Review of Air China flight from Beijing to Vancouver in First

Hello everyone, welcome back to a very special flight review, perhaps my most meaningful and nostalgic route. During high school, my mom and I would fly this route, CA991, from Beijing to Vancouver ever summer. From CA’s rather horrid firm block of inedible rice to the heartwarming PA announcements, all of which I memorized (particularly the 30 minutes until landing in Vancouver speech), those were some of my earliest and fondest memories flying. It’s been over 10 years since I last took this trip, and so much has changed. The route stopped temporarily during COVID, and although I still visit Vancouver quite frequently, 991 remains a number I haven’t seen in over a decade. Today, being filled with nostalgia, time to revisit the journey that defined my childhood.

Sitting here with an hour to go under landing, I’m looking back on all those flights and feeling something we probably all do when revisiting something from our past. Things are, and will likely never be, the same as before. Long gone are the manual PA’s announcing time difference, welcomes and goodbyes from the crew, that famous 30 minute under landing, everything’s changed and most have been replaced by prerecorded messages. That sweet smell of excitement when entering Beijing Capital on that early June morning after my parents frantically rushing me to leave home 4 hours before our flight. But as we grow up, even with all that’s different, that excited little boy is still here. Let’s take a walk down memory lane, let’s take CA991 in First class for the very first time.

It might be over 10 years, but CA991 still departs in the early afternoon. As I did all those years ago, I arrived at 11:00 am in Terminal 3.  

Straight over to Air China’s premium check-in space, at the very right end of the terminal. 

There was a slight wait today, with the lady behind me having a little camera crew follow her and one of her (I’d assume, staff members) complaining to CA representatives about it. After having my bags checked, I received that luxurious golden F class boarding pass. 

Things didn’t go exactly as usual today, the little tram connecting to the departure gates wasn’t in service, a shuttle bus instead. 

The only other time this happened was during the height of COVID with only single digit number of international flights. The worst part, my goodness it was like a sauna inside that bus!

After clearing passport control, over to the F lounge at E20. The CA F and J lounges here are infamously crowded due to Priority Pass access, and literally zero distinction between the two. While other major hubs have significantly elevated service, PEK seems to have gone a different route. I’ve only been to the F lounge once, but some recent Chinese social media posts have described some attempts of elevation. 

Immediately after showing my boarding pass, the receptionist asked another gentleman to escort me towards the “a-la-carte section”. Wow, that’s new! Indeed it was quite new, the gentleman didn’t seem too confident in where he’d recommend I sit. After suggesting me change seats twice, a different staff member (assuming she oversaw the dining area) suggested I sit in a private area behind some bamboo barricades. 

Oh yes, this is a new feature! I was offered an a-la-carte menu, resemblant of the CA F Lounge at Pudong, albeit with fewer options. 

Over 20 years with no changes to Beijing’s F lounge, this is a move in the right direction. She recommended the steak and shrimp, citing them most popular. Approximately 20 minutes was the estimated wait time. A welcome lemon water was offered.

While waiting, I took a stroll around the lounge. 

Identical to the J lounge, with the same food options and layout. 

This little movie space might be F lounge exclusive, but I wonder when it was last utilized. 

The new Cathay Lounge visible in the distance, the brown rectangular block.

A little bit of frustration with the lounge temperature, barely an improvement from the shuttle. I even chatted with the lady looking after me, and with all the layers she had on she admitted she was sweating. Apparently, the airport’s ventilation system decided to take a break, much to the detriment of everyone inside! 

This coffee display was right outside my small, barricaded space, very cute. 

I didn’t have too much time until boarding and wanted to do a little plane spotting, so I double checked how long my food would take since it was nearing half an hour. The social media poster blamed defrosting the steak taking up all the time. I took some light bites from the buffet, which was great. An iced americano was also brought over.

I ordered a bayberry whisky sour which was very strong, but delicious.

Finally, my food was brought over. The steak wasn’t bad, but I was unsure why completely bland pasta came with the shrimp when the buffet even had cream pasta. Again, credits to CA for moving in the right direction and elevating the F lounge service. I asked if the lady minded grabbing me some more cream pasta to go with my mains, and she happily accepted.

As I bode farewell to the lounge, leaving on a positive note, passing an instant noodle display:) 

time for some plane spotting.

The highlights had to be seeing the Queen (on a break, it seemed),  

and this gorgeous 100-year Lufthansa A350 livery. In person, this might be one of my favorite special liveries, can’t imagine it in the A380. Speaking of the queen, it being on vacation has annoyed many passengers as their dreaded air change now means a 777 will fly their trip to JFK.

Only two gates down, my plane was already boarding. It shows 13:30 boarding time but process begun around 13:10. Seeing this board and “CA991”, oh how the memories are returning. 

Stepping onboard, directly into the gorgeous F cabin. I was greeted by both the cabin manager and F crew member; the latter took care of me this trip. Immediately, the cabin manager exclaimed “he’s one of us!” to her colleague, very heartwarming welcome.

Before any cabin or seat details, the first thing I noticed was only one pair of headphones were present, and only my seat had slippers and amenity kit waiting. I knew what that meant, the cabin was all mine. I couldn’t contain my excitement. I double checked with the cabin manager, and she mentioned “so far it’s just you”, I guess last minute upgrades were still on the table. Fingers crossed!

Waiting at my seat were the menu cards, newspapers, pillow, and headphones. The amenity kit and slippers were hidden on the ottoman, under the tray table.

The seat space is massive. The lack of closing doors does affect privacy. I flew on the 777 in F between Beijing-Shenzhen (a review already published) in a full F cabin, and you feel very much closely entangled with your neighbors. 

I took a quick trip to the toilet, one for the 8-person cabin. Nothing too special with a lack of real amenities, only a few small creams available.

Check out the incredible space! Noticing I was snapping pictures, the cabin manager asked if I wanted any of me in my seat. More on her later, but she reminded me of my older relatives, incredibly approachable, humorous, and a delight to chat with. 

Sitting down, the IFE screen size is solid. While the controller is guilty for occasionally being unresponsive, touch screen worked well.

To my left, the controller was hiding with a bottle of water and charging ports. 

Four massive windows, or rather 16 in total throughout the cabin, all mine today!

The slippers are a step up from J class, much fluffier and of better quality. 

Another distinction from J is the amenity kit, well sort of. Both classes offer kits by L’Occitane. The J kit has slightly cheaper plastic material while the F one slightly elevated.

For reference, this is the Business class kit.

There’s a “WiFi” sticker, but that’s only the “limited” internet CA likes to advertise. These are only useful on narrowbodies without IFE screens, as the “limited” internet grants you access onto the IFE system on your personal devices. On widebodies like the 777, this is just pointless since there’s no actual WiFi access. Unfortunately, no internet access extends to all CA widebodies (including 747s on 16-hour flights to JFK) except their new A350s. I’m unsure if CA plans on adding WiFi access in the future.

On the right side, some more storage space with a few seat control buttons. 

A (not very) wet towel was offered, along with welcome drinks. Options included orange juice, champagne, water, or the red lantern, CA’s signature drink featuring sparkling water and tomato juice. After selecting the orange juice and champagne, the cabin manager suggested the red lantern, to which I told her the tomato juice is too sour, and she replied saying jokingly that tomatoes are good for you!

I took a few more snaps of the cabin, which I still couldn’t believe was all mine for the next 10 hours. The middle seats offer partitions that can be raised and lowered for extra privacy.

I quickly checked out the IFE, which is very important unless you plan to sleep and/or pre-download your own entertainment, since there’s no WiFi. Funnily, the exact same interface as my first memory of CA from over 10 years ago. The touchscreen was more responsive than the controller, which often lagged a second behind.

There were lots of Chinese entertainment options, lots of films. 

TV show wise, generally just one or two episodes of select options. There were also a decent selection of English options, but generally you’d be best bringing your own.

A lamp located on the right side.

The headphones weren’t branded. I watched around half of two movies (I passed out during the first one and forgot which one it was), so around two hours of usage. The noise cancelling was good but would be nice if CA did some sort of collaboration for such an expensive ticket. I believe they're same as Business class. 

A small closet with two coat hangers.

When asking for a fleece blanket, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a far thicker duvet. I later learned this was the same one used as bedding during turndown service, which ruined the excitement just a bit. It was much better than a regular thin fleece for non-sleep, but I did find myself seeking something longer and more comfortable when in bed.

I had another lengthy chat with the cabin manager, asking about what life I like as a crew member and their layovers for long-haul destinations. It was interesting learning that CA often deploy crew based on aircraft type, her group in charge of mainly 777s internationally and the busier domestic flights between Beijing and Shanghai/Shenzhen/Guangzhou.

I then checked out the amenity kit, which was quite disappointing. The exterior seemed to be the only difference with J, as everything inside was a carbon copy of J’s. Coming to think of it, I remember my dad bringing CA amenity kits home from his J trips nearly 15 years ago, and the contents haven’t changed.  

The PA came on announcing our flight path and time. Of course this isn’t CA’s fault, but the announcements didn’t hit the nostalgia of back then (the landing announcements, however, definitely did).

I checked out the menus, first up the food. 

Then the drinks.

My crew member then came by to take my order, and I admitted some confusion over how the menu worked.

So the menu card indicates three meals: 1. Dinner, 2. Light meal, and 3. Breakfast. I was under the assumption there would be dinner+breakfast, but she mentioned only dinner and the light meal were loaded and no breakfast. She then explained breakfast and dinner are loaded on the reverse flight, which is peculiar. My flight would land around 9am local time in Vancouver, making sense then to have breakfast. On the flip side, landing in Beijing on the reverse trip would be in the late evening, interesting. It’s also unfortunate since breakfast looks far more comprehensive than the “light meal”.

On the bright side, when asking if I could order two mains, she said I could order all if I wanted since I’m alone. I decided to order the Braised Beef rice and Roast Duck as mains for dinner, and the lobster from the dinner menu along with the beef noodles from the light meal before landing. More on the meals later.  

As we blasted off from a rainy Beijing, thus began my journey of nostalgia.

I played with the controllers a bit, but slightly unresponsive. 

I found this interesting collage in the magazine detailing CA’s crew uniform over the years. 

Meal service was supposed to begin immediately after cruising altitude, but the cabin manager came back through and chatted with me some more. After 5 minutes, she just took a seat in the adjacent suite which I thought was hilarious. I loved talking to her, she was just like the chatty/gossipy family member with all the stories. Never did she act unprofessional and I probably could’ve talked with her for hours. Only after the F crew member came around a few times with the tablecloth did our chat conclude, for the time being.

Two quick notes before continuing. First, the F crew member was extremely professional but at times seemed a little uneasy. She never really interacted with me even just administrative communication. Not a complaint as she was very attentive, but I even felt stressed at times watching her. Second, please feel free to check out the full menu for the exact dish names, I’ll just be tossing out nicknames and generalizing them during the meal reviews, thanks!

The menu only listed “whisky”, without any brands. I asked the crew and she said it was “an English whisky”. I wonder if CA brings whatever brand is convenient just to make things easier. Anyway, some nuts came with my whisky and a glass of diet coke.

First up was the amuse bouche. The crab tart and smoked salmon tart were great, the cold cut one was rather average and the sushi was straight up something they grabbed from the lounge. No idea why that was there. 

Next up was the chicken soup. A nice warm soup is always nice but again it seemed like something they grabbed from the lounge. There were 7 or 8 pieces of chicken in there, which was a bonus. However, the meat was very dry. 

Next up was a trio of dishes, predominantly a salad in the center. Top left was the western appetizer caviar with mango crab, and asparagus and Chinese style appetizer beef seasoned with Chinese soy sauce. Note the menu lists either the Western or Chinese appetizer, but I was automatically given both.

Two dressing options came with the salad, and they were both in little salad dressing cups before I chose the thousand island sauce over the vinaigrette before she poured it, so it didn’t come looking like that.

The salad was just fine. Soy sauce beef is a classic Chinese appetizer that usually comes with a soy sauce/vinegar/chili oil dipping sauce, which I felt was needed here, a bit too bland. The Western appetizer was interesting; the mango crab was good and generally tastier than the Chinese choice. Lots of bread were also offered, very fluffy ones.

Next up was the first of my two mains, the roast duck. First, I want to say that being Beijing’s signature dish, it’s awesome CA have it in the skies. However…. The exact same dish is offered in J, and despite being given nearly 12 pieces of pancake, there was only enough duck for maybe 3 max. Six or seven (haha) would be my go to at a restaurant, and even then each pancake would be filled with more duck. The duck itself wasn’t bad, but I just wish they’d give more. Even half a duck can carve out nearly three times the amount of meat here. 

My second main was the braised beef that the crew recommended. It was great to have a second main with the duck being so small. The meat was tasty but again it’s something you’ll find in J. She also brought a plate of Chinese picked vegetables. I must admit, CA might not have the greatest options food wise, but they do ensure you’re never hungry. 

I then ordered some warm yellow wine. It’s not for everyone but a beverage CA loves to advertise. There’s also the bonus of the branded little bottle. 

After my mains, the lady came back fruits and a cheese plate. I asked if she could save the cheese plate for later and she happily obliged. Once again, I wished for more with the fruit. I’ve literally flown CA in J and received a more comprehensive fruit platter than this. 

Ending the meal on a high was the dessert. For my frequent readers, you may remember my disdain for CA reusing lounge cakes no one wants there and bring them onboard. When reading the menu, I was expecting much of the same. Surprisingly, I received a proper dessert, and it tasted great.

After my meal concluded, I headed off to the restroom and asked the crew for turndown service. I asked if I could sleep in a different seat with no problems. I opened one of those amenity drawers in the restroom and saw this extremely dusty and quite nasty space. I’m unsure if the crew intended on passengers opening this drawer, I’d assume not given the state of it, but all other airlines stock it full of amenities. 

Back at (the one next to) my seat, turndown service was completed. A mattress pad and slightly larger pillow provided, along with the same duvet I received during boarding. Fully flat, the bed is very comfortable. Again, I just wish a separate sleep only/thicker duvet was provided. 

Pajamas were also provided, interestingly the label wrote “men style loungewear 2010 edition”, I guess no changes in 16 years. They had a very traditional Chinese style, which was cool. 

At my original seat, the crew left small coasters under my drinks, and a toothpick.

I was hoping to grab some hot water, but I couldn’t find her in the galley, thought I’d take a quick shot of it. 

I also found the whisky I was served.

I had some fun before sleeping standing up on my bed and acting like I was the king of the world in this cabin. I wanted to snap the dimmed cabin but somehow ended up with this, so have fun with it.

I slept a solid 7 hours, one of the best sleeps I’ve had in the air. Flightly showed an hour and ten minutes until landing. I mentioned to my crew member please wake me for the next meal, when running into her she said she planned on giving me another 10 minutes. Onto the second meal! Another wet towel offered.

An iced black coffee, getting ready for the day ahead.

She brought out everything at once, including the salmon/lobster Western main from the dinner menu. 

Some more bread too.

The tuna was slightly bland, I felt could’ve used a sauce. Chili oil was provided upon request for the beef noodles. The noodles were just average, again I felt lacked seasoning. I appreciated there being a few big chunks of braised beef, but in comparison most airlines I’ve tried with “a-la-carte snack options” do better noodles, not to mention this is technically a full meal according to the crew. 

Now, it’s always incredible having lobster on offer, but my goodness this was terrible. The lobster was so rubbery I had to spit out most of it. Absolutely no clue what the sauce was meant to be it almost solidified into a chunk of grease. The salmon was a bit better by comparison but still way below par. Honestly, the worse piece of lobster I’ve had. Imagine having that as your sole dinner entrée. Overall, very disappointing.

Just like dinner, this meal ended on a somewhat positive note with the second dessert from the dinner menu being brought. Again, a proper dessert and was very nice. The cheese plate was also decent but not too dissimilar from J’s offerings. In terms of food, desserts were the highlight, but I’m unsure how much of that factors in my expectation they were going to be more lounge scraps.  

All my disappointments disappeared when the PA came on announcing our descent. This time, the first time this flight, the announcement sounded exactly how it did all those years ago. No automated message, even the tone and every word sounded the same. Oh, how the nostalgia kicked in. For just a moment there, I felt like a little boy again.

After some gorgeous views of Refuge Cove, we landed at YVR around 10:00 am. One last look at my seat(s), goodbye for now!

Some big Asian names during our taxi

Goodbye for now!

I ran into a friend who rang me earlier at the check-in kiosks and helped him embark on CA’s return flight back to PEK. That was a first for me.