Review of China Eastern flight from Shanghai to Tokyo in Economy

Introduction

As my current employer only provides me with four guaranteed weeks off per year and those have to be requested before the 31st of March 2024 for the same year, I kindly requested three weeks of guaranteed off for November & December 2024 as I try my best to avoid to travel in high seasons due to price & amount of tourists,

As my dates were confirmed in April by them, I found a cheap fare with China Eastern in July 2024 for a one-way flight to Tokyo Haneda via Shanghai for a total price of 500 EUR (+/- 526 USD). Upon confirming with my wife whether she was interested by going to Japan, I quickly booked us a seat on those flights. Flight times were decent with only 2.5 hours of stopover time in Shanghai Pudong.

The entirety of the trip will be revealed per itinerary.

Connecting via Shanghai Pudong

As we were connecting via Shanghai to Tokyo from Amsterdam, we had about two and a half hours to three hours to spend in Shanghai Pudong. Unlike Delhi on my previous trip to Asia, Shanghai Pudong is definitely a breeze to transit through, however signage can sometimes be poor and confusing, so pay attention where to go as it may not always be clear.

Upon arriving from your previous flight, you will need to clear security once more, which isn't really that difficult to go through, but can sometimes be somewhat of a chaos. I highly suggest to walk to one of the stations in the aft rather than the front as most people tend to queu for the first three security checkpoints rather than the ones in the back :).

Given that our next flight would depart from Terminal 1S, we made our way down to the train to shuttle between terminal 1 and 1S.

The train runs quite regularly and was very deserted with just a few people on board. 

China Eastern Airlines Lounge No. 137

Despite only booking economy class, I gained access to China Eastern Airlines Lounge No. 137 via Priority Pass, which was quite large and spacious with plenty of seating available. Though with just a handful of people, the lounge felt a bit deserted too.

It does however have a nice view over one of the platforms, though is partly blocked by a panoramic terrace. I'm not sure whether it was part of the lounge, open to everyone or simply closed, but I did not see a single soul walking there.

Another impression of the lounge from a different angle. Mind you that the lounge continues much further than one thinks.

An extensive selection of soft drinks & beers were available both in cold & ambient temperature if one desired to. Not sure why one wants to drink a beer or soft drink that is set to ambient temperature, but it was possible.

A noodle station was available, though the lady did not speak a word English. She however understands when you want noodles and prepares them so for you.

She only provides you with noodles in a broth and it is up to you to fine tune your own noodles with the options next to her ranging from veggies to meat.

Down the line of her you would also find some sandwiches or bread rolls and herbs to flavour your noodles even more.

A bit further down the lounge, one could find some dimsum and a few hot food selections.

Soup without noodles were also available and your choice was between a Creamy Pumpkin Soup or a Pear Soup.

In the middle of the lounge one could find the section for tea/coffee and juices. A tiny selection of liquor was also available here.

My selection for today contained of the noodles with a mix of veggies, tofu and meat. Kung Pao Chicken, Pear Soup and two bao buns with a Tsingtao beer. Must say that the noodles were tasty.

To our gate!

About five minutes to boarding, we decided to leave the lounge and were waved goodbye by the two very friendly ground attendants seated at reception. Terminal 1S was very deserted with once again just an handful of people.

Our gate for today's departure wasn't very far from the main center of the terminal and I managed to get a great look of our aircraft that was going to bring us over to Tokyo Haneda. When I booked my flight, it was suppose to be operated by an Airbus A320. Though a month prior to the flight, I received a notification of China Eastern that the aircraft was changed and so were our seats for today's departure. Not a big deal as they still kept us together with a window seat. 

B-2022, a 9.4 year old Boeing 777-300ER was going to do the job bringing us safely (hopefully) to Tokyo Haneda. This specific bird was newly delivered to China Eastern in July 2015 and carries the same configuration as my previous flight from Amsterdam. 6 seats in First, 52 seats in Business & 258 seats in Economy.

Boarding was already in process by the time we arrive and must have started ahead of time

Flight MU575 to Tokyo

Upon boarding as one of the lasts, we found our seat 40A, which was only two rows in front of the ones we had on our previous flight and was identical to them. The entertainment system was very minimal and once again no earphones were at the gate or handed out by one of the flight attendants. Legroom was decent, but definitely less than most Asian carriers.

This specific like the previous one was also equiped with WiFi and once again it did not work. I can somehow connect to the network only to be given a message that they somehow can't detect a connection with the router. It doesn't connect me to a website to log-in or something else, so I can't give you a proper idea of what China Eastern is asking for it or whether the speed is good of their onboard WiFi.

While one can find an USB plug in the IFE system, you can also find a socket below your seat.

The view from my seat of this mighty 777 wing.

A view of the cabin in the last stages of boarding with flight attendants stowing the last pieces of luggage and closing the overhead bins.

Boarding was completed at a very fast pace and pushback was engaged about 4 minutes ahead of our scheduled departure with the sun already setting.

About 17 minutes later we rolled down Runway 34L for our flight to Tokyo with the sun now really setting.

About an hour into the flight, flight attendants came by to serve us our meal for our 2.5 hour hop over to Tokyo. The choice was given between Pork & Beef. Given that the Pork meal sounded very similar to the one I had on my previous flight, I decided to go with the beef one. It turned out to be the better option as my wife chose for the pork.

Starter: A potato salad  with some vegetables and meat.
Main: Thinly sliced stir-fried beef with Veggies in Oyster Sauce with Rice sprinkled by Sesame Seeds
Desert: Sticky Rice Ball with Custard Filling
Sides: Cantaloupe Melon, Cup of Water  & Salted Peanuts

The main meal was decent to tasty, however the salad was a no go and the cantaloupe unfortunately was not fresh at all and quite hard. A very limited beverage service was in process with soft drinks, juices and tea or coffee, so I kindly requested a coke.

My wife decided to take the pork, which turned out to be different to the one I had on my previous flight. It was supposed to be a slow-cooked pork belly in a sweet sauce with some rice and vegetables including a soy egg. It's usually a dish I adore, though my wife was not happy with the meal as she said that it tasted very chemically and tasted nothing like slow-cooked pork belly was suppose to taste. I tried a bit and totally agreed with her.

Took a bite of the mochi and I believe this to be somewhat of a custard filling, though correct me if I'm wrong :).

About to overfly ''Tokushima'' when clean up was engaged with about an hour to run to Tokyo. Flight attendant kindly asked me whether I wanted some more tea or coffee, which I kindly refused as I was stuffed.

About an hour later we were in approach to Runway 34L with the very first views of Tokyo.

About to touch down about 35 minutes ahead of schedule. Runway 34L was also perfect as it meant a left turn to Terminal 3 resulting in a very short taxi for us to our stand.

Parked at one of the most distant gates from the main terminal, we were about 28 minutes ahead of schedule. The disembarkation followed soon after with quite a walk to immigration. 

The entire walk to immigration could be done by people movers or simply opt to walk, but as Tokyo Haneda decided to carpet the entire hallway to immigration, it became quite an hassle for our trolley….. Never understood why one would carpet the floor rather than using tiles..

Immigration was a breeze and did not take long for our luggage to appear, though before one is allowed to leave, they still need to enter a form to exit the area. This could either be done via Japan Web or writing a form, yet if done via Japan Web, you still need to go to one of the counters to confirm your goods once again before you are allowed to exit.

We bought ourselves an IC card to use for transport and we were shortly on our way to our hotel.