Flying A Chinese Airline Is WILD In 2023😅

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💳 Paid: $715 one-way ICN-DXB in business class

FAQ:
Airline: China Eastern, MU
Aircraft: Airbus A330-200
Aircraft registration: B-2021& B-5931
Flight date: June 8 & 9, 2023
Route: Seoul - Shanghai - Dubai
Flight numbers: MU5042 & MU245
Seat: 9L & 9A
Contact for general questions and business inquiries:

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Music:
This video is sponsored by Aura.
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Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:44 Initial Problems
01:58 China Eastern 777-300ER
02:40 China Eastern 777-300ER Seat Map
03:23 China Eastern 777-300ER Cabin
03:59 China Eastern 777-300ER Business Class Seat
04:40 China Eastern Business Class Pre-Departure Service
06:23 China Eastern 777-300ER Takeoff
07:12 China Eastern Inflight Service
07:58 China Eastern 777-300ER
08:37 China Eastern Business Class Bed
08:56 Arriving in Shanghai
10:09 24 Hours in Shanghai
10:48 China Eastern Shanghai Pudong Check-In + Lounge
12:16 China Eastern A330-200 Business Class
13:14 China Eastern A330-200 Business Class Cabin
13:50 China Eastern A330-200 Business Class Seat
14:27 China Eastern Business Class Menu
14:45 Takeoff from Shanghai
15:23 China Eastern Business Class Lunch Meal Service
16:14 Frustrating Service
16:39 China Eastern Lavatory/Toilet
16:54 China Eastern A330-200 Business Class Bed
17:12 China Eastern Business Class Amenity Kit
17:37 China Eastern Business Class Dinner Meal Service
17:50 Arrival in Dubai
18:11 Conclusion
19:04 How I Paid

About China Eastern (from Wikipedia):
China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited (simplified Chinese: 中国东方航空公司; traditional Chinese: 中國東方航空公司), also known as China Eastern, is an airline headquartered in the China Eastern Airlines Building, on the grounds of Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport in Changning District, Shanghai. It is one of the "Big Three" airlines (alongside Air China and China Southern Airlines) of the People's Republic of China, operating international, domestic, and regional routes. Hongqiao airport, along with the larger Shanghai Pudong International Airport, are China Eastern's main hubs, with secondary hubs in Beijing Daxing, Kunming, and Xi'an.

It is the second largest airline in China, in terms of passenger traffic, after China Southern Airlines. In 2021, its operation revenue is 67,127 million RMB. Its total asset is 286,548 million RMB. China Eastern and its subsidiary Shanghai Airlines became the 14th member of SkyTeam on 21 June 2011. The parent company of China Eastern Airlines Corporation Limited is China Eastern Air Holding Company.

About Airbus A330 (from Wikipedia):
The A330-200 is a shortened, longer-range variant, which entered service in 1998 with Korean Air. Typical range with 253 passengers in a three-class configuration is 13,400 km (7,240 nmi; 8,330 mi). The A330-200 is ten fuselage frames shorter than the original −300, with a length of 58.82 m (193 ft 0 in). To compensate for the smaller moment arm of the shorter fuselage, the vertical stabiliser height of the -200 was increased by 104 cm (40.9 in). The −200's wing was also modified; structural strengthening of the wing allowed the maximum takeoff weight of the −200 to be increased to 229.8 tonnes (507,000 lb). The −200 is offered with three engine types similar to those found on the −300, namely the General Electric CF6-80E, Pratt & Whitney PW4000, or Rolls-Royce Trent 700. Airbus also boosted fuel capacity to 139,100 L (36,700 US gal) by adding the centre section fuel tank, standard in the A340.

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[happycamper]

Dan, it's time you started to re-review the economy class on ALL the airlines, especially the top airlines. Recently flew Singapore Airlines, British Airways, and Swiss, and Singapore Airlines was BY FAR the most disappointing, even though they just won the Skytrak airline of the year award! It seems that the economy passengers have been 'forgotten' in place of offering business and first passengers even more! Given that the majority of your subcribers travel economy, they would benefit enormously from your re-review! TIA

[AirbusA--sikw]

That empty space you saw in First class is actually used as a self-service bar. Flight attendants usually put snacks and drinks on there during flights, even on short domestic flights.

[brmnyc]

I'm glad you called out the lack of personal air vents. The lack of these on certain carriers infuriates me. I wish both Boeing and Airbus would not offer this option to the airlines.

[yukie_tn]

As a repeated business class flier, my mom absolutely hates China Eastern but she spoke very highly of China Southern, so maybe give them a try. She's flown practically all the Asian airlines that go between Shanghai and NY.

[jkjkjk]

Unfortunately, In Chinese airlines like everything else in Chinese internet and app, are designed for chinese people and chinese speaking/reading people with local numbers and local ID. If you have those two your life gets significantly easier such as booking seats on an airline.

[xxrowtravexx]

I booked a round-trip economy ticket from Manila to California with China Southern back in 2019 for just $587. My experience was overall good. The crew was very atentive and spoke decent english for all the flights. Food tasted ordinary and also had limited IFE selections compared to other Asian carriers but I did sort of expected that based from reviews. I also chose China Southern than China Eastern cuz it had better reviews in skytrax. My only complaint was that they gave me a middle seat on the long haul flight even if I selected aisle. But overall the experience was good for the price I paid.

[O-nbhu]

Thats an excellent review Dan! I guess it comes down to personal choice and demand. In the end of the video shows China Eastern cost $717 and a far better Korean Air cost $1604 on the same route. The question is whether you are willing to pay extra 900 dollars for better food, better service and pre-seat selection? For me it's a no, my top priority is a lie-flat bed so that air travel is not a torture, and China Eastern provides that. I still believe that no matter how good the business class food is, it's still airline food. For 900 dollar you can buy twenty lobsters on the ground, or a new iPhone. So for me, I'm willing to choose China Eastern and save the 900 bucks. But if you happens to be super rich and wants top service, Korean Air is no brainer! 😃

[barrielui]

The inconvenient bits with Chinese Airlines are that their domestic flights are usually better than international flights (in terms of expectation), and economy class is better than premium classes. Mainly because there is intense competition against high-speed rail. Hainan Airlines, despite its 5-star rating might be questionable, is quite another league to other Chinese carriers (Eastern and Air China for example)

[brittches]

When I flew China Southern in 2017 PVG-CDG I was not allowed to look at my phone for the whole flight. I showed them it's in flight mode, but they just kept saying "Please close your phone." (this was post flip phone era of course)

We had a significant delay and one passenger asked whether they would make their connection and the flight attendant just put on the broadest smile and said "Okay, thank you" 😅

It was indeed wild.

[Blank]

One of the quirkiest things about China Eastern is that they have a sister airline called Shanghai Airlines. Despite having different liveries and branding, they have the same cabins for their respective fleets (A330, 787, 737), so one is not an upscale or budget version than the other. It remains a mystery on why China Eastern doesn't dissove the Shanghai Airlines brand like what Air India is doing with Vistara, or at least transfer all of Shanghai Airlines's A330 and 787s to China Eastern

[MisakaSkywalker]

You should try out Chinese domestic flights. The experience flying from Chengdu to Shanghai in a China Eastern’s A350 business class is amazing.

[nielskristiannielsen]

I had an overall pretty good experience flying Economy with AirChina from Auckland to Copenhagen a few weeks ago. Food was decent and the staff was friendly and helpful. I paid nearly twice as much flying to New Zealand with Qatar Airways and I honestly preferred my flights with AirChina, although this was due to reasons mostly out of the airlines's control. They extended my layover in Beijing by 24 hours, which I ultimately appreciated considering how long it took to leave PEK.

[monkeays]

Being Australian, its definitely "Gee, relax Australia". Diplomatic relations are not good.

[Rowlettttt]

This is probably worse in economy. Without the free WiFi and a 2-4-2 configuration its not gonna be the most comfortable.

[ellenina]

I live in China. Not sure how the situation is now, but Chinese domestic airlines ha've been flying on 'covid protocol mode' until a while ago - picture very basic service when not no-hot meals. The pandemic has blown us with the hardest hit, I think. I left for Europe last week and PVG airport (Shanghai) is still pretty deserted..

[vamosnippon]

Please fly JAL economy next!
I also found out ANA has significantly lowest number of seats compared to other major airlines to increase service and hospitality.

[twyxbar]

I flew Economy on China Eastern from Shanghai to Heathrow and the experience was overall good. But the food is probably the biggest downside. I've flown China Eastern a lot of times for domestic flights and they aren't bad. Thanks for reviewing the business class!

[Guren]

Living in China since 2008... if possible I always avoid to fly Chinese airlines to go back home in Italy.
Before COVID it wasn't uncommon to get a 330-200 without any IFE or power plug in a 12 hours direct flight 😅

[chhabramohit]

Dan, I must say, the production quality of your videos is incredible. I wish a travel TV channel sees your videos and offers you your own show.

[wengkaihua]

As a local Shanghainese, I absolutely despise China Eastern. It is jaw dropping that in so many aspects an airline can find a way to screw its customers, from seat selection, to loyalty programme, to boarding bridge unavailability, and so on. Such shame that it is the only airline that has real connectivity from SHA/PVG.