Worst experience with airline
I strongly advise people against using Air China. My journey ended up taking almost 36 hours due to a severe delay on the route from Tokyo to Beijing, which caused me to miss my connecting flight to Copenhagen. This experience has been deeply frustrating and reveals how Air China failed to meet the most basic expectations for service during delays. In Tokyo, I stood in line for almost eight hours without any information or offers of food and drink. When I finally got through the line, I received 10,000 yen, of which only 2,000 yen (about 13 USD) was intended for food and drink. This amount was completely inadequate to cover basic needs for the total wait time. When I arrived in Beijing in the middle of the night, I was given a leaflet promising a hotel stay due to the long wait. Unfortunately, this hotel stay became impossible because airport staff could not agree on visa regulations. Air China had no representative to assist us with this confusion, even though many passengers needed overnight accommodation. It is important to note that Air China did not adhere to its own policy under section 8.2.3, which states that passengers are entitled to meals and, if necessary, accommodation during long delays caused by airline-related issues. This requirement was clearly not met in my case. Furthermore, it could be argued that Air China also failed to fulfill section 8.2.2 of its guidelines, which specifies that passengers should be kept informed during delays. Despite the extensive waiting times, I still have not been informed of the reason for the delay. Customer service communication has further been extremely confusing and inconsistent. I received an earlier email offering 300 CNY compensation for the missed hotel stay, but in later responses, this was omitted, and Air China claimed that the 10,000 yen from Tokyo should cover everything. This seems unreasonable and unacceptable, especially given the lack of support and information provided. I hope this message will encourage Air China to reflect on their treatment of passengers during extreme delays and consider improvements to their service. Based on this experience, I unfortunately cannot recommend Air China to other travelers.