I booked Hainan airlines for my transpacific flight between Asia and the United States.
The reason?
It was offering low fares for the dates I needed to travel.
It is a 5-star airline.
I have not flown on hainan airlines before.
Now that I have ride on hainan airlines flights. I feel that it is a great 5 star airline. If the price is reasonable, I will fly with them again.
The flight attendants are fluent in English. It definitely helps if the passengers speak Chinese as well. The majority of passengers were Chinese as well.
I took the Hainan airlines A330 plane from Shenzhen to Beijing to Seattle and transfer to an Alaska airlines plane to San Francisco on the same ticket.
However, I need to check in my bags again at Beijing airport for my US bound flight. I was able to get the boarding pass for my Alaska airlines flight in Beijing airport.
The return ticket took me from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Virgin America plane and transfer to Hainan airlines to Chongqing then to Shenzhen.
On my return there were initially some problems with the ticket. The virgin america check-in staff at San Francisco initially informed me about some problems with the ticket. Fortunately, a call to Hainan airlines call centre in China settled that problem and I subsequently checked in smoothly. Though they were not able to issue my boarding pass to China, my bags were tagged all the way to Shenzhen.
The connection time between my Virgin america and hainan airlines flights was ~2 hours at Los Angeles airport. As my US domestic flight was delayed by ~30 minutes, the connection became even tighter. Add to the fact the connection involves a change in terminal. Fortunately, there was covered walkways airside so I need not leave airside at lax airport.
I wasn't sure whether I needed to re-check in at lax airport as I did not have my connecting boarding pass, and there was no transit desks in sight. So I took a chance and just headed for Hainan airlines departure gate. Anyway, check-in for my Hainan airlines flight have closed by that time as it was under 1 hour before departure.
The walking time between terminals took almost 30 minutes. I made it to Hainan airlines bus gate just in time for boarding. Surprisingly, Hainan airlines gate agent was able to check me in and issue the boarding pass at the gate, with under 30 minutes to departure, otherwise I don't know if I can even board the flight.
The unfortunate thing was that while I made it to my connecting flight, my bags didn't make it. I only realized it when I reached Chongqing airport. It appears that I wasn't the only passenger with misconnected bags.
The connection might have been too tight for my bags to transfer successfully. Till now, one month later, there is still no news on my bags. I have since written them off. In future, I will book flights with longer connecting times.
The reason?
It was offering low fares for the dates I needed to travel.
It is a 5-star airline.
I have not flown on hainan airlines before.
Now that I have ride on hainan airlines flights. I feel that it is a great 5 star airline. If the price is reasonable, I will fly with them again.
The flight attendants are fluent in English. It definitely helps if the passengers speak Chinese as well. The majority of passengers were Chinese as well.
I took the Hainan airlines A330 plane from Shenzhen to Beijing to Seattle and transfer to an Alaska airlines plane to San Francisco on the same ticket.
However, I need to check in my bags again at Beijing airport for my US bound flight. I was able to get the boarding pass for my Alaska airlines flight in Beijing airport.
The return ticket took me from San Francisco to Los Angeles on Virgin America plane and transfer to Hainan airlines to Chongqing then to Shenzhen.
On my return there were initially some problems with the ticket. The virgin america check-in staff at San Francisco initially informed me about some problems with the ticket. Fortunately, a call to Hainan airlines call centre in China settled that problem and I subsequently checked in smoothly. Though they were not able to issue my boarding pass to China, my bags were tagged all the way to Shenzhen.
The connection time between my Virgin america and hainan airlines flights was ~2 hours at Los Angeles airport. As my US domestic flight was delayed by ~30 minutes, the connection became even tighter. Add to the fact the connection involves a change in terminal. Fortunately, there was covered walkways airside so I need not leave airside at lax airport.
I wasn't sure whether I needed to re-check in at lax airport as I did not have my connecting boarding pass, and there was no transit desks in sight. So I took a chance and just headed for Hainan airlines departure gate. Anyway, check-in for my Hainan airlines flight have closed by that time as it was under 1 hour before departure.
The walking time between terminals took almost 30 minutes. I made it to Hainan airlines bus gate just in time for boarding. Surprisingly, Hainan airlines gate agent was able to check me in and issue the boarding pass at the gate, with under 30 minutes to departure, otherwise I don't know if I can even board the flight.
The unfortunate thing was that while I made it to my connecting flight, my bags didn't make it. I only realized it when I reached Chongqing airport. It appears that I wasn't the only passenger with misconnected bags.
The connection might have been too tight for my bags to transfer successfully. Till now, one month later, there is still no news on my bags. I have since written them off. In future, I will book flights with longer connecting times.
Big entertainment screens on Hainan airlines plane
Except for my baggage loss due to the short connecting times, hainan airlines is definitely worth to take for flights between Asia and the United States.
