China Southern (CZ) are fast becoming the most cost effective way of travelling internationally but there's still a way to go before they become a leader in long distance travel.
I have flown with CZ from Melbourne to London and most recently, Melbourne to Los Angeles - both trips via Guangzhou, quite possibly the crappiest airport next to Badar Seri Begawan.
It used to be that CZ layovers would be around 9-12 hours but they're getting shorter. This time we only had to hang around for 3 to 3.5 hours and the flights were punctual. That's still too long in Guangzhou though, especially at 530am when NOTHING IS OPEN!
When eventually something does open it's a complete rip off and they're pricks to you. They charged us $25 US for two pots of tea - in China? WTF?! When I queried whether that was a correct exchange the female staff member (at the cafe at the back of terminal) said if I didn't like it I could go somewhere else... After we had paid and at a time of the morning when NOTHING else was open.
The aircrafts are good. CZ have spent a lot of money upgrading them, we flew upstairs on the way back from Los Angeles. The in-flight entertainment is better than it was but a few more options would be nice. The TV show options only give you one or two episodes of a show.
The meal service is fine, some meals better than others of course. They give you fruit in each meal which is nice. The alcohol service is limited to beer or wine.
They try to sell you upgrades to business or first class but they're ridiculously expensive. I can't imagine there are that many sales from economy to business. It is essentially a budget airline, people who are on a budget usually need to stay on it. They're trying hard to not look like a budget airline though.
Cabin crew are mostly from China (it's a Chinese airline) and are very nice. Their English speaking ability is so-so for the most part but my Chinese is atrocious. Getting anything extra out of them is near impossible.
So while I'll fly with them again here's my main problem;
When we left Melbourne we checked in together for our honeymoon and even mentioned to the staff member that we were on our honeymoon. I cheekily asked for an upgrade and he said no like I'd asked for a kidney. We ended up being sat way apart on both flights, we hadn't realised until we were about to board. Again on the second flight, same thing. Both times they moved us but it was stressful and annoying. We didn't get any sort of apology either.
I emailed them during our trip to mention it and ask for it to please not happen on our return but no response. At LAX the girl at check in said you had to request to sit together. I've never heard of this.
They're good and getting better so if you're after the cheaper option they'll definitely be among the cheapest. They take you where you want to go albeit via a sh*tty airport that rips you off. read more
