minutes early in the huge, completely over-dimensioned Shanghai airport. I rate them high as for Qatar Airways though the product pros and cons are quite different. The trick is not to have Westernised expectations and to appreciate all, what they do for you if you are firm with wishes and appreciative. Best with Shanghai Airlines was the new aircraft, its punctuality, good service, surprising foods (I tried and finished all sorts of dishes they offered, all were fairly tasty), and an unbeatable price. Worst is short supplies on board and the cut off of services and IFE very early 60 Minutes prior to landing where 5 Minutes would be enough.
China Eastern Economy Class 7/10
Came from Budapest and had a smooth transit in Shanghai where I boarded the China Eastern flight to Hongkong on an A321. It was early morning 2nd January 2020. Priority boarding at gate as SKY team silver card. Onboard, newspapers were given (Chinese). Shared monitors showed some educational movies from underwater sea world which was nice and informative, texted in English. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1½ hour while the flight lasted additional 50 Minutes. During descend services closed down until landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Fair legacy carrier service without pay. Cheap ticket, better product than for most European carriers. Luggage transfer faultless (in custody inspected by customs which left a note – nothing missing). Full flight. On time. Mileage rendered to Skyteam account. Jetties availed for aircraft entering and exit. What is needed is a hot meal, extended time of service, and individual IFE.
The linked video from a modest passenger in economy describes well the economy experience though I am even more exited: TRIPREPORT | Shanghai Airlines (ECONOMY) | Budapest - Shanghai Pudong | Boeing 787-9 - YouTube
Jetstar Pacific Economy 6/10
Regional flight Hongkong-Hanoi 2 January 2019 on a A321 aircraft. Ticket included “free services and luggage”. Hot meal given was OK. Flight full, on time. Nice, clean aircraft. Seats were good, but space to front seat was horrible and extremely tiny, small, de facto painful to knees. Check-In in Hongkong was quick and easy though my hand-luggage was double the limit. Checked in luggage arrived smoothly, checked by customs in Hongkong who had left a note inside the bag. Airbridge provided at both ends.
Section 1: MR med B2B i PNH
14 Dec 19 HUI SGN med VN 1373 P-klasse (disc. Eco)
14 Dec 19 SGN KUL med MH Biz D
Night in Golden Lounge (Satellite Terminal)
15 Dec KUL PNH med MH Bis D
15 Dec PNH KUL med MH Bis D
Night in Golden Lounge (Satellite Terminal)
16 Dec KUL SGN MH Biz D
16 Dec SGN DAD med VN (disc. Eco)
Section 2: den egentlige julerejse med positionering i hvs. HKG og BUD
17 Dec 19 10:40 DAD-HKG med BL Eco+
17 Dec 19 20:45 HKG-PVG-BUD med MU/FM (eco S/T)
18 Dec19 12:00 BUD-LHR-BLL med BA (eco O)
28 Dec 19 15:00 BLL-LHR-BUD BA (eco O)
01 Jan 20 11:30 BUD PVG HKG MU/FM eco T/S
02 JAN 20 HKG HAN BL eco
5 Jan 20 HAN HUI QH eco
Jeg var hjemme I Jylland til julen 2019 og havde i den forbindelse en detour til Phnom Penh på vejen til Billund (Mileage Run) med MH, hvor jeg behøvede lidt TP for at opnå guldkort hos BA, som jeg maatte lide den tort at flyve 4 ben med i økonomi klasse og uden nogen form BAEC status, kun ”Blue”. Inden rejsen havde jeg FB Silver og QR Guld. Nu har jeg BAEC guld og forlænget Skyteam Silver 1 år. Hovedruten var lagt med FM og MU som havde en juledeal fra HKG til BUD via Shanghai (347 USD t/r i julen med 2 x 23 kg bagage). Det blev til 3 nye airlines og ialt 17 ben på turen. Det sidste ben er med Bamboo Air, vores nye, mirakuløse airline her i Vietnam, der med høj service og forrygende anmeldelser slår alle vore andre LCCere og endda vores legacy carrier VN airlines høj service. Flyver denne i morgen, søndag. Shanghai Airlines var en imponerende, positiv overraskelse..!! China Eastern var ogsaa fin, lidt a la Vietnam Airlines. Resten er gamle kendere...
Genrelt gik det meget godt, guldkort er nu allerede opnået hos BA og mit Skyteam Silver bibeholdt (jeg jagter guldet). Mileage Run med MH er en lise selv om det blev til 2-3 dages loungebesoeg, hvilket absolut rækker. Eneste skuffelse var maaske de 4 ben med BA, som ikke imponerer mig. Og at sove i T3 paa LHR er vildt daarligt og ydmygende sammenlignet med alle andre lufthavne jeg har overnattet i. Kinesiske luftfartselskaber synes at vaere på vej op mht. service både hardware og software. På udturen PVG BUD fik jeg 3 sæder i midtersektionen for mig selv så jeg kunne sove og bestille mad og drinks fra to sider, så jeg led ingen nød. Sædevalg med FM/MU er let paa deres hjemmeside, selv om man har købt billetten hos en OTA.
De 3 dage i Budpest og Hanoi på vejen hjem var oprindeligt ikke planlagt. Det begyndte med at FM fremrykkede returrejsen 1 time (de havde glemt der er vintertid i Europa?). Så måtte jeg ringe fra Herodes til Pilatus og fandt ud af at det maaske var lettere og mere oplevelsesrigt at lave rejsen helt om i stedet for at rode med BA som jeg har en sund, naturlig aversion imod. FM flyver kun fra Budapest 2-3 gange per uge så det blev til nytår i det fabelagtig smukke Budapest med hjemrejse til Asien nytårsdag, hvor jeg burde kunne få god plads i Økonomi (det gik helt andeledes: flyet var omtrent fyldt og FM opgraderede mig i stedet for, se herom andetsteds). 3 dage i Hanoi blev næsten gratis idet BL flyver over Hanoi på torsdage. Så smed jeg sidste ben HAN-DAD billetten væk og købte en ny enkelt med Bamboo i stedet for (40 USD) så jeg kunne rejse direkte hjem til Hue i stedet for til Danang. Dette muliggjorde at jeg kunne prøve denne nye perle som den sidste af de 17 i min snor. Lige nu er jeg i Hanoi og nyder festen, jeg har ikke været her i halvandet år!
Rejserne nedenfor er oploaded til SKYTRAX. De har ikke censureret bortset fra de nedenfor omtalte aldrende BA FA custoder som de helt har klippet væk. Mht til MU kan henvises til videolinket som er en troværdig gengivelse af Shanghai economy med det samme fly på den samme rute (kun få månder gammelt).
Vietnam Airlines Economy Class 9/10
14 and 16 Dec. 2019 Hue-Saigon-Danang on VN-airlines domestic aircraft, the A321. In Hue, check in took only 15 seconds (no lies!) as 4 counters were open. In Saigon I had to wait 2 Minutes. Had 14 kg hand-luggage only, which was, upon clarification, accepted both ways. Ticket was bought 5 weeks earlier and was cheap, only 60 USD including luggage allowance. No Mileage given in those heavily discounted fares. Free to choose seats at check-in. Transparent pricing when booking. Onboard, drink service (soft drinks) but no bites nor hot drinks offered. FAs were fine. Full flights. Almost punctual, a minor delay of 20 Minutes was clearly announced in Airport and no further delays incurred. 2nd flight on time. IFE has become a bit better though showing from only small ceiling shared monitors. Earlier IFE was a disgrace by forcefully showing foolish “Hidden Video” episodes in plenum as for Kindergarten incumbents. Arrival and Departure were quick through airbridged gates in Saigon. That’s the spirit of a 4-star airline. They are close to 4 stars, but however, not a full 4-star airline as yet.
Malaysia Airlines Business 9/10
Flew SGN-KUL-PNH and back mid December 2019 on their old B737-800 which are about to have passed their silver weddings. Check-in in SGN was a breeze as usual – I came earlier and found an open counter from the previous flight and - vupti - got all my 4 BPs issued instantly which allowed me early lounge access in the Le Saigonnais which is new and very nice though not world class. Onboard, smooth travels and nice, huge, decliner, classic, comfortable business class seats. Up to 16 seats in business which were full or almost full on all sectors. I ordered special meal which was delivered on all 4 sectors. Tried also a non-special meal on all 4 sectors. Food acceptable and 3 choices and menu cards were handed out. No alcohol, but you can bring your own discretely and they’ll accept it. 3 of 4 flights on time (first leg was 15 Minutes late). Golden Lounges in KLIA are fabulous. Slept overnight in their Quiet Area. They have discontinued their subscription on Supersport disallowing access to most important sports events on their TVs. Noddle shop is a hit! Transit in PNH was very easy and I could pass in 3 Minutes just showing BPs and go through a security screening. The Plaza Premium is a fine, 3rd part lounge that Oneworld Airlines contract to. Extremely many Chinese citizens in the lounge, likely more than 75%. This is a recent development compared to 1-2 years ago. The flights were cheap and in flexible D-class (business). They rendered a lot of miles and 160 tier points to my British Airways membership. IFE worked fine on individual monitors with many choices. Last leg offered no IFE. Newspapers and magazines available. Gatebridges made available for all passengers at all 8 aircraft ascends and descends which was very nice and quick. The cons with MAS are few but somehow significant: Very short check-in period in regional airports is a problem. Advise to come earlier and get BPs from the check-in team at the flight prior to the one you fly with. All aircrafts were narrowbody and were from last century. No alcohol available nor served unless one fly to another continent.
Jetstar Pacific Economy 7/10
Regional flight Danang Hongkong before X-mas 2019 on newish A320 aircraft. Had to change ticket prior to travel and it went quite OK though had to pay another 45 USD even that I had purchased a “bundle” (convenience packet) with the ticket adding “free services and further luggage”. I got three emails prior to flight warning about excessive luggage and charges. Flight on time. Check-In was quick and easy. No hassle with luggage though my hand-luggage was 6 kg over the meagre limit which is only 7 kilos which is almost impossible to comply with for international travellers. I had two suitcases inscribed from Danang arrived very quickly in Hongkong. Onboard, a prepaid hot food package turned out to be very delicious. Flight was full but staff were on top of passengers and served well. I recommend that Jetstar Pacific should decide clearly whether to go tom be legacy carrier or Low Cost as now it is between 2 chairs and overly focused on charging for luggage.
Shanghai Airlines Economy 9/10
Hongkong-Budapest via Shanghai around Christmas 2019. Flew on A320 on HKG to Shanghai while in a newer B787-9 on the long haul to Budapest. China Eastern marketed flights. The long haul leg was flown by their daughter company Shanghai Airlines to Budapest. Amazing experience, pure adventure. Bought this ticket some months earlier for the high season to Europe as a huge bargain for 347 USD including 2 x 23 kg of luggage which is welcomed near X-mas. It costed me in addition positioning and depositioning flights to which I volunteered as I needed the extra miles for my elite status. However, I was notified (2 months before travel!) by my online travel agent (“Travelgenio”), that the return flight from Budapest was preponed by 1 hour. Then, I was forced to change as I would not be able to arrive in time for the new departure. I then decided to change plans completely and celebrate New Year in Budapest instead of Vietnam. Thus, I postponed my return travel from Budapest by 3 days. This was done by emails to the Travel Agent (no response) and then phone calls to Ch. Eastern in Brisbane and Shanghai. Eventually, it went smoothly and I was changed to my wish without added costs (apart from changing onward flights beyond Hongkong with another airline). That even allowed me to do another, cheap detour to Hanoi on my way back to Hue. The homepages of China Eastern and Shanghai are difficult to penetrate and to book or change bookings from. Unless one has a Chinese telephone number. However, 10 days before departure I could access seating and chose freely my favourite seats, even got 1 of 4 legs in exit seat. However, one cannot access the entire booking unless registered with CE’s flyer program in which I am not interested. Apart from that it was a good adventure: a complicated travel where everything could have gone wrong, but all went smooth. Arrived in Hongkong early and was able to check-in 6 hours before departure as the airline have many departures daily. No queues at the check-in and the ground staff were good and answered questions though fearing speaking English. Two BPs issued immediately. Flying HKG-PVG is considered as international flights though it could be considered as domestic. That give the advantage of not leaving transit while leaving HKG and passing PVG. First flight was on an aged A320. Extremely controlled and organised priority boarding at gate where all business and elite flyers were boarding entirely before the remaining passengers. Onboard, newspapers and 10 channels of music were offered (bring own headset). Shared monitors showed some educational movies. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1 hour out of the 2½ hour long flight: during ascend and descend all services were closed down until 40 Minutes after kick-off and again 40 Minutes before landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. The second flight were by Shanghai Airlines’ Dreamliner. It was a very positive surprise and was faultless. Modern aircraft, good food and service, 2 hot meals offered at dinner and then again at breakfast. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Individual IFE on touchscreen monitors was very easy and quick to operate with a good number of Western and English translated movies. Toilets clean. Both flights took off earlier than scheduled. This review is posted under both airlines, rating China Eastern to 8 and Shanghai Airlines to 9. Mileage rendered.
British Airways Economy 6/10
Flew Budapest to Billund and back via LHR on 18 and 28 Dec. 2019. A320 aircrafts. Check-In in Budapest had a narrow timeslot of 2 hours before departure with long queues. I was not recognised as Oneworld elite flyer (hold a Gold Card with Qatar Airways) at check-in and had to struggle to get 2 bags accepted as inscribed luggage. Further, I was denied lounge access as QR does not honour 3rd party lounges any more unless flying on QR metal. There is no OW lounge in Budapest, so BA uses Menzies Lounge who would not accept me unless I was with an entitled OW-card different from Qatar Airways. For BA I do not have status. In London granted access to any OW-lounge. Onboard, food and drinks with hefty price tags. Not a drop of water for free. Completely like Low Cost Carriers. Flights were full, but on time. I found that the onboard charity money collection by FAs is very abusive, inappropriate, intrusive, offensive, and provoking. Luggage delivered perfectly. Return trips (2 legs) were both full flights but departed slightly early. Granted lounge access in Billund in the decent King Amlet (through my Qatar Airways gold card) and BA Galleries First in T3 in London. Loads of good, hot foods and good beers and wines. Onboard, BA are dull: No IFE, no seat back decline, all FAs are over the hill. There are hardly any FA younger than 60 years of age. As they mostly are grumpy and self-sufficient they turn me off. It has been like that since my childhood. Worst is their charity money collection among innocent passengers. Conclusion: Mediocre, not cheap. But the FFP is among the best in Oneworld and the gold status of BA is very rewarding.
Shanghai Airlines Economy 8/10
Budapest to Shanghai New Years’ Day 2020. Flew on a newer B787-9. They had opened not less than 8 check-in counters in Budapest of which 4 are for Sky Priority only; thus very comfortable. BPs issued immediately including the following flight with China Eastern the routing PVG-HKG count as international flight. As being Flying Blue Silver I was accessed to Sky Priority counters and was checked in in a few Minutes; prioritised in all queues and boarding, and eventually (at gate) upgraded from Economy to Economy Plus as flight was full in lower classes and in business. I was lucky not to have my original selected (and given) seat economy has become full after check-in. Trip went smooth, captain made kind announcements. FAs were also kind and firm though listening more than being proactive. Very frequent water rounds every 30 Minutes. Lots of food, but they ran out of wine and beers within an hour after departure. Very embarrassing but quite typical for Chinese airlines (apart from Cathay Pacific?). Bought own supplies of champagne from airport. FA off course accepted it as they know they are running short, especially on a New Years’ Day. I brought my own glasses and let them chill down my champagnes. Good food, two full hot meal rounds with options. Catered from Budapest, thus Western oriented unlike when departing from Shanghai. I had at least 6 hot meals on board (many were meals in excess as passengers were stuffed after New Year) and could have had more if I could manage. At breakfast service, still 24 dinner meals were left. Clean toilets throughout. Blankets and earplugs provided. Individual IFE was extremely good and technically the best I have seen in the skies. Content limited to some 15 Western movies but that suffices as their choice goes beyond the most popular Hollywood stuff. Simultaneously, plenum monitors display the current flight data and maps. Arrived 25 Minutes early in the huge, completely over-dimensioned Shanghai airport. I rate them high as for Qatar Airways though the product pros and cons are quite different. The trick is not to have Westernised expectations and to appreciate all, what they do for you if you are firm with wishes and appreciative. Best with Shanghai Airlines was the new aircraft, its punctuality, good service, surprising foods (I tried and finished all sorts of dishes they offered, all were fairly tasty), and an unbeatable price. Worst is short supplies on board and the cut off of services and IFE very early 60 Minutes prior to landing where 5 Minutes would be enough.
China Eastern Economy Class 7/10
Came from Budapest and had a smooth transit in Shanghai where I boarded the China Eastern flight to Hongkong on an A321. It was early morning 2nd January 2020. Priority boarding at gate as SKY team silver card. Onboard, newspapers were given (Chinese). Shared monitors showed some educational movies from underwater sea world which was nice and informative, texted in English. Food was limited to a tidy pack of biscuits. Drinks were unlimited (water, tea, coffee, beers), but only for 1½ hour while the flight lasted additional 50 Minutes. During descend services closed down until landing. That leaves passengers with very limited time of service. FAs were fine. Frequent drink rounds. Button calls answered quickly and needs were addressed instantly. Fair legacy carrier service without pay. Cheap ticket, better product than for most European carriers. Luggage transfer faultless (in custody inspected by customs which left a note – nothing missing). Full flight. On time. Mileage rendered to Skyteam account. Jetties availed for aircraft entering and exit. What is needed is a hot meal, extended time of service, and individual IFE.
The linked video from a modest passenger in economy describes well the economy experience though I am even more exited: TRIPREPORT | Shanghai Airlines (ECONOMY) | Budapest - Shanghai Pudong | Boeing 787-9 - YouTube
Jetstar Pacific Economy 6/10
Regional flight Hongkong-Hanoi 2 January 2019 on a A321 aircraft. Ticket included “free services and luggage”. Hot meal given was OK. Flight full, on time. Nice, clean aircraft. Seats were good, but space to front seat was horrible and extremely tiny, small, de facto painful to knees. Check-In in Hongkong was quick and easy though my hand-luggage was double the limit. Checked in luggage arrived smoothly, checked by customs in Hongkong who had left a note inside the bag. Airbridge provided at both ends.
Last edited:
