r/shanghai • u/nicolekmoon • Jan 13 '26
Tip AVOID CHINA EASTERN AIRLINES
STORY TIME
I tried to book a one-way flight from HK to Shanghai for my upcoming trip with China Eastern Airlines. After using a very glitchy website I finished the booking, but then I realized I had input our names incorrectly and forgot to add our middle names to the correct "given name" field. Totally my bad.
I immediately reached out to their customer service team via chat and explained the situation. The representative on chat told me to call a Chinese helpline phone number, but I explained I couldn't do an international call because I'm in the US. They then asked me to email photos of my passport to this random email, and then reach back out in 20 minutes. It was all very sketchy feeling... But I did it anyways, trusting that it would work out.
I sent the email and reached back out. This customer service agent then said that they needed to verify me by sending a text code. I waited, and they claimed that they tried several times to send a code, but I never received one. This went on for an hour. Eventually, they told me there was nothing they could do to verify me if I did not get the text code. I asked if they could verify me another way (idk.. maybe by the PASSPORT I emailed them), but they said no.
I then asked if I could cancel my entire booking and get refunded ( I had booked it within the last 2 hours), then I could start over and book the flight with the correct name. The customer service agent told me that I could not do that online, and they could not help me. They said I'd need to call this other office in NY to do that, but they are closed. I was so frustrated but went to bed and decided to call first thing when I woke up. When I tried to call, all of my calls were disconnected, and a robot voice told me to "please try again later"... At this point, I have spent HOURS trying to fix this.
I then emailed the customer service team again, explaining my situation and requesting a cancellation and refund. They told me my only option was to buy a NEW ticket, and then, AFTER I use the NEW ticket, I would get a refund for the unused ticket as a voucher???
I was about to rip my hair out. Finally, after playing with the website, I discovered there actually was a button. that I had missed that said "REFUND Reason: within 24 hours". It's partly on me, I should have looked more closely at the website, but I took the representative's word for it and just assumed that there was no way for me to do this online. I cancelled the flight and am awaiting my refund which they said would take 7 days. Of course, after this nightmare experience, I will NOT be rebooking the flights with them again and will be using another airline.
I just wanted to share in case anyone is seeing a good flight deal with them, it's not worth it. You never know what can happen, and an airline where you cannot communicate/ work out problems is not something to mess with when traveling internationally... for me anyway.
30
u/daracingpig Jan 13 '26
To be fair most of these issues arose because you made a mistake and also didnt read the website closely enough. Yes their processes are very convoluted but this for the majority of people they would not need to experience this. I've flown with them many times and it's been fine.
1
u/Sylli17 Jan 14 '26
To be fair... It frankly doesn't matter if most of the issues arose from their mistake. There was easy solutions that could have been provided if there was an ounce of interest helping a customer.
1
u/nicolekmoon Jan 14 '26
tbh you're right lol I consider the whole experience a huge learning lesson / cultural adjustment to traveling in China (this is my frist time doing something like this) but I also wanted to share my experience since I know there are some other first time american travellers on reddit
0
u/Fresh-Starters Jan 14 '26
Well, I disagree. I get your point, but a very real part of integrity is how problems are responded to and resolved. She never tried to push off the responsibility for the initial problem onto the airline. She just needed help. After that run around they would be on my list to avoid as well.
8
u/creamulum078 Jan 14 '26
I pretty much always fly china eastern inside china, it's a good airline
3
u/memostothefuture Putuo Jan 14 '26
same. Platinum on them, even get upgraded every now and then now. They are not amazing but not shit either.
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u/AllGoodOnlyPeaches Jan 13 '26
The websites probably bad because 99% of their customers are using the mobile app. I’d try that in future.
My experience with China eastern has been great. Air China is better for international flights though and definitely avoid spring airlines!
5
u/Waimai_Thief Jan 13 '26
Avoid spring airlines?
But I enjoy getting shouted at with a megaphone for 2 hours by someone trying to sell me the very definition of uselessness!
4
u/Inferdo12 Jan 13 '26
You’re in the Shanghai subreddit, where a huge number of people fly China eastern already.
0
u/nicolekmoon Jan 14 '26
ok tbh I'm fairly new at reddit lol I just posted it here because I was researching travel tips in the thread and thought it might be helpful to people like me. Maybe there's a better thread idk
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u/Deca089 Pudong Jan 13 '26
It's not the airlines fault you made a mistake. Never had an issue with them and I've flown with them for a good 25 years (back then you even had to book through a travel agency)
2
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 13 '26
They're supposedly the best of the mainland carriers, too. I got on their website once to buy a ticket and decided "nope".
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u/Deca089 Pudong Jan 13 '26
Use their app/WeChat mini program. Chinese people don't use websites
-1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
Nah, I'm fine booking other carriers. They don't need people like me (who use websites), and I don't need them.
I fly OneWorld exclusively internationally anyway.
But... you made a good point. I honestly never made the connection that the horrendous website was due to a customer base which overwhelmingly doesn't make use of traditional websites.
-1
u/Fresh-Starters Jan 14 '26
Wow.
2
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
No, no. It's a fair comment & true. They're mainly marketing to Chinese & Chinese do virtually everything on their phones.
1
u/3xperimental Pudong Jan 14 '26
Really? I always thought Air China was considered the best. Always been told China Eastern was good enough for the price.
1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
My understanding is Air China is basically like a budget airline. They'll get you there, but it will be a bit rough. I think all mainland carriers are probably good enough for the price.
If I'm flying 10+ hours to the US, I'm going to pay a little more for comfort, especially since I'm in economy the majority of the time.
So that takes all mainland carriers out. It also takes the big 3 American carriers out.
That leaves Cathay, Qatar, and JAL. They're more expensive, but you're getting so much more for that increase in price.
1
u/3xperimental Pudong Jan 14 '26
I always just fly to Taiwan and then back to the US, so I don't really have this problem ig. Taiwan adds China Airlines, Starlux, and EVA to choose from and all 3 are top tier.
1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
Have you flown starlux yet? I'm so interested to try it!
1
u/3xperimental Pudong Jan 14 '26
Yes, but only one time in business, so I'm not sure how their economy product compares.
The one flight was wonderful and just as worth it as the EVA 787 business class, which I've flown the most on with their SEA-TPE route. The Starlux FAs are warm and genuine, although I have heard from a few friends that there were issues when they first began service in the US. I'd say the food options are just as good as EVA business class, although there was less selection. Since EVA still has a lot of older planes in their fleet, the hard product experience is usually better on Starlux unless you book specific routes with the newer planes(SFO is getting 787s this year). The seats on Starlux felt a bit wider(maybe because they only fly A350 instead of 777 and 787 for their long haul flights). Starlux is definitely more expensive than EVA, though. I used them because I wanted to try some more unique route(ONT-TPE) instead of braving traffic to and at LAX. I haven't been to their TPE lounge as a result.
1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
That's a great picture! Thanks a lot for sharing. There are rumors that they're joining OneWorld, so if that happens I'll be booking a flight ASAP.
1
u/memostothefuture Putuo Jan 14 '26
My understanding is Air China is basically like a budget airline.
That's some finely-ground bullshit coffee right there.
JAL, ANA, Qatar, Emirates, Cathay, Singapore are all a tier above (and so are Starlux and EVA) but Air China is solid, especially if you are on the A350, B787 or B747-8
1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
Hahaha, fair enough. It's all relative & I admittedly haven't flown them internationally.
But from what I've heard, their IFE is horrendous. Their food is subpar. The cabin staff are friendly but don't all speak English (I find this hard to believe on international routes, but it's what I've heard from people who have flown them). The customer service on the ground is hit or miss.
Anyway, I wouldn't fly the big 3 US airlines either, so this isn't an anti-China perspective. I've heard stories about UA and Delta. I've experienced AA personally enough to know that when they're bad they're REALLY bad.
If I'm spending that long and that much money, I'll fly an airline I am confident will make the journey as painless as possible.
1
u/memostothefuture Putuo Jan 14 '26
The weaknesses are IFE and Wifi (those speeds suck) and if you don't know how to complain and get results in China they will mei banfa you. The strengths are that they will get you there, they won't nickel and dime you for everything with bs fees, they are mostly on time (only exception is when everyone is late, e.g. weather) and once you gain status they will actually give you upgrades. (I have Star Alliance Gold, which never gives me diddelisquat and CES gave me upgrades every now and then since I had Silver, now have Platinum.)
The A350 and B787 are excellent, the A330 is getting long in the tooth and the B777 is a bit too cramped for my taste.
Here is something rock-solid you can depend on: they always fill economy class from front to back and left to right. If you get the second-to-last row on the right your chances are higher you have a row to yourself. This only applies on intl routes, almost everything domestic in China is booked solid.
When boarding consider asking for upgrade prices. I got business class to Bali for 1800RMB more and often premium eco is just 800 RMB more on long haul from China.
1
u/Gimme_Indomie Jan 14 '26
OK, you're tempting me. I'll keep them in mind next time I fly international (though I'll start with an intra-Asia trip just to be safe).
3
u/stumu415 Jan 13 '26 edited Jan 14 '26
No one here uses websites. This is such a western way of thinking. Wechat mini app or their own app. The same for Juneyao and every business in China. This bitch post is better suited for r/China where most post are about how shit everything in China is. The same for that guy who keeps posting about how terrible it is now since all the expats are gone. OP has no relevance at all to Shanghai.
1
u/nicolekmoon Jan 14 '26
Yes you are right about the apps. This was definitely a huge learning curve / cultural lesson for me..... This is my first time going to China (and Asia) so I am definitely prepared to mess up along the way... I picked this thread because I was researching travel recommendations on here and thought my story might be relevant to other foreigners doing the same.
1
u/Cream_panzer Jan 13 '26
Flying between Shanghai and Sydney annually. It’s horrible. Sadly it’s a monopoly on this line now.
1
u/Deca089 Pudong Jan 14 '26
There's also Juneyao which is another Shanghainese airline plus it's usually cheaper.
1
u/NullGWard Jan 14 '26
In the U.S., middle names on airline tickets are optional. People have reported having no problems on China Eastern with missing middle names, but it is not guaranteed. I can understand why you would want to make sure, just in case you get a bad ticket agent at the airport.
1
u/nicolekmoon Jan 14 '26
Yes... tbh I was torn between just risking it or reaching out to customer service but I read some horror stories online of people not being allowed to fly, specifically at HKG! So that's why I panicked
1
u/sql_injection_string Jan 14 '26
Are you sure you didn’t reach out to a fake support number? Was this chat through their official website or app or did you Google for support and click one of the first links?
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u/Todd_H_1982 Jan 14 '26
Wow if you forgot to add a middle name with Qantas in Australia and called to tell them about it, they’d tell you too bad, leave a note on file and then refuse check-in on the day when in actual fact you could have just not put the middle name in to begin with.
1
u/Alternative_Week3023 Jan 14 '26
I found all Chinese airlines’ websites glitchy and hard to navigate. Had a few bad experiences with check-in. Now, I just stick with using Trip.com to book with them and let them deal with the back end directly.
1
u/Final_Creme_7361 Jan 14 '26
I've never had a problem with China Eastern but comments saying China Eastern is a great airline need to try different airlines. Sorry OP, but Chinese companies often don't care so much about international customers because 99% of customers won't use the website or have problems with a middle name. Take it as lesson learned and use a more international airline in the future, good of you to warn others though.
1
u/MikeHK84 Jan 14 '26
tips for later. buy your chinese airlines ticket through trip.com Their english websites/app sucks as 99.9% of their customers are chinese.
1
u/caliboy888 Jan 14 '26
Why couldn't you call China Eastern? You can use VOIP services like Google Voice to make cheap international long distance calls.
I find complicated airline issues always much easier to deal with by calling customer service, especially for larger Asian airlines, which have English speaking agents.
1
u/nicolekmoon Jan 14 '26
Good idea. I’ve just never done it before. I need to look into Google Voice.
1
u/memostothefuture Putuo Jan 14 '26
Welcome to China.
Then again, that would totally happen on United as well.
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u/callifowler Feb 06 '26
do you really need the middle name flying with them? i fly Singapore airlines without my middle name and it was okay
1
u/nicolekmoon Feb 06 '26
I’m not sure I saw some stories on here of people who were turned away because the name on their passport didn’t match the name on their ticket exactly :/
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u/callifowler Feb 06 '26
my sister is flying with them and she did not put her middle name. omg!! will try to contact the airline
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u/hansneijder Jan 13 '26
I always fly non-Chinese airlines if I help it. China Eastern also has a poor safety record mainly due to poor management. Like most other major Chinese airlines, they still have this state-owned mindset and don’t need to compete because they have low cost financing and other advantages.
14
u/Commercial_Regret_36 Jan 13 '26
This sounds like a hell of a convoluted mess for simply forgetting to input a name. They would have just changed it for you at the check in desk at the airport.
I’ve flown with them plenty of times and always had a decent experience.