Third World Airline
Had a horrible experience with Air China last week. Flight from Beijing to Sydney delayed for 6 hours which left me and my young family (with most of the rest of the plane) sleeping in the airport lounge overnight with no support whatsoever, no hotel offered, not even lounge access or a simple blanket (let alone a meal voucher!). Employee on gate just went home soon after delay announced and gave no useful information whatsoever. To ensure we got no sleep in the freezing, bright airport lounge, every half an hour the idiots announced 'Your attention please. Some flights have been delayed. Please contact your airline on nnnnn. We will keep you updated.' Of course, the phone number didn't work, no-one from Air China was available or interested, and they didn't keep anyone updated, just awake! Finally boarded at 7am next morning, exhausted, for a packed 12 hour flight, in which they made up no time at all and my eldest girl got sick between the turbulence and the food. We are experienced travellers: 60 unique countries, 200 cities, many hundreds of flights, and this would be the worst flight experience I've had in years, even worse than a selection of budget airlines. I thought this was China's 'international airline'. Oh dear. If you're on a tight itinerary or not prepared for staff who couldn't care less or are disinclined to suffer an airline that just does whatever it wants with very low standards, choose another airline. If you're up for an adventure in new airline experiences(!), don't mind sleeping in the airport, etc., go ahead with these guys.