China Eastern Reviews 

They issued me the wrong boarding pass
At London Gatwick on 15 July 2025 China Eastern issued me a boarding pass that was not in my name. At the gate staff realised the error and reissued a correct pass. That sounds minor until you realise my bag had already been tagged to the first incorrect boarding pass. That error is not simply sloppy. It is a fundamental failure of basic airport safety and baggage control.

This is a real safety and security risk
Mixing up boarding passes and baggage tags is not just incompetent - it creates a genuine security and safety problem. Passengers and checked luggage must match. When an airline gets this wrong the consequences can be serious. This was a dangerous systems failure not a minor clerical mistake.

They lost my luggage and then vanished
I reported the loss immediately in Fukuoka and filed PIR B6755 on 16 July 2025. China Eastern admitted it was offloaded in London. Since then I have had no proper update. No compensation. No accountability.

Endless runaround and total silence
I have emailed Gatwick, Heathrow, UK Customer Care, Japan (Fukuoka) and Shanghai. I have spent hours on hold to the UK helpline including one call that lasted over two hours with no answer. The Shanghai call centre eventually issued Case No. 2025 09230 00801 but after months of weekly calls they still have not provided the two standard documents that any airline should issue automatically.

They are now blocking my insurance claim
The bag is gone. The PIR from Fukuoka proves their error but means almost nothing because China Eastern refuses to send two simple statements:

That my bag has been missing for more than ten days - it has now been over two months

That they have given no compensation (which I do not want) but their refusal to confirm this in writing is stopping my travel insurance from paying out
This is not customer service - it is obstruction.

Final thought
I have never seen such systemic incompetence in any company I have dealt with. No apology. No proper response. No sign of responsibility. China Eastern has failed on every level.

Case Reference: 2025 09230 00801
PIR: B6755
Booking Ref (PNR): NECSCM

CHINA EASTERN ARE THE WORST COMPANY I HAVE EVER DEALT WITH IN MY ENTIRE LIFE ON ALL ASPECTS - THIS MUST BE STOPPED.

I flew from Amsterdam to Shanghai with China Eastern Airlines and after visiting 70+ countries, it was my worst flight.

Checking in online:
Not possible via their official website. I had to check in via KLM and was unable to change my seats nor could I add a special meal for my 12 hours long flight. KLM did not have many options other than checking in as it was not their airline.

Day of departure:
I had an evening flight and in the morning, I received an e-mail informing me that my flight has been delayed for 1,5 hours.

Check in at the airport:
I went to check in at the airport to see if it was possible to change my seat for the second flight but they were unable to change it as KLM had no access to the seating of China Eastern flights. I could try at the gate as there would be someone there from the airline.

Gate:
Arriving at the gate, I took the boarding pass of my partner to see if it was possible to add a special meal. We both knew it was too late but the airline did not allow us to book it online. The lady of KLM was very friendly and understanding. The ladies of China Eastern were rude, disrespectful and cold. They shouted at me and made a comment that I should not carry the boarding pass with me of someone else. When I simply asked what kind of food is served during the flight, I got the cold answer of '' we have no idea!! Go ask cabin crew, that is not us!! '' I know other airlines inform the meal choices during checking in online to see if you need a special meal or not. The rude behavior of the airline was my first real impression after a 1,5h delay - the passengers should be angry, not the airline.

Boarding:
Boarding was super messy - suddenly we all had to approach the counter to check our documents and go back in line. Once arriving in the plane, we tried to put our luggage in the compartment above our heads which is normal? The flight attendant rudely took my backpack and threw it on the other side saying we should put it there. When my partner followed her advice by putting his suitcase exactly there, she shouted at him for not putting his suitcase on the other side (the place I put my backpack at first which was wrong in her eyes). There was no warm welcome, no apologies of the delay were ever made by the airline at any moment of the flight.

Flight:
The seats were horrible - there is something down which makes your lower back being pushed more forward than the rest of your back - very uncomfortable. I was unable to stand up during the flight because of the sharp pain in my back. After landing, I felt like I was unable to stand up due to the pain - let alone taking my backpack from the compartment above my head.

Meal:
As I had no special meal, I could not take any meat option and was left with the side dishes. The flight attendant did not understand much English but gave me 3 slices of apple, a lost slice of pineapple and some dry lettuce. For a 12 hours flight, it is nothing.

Overall, I would never fly with them again due to:
- Unable to check in directly on the website of the airline
- Unable to book a special meal, nor change seats
- Cold, unfriendly staff at the gate / cabin crew
- Worst seats I have encountered
- Not being able to eat much during the flight

We booked long-haul flights through Flight-catchers, who claimed to be working directly with China Eastern Airlines (marketing team). From the very beginning, the experience was stressful and confusing.

We were never asked for our passport details, which immediately raised concerns — especially for international travel, where most airlines require this information before check-in for immigration clearance. When we questioned this, we were told to “just bring your passports to the airport.”

There was no working online check-in, and we could not access our booking through China Eastern’s official website using our reference (MK8K2T) or even our e-ticket numbers (7815300781067 / 7815300781068). We were simply told we had to check in at the airport with no way to verify our flight details in advance.

The airline’s UK contact number (020 7660 8292) was out of service, and Flightcatchers admitted they had no alternative number despite claiming to liaise with the airline’s marketing team.

When we decided to cancel, the issues continued:
• We were told the cancellation fee was £60 per person, but it increased to £80 per person.
• They tried to keep an additional £200+ in hidden “seat selection” charges, which we later discovered China Eastern does not charge for — the agent had added this cost themselves. Only after pushing hard did we recover this amount.

Overall, this has completely shaken my trust in both Flightcatchers and their third-party partnership with China Eastern Airlines. It’s disappointing that a company with a 4.5 rating on Trustpilot can operate with such poor transparency, misleading fees, and non-existent customer support.

I’m leaving this review to warn others not to make the same mistake — always book directly with the airline, or with a verified travel agent who offers full visibility and proper support.

I've flown a few times with China Eastern from UK to China/Japan and back because their flight routes go where I need to go and their prices can be very good. Generally I have found the flights themselves and in person airport experiences to be fine although transfers in Shanghai have been an issue with long queues and a lack of resources to process transferring customers. The main problems are with the IT surrounding the company if you are not Chinese. The websites are old and super hard to navigate, the Eastern Miles membership scheme is all over the place, the app is a total waste of time, and if you need customer service support it seems the only way to get anything done is call China. So if a quality IT support network is important to you, then I would suggest using another carrier.

WARNING, They DESTROY your luggage and refuse to compensate you, AVOID THIS AIRLINE ITS THE WORST IN THE WORLD.

Draft Complaint Post

❌ Warning to Travelers – MyTrip.com & China Eastern ❌

I booked a ticket from Vietnam to New Zealand through MyTrip.com (Booking Ref: 1061-002-477). My trip was a nightmare because of hidden itinerary changes and zero accountability:

My itinerary was suddenly changed to include a stopover in Sydney, Australia, but this was never disclosed to me in my booking confirmation or any pre-travel emails.

As a Vietnamese passport holder, I needed a transit visa for Australia, but I couldn’t apply because I wasn’t told about this stopover.

I was allowed to board the first segments, then denied boarding in China because I had no visa for Sydney.

I was stranded overnight, forced to pay meals, transport, accommodation, and rebooking costs, and also lost prepaid bookings at my destination.

Despite submitting receipts and repeated requests, MyTrip and China Eastern both refused to take responsibility or provide fair compensation.

This has been one of the worst travel experiences I’ve ever had. Customers deserve transparent information, proper support, and accountability. Instead, I was left stranded with no help.

📢 I strongly urge others to think twice before booking with MyTrip.com or flying with China Eastern, as you may not get the support you need when things go wrong.

I'm very disappointed in them, they are running a scam, and I hope someone pays for it.
I booked a premium economy flight via Booking.com, and due to circumstances I had to reschedule it.
I contact both CEA and Booking.com, and it turned out that it is impossible to book either another premium economy for another year (maximum period allowed to change the ticket is until 12/09), or downgrade to economy.
The only option is to pay 4000 NZD more to get business class. And it is not Booking.com failure, it is CEA's specific policy that doesn't allow downgrade, or offers another premium economy, and they also ban transfers through other airlines.
As as result, I either have to lose 40% of the what I paid to get a 'refund' or pay 4000 more, which I don't want to, of course.
I hope more passengers complain, and there are severe consequences for everyone involved in this scam.
There's no other logical explanation of why only expensive business class seats are available for the whole next year.

had a very negative experience with China Eastern Airlines on flight MU707 from Shanghai to Copenhagen as well as on the return flight. This was by far one of the worst long-haul flights I have ever taken, and I strongly advise against choosing this airline.

The issues started immediately with communication – the flight attendants hardly spoke any English, which is unacceptable for an international airline.

During meal service, I asked for a beer and was told to wait. After an hour, I was informed that there was no beer, and then that there was no wine either, even though such beverages were clearly advertised as included in the ticket. Moments later, however, I noticed that Chinese passengers were being served beer without any problem. When I pointed this out, the flight attendant appeared visibly embarrassed and eventually brought me two cups of wine, but throughout the rest of the flight, the same situation repeated itself – for me and my partner there was “no alcohol available,” while Chinese passengers had access to it until the end of the flight. This felt extremely humiliating and gave a strong impression of discriminatory treatment.

Another major issue was the in-flight entertainment system. After just one hour, all the tablets stopped working. Despite our repeated requests, the crew either ignored us or pretended not to understand what we were saying. Only when Chinese passengers started complaining did the crew attempt to fix the problem, but the system kept failing – movies would shut down, and the flight map did not work at all for the remainder of the journey.

The return flight from Copenhagen to Shanghai was no better. At the very beginning, we were told there was no beer and no wine, yet again we saw Chinese passengers receiving it without any problem. Shockingly, after we discreetly gave one of the flight attendants some Belgian chocolate, wine suddenly became available. This behavior was unprofessional, dishonest, and completely inappropriate for an international airline.

In summary:
• the crew was unfriendly towards European passengers,
• communication in English was nearly impossible,
• there was a strong sense of unfair and discriminatory treatment,
• the in-flight entertainment system was broken and the crew ignored complaints.

This was my worst flying experience ever, and I will never choose China Eastern again. I strongly warn other travelers against flying with this airline.

After a 4-hour, 23-minute delay on flight MU5014 from Milan to Xi'an, China Eastern Airlines's own staff approved our €1200 refund for two passengers. We were told the refund would be processed, but months later, it still hasn't arrived.

Despite repeated emails and a clear confirmation from their Rome office that the claim was "already authorized," the Milan station has failed to act, citing a change in management.

This isn't just a delay; it's a breach of trust. We need this resolved now. It's time to honor your word, China Eastern.

#ChinaEasternAirlines #ChinaEastern #MU5014 #PassengerRights #FlightDelay #Refund

Terrible website. Nothing is clear, translation is really bad.

But flight experience was pretty good, comparable to other companies. Overall I spent more than 40 hours on their planes, and it was not so terrible.

Meals not so good, and no vegetarian/vegan alternatives on board. But if you call costumer service before within a few days departure, they should be able o realize your requests.

Overall, not a terrible experience.
I would flight with CE air again :)

I recently travelled with China Eastern Airlines from Istanbul to Sydney (Booking Ref: EWVJ9U, Flight MU704 on 06/09/2025). Along with my co-passenger, we had a 15-hour layover in Shanghai.

Despite it being standard for international airlines to provide hotel accommodation for layovers longer than 8 hours, China Eastern offered no support whatsoever.

🔹 At Istanbul check-in, the duty manager claimed he had no idea about accommodation and told me to “check at the airport.”
🔹 In Shanghai, after 2 hours of asking at multiple desks, staff either denied knowledge or made excuses. One even said I should have uploaded details to the App 24 hours earlier—though our tickets were issued three months ago and the airline itself arranged this long stopover!
🔹 After a 10-hour flight + 2 hours of chasing staff, I had no choice but to pay for my own hotel.

Honestly, I’m shocked at how a so-called international airline handled this. No responsibility taken, no solutions offered—just passengers left stranded.

Flying with China Eastern Airlines was a shocking and unacceptable experience. The staff were some of the rudest I have ever encountered in global travel, showing blatant hostility and discriminatory behavior toward American passengers. To make matters worse, I was charged for Premium Economy, but upon boarding, it became clear that no such service was provided — a complete scam. For an international airline, this is disgraceful and deeply damaging to its credibility.

he food was extremely poor, and there were no snacks provided for hungry kids who couldn’t eat the main meal because it was so bad. On an international flight lasting more than 10 hours, there was no red wine or white wine—only one type of beer available, and it was so awful that I couldn’t even finish half a bottle.

The cabin crew’s service quality was overall very disappointing. I travel to more than 10 countries every year and have been traveling for over 40 years, and I can confidently say that China Eastern Airlines easily takes the title of the worst airline I’ve ever experienced.

The movies were also very outdated. The only advantage is the slightly cheaper ticket price, but I would rather pay more than ever fly with this airline again.

I have never experienced such shockingly poor customer service from an airline. We booked with China Eastern for our honeymoon, only to discover that they would not correct a simple name update on my ticket – not even for a fee.

Every other airline I’ve dealt with has a process for this, but China Eastern’s answer was simply no. No flexibility, no willingness to help, no basic consideration for their passengers. Getting through to their customer service was a nightmare in itself: refusal to assist by email but instead long waits on costly phone calls.

This was our honeymoon trip, something we had been looking forward to for months, and China Eastern made it unnecessarily stressful. An airline that refuses to resolve such a minor and common issue shows how little they value their customers.

If you care about your trip, your money, or your peace of mind, book with literally any other airline

This was my first time with them. The transit experience was harrowing in Beijing Daxing. They have an awesome, dedicated business class check-in area, which impressed me so much. But that was where the story ended. The check-in took over 2 hours with the staff literally driving us crazy, trying to find some fault or the other in our booking. I really do not know how to thank Google Translate, which was the only mode of communication with them, as they did not understand a word of English.

Absolute disgrace to passengers. Propping up a subpar airline that treats customers like afterthoughts. Call centres = endless holds. Website's a clunky nightmare, glitchy and user-unfriendly, far from modern standards.

bought ticket 2 times from this airline, Spent one hour trying to check in, never success, Had to check in at the desk. never again.

I booked a China Eastern flight for November via 'worldairfares' for which I paid £617.08. A couple of weeks later I received a message that the flight itinerary for part of the trip would not be possible any more, so I could get a 'full refund'. At first I was told that the airline would make a full refund but his could take 4 to 6 weeks. I complained to worldairfares and they said they'd contacted China Eastern who had paid them so I could get the refund in 3 to 4 days. The amount of the refund is said to be £605.08. Apparently £12 of the fare I had paid was for 'non-refundable taxes' - hence I would not be getting a 'full refund'.

I write to China Easter vis their suggestions and complaints contact from on their website about the 4 to 6 week waiting period earlier, and have now done the same regarding the 'tax' I seem to have been charged - for what?? (nothing back at all so far). No record was sent to my email to confirm my complaint had been received. It seems their customer support is literally non-existent.

Appalling experience with China Eastern Airlines

On 11 August 2025, I travelled with my two minor children on flight MU685 (Shanghai Pudong → Tokyo Haneda). Upon arrival, my large grey suitcase with zipper (tag MU061247) had disappeared.

The suitcase contained all my personal belongings, important documents, clothes and a significant amount of cash. I immediately filed an official Property Irregularity Report (PIR) at Haneda, but since then there has been no real assistance, no follow-up and almost no communication.

Being left alone in Japan with two children, without resources and without any help from the airline, is unacceptable.

Non-existent customer service, total lack of support, and complete indifference to a distress situation. I strongly advise against using this airline, especially for family travel.

Overall not a great experience with some very frustrating time wasted on the phone to China Eastern customer service and attempting to use their website. A layover hotel is mentioned for long stopovers between China Eastern flights, there is a page on their website to book the complimentary hotel, however this page and the majority of their website is horrendous to use and lots simply doesn't work. Customer service simply directed me back to the website when I asked for assistance with this. Food was very average. Inflight entertainment on Auckland to London flights via Shanghai was dire. Which would have been OK but when traveling with 2 kids this became a total pain not having any cartoons in English and generally very limited options. Also we were not seated together on some flights as a family of 4 with young children. Would not fly with them again unless significantly cheaper buy thousands.