Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Air China in C

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Air China in C

    I couldn't find any info online about Air China Business Class flights from Singapore to Chengdu. After a lot of searching I couldn’t find any info about Air China Business at all!

    I needed to get to Chengdu, economy was sold out, and business wasn’t too expensive (50% more than economy, not a bad ratio considering what some airlines charge!), so I decided to take the plunge into the unknown and book in C class.

    I had mixed expectations about the flight... Could it be like European C where its economy seating with the middle seat blocked out? Or could it be more like SQ? Who knows!?

    I made my way to Changi with plenty of time to spare... For Business Class & *G Air China uses the SATS Premier Check In at Changi T1. I think its a very good idea – beats having to queue at the check in desks. After a very quick checkin I made my way through security & to the lounge. I was given an invite to the SATS T1 Premier Lounge, but decided to use my *G card to look at the TG lounge first.

    SATS Premier Check In



    Airlines that use the service (although not ANA any more as the day I flew was ANA's last day in T1...)



    Waiting area



    Check in desks





    SIN T1 TG Lounge

    The lounge was pretty empty at 5:30am. I think there was one other traveller in there. There were a few pastries and drinks, but nothing much. The colour scheme matches the TG colours which was quite nice, but nothing kept me here for more than 5 minutes.









    T1 SATS Premier Lounge

    This lounge is huge! Again I was the only person at 5:35am. At that time of day its based on an honour system – just leave your lounge invitation at the desk. Good range of food & drinks but the Wi-Fi wasn’t working, lucky I picked up the WiFi details from the TG lounge next door and was able to use that. Better food and drink selection than the T2 SATS lounge and T3 Krisflyer gold lounge. Before long my flight was called for boarding so I took a stroll to the departure gate



    Food





    Massage Chair



    Bar area

    matt_will_fix_it

  • #2
    Boarding

    By the time I reached the gate I was the only person there – straight through security & on to the flight. I could see the plane that was taking us to CTU today would be B-6046.



    Once on board I was shown to my seat. I was in an Airbus A319 which has 2 x 2 seating in C, I had a window seat (2L).



    The seat is very good for this length of flight, and was actually very comfy to sleep in too. The seats are similar to SQ Regional C but without the electric seat adjustment & a little smaller. The only draw back is the footrest is either down or up – not like on SQ Y class where you can choose which height you like it.

    Straight after boarding I was given a hot towel, followed by orange juice. Then came slippers & newspapers. One thing slightly strange – the steward took my menu order before take off, but instead of having a menu he had a print out from the caterers of the items loaded onto the plane. First time i’ve seen that! After a short taxi we were soon enough in the air.

    A row of familar planes during taxi...





    After takeoff the seat-belt sign stayed on the whole time grr. There was a little turbulence but not for the whole flight! The sky was very unique this morning... here is a view from the wings..











    I opted to have my meal at about 9am - the food was better than I expected.

    Salad starter



    Fish main



    Cheese desert



    The drink selection was slightly limited (especially compared to SQ J) – no champagne, no spirits, but they did have plenty of wine & beer to help the food go down and did keep the drinks flowing throughout the whole flight

    30 minutes before landing the stewardess came & personally announced that we will be landing shortly and told me the temperature is 21 degrees. Shortly after the cabin crew stand at the front of the plane & bow to the guests – a very cute gesture 

    Arriving into Chengdu





    So over all my first experience in CA C class was very good – comfortable seat, good food & drink and friendly cabin crew. I had heard stories about the cabin crew not speaking very good English but it wasn’t a problem on my flight. And to top it all off the return flight had a very memorable surprise... more to come in the next installment
    matt_will_fix_it

    Comment


    • #3
      Very nice TR, matt. Thanks for sharing.

      Comment


      • #4
        Great TR, matt and it's nice to read something different. Cheers for sharing.
        All opinions shared are my own, and are not necessarily those of my employer or any other organisation of which I'm affiliated to.

        Comment


        • #5
          excellent! A rare find, and an interesting addition to SQtalk. Thanks for sharing

          Comment


          • #6
            Thanks for sharing, its nice to see different airline TRs

            Comment


            • #7
              Thnaks for sharing, matt_will_fix_it.

              Comment


              • #8
                Nice TR, matt! Nice to see A319´s 2 x 2 seating in C as it is rare in Europe or actually non excistent.
                Last edited by Hachiko; 9 October 2008, 07:38 PM.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Very informative TR, matt_will_fix_it. Thanks!
                  ‘Lean into the sharp points’

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Return CTU - SIN

                    After checking in I went to the CTU Air China lounge... its pretty basic... with just some dry snacks, no Wi-fi, but its somewhere quiet to pass the time...

                    Seating area


                    Snack area


                    I was the only one in the lounge - the inbound flight was a few minutes late but before long it was time to board... no boarding announcement in the lounge (I think the lounge attendant was too shy to try to speak English... )

                    The aircraft was configured the same as the outbound journey, and I had the same seat too... I was last to board & they closed the doors... Y was completely full (not a single seat free)... but there I was with the whole C cabin to myself... my first time flying solo - woo hoo!

                    On this trip the service was slightly different... I had a big selection of "Fish" or "Chicken"... I thought to myself how very Chinese... straight to the point... however I'm sure in Chinese they had more elegant names. I was presented a basket full of warm bread (the garlic bread was excellent) and then tucked into my meal...

                    Chicken main


                    Then for dessert I was offered a tray with what I thought were a selection of desserts... until the FA gave me the whole tray for myself... he must have known I have a sweet tooth!

                    Lots of dessert!


                    So... i really enjoyed the outbound & return flights on Air China - service was good - presentation not quite up to SQ standards, but given a few years Air China might be one to watch (I read that 3 or 4 years ago warnings how dire the CA Business Class was... )

                    Also - I received one other very nice surprise on the return leg... but I'm not going to mention it here as not to set a precedent... however as a special present to regular SQ Talkers (criteria must be to have more posts than I have) I will share via PM....

                    Thanks for reading!
                    matt_will_fix_it

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      hmm, a cockpit visit inflight?
                      My past and future travels

                      My Travel Map

                      Comment

                      Working...
                      X