26 reviews
First of all, I would like to apologize for the rather bad quality of the pictures. I was very stressed and even enraged by Hainan's snobbish service. All I wanted to do was to get onboard and sleep…
After a long sprint from the other side of the terminal, I finally arrived at the check-in counter. Luckily they were still opened…
Even though I arrived there mere 60 minutes before the departure time, there were still plenty of people… My mom then engaged in a conversation with the check-in agent; apparently, this flight was full of Chinese students studying abroad in the United States visiting their family in China during christmas break on their way back. That would explain the rather late arrivals to the airport since college kids aren't known for their ability to be on time…
We were the last passengers to check-in except for a Chinese college student. The agent told us that there were only 4 seats left, and he did his best to put us together. I am in the middle seat of the second to last middle row, and my mom is one seat in front of me…
Security and departure immigration was very fast since literally no more passengers were there. After that, my mom realized that the gate was closing in 30 minutes, which leaves us plenty of time to grab some food at the lounge.
The agent checked us in very quickly after swiping our priority pass card and verifying our identities. This is the main food area of the lounge.
The noodle bar was closed due to the fact that it was 2100.
There were plenty of spaces to sit and relax. And surprisingly there were even massage chairs!
Comfort 9.5/10
Work area
Shower room
FIDS. As you can see, except for our flight to LAX and another HNA flight to Melbourne, there were also a few disgustingly early/late flights. Wanna take off at 2AM and land in 5AM on a 4 hour flight?
The lounge dispersed 3 fridges across the main hall, so it was really convenient to grab a bottle (or two) before the flight. I chose the blackcurrant juice and the non-sweetened black tea.
There were also other choices available including alcohol and 5100, one of my favourite Tibetan spring water.
Interesting presentation…
Of course, if you're feeling brave enough, there was also an espresso machine available!
I could have also got some Chinese snacks, but none of them really seemed that good…
Last year, I tried one of the Southern Chinese snack (I am from Manchuria), and I got diarrhea…
Fresh fruits and yogurt were kept in a fridge.
After a short 15 minute stay at the lounge, we arrived at our gate. Chongqing Airport is quite unfriendly for plane spotting given that the glass curved outward, and there will always be 2 layers of glass between the terminal and the tarmac.
They delayed boarding for 10 minutes due to unknown reasons, which worked out great for me.
Boarding
The jet bridge was pretty nice, though.
So, there is always one white European female cabin crew on Hainan Airlines seeing from the other trip reports that I have read, and this was indeed the case on my flight. Instead of making the CHINESE cabin crew welcoming 300 CHINESE passengers at a CHINESE airport on a CHINESE flight operated by a CHINESE airline, Hainan usually puts the ONLY European Caucasian female cabin crew at the front door welcoming passengers speaking English to 300 CHINESE people…
Why???
Does Hainan think that Europeans are Superior to their fellow CHINESE?
This is not a coincident, if you're wondering. I have read many Hainan report on CARNOC.COM, and they seem to always do that on international flights… On the CARNOC and BAIDU forum, people have complained about that, too.
I was extremely upset by it, but I stayed optimistic about the service.
Boraded through L2
Yeah, like the agent said, this flight was filled with Chinese college students returning to the states.
Look at that MASSIVE window! This was my 4th time on a 787, and it still impressed me.
Here is my seat, the middle seat of the second to last middle row…
The cabin looks pretty neat in general.
Good legroom for this short 11 hour flight.
Seats on the 787 are narrow, and the fact that I was in the middle seat didn't help.
Nice and thick blanket and comfy pillow
Literature pocket content
Nice! Amenity kit in Economy class!
Great content for such a short flight!
Power outlet was present in addition to the USB charger.
Headphones were distributed.
Seat 59E rip
Safety video
How did I take this picture from 59E?
The young lady who was sitting in the last row (2 seats) had an open seat next to her. She offered me the window seat during take-off and landing so that I can take pictures! Thanks!
Long time no see!
Took off only a few minutes behind schedule
Returned to my dreadful middle seat after the take-off.
It was very nice to get menus while flying in Economy class. Good job Hainan!
We had two services on this flight: dinner at 1AM, and lunch at 4PM
Hot towel.
Dinner
Main Course: Chicken in Zurich style?
It was quite bland, but it was still edible.
Salmon potato salad. The salmon was perfectly smoked, which matched well with the potato.
Matcha mousse cake
Dinner service finally ended nearly 3 and a half hours into the flight! Normally I wouldn't mind this on a day time flight, but we really need sleep on this short 11 hour overnight flight.
Beautiful AirShow system
Dang we're really fast!!!
The IFE has a variety of movies. However, the plane wasn't equipped with wifi even though Hainan advertises that on their website…
The IFE has many TV shows, too.
The lights were turned on THREE HOURS before landing on this mere 11 hour flight, which means that I was only asleep for 4 and a half hour at most…I could tell that most people just wanted to sleep…Anyways here is the lunch.
Appetizer: Marinated shrimp salad. It was okay at best.
Fruit
The main course was good. Nothing spectacular, though, unlike my China Southern flight's catering last week.
During the service, the cabin crew asks the white couple (possibly visiting China?) very politely "Sir, what would you like to have?" Then she went on and listed each food option. After that, she came to our row "Wut d'ya want" was all she said (in Chinese)…
Lunch and One movie later
Almost there!
Due to the winter storm, we landed on 06L instead of the usual 24s/25s
Smooth touchdown
Disembarked on gate 134 of the TBIT. Since I am on I-551, I had to visit the USCIS office…
2 "pleasant" hours later…
I know that Hainan Airlines has a very positive review on flight-report; however, from a Chinese perspective, I think they're utterly terrible. They have a solid hard product compared to China Southern, but their service is very discriminating towards Chinese passengers...
Cabin: 8/10
-1 for narrow seat width and -1 for not being able to reserve seats online despite the fact that I have a HU confirmation code...
Cabin Crew: 2/10
-5 for being rude, biased, snobbish...you get it...
-3 for slow service that prevented passengers from sleeping...
Entertainment/Wifi: 7.5/10
-2 for not having wifi as advertised...-0.5 for too many ads before watching anything...
Meal/Catering: 6/10
-1.5 for the food and -1 for not having "sandwiches" on the menu, -2 for the slow service...The back galley only had beverages available...
Hope you have enjoyed this honest review of Hainan Airlines!!!
8 Comments
Thanks for sharing !
Yikes, crazy to turn on the lights and serve the pre-arrival meal 3 hours before arrival...that is way too early and not at all what you'd expect from a 5* carrier. Aside from that the hard product looks great and the catering pretty good.
Thanks for sharing Harry!
Thanks for reading!
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