[Anonymous]

[TS-Andy]

Flew business on flight MU546 from SIN to PVG on 28 Feb 2012.

Boarding was ok with the usual greetings. Business class seats occupied the 1st 2 rows. My seat was in the first row. Plane interior looked aged. Legroom not generous even for the 1st row.

Cabin crew don’t greet premier passengers by their names. IFE was primitive – those screens with common boardcast. Seats were those with limited recline. Batteries charging facilities were available within the seats .

We were not offered newspapers or mazagines to read. Knowing the practices of this airline, I usually brought my own mazagines and papers otherwise I would be bored with the slightly over 5-hr flight. Ok, I admit these reading materials were taken from business class lounge at the airport where I departed.

For lunch, choices were fish steak, beef noodles, or rice with chicken. We have fruits and Haagen Dazs ice-cream for dessert. For beverages, yes there were a few choices of wines but no hard liqours.

Oh, they do allow economy classs passengers to use the only washroom in the business class.

[Ftrichard]

Sounds like a typical MU experience Andy. I do this sector a few times each year and splurge a bit and go for SQ. A totally different league and worth the money for 5 hours.

[Jackwong]

WARNING: DO NOT EVER FLY THIS AIRLINE unless you want to be a contestant on Survivor. China Eastern Airlines lacks honesty/transparency. Bring your primal instincts for it surely will be tested. Case in point:

Recently I traveled from China to the US and needed to catch a flight internally in China from Changsha to Beijing. Normally, this would be a fairly straightforward flight. Well, welcome to the pit and bring your wits. July 6th 9:45pm departure from Shanghai to Bejing. 3 hours later no announcement, no information. Ok, well, this is somewhat justified seeing the bad weather conditions at Shanghai airport. Wait another few hours. 2:00am at night nothing, people are gathering and protesting. No information. Some decide to head down a building away to where we started – the ticket stand.

This is where the nightmare begins…there are 70 people gathered on a counter fit for ten and 3 attendants at the counter. All of which will not help and will refuse to discuss further options with you. This is where you kinda of feel sorry for the workers, when they got ten people jammed in their ear. Then you realize your own miserable condiition and what may come.

This is when Primal Instinct 1 kicks in: think of every foreign language lesson you ever learned in chinese – mandarin and throw it out there in the highest pitch possible. Think Kung Pao Chicken. Jam your arms everywhere. Think “HOME” and pray.

Primal Instinct 2: partner with someone who can get the job done. Lucky for me, I was traveling with another associate (higher ranking) and they negotiated through a stretch of 2hours. Every attendant you see will care less.

Primal Instinct 3 Find “the man” get right in their face. 5hours, no food, no sleep, and no answers. During this time, the entire airport under China Eastern Airlines has erupted. There are people on the benches, people yelling, people angry with you, people, people, people. That’s like 500 people in a small enclosed cage, a rat’s den. Somehow, I finally get that ticket straight to Beijing. Primal Instinct 2 is important and you realize why this guy is the head of a company.

Primal Instinct 4 Don’t stop! Stay on course! 4am now, you can’t sleep, people strung around everywhere and you are in hell. 2 hour passes and the ticket counter will open soon. Wait in line and be the first there or else your not getting out. Pure madness ensues. I count about 500 people on the counters (behind and in front) and there’s another few hundred streaming in an area of 50. People start yelling really loud and look very violent. This is when all three instincts come together. Bring it on, mother f_. Jam your hands, ask people to help you, plead your case AGAIN! PRAY…a few steps from a riot. Yelling is everywhere.

Don’t stop and run to the boarding gate until you are gone. Hell is behind and wants to gobble you back in. Make matters worse, when boarding, the airline traps 50 people in a bus for 40 minutes with the door shut. It brings the phrase “Rotten to the Core” to mind. If an apple is rotten, it’s really everywhere. If hell is here, it was there on a counter, bench, people – China Eastern Airlines, Rotten to the Core. Remember this day and your lessons.

[Author]

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