| I had very bad experience with China Eastern once - in January of 2000 I booked round-trip flight between LA and SH. In Shanghai I forgot to "re-confirm" my return flight >72 hours ahead and when I did so, I was told that my seat had been cancelled! And there's no seat left whatsoever cuz they over-booked. I still went to the airport on the scheduled return day to try my luck, only to find a bunch of furious passengers who just realized at the airport that their seats were all cancelled because of the same reason. We asked about the availability of the next day and they still gave the "no" answer. Ironically, when I walked up to the ticketing counter of China Eastern, pretending that I wanted to buy a one-way ticket for LA of the next day, I was told that it's still available - for RMB 9000! I had to go home and went to airport again the next day, and took the same flight by standing-by. Obviously they could not make more money by selling the RMB9000 tickets so they had to accept those who already paid but were refused to board. I try to avoid China Eastern as much as I can ever since. I am not sure if it's only China Eastern or all the airlines play the similar trick. At least I know not every airline asks for re-confirm, or would cancel your seat if you fail to do so. I have taken JAL/AA and ANA a couple of times between San Jose and Shanghai. Everytime I called their shanghai offices to re-confirm my return flight - because of the terrible experience with China Eastern - they always told me politely that there's no need to re-confirm. The drawback of taking JAL/ANA is that you have to connect at Japan. The good side - better service, better food, and personal TV even for coach-class. So be sure to "re-confirm" your return flight if you have to take China Eastern in peak season. |
China Eastern Airlines