yeah, like someone trying to open the exit door mid-flight, kids pooing on the aisle, family and friends taking over seats cos they wanna sit together and talking at the top of their voices, and getting up to retrieve their bags from overhead lockers while the plane was landing…. and heaps more to add to your "enjoyment" of your flight.
Yes, the stories make for some entertaining reading! Until you're actually living through the nightmare.
Flown with them twice to Europe.
Noisier than any other airline I have ever flown, it was like a shoutathon
Sitting near the toilet on 1 leg was breath taking and not in a good way.
Food options were not great my chicken dish was mostly bone.
3 of my stop overs in china were extended up to 7 hours
local vendors in at the airport know they have a captive clientele and price gouge accordingly so a can of coke I was quoted $6US, having some local currency will allow you do at least us vending machines. no atms
Charging\Power points are few so expect to wait for those, best take an 10000mah portable charger.
fly with them to the US no way (almost double the flight time) to save $70 I will wait for a delta/ANZ sale thanks
@sonicentropy: Not that I have ever flown with China Southern but the majority of your points may actually be ubiquitous to flying and not specific to China Southern
For example:
1. Noisy: have had it many times with many different airlines with school trips etc
2. Sitting near the toilet: I don't think that would be ideal on any flight
3. Food options: generally not the best in Economy on all carriers
4. Stopovers: were they all 7 hours? or was one 7 hours and the other 2 half an hour each? was there bad weather? (see below)
5. Price gouging at Guangzhou airport: go to any airport in the world
6. Limited powerpoints at Guangzhou airport: go to any airport in the world
Stopovers/Delays
- Recent China Southern on-time performance is 71.3%
- As a comparison, Qantas is 86.9%, Cathay Pacific 76.1%, Air New Zealand 75.4%, Thai Airways 73.5%, British Airways 72.3%, Malaysia Airlines 64.4%
Source: OAG
@kiribatian: Indeed true but my point was more a heads up what you may expect, overall experience wasn't onpar with other airlines I have flown. But hey its a budget carrier so some discomfort is to be expected. The flight times with layover for me is the bigest deal breaker to the US. To Europe I would fly with them again especially if they do the $899 Paris/Amsterdam.
The legroom was better than united economy
@sonicentropy: Definitely! Although I have heard the Air France planes that they sometimes codeshare to Paris are not too flash either!
Every time there's a deal coming with with a Chinese airline involved. Quite soon it would turn into a attack towards all Chinese airlines, then Chinese people. Maybe you guys feel superior by displaying your racism in a innocent bargain hunting website, but not sure if you guys are educated enough to learn a word "civilized" from your parents or schools. Funny every time it seems like we are talking about what's being rude.
Cant imagine such a long haul flight like this via China down the back of the bus with them, even bus class would be a stretch…
Guangzhou worth visiting?
I wouldn't fly China Southern again if they paid me.
Are you sure? Must have been a fairly horrific incident for you not to fly and get paid to do so. I reckon the overwhelming majority of OzBers would fly if they paid.
Out of curiosity, why wouldn't you use them again?
Here are some bullet points. The full story is actually quite a bit worse.
Every time you'd turn a corner in Guangzhou airport, there would be another security check, where they would again check your ID, and again rummage through your stuff. Like 6-7 checks just to board the plane to Beijing and then another 5 in Beijing. Just in case. Because we are clearly foreign spies.
I would rather eat my own testicles than fly with China Southern again.
Haha. Fair enough. I think you've justified your position. Let's hope you don't have to go through with your last point.. .
Great deal.
Just keep in mind that China Southern has a fair few horror stories from customers, read up on them and know what you are getting into before you fly with them.