Most reviewers were unhappy with their experience overall. Travelers frequently mentioned that customer service was completely non-existent, making it nearly impossible to reach anyone by phone or email to resolve urgent booking issues. Consumers also complained about poor meal choices during long flights, noting that they received very little food or options that failed to meet their specific dietary requirements.
Some reviewers were happy with the remarkably attentive staff and found the overall travel journey very comfortable and smooth. Passengers additionally appreciated seamless airport transfers, modern airplanes, and friendly crew members who provided professional care during specific trips.
Never have I experienced such poor customer service from an airline. It wasn't just one member of staff – the entire cabin crew seemed uninterested in helping passengers.
On our flight from Tokyo, Japan, my partner had pre-ordered a vegetarian meal but was served pork instead. When we raised the issue, the only option offered was pork or nothing at all, which is simply unacceptable.
The service throughout the flight was extremely poor. Water was served in half-filled cups, and getting a refill was nearly impossible unless you actively stopped a member of the cabin crew. For most of the 12-hour flight, the crew seemed to ignore passengers completely.
Trying to dispose of rubbish was equally frustrating. Unless you were quick enough to stop the crew as they walked past, your rubbish would remain with you for hours.
The onboard Wi-Fi was another disappointment. I paid extra for it, but it never worked properly and I was unable to get any meaningful connection throughout the flight. It was a complete waste of money.
To make matters worse, my luggage arrived damaged. Also, be aware that headphones are not provided, so unless you bring your own, you may not be able to enjoy the in-flight entertainment.
And good luck with online check-in – that's another challenge altogether. The process was unnecessarily difficult and added even more frustration to an already poor travel experience.
Overall, this was one of the worst airline experiences I have ever had. Between the poor customer service, meal issues, non-functioning Wi-Fi, damaged luggage, and problematic online check-in, I would strongly reconsider flying with this airline again.
If I could give a 0 i would. Staff are rude, safety questionable, food disgusting and they lost my bag. No compensation and no real responsibility taken. If you value your life and stress levels avoid at all cost.
My boyfriend and I flew with China Eastern Airlines from Xi’an to Milan on a flight lasting almost 12 hours. We paid over €1,000 for our tickets and, because it was a long-haul flight, we did not buy food before boarding, expecting the meals provided on board to be of a reasonable standard.
Unfortunately, the food was extremely disappointing. Shortly after takeoff, I was served chicken with rice, which was bland and unpleasant. A few hours before landing, we received an omelet and a slice of salami. The meal looked so unappetizing that neither of us could eat it.
My boyfriend chose the pasta option, but it was not any better. In his opinion, it was barely edible and he could not finish it.
We understand that airline food is not gourmet dining, but on a nearly 12-hour international flight, passengers should at least receive meals that are enjoyable and properly prepared. Considering the price we paid for the tickets, the quality of the catering was far below expectations.
The flight itself was acceptable, but the food was one of the worst airline meal experiences we have ever had.
Outrageous Misleading Conduct, Abuse & Complete Stonewalling by China Eastern Airlines
China Eastern Airlines displayed shocking misleading conduct and abusive treatment on Business Class flight FM9111 from Sydney in March 2026.
My companion has carried her snowboard on previous China Eastern flights multiple times with zero extra charge. This time, staff member Jeoff Dillingef aggressively demanded AUD$226. He refused to give his staff ID, threatened to call the police, told her to find another passenger to carry it, and made a discriminatory remark that it was fine “because she has money”.
My companion, who has limited English and suffers severe anxiety and depression, was left terrified, experienced limb numbness, and nearly had a panic attack.
The airline later admitted the standard fee should have been 2000 RMB (~AUD$420), exposing their inconsistent and deceptive policy.
Worse still, China Eastern has since blocked me, ignored all follow-up calls, and never responded to any emails. Zero accountability.
This level of customer abuse and stonewalling is disgraceful. We demand a full refund of the $226, a formal written apology, and compensation. Complaints already lodged with NSW Fair Trading.
Strongly avoid China Eastern Airlines — unreliable, unfair, and unresponsive.
What I didn't check the reviews first
This is the worst airline in the world, got denied visa, paid a refundable ticket from the beginning, they said they will take a fee ~200 usd per person (two people here), paid seat selection in total 500 usd, total price is 2500, approved refund amount is 1500, reached their CS, they said I have to contact New York office.
I feel extremely frustrated with this airline. I booked tickets from Copenhagen to Shanghai through the website in February, but I never received any email confirmation, even though the payment was deducted from my account. I checked the website several times afterward, and the bookings were visible. However, when I checked again in May, the orders had disappeared completely, and I have not received any refund.
We were supposed to fly with this airline from Auckland to Sydney. Two days before the flight, I went on the website to see if online check-in was already available, and I found out that the flight had been CANCELLED. I checked my entire inbox thinking maybe I had received an email about it, but nothing. No communication at all.
I had to contact customer service (the website UX is terrible, by the way), and when I explained the situation, they were basically like: “Oh yes, it’s been cancelled. We can refund you or you can fly tomorrow?” I was honestly like… what???
In the end, they transferred us to another airline and solved everything at no extra cost, but the experience was honestly awful. If I hadn’t checked the flight status myself, I would have never known it was cancelled. I would’ve arrived at the airport completely unaware and been left stranded.
Wenzhou Airport Skyteam Lounge. I got a flight with the Skyteam member airline and having a platinum membership. I didn’t received entrance to the lounge. One of the lady at the entrance shouted on me. My promise to them , I will never ever fly with the Skyteam again. Such a bad organisation. I don’t need it as a customer. Today I changed my return flight to Air China due to that happening and I didn’t face any problems with them.
This is definitely a company I wouldn't recommend: they cancel flights and couldn't care less whether passengers have connecting flights or not!
We had a ticket from Shangri-La to Kunming to Chiang Mai for the 12th, but a few days before that date, the airline told us they had canceled the Shangri-La to Kunming flight for no valid reason! The problem is that we had to get to Thailand! China Eastern did nothing to help us, and we were forced to take a flight the day before and spend the night in Kunming just to catch the flight on the 12th to Chiang Mai!
What’s most unacceptable is that this airline refused to pay for our hotel in Kunming! No help... No service... Not to mention the airline’s website, which is particularly terrible!
So this is definitely an airline to AVOID!
They just rescheduled my flight 2 days after my original one, 12 days before. They never offered to me another alternative to my original flight, I had to buy again the "same" flight through another agency and claim my money... I don't know if I will recover it, but several bad things happening with this company. I don't know if all the rest are the same, but seems it's very frequent with Chinese Airlines (they don't have same laws to protect the passenger like other countries). It's very frustrating.
It was my first time flying with China Eastern so I was a bit apprehensive. However, checkin and the flight couldn't have gone smoother, so I was pleasantly surprised.
The one negative point was that the website isn't very user friendly (for foreigners, anyway).
The worst airline i have ever flown with. From the start it was nerve wrecking experience as online service , website , checking in and app all are so out of date and not in working order. First impressions was that the entire booking is a scam. I booked via Expedia. So , at least had some reassurance that airline exists.
When on board the service was shocking, planes really aged , facilities shabby. Good beyond awful , drink choice ive never heard in my life - NO WINE , NO ALCOHOL apart from can of beer and rest is coffee tea juice and coke from 2 l bottles completely flat. Very bad e perfect. Cold and unwelcoming , calculated service, with fake quick smile if any. Staff does not have a clue around landing time, destination time , terminal on landing , totally clueless. Im astonished, to say the least. DO NOT FLY WITH THEM.
Had flight from Amsterdam to Shanghai and transit to Tokyo
Watch your wallet! They will take your money even for 'Fully refunded'ticketeturn back to Australia…
I wanted to return back to Australia (Brisbane) from Cairo as my flight with Qatar Airways was cancelled due to war going on in the Middle East (April 2026)
I used CEAir's on-line booking system for a flight Cairo-Brisbane with a one stopover.
However, upon making the payment I get an error message that the payment failed, I do not get an e-mail advising what happened. HOWEVER THE PRICE OF THE TICKET WAS DEDUCTED IN FULL.
The the merry-go-around of trying to get a refund started!
I failed utterly in getting any electronic response. I, eventually, got my son back in Australia to call their office to get things moving. ...and it did!
I now got an e-mail with a process to get a refund with, surprise surprise the details of the supposed booking.
I then followed the instructions and found out that the default process deducts more than a third of the price of the ticket! almost AU340. So I opted for a manual review and, after over a week. it is "approved" but, still, minus the AUD340
Total waste of time and effort.
I intend to chase them up on my return
Used them to fly from London to Tokyo via Shanghai Pudong.
On Sun 12th April 2026, MU214.
During both dinner time and "breakfast" (though food is always the same mash of crap) time a horrible smell started to linger around the whole cabin. This happened also on the second 2hr flight to Tokyo. The smell was as if sesame oil had been left burning on purpose, because the food did not need to be cooked only microwaved.
Maybe it was a religious chinese celebration, because the same smell was not on the return flights.
The other big low point was due to a steward who showed signs of lack of awareness of the situations happening on that flight (mu201 - from Shanghai back to Gatwick), therefore unfit to be a steward. Stewards should serve customers, not be a policeman.
I was letting a lady, before setting off for take off, on an inner seat of a 4 seats row, i was sitting on the aisle seat.
This steward came rushing towards me asking me "Sir, sir, sir, where is your seat? Where is your seat? You must seat!!"
Now, every normal human being would read the situation of that woman getting in her seat and me standing in the corridor let her in, ready to go back to my seat when she had finished settling down. That was sorted, but not very easy to explain to the guy. Maybe he was part of a protected category of workers, I don't know, but the same guy came rushing towards me because, apparently, I could not stand next door to the plane door, which happened to be also where China Eastern had put the toilet, which was occupied hence i was waiting for the person in the toilet to come out.
I mean, i have been flying all my life, for business (as this time) and for leisure.
I have never experienced this, never, not even with very cheap european airlines.
Maybe it is normal for Chinese customers to be harassed by their stewards with rude and shouty comments and impositions, as if they are the police enforcement of the world.
To China Airline management.
If you want to continue be part of the civilized society, given you get paid for flights (£1900 return it is a significant amount of money for a cheap airline), and if you want to continue attract western customers you should follow common rules of kindness and politeness towards your customers.
Language barrier is not the issue, cultural barrier is the biggest concern I have.
And regarding time schedule.
5 stars for that, at least for the 4 flights of this round trip.
Only 30 min delay on the short route, which did not make any issue because i had 3 hours slack.
And change to the gate in Tokyo between the two furthest away gates in the transfer section in Haneda, with the change only communicated (badly) on screens not with vocal announcements or messages to passengers (they have our email addresses, why not sending notifications?)
difficult to contact. The phone # listed is 855-435-0961 led me to "brayan" or flight consolidate, whatever that means. This is a scam center in Jamaica, NYC. They repeatedly lied to me as I called back to different agents. Not a very good airline. Please stay away from CEair.com
Had to book with them as My original flight with Qatar was cancelled due to middle east conflict, was the only flight I could get to Vietnam at the time although it would be a longer journey. Was a bit worried when I read other reviews, I did not use thier website and got the ticket through trip.com.
Very quick book in at Gatwick, flight to Shanghai was on modern plane, legroom was same as other economy and was ok for me, food was the usual airline food, got 2 meals on 1st flight, beef noodles best to get.
Entertainment is a bit limited, only 1 up to date film, but I still managed 3 Marvel films back to back.
Staff were polite and helpful, no issues there.
Transfer through Shanghai was very straight gorward with no problems, bit of a trek though.
2nd flight to Hanoi was 3 hours, no entertainment on plane so take something to read, we were given 1 meal as was ok, beef noodles again. Staff good as well, always willing to help, no issue getting extra drinks.
Overall considering they are a budget airline I was happy with the flights and service. If I was going to China I would consider booking with them.
I had a flight from Macao to Beijing with this airlines. 3 days before the flight, they cancelled my flight for "operational reasons". They proposed to me to be refunded or to catch the flight 3 days later. Still, I cannot manage my booking with their website since when I put my PNR and my personal details, the website cannot retrieve the booking. Customer service is non existent and you have to call a Chinese number to get some information.
I cannot wait 3 additional days in Macao and I had to pay for another flight x4 times more the original price I paid for the flight. Of course, China does not have any consumer rights so I am not able to claim anything against this airline.
Avoid this airline if you do not want to have bad surprises.
China Eastern promised to give me compensation for cancelled flight. 4 months now but they still ignored my emails/calls. Calling UK numbers , 3 hours holding and got cut off.
Air China
Etihad
Emirates
Qatar Airways
Trip.com
Turkish Airlines
Cathay Pacific Airways
Csair