Air China Reviews 

I had a name difference issue with my flight due to my shortened name being on my ticket and this was different to my passport. Rather than resolve this and assist me Air China were hands down the most unhelpful service I've ever had the displeasure of using.

They refused to take any accountability, mislead me into getting a flight across the globe promising they could help me once I landed only to completely deny this once I arrived.

Once they have your money, they could care less. Ruined my holiday experience by refusing to give me even clarification or acknowledge that they could help with what is generally a small issue.

Lack of Response from Customer Relations – Unacceptable

We have sent multiple emails to your customer relations department regarding a time-sensitive matter, yet we have received no response. This level of disregard for customer communication is unacceptable and reflects poorly on your organization.

We are documenting this issue publicly due to the lack of accountability through proper channels. It is expected that a company of your size would maintain basic standards of customer service and responsiveness.

We request an immediate response and resolution. Continued silence will only further damage your reputation

Wasted over an hour trying to get the website to work and still could not get in to reserve a seat. This is a key point for me. I will not use Air China again.

Checking it is tougher than solving a puzzle with missing pieces - after 30 times trying - it deletes all you did, UX developer, this is a lack of respect with the user!

Air China lost my suitcase and it took them a month to get it back to me. I literally only had the clothes on my back so I had to buy everything for a 3 week trip…

Annoyingly, they’re meant to send a form if the bag isn’t found within 72h but it took them 10 days to get it to me.. when I filled it out they were able to confirm they had my bag. So much time and money could’ve been saved if they stuck to their own protocol.

I reached out to them for compensation since their negligence cost me over £400 in expenses. They also sent my suitcase back broken, I’d genuinely used it ONCE.. They support team barely spoke English and when they realised why I messaged them they stopped replying..

Air staff were lovely but the underlying systems are terrible. Fly at your own risk

I flew it once and I'm never flying it again. On the way to Moscow, the flight attendants served meals, they had no smile on their face or any politeness. When I went to do grab tea from the back, I was met with 2 or 3 flight attendants standing there, with no smile, the flight attendants didn't offer to help me with my tea. One time, a male flight attendant filled the cup with tea for me, but he looked like he was forced to do it. The staff were only talking with themselves and sometimes even ignoring me, which was very unprofessional. None of the flight attendants spoke even basic English. Horrible flight.

I flew many times with Air China and the service is great. One time the flight was delayed for 6 hours which made me missed the connecting flight and I was provided hotel/transport. Everything went well.

This was my first long haul flight but my travelling companions all told me it was the most rubbish they’d had. We took 4 flights in total with Air China and experience was the same across them all. Leg room is non-existent, TV screens didn’t work on one of the flights for myself or the person sat next to me, and staff are almost universally brusque and uncaring, with poor English.

I hope you like lukewarm, mediocre Chinese takeaway because you’ll be having it for every meal - it’s either “chicken and rice”, “pork and rice” or “beef and rice”, with the same sides (sauted celery and nuts / some weird tiny mayo salad / a small bowl of crunchy melon pieces) every time. was travelling with two vegetarians who were coarsely told they had to phone up and order “special meals” before the flight, which they didn’t know they had to do, so had to settle with picking at the rice from the meat meals. Also, good luck calling them considering they’re based in China.

Our flight from Beijing to Gatwick was delayed by an hour and seeking compensation is an archaic process of printing out a certificate (and it HAS to be in colour!!) and then carrying out Step 2 with it (and I still can’t figure out what Step 2 is).

And don’t get me started on the Online Check In. None of Air China’s website is mobile-friendly or seems to work in most browsers. Checking in for our flight home, four of us tried it on four different phones and a couple of different browsers and we all received different unique errors and problems, including having to pick out seats again even though we reserved them at time of booking (and so we couldn’t even pick them again because they were already reserved - by us!!).

After all that, you still have to go to front desk to pick up your boarding pass - which is only available in paper format. There’s a reason the “haven’t done online check in process” queue is so long at the airline desk - because it doesn’t bloody work!

Also, one of our companions found that their luggage bag had been ripped and the tag ripped clean off when we got it back at luggage collection.

Crap airline - really behind the times in all manners of customer service, UX and general flight experience.

After not great reviews I was very hesitant to book with them, but I had I am glad I did as we had a great experience!
We flew from London to Tokyo with a stop off in Shanghai on the way there and Beijing on the way back.
As other people mentioned- it is impossible to check in online, although we still managed to choose our seats when booking the flights so were still sat with each other. And when we got to the airport, it was very easy to check in at the counter and they printed off our boarding passes.
I am vegetarian and was worried about getting a meat-free option, but I called up the day before our flight and got through very easily to a lovely lady who added vegetarian meals to each of my flights, which was all fine and happened very smoothly. I would recommend doing this as they didn't have any meat free standard options.
All in all very good easy experience for us :) and saved around £500 for flights to Japan with other airlines !

LEGAL COMPLAINT – TravelUp & Air China Violating Consumer Rights

🚨 Public Legal Notice – Formal Complaint Filed Against TravelUp & Air China 🚨

I am officially documenting my unresolved legal dispute with TravelUp and Air China due to consumer rights violations, failure to provide paid services, and unfair trading practices. I have already filed legal complaints with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Small Claims Court and will continue to escalate this matter.

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1️⃣ Case Summary: Breach of Contract & Denied Boarding

I purchased a round-trip ticket (London → Bangkok → London) through TravelUp, which included a return flight on Air China Flight CA980 (BKK → PEK) on 24 February 2025.

After missing my outbound flight on 28 December 2024, my return flight was automatically canceled—yet I was never informed by TravelUp or Air China.

I arrived at Bangkok Airport, where I was denied check-in without prior warning, left stranded, and offered no resolution or assistance.

TravelUp refused to take responsibility, only referring to "policy" despite their failure to notify me.

Air China’s airport staff called security on me when I simply asked for clarification about my flight.

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2️⃣ Violations of Consumer & Passenger Rights

🔹 Breach of Consumer Contract & Passenger Rights (UK Consumer Rights Act 2015, EU Regulation 261/2004, and Montreal Convention)

I paid for a round-trip ticket and was denied service without advance notice or opportunity to amend my booking.

Failure to notify passengers about ticket cancellations constitutes a breach of duty of care and consumer protection laws.

🔹 Misleading Omissions (UK Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008)

TravelUp failed to inform me of the consequences of missing my outbound flight, depriving me of the ability to make an informed decision.

Refusing to assist customers and failing to provide key information violates fair trading laws.

🔹 Unfair Business Practices & Failure to Provide Service (Financial Conduct Authority Regulations)

TravelUp’s refusal to offer a refund or an alternative resolution is unlawful under UK & EU passenger rights regulations.

Air China’s refusal to address my complaint demonstrates a lack of consumer care and accountability.

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3️⃣ Legal & Regulatory Action Taken

✅ Formal Complaint Filed with the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) – Now investigating TravelUp and Air China’s failure to notify passengers and refusal to provide service.
✅ Small Claims Court Case Filed – Seeking compensation for financial loss, distress, and breach of contract.
✅ Bank Chargeback Initiated – Filing under “service not provided” regulations.
✅ Complaint Submitted to IATA (International Air Transport Association) – Investigating airline compliance failures.
✅ Review Pending with UK Trading Standards & Financial Ombudsman for misleading commercial practices and failure to refund a non-provided service.

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4️⃣ DEMANDS FOR RESOLUTION

I am now formally demanding the following from TravelUp and Air China:

🔹 A full refund for the return flight segment that was unfairly denied.
🔹 Written confirmation of TravelUp’s and Air China’s notification process regarding ticket cancellations due to missed flights.
🔹 Compensation for additional expenses, financial losses, and emotional distress caused by this failure of service.
🔹 Immediate response from TravelUp’s senior management and Air China’s legal department.

If this issue is not resolved within 7 days, I will proceed with:

✅ Further escalation with UK Financial Ombudsman & Trading Standards.
✅ Expanding public complaints across consumer legal platforms, social media, and travel watchdog organizations.
✅ Pursuing legal action for damages.

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5️⃣ FINAL WARNING: AVOID TRAVELUP & AIR CHINA 🚨

❌ ZERO accountability
❌ VIOLATIONS of consumer and airline passenger rights
❌ FAILURE to communicate critical information
❌ DENIED boarding without assistance
❌ DISMISSIVE and misleading customer service

I strongly advise travelers to AVOID booking with TravelUp and Air China until they improve their compliance with consumer protection laws.

📢 If you have experienced a similar issue, file your own complaints with CAA, IATA, and Trading Standards. Passengers must stand up for their rights!

My friend and I booked round-trip tickets from Barcelona to Hanoi, but due to a visa delay, we had to take a different flight for one leg of the journey. We informed Air China in advance and followed their instructions, yet when we arrived at the airport for our return flight, we were shocked to find out that our tickets had been canceled without notice.
No one from Air China ever informed us that missing one leg of the trip would automatically void our return flight. Their staff in Hanoi admitted we should be eligible for a refund, yet despite multiple emails and follow-ups, Air China has completely ignored us. It has been weeks with no response.
This is unacceptable and highly unprofessional. We are now forced to escalate this issue to aviation authorities and consumer protection agencies. Beware when booking with Air China—their lack of transparency and customer support is appalling.

What a garbage airline! They have a website that doesn't work, and you can't use their app to check-in. Wtf

1 because 0 is not possible! Absolutely unacceptable experience with Air China. The website is completely useless, it barely lets you check in and when you finally manage to do it, you can’t download or email your boarding pass because the page simply doesn’t work. The app is just as bad. You can’t create an account unless you have a Chinese phone number and when you try the one-time password option, it just crashes with an error.

Frustrated, I tried calling customer service. The phone number for English speakers doesn’t even exist. I then called the main customer service line and thankfully, found an English option. I explained the issue and asked how I could confirm my check-in was successful and receive my boarding pass. The agent told me they couldn’t help, that I should send an email with screenshots of the errors and just check in again at the airport. When I asked for an email to submit a formal complaint, she said she would report the issue to her manager. When I insisted on writing the complaint myself, she claimed no such email existed.

Am I having a nightmare? How is this even possible in 2025? A major airline should have a functioning website, app and customer service team, yet here I am, struggling to complete something as basic as online check-in. Air China, fix your systems. This level of service is completely unacceptable.

Please Air China be serious

1 Cancel my Flight
2 Rebook with Mytrip
3 now no bags included
4 Give me a solution I had never problems like that before a Flight
5 what will happen....

got a solucion but still felt bad

Enable to retrieve the invoice form my flight despit my mails and phone call. Poor costumer service.

Easily the worst air line I have flown on in over 30 years of travelling.

Firstly it was frustrating to find out that despite repeated attempts I was not able to check in online and select seats. When checking in at the airport the staff laughed and said this was only allowed for Chinese customers. She actually seemed very proud of their racist policy and how they only look after their own. I was getting two 11 hour flights so was disappointing to be stuck in a middle seat for both legs.

Customer service is non existent and the staff have no hesitation in lying to you. Their website clearly says for flights for over 8 hours you can get a free transit hotel. The check in staff in London confirmed that I was eligible for a complimentary hotel. On arrival in Beijing staff said that there is no complimentary hotel at all and the website and London staff were not telling the truth. I'm not sure who was lying to me but someone was.

On the plane the staff are robots and clearly hate their jobs. Can't blame them really as it must be an awful company to work for.

The food is barely edible, so recommend you bring some snacks.

Such a frustrating experience. Avoid this airline if you can. It's just not worth it

My recent experience with Air China was absolutely horrible. I booked a ticket on their official website (not through a third party), and within 30 minutes, I had to cancel due to an emergency. Any reasonable airline would allow a free refund or at least a rebooking within such a short time, but Air China refused outright.

What’s even more ridiculous is their so-called "free refund within 2 hours" policy—it only applies if you book through their app or the Chinese version of their website, NOT their international website! So even though I booked directly with them, they refused to honor the same policy just because I used their global site. This is misleading, unfair, and completely absurd.

but guess what? The app kept crashing due to technical issues when i initially booking the ticket on their app! After multiple failed attempts, I had no choice but to book on their official website instead.

Their customer service was useless and robotic, simply hiding behind their unfair policies instead of actually helping. I will NEVER book with them again, and I strongly warn others to avoid this airline unless you want to be treated unfairly.

We travelled economy from Heathrow to Xi'an via Beijing and for the price we paid couldn't fault them. We're vegans and the food provided was good and the cabin crew were lovely - very attentive. We'd definitely travel again with Air China

I wanted to move my flight due to external circumstances, and happy to pay the £130 fee.

Apparently the difference between my current and new flights was £170 even though I could see on the website it's £50. They couldn't answer how the £170 was made up when the flights were only £50 different, apparently more taxes and costs.... Not honest company at all, poor to non existent customer service

We flew Air China from London to Tokyo via Shanghai. I would have given Air China a 5-star review as the planes were good, the air stewards were amazing, the food more than acceptable, the seats comfortable and the entertainment entertaining. And our flights were almost half the price of direct flights with other national carriers.

But, and it's a big but, while we were in Japan we got an email telling us they had cancelled the first leg of our journey home (Tokyo to Shanghai). No alternative flight given, only a couple of phone numbers, one in Europe and one in Japan. We attempted calling both numbers a number of times over several days and at considerable cost to ourselves as we could only use payphones as roaming charges would have cost us a fortune, but no one ever picked up, even after being on hold for over an hour. Disappointingly, they wouldn't rebook us via email. In the end we had to divert our trip to their office in Nagoya so we could request a new flight in person. They did this for us no problem and despite a longer than planned layover in Shanghai, we got home on the correct Shanghai to London flight.

So, as long as you don't need to contact their customer services while abroad, I would recommend Air China.