Our journey today begins at Terminal 3 of São Paulo-Guarulhos International Airport.
We couldn't check-in online or via the Air China app and kept getting the above error message.
So we queued up in the Economy Class check-in line, which saw us wait for about 10 minutes. Not too bad in my opinion.
We were told that because of our British passport, this was the reason it wouldn't let us check-in. Our details had to be verified manually and then our bags were tagged.
We also received a further paper boarding pass each.
We were headed to the Espaço Banco Safra lounge again but they wouldn't allow us access as we were too early.
We were instead directed to the W 5th Avenue Lounge which carries the American Express branding. This somewhat filled me with hope…
That hope was short lived!
Although modern and air-conditioned, the space is incredibly cramped and the food and drink offering is poor. I'd say best avoided unless you're in desperate need of a bottle of water!
Flying us all the way back to Madrid-Barajas today is this Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, which joined Air China's fleet in May 2016.
Boarding is done by row numbers and not by group numbers.
This did somewhat give the impression of a bit more order!
And after a short wait, we were down the airbridge to board our flight.
As simple as Air China's livery is, I do like the traditional writing down the side. It's always great to see an airline flaunt it's culture, and rightly so!
Economy class on Air China's 787-9 is in a 3/3/3 seating configuration.
And here are our seats for the journey, 45A and 45B, the window and middle seat.
On our seats were an Air China branded pillow and blanket.
The IFE displayed this striking red and gold welcome message.
But… the legroom did feel quite cramped.
There were 'blobs' of sauce from the previous occupant splattered all over the overhead panel.
And the tray table was badly stained, too. Certain room for improvement needed on the cleaning front!
As we pushed back, we got to see Air China's famous safety video featuring the animated panda! Cute.
We then taxiied out to the runway…
…and were airborne out of São Paulo! Thanks Brazil, it's been a blast.
The lights were quickly changed into 'meal mode' and the crew also began automatically dimming all passenger windows in economy. It was a little past midday. Not a good idea in my experience!
Fortuitously though, there was some control still allowed so we brightened ours again. This seemed to spark a chain reaction.
We were served drinks first, a basic choice of fruit juices, sodas poured from large bottles or still water. There was no alcohol available on our flight.
The meal service began shortly afterward with the starter compromising of a pre-packaged and very stale croissant.
This came with President butter and jam.
There was also a fig yoghurt and a small fruit salad, which was completely frozen!
The husband had the noodles with what can only be described as a sauce that smelt truly rancid. It really did smell as if something had gone off.
And little old me got lumbered with the omelette. Served alongside scrambled eggs, diced sausage and ham and this mystery sauce which was essentially slightly thickened water and food colouring.
Even a good vet couldn't save the omelette. It was an appalling meal.
I then dug around on Air China's IFE and whilst there were plenty of different films and TV shows on offer, there was very little from a Western catalogue. It doesn't really bother me but just something to consider.
The headphones however, were like something out of the 1990's and really poor quality.
The toilets were, on the whole, pretty clean.
I also love the little panda air fresheners. These were funky!
The cabin crew then decided to dim the windows fully, on an eastbound daytime flight which, was very good for the circadian rhythm and would have resulted in minimal jet lag! Frustrating. Someone make it make sense?
Fortunately, we'd been given the heads up about the possible poor catering from a close friend. She had ordered a vegetarian meal on an CA flight a few weeks prior to ours and they had simply forgotten to load it. She was given a side salad, a fruit salad, and four bread rolls and butter on a 10+ hour flight.
So, the husbands last minute snack dash before boarding really came in handy!
There were however, some lovely views out the window which kept me entertained.
And with about two and a half hours of the flight left remaining was when the sun began to set.
Further drinks were served, I opted for a Coke Zero this time and seemed to get just half a cup!
At the 2 hour to landing into Madrid mark was then the second food service began. Hold your breath!
The starter was a chickpea and potato salad. Bland and boring.
We also received a bread roll with President butter.
My husband had his meal and said it was average, but at least edible. This was a fish curry with carrots, courgettes and boiled rice.
I got the chicken dish which was extremely overpowered with salt. It was sweet and salty but just far too much for me. The rice was also very floury. Let's just say the meal gods didn't side with me on this flight one bit!
Dessert however, was a saviour! This dulce de leche mousse. It doesn't look much but it was really tasty.
As the seatbelt sign was illuminated the crew make a PA and all bow in the aisles to all passengers. A nice touch.
But, this was a real shocker of a flight. If you have an upcoming Air China flight, pack plenty of snacks and don't expect too much. That's probably the best advice I can give you!
