Review of Air China flight Washington Beijing in Economy

Airline Air China
Flight CA818
Class Economy
Seat 54L
Aircraft Boeing 777-300ER
Flight time 13:00
Take-off 23 Jul 19, 16:05
Arrival at 23 Jul 19, 18:05
CA 186 reviews
Aaro
By 4628
Published on 30th July 2019

china 2019 (and d.c. too)


Routing


air china flight 818 washington dulles to beijing capital


Since Dulles is located quite a distance away from Arlington, we took an Uber to the airport. We arrived before 1:30 which is plenty early enough for the 4:05 departure.


Air China's check-in counters are located on the far right back of the main terminal, between the Ethiopian and Volaris counters. The terminal at Dulles is gorgeous and felt very open and clean. I love the text they chose for the airline names as well.


photo mvimg_20190723_132747photo mvimg_20190723_132725

The line wasn't very long and there a good amount of agents staffing the counter. The line moved swiftly, and we were at the front of it soon enough. At the counter, we checked in our four bags straight to Wuhan and received two boarding passes each. The agent put "Transfer" tags on all of the suitcases, so they would be delivered to WUH, and we wouldn't have to pick them up in PEK. By 1:49 we were ready to go through security.


photo mvimg_20190723_135052

The TSA checkpoints at IAD are located underground which is interesting. TSA was a hassle since Air China doesn't participate in TSA-Precheck. After passing through we took the train straight to the A concourse. There are two trains at IAD. One heads to the A, C, and D concourse and one heads to the B concourse.


photo mvimg_20190723_140809

After a short ride we were in the A concourse. Dulles consists of two "satellite" concourses. One contains the A and B concourses which house all non-United carriers excluding Air Canada and Frontier and United Express flights. The C and D concourses are for United only. There is also a small Z concourse which is located right next to the main terminal.


photo mvimg_20190723_141304

The AB terminal is much nicer than the CD terminal as it is much more open and airy unlike the dark tight United concourses. There were many country flags hanging from the ceiling which is a nice touch.


photo mvimg_20190723_141531

When we got to our gate, Gate A25, there were actually not that many people waiting there.


photo mvimg_20190723_141717photo mvimg_20190723_142053

The plane, B-2040 an almost 6 year-old 777-300ER had just arrived earlier from Beijing. Some of the gates in the terminal were not good for planespotting, unfortunately.


photo mvimg_20190723_142620

After we settled down and I connected to the free internet we decided to look around the duty free store between the two concourses. Funny enough, we saw the flight crew looking around the store too and even bumped into the captain of our flight.


After that we headed back to the gate to wait for boarding to start. Gradually, more people started to show up, but it still didn't look like a full flight. The crew boarded and boarding eventually started at 3:20, starting with First and Business class.


Air China economy boards in three lines based on row numbers. Surprisingly they invited passengers seated in the last section of economy to board after First and Business so we went to wait in line.


photo mvimg_20190723_145212

After scanning our boarding passes each passenger had to go up to screen where it scanned your face and allowed you to pass. I had never seen this anywhere else, so I would be interested to know what it is.


After boarding through L2 the flight attendants welcomed people on board and checked boarding passes to direct us where to sit. First, I passed through the business class cabin which consisted of fully flat seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. Directly behind business class is a small economy mini-cabin with three rows. After that was the forward economy cabin.


photo mvimg_20190723_152818photo mvimg_20190723_152835

Seats were in the rare 3-3-3 configuration which was nice as most carriers have switched to the more cramped 3-4-3 configuration. Our seats were located in Row 54 on the right side of the plane.


photo mvimg_20190723_152851

No personal air vents as you can see


photo mvimg_20190723_152848photo mvimg_20190723_153112

Each seat had a blanket and pillow placed on them which was nice. The pillow was soft and the packaged blanket was fine.


photo mvimg_20190723_153121

The seat itself was actually pretty comfortable as it had good legroom, an adjustable headrest, and even a footrest as well! It wasn't too hard unlike some newer seats these days. Unfortunately, there was an IFE box located under my seat which restricted storage space and foot room.


photo mvimg_20190723_153202

There was a non-removable IFE remote located in the left armrest. The double pronged headphone jack was also located next in the armrest.


photo mvimg_20190723_153657

There were also 110V outlets located in between each pair of seats. (2 per each set of 3)


photo mvimg_20190723_153707

The seatback pocket contained a pair of cheap headphones, the safety card, and the in-flight magazine.


After we had settled in, I decided to check out the entertainment Air China offered. Air China's IFE was offered in only three languages: English, Chinese, and French.


photo mvimg_20190723_154449photo mvimg_20190723_154627

The selection of films wasn't the greatest, but it was enough to last through this flight. I would say that more than half of the movies offered were Chinese films. The selection of TV shows was even worse however as the content was even more limited.


photo mvimg_20190723_154643photo mvimg_20190723_154704

As a note for the screen it wasn't very responsive, so it was hard to scroll between the movies, so I ended up using the remote for the most of the flight. This is unfortunate as the plane isn't even that old.


photo mvimg_20190723_154858photo mvimg_20190723_154910

Boarding was quicker than I expected, and doors closed at 3:52 and we pushed back three minutes later without a full load. My seat provided views of the many international carriers serving IAD. Saudia, South African Airways, Brussels Airlines, Austrian Airlines, and Aer Lingus just to name a few.


photo mvimg_20190723_155719

As we started to move forward the safety video featuring a cartoon panda and animated characters was screened.


photo mvimg_20190723_160039

We passed by a KLM 777 and a Copa Airlines 737.


photo mvimg_20190723_160004photo mvimg_20190723_160557

Concourse A and B view


photo mvimg_20190723_160648

United terminal and mobile lounge


When our plane reached Runway 1R we had to wait for 6 planes to land first which was annoying. The powerful GE90 engines were started and we thundered down the runway toward Beijing at 4:20.


photo img_20190723_162045photo img_20190723_162053

View after takeoff


photo img_20190723_162102photo img_20190723_162310

View after takeoff


photo img_20190723_164622

Once the aircraft reached a more level position I re-watched Deadpool 2 which was actually Once Upon a Deadpool and visited the lavatory. There are three lavatories in the back galley, two between the main economy cabins, and two between the forward cabin and the mini cabin. The lavatory I visited was actually a handicapped accessible one, so it was larger in size.


photo img_20190723_171136photo img_20190723_171141

It was spacious and clean and featured some lotion and sanitizer as well. The soap dispenser appeared empty however.


photo img_20190723_171322

After I returned announcements about the flight were made. We would have a flight time of 13 hours 50 minutes with an arrival of 6:05 PM. flight attendants started drink service shortly. Soda options only consisted of Coca-Cola and Sprite and juice options were tomato, apple, or orange. I selected a Coke.


photo img_20190723_172102

The meals were announced over the PA system as either fish with rice or chicken with rice. I selected the fish. It came with strawberry yogurt, fruit, a warm bread roll, and a corn salad.


photo img_20190723_173433

The rice was actually fried rice and the fish was seasoned nicely with spices.


photo img_20190723_173440

The salad was also pretty good.


photo img_20190723_173509

The chicken option didn't look half bad either


photo img_20190723_173523

After everyone had meals passed out flight attendants came through the aisles with extra mains if anyone wanted one. I thought this was a nice touch which you wouldn't see on a US carrier usually. I was full so didn't ask for one.


After trays were cleared most people closed their window shades, and I continued watching my movie. Mood lighting was turned on in the cabin.


photo img_20190723_182758photo img_20190723_182802

Cabin inflight


When I finished Deadpool I decided to watch "Skyscraper" starring Dwayne Johnson. I thought it was a pretty good movie, but I have low expectations for any movie I see. One quip I have about Air China is before every movie and I'm assuming TV show 2 minutes of ads are played. These are pretty annoying as they were also quite loud.


photo img_20190723_185812

About 10 minutes after I started the movie I decided to take a walk around the cabin with my uncle. There were many empty seats on the planes, so people took advantage of them by laying out on a row of three to sleep. We decided to sit in the R4 exit row seats as they were empty. At the time I didn't notice the seats said "crew only", but the crew didn't do anything to stop us interestingly.


photo img_20190723_200854

There was a snack set-up in the galley consisting of the same drinks served earlier, and bags of small cracker sticks were also put out later. I find it weird that this is all Air China offers between meals on a 13 hour flight as even the US carriers have a snack box passed out.


photo img_20190723_194626

I took a quick peek through the window where it was still daylight outside, but this since this flight flew over the arctic it would be daytime the entire time.


photo img_20190723_194707

I sat in the exit row seat for a while and finished "Skyscraper" there. We were at least 4 hours into the flight at that point. I moved back to my seat and decided to watch one final movie "Ocean's 8" starring Cate Blanchett and Sandra Bullock. It was fine but again with the taste in movies. After I finished it I was ready to go to sleep. My aunt was able to grab another blanket from an empty seat so that was nice. I actually ended up sleeping for 4 hours which was actually really good for me. 


When I woke up flight attendants came around with the second meal service. The choices were either beef with noodles or chicken with sausage. My aunt and I selected the beef.


photo img_20190724_035632

This was one of the worst meals I've had on a plane in the past couple of years. The beef felt dry and had a weird texture, and the noodles were bland and tasteless. The packaged bread roll was hard, and I didn't eat the side salad. The highlight of the meal was definitely the two Oreos. Once again as earlier in the flight the flight attendants came around with extras of the meals. My uncle had the chicken and said it was better than the beef but still wasn't great.


We were already over Northeastern China or Manchuria when the meal service ended.


photo img_20190724_040514photo img_20190724_050822

Descent started around 10-20 minutes later.


photo img_20190724_053725photo img_20190724_053848

Cabin during descent


We broke descended into cloud Beijing and flew past the airport before doing a 180 degree turn back.


photo img_20190724_053920photo img_20190724_054536

Oh Beijing weather why are you so smoggy?


photo img_20190724_055143photo img_20190724_055333

Arrival into Beijing


photo img_20190724_055419photo img_20190724_055457

We had a smooth touchdown at 5:54 PM and had a quick taxi to our gate. During the taxi I saw some interesting aircraft i.e. Mahan Air A340, 3 grounded Air China 737 MAX 8s, a retired Air China 747-400, and many Air China 787-9s that had their engines removed for some reason. Air China isn't affected by the RR issues, so I don't know what they were doing there.


photo img_20190724_055731photo img_20190724_055844

China Southern 787 Beijing Airport


photo img_20190724_060006photo img_20190724_060018

Air China 747-8I Beijing airport


We pulled in next to an Air Canada 777-300ER at 6:01 PM. 4 minutes ahead of schedule.


photo img_20190724_060117

After deplaning we went to immigration where lines weren't very long. Foreigners were required to go up to a machine and have their passport and fingerprints scanned where a receipt was later printed. After immigration we headed to the train to transfer to Terminal 3-C for our flight to Wuhan. 


photo img_20190724_062719
See more

Verdict

Air China

7.2/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew8.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Meal/catering7.0

Washington - IAD

8.5/10
Efficiency8.5
Access6.5
Services9.0
Cleanliness10.0

Beijing - PEK

8.6/10
Efficiency8.5
Access9.0
Services9.0
Cleanliness8.0

Conclusion

Some notes about the flight:
There was some rough turbulence in the earlier and later stages of the flight. Every time it happened flight attendants made an announcement telling everyone to stay in their seats and the seatbelt sign was flashed. Other than that it was a smooth flight but the seatbelt sign was never turned off.
Most of the flight attendants were female, but there were a couple males aboard that wore white uniforms that looked like pilots. I don't know if they were like cabin supervisors or something like that. The crew were respectful and had good intentions but they didn't really smile except for the males.
Seat recline was very generous which might be annoying if you're trying to exit your seat or leave.
Flight attendants walked up and down the aisles with water many times in-flight.
Immigration cards weren't handed out, so I had to fill out an arrival card upon landing. There wasn't a departure card attached to it like there was before, so I'm wondering do you still need a departure card to leave China?
Bottom Line: this was a nice flight on Air China, but the IFE system on these 777s aren't very good and I don't think the planes have wifi. Luckily newer planes in CA's fleet have newer and updated systems, and they might have wifi.

Related

5 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 513920 by
    757Fan 632 Comments
    Looks like you had a good flight with Air China and great photos. That is cool that they passed around extra main courses as well too after dinner - I always get super hungry on flights, so this is definitely a nice touch and something I've not heard of before. Usually when I ask if there are any extra meals, the answer is usually no!

    Thank you for sharing.
    • Comment 514020 by
      Aaro AUTHOR 38 Comments
      Thank you for reading. Yes I uploaded my photos straight to flight-report on my phone, so they were the original resolution that I took with my phone. I then typed the report on my computer.
  • Comment 514179 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Hi Aaro, nice report! Great pics throughout. I've always liked seeing reports out of IAD, especially now since I've moved away from DC...kinda nostalgic!

    Aside from the older IFE, the cabin looks nice and those seats seem well-padded and comfortable for the long flight to PEK. The catering also looks pretty good.

    Thanks for sharing!
  • Comment 514389 by
    bgboiflyer 38 Comments
    Nice report. Last year I was supposed to fly this type from PEK to LAX but ATC made us miss our flight. Instead, I got placed on a flight the next day on a Boeing 747-8I, which definitely has a much better hard product than this type. I noticed that the AC plug looked much dirtier than the lavatory, gladly on their newer aircraft, there's also a USB plug. Luckily for you, there were extra main and at least a drink station. On my flight (10 hours long) there was nothing between the two meal services, and at least I got a piece of bread right before the second meal service.
    • Comment 514392 by
      Aaro AUTHOR 38 Comments
      Yeah it's really odd that Air China doesn't have a mid-meal service or even at least a small one. If you flew on the 747-8I does that mean they rerouted you through SFO? I know CA flies the -8I to SFO and JFK from PEK.

Login to post a comment.