Is China Southern really that bad???

Our family will be moving to Perth in August and we are now looking at booking our flights. China Southern has come up the cheapest by a fair amount (over £500). It's a 24 hour flight with a 4hr 55min stop over in Guangzhou airport. We will have our 5 year old and 1 year old travelling with us.

I've done a bit of googling and it seems the airline itself has really good reviews but Guangzhou airport sounds a bit dire!!!

At at the moment the pro's are outweighing the cons........

1. A £500 saving on the flight.... Thinking that's a good amount towards a rental bond.

2. Short-ish flight time (compared to some of the 30hrs+ that keep popping up).

3. Nighttime flight so hopefully the children will sleep the majority of the 13 hr first leg.

4. Large economy baggage allowance plus extra for migrants (we aren't really shipping anything so we could possibly fit our whole lives into this allowance).

We gave Royal-Brunei a go a few years ago and were pleasantly surprised so are happy to try another airline that's not one of the major players.

The whole you get what you pay for comes to mind but a £500 difference is a lot of money to us.

Does anyone have any recent experience with China Southern that they wouldn't mind sharing with us? I have noticed that flight prices are going up fast so want to book ASAP and then we will have our target date so we can start getting organised!!!!

Thank you xxxx

I'm in your boat too. Looking at China Southern for Sept ( about £1300 for 4 of us) Was a bit worried about how cheap it was but am thinking its only 27 ish hours of our life!! Saves a huge amount as you say can pay for a bond! With a 4&1 yr old the flight won't be " enjoyable" anyway!!

I've flown China Southern a few times, and have booked them for a flight out to Melbourne in June.

If you're happy with KLM, you'll be happy with China Southern. They're not the swishest in the world, but they're comfortable and painless enough.

I haven't been through Guangzhou, but a friend has recently and he said it is the sort of place that's not too bad for a quick switch; however, he did suggest it wasn't the sort of place you'd want to have a ten hour wait at.

The PIL came and went just before christmas last year on CS and were happy.

A few books each, tv was also ok, one plane had a big screen for everyone, the other three had individual entertainment units.

Ultimately, its a bus

London - Guangzhou - Sydney likely to be a prestige route so liable to have their best planes.

We flew China Southern from Melbourne to Tokyo and they were fine.

It's not as comfortable as the more expensive airlines but the service is good and the food isn't terrible.

Not been China Southern but have flown other Chinese airlines. Basically, economy class is economy class. All major airlines fly either Boeings or Airbuses on longhaul routes, so no difference in equipment. I have found the less fashionable airlines tend to have more food and drink (except dry airlines) and better legroom - but worse in flight entertainment. You should make sure you get connecting flights all on the same ticket so if one plane is late, you are looked after for subsequent flights.

One of the main things to appreciate is that with the Chinese airlines is they don't deal with delays and cancellations very well, so 'if' in the unlikely event something did go wrong (which happens with any airline) you'd just need a bit more patience and relaxed attitude (especially at 3am after a long flight with a crying child in a foreign airport, with massive queues).

When travelling for leisure, we generally go for the cheaper airlines and make it an adventure, especially if we can secure a stopover.

My mother in law missed her connection home due to her first leg having to divert around the ashcloud. China Southern put her up in a hotel for 10 hours then flew her home via Amsterdam. It was an inconvenience but it was dealt with and she survived! I think the thing to think about is whether you are looking for an "experience" or just a way of getting from A to B. If you're in economy you'll be in a tight space for several hours no matter who you're flying with! Personally I would save my money. It's 24 hours out of your life and long haul flights are like childbirth- pretty painful while you're going through it but as soon as you land you forget the pain! You can have your "experience" when you arrive with the money you've saved!

My mother in law missed her connection home due to her first leg having to divert around the ashcloud. China Southern put her up in a hotel for 10 hours then flew her home via Amsterdam. It was an inconvenience but it was dealt with and she survived! I think the thing to think about is whether you are looking for an "experience" or just a way of getting from A to B. If you're in economy you'll be in a tight space for several hours no matter who you're flying with! Personally I would save my money. It's 24 hours out of your life and long haul flights are like childbirth- pretty painful while you're going through it but as soon as you land you forget the pain! You can have your "experience" when you arrive with the money you've saved!

Hahaha I have never forgotten the pain of childbirth!!! But we did book with China Southern so it's all go from here on in. Thank you for all of your replies. @Bound4Tassie just a warning that if you want the extra migrant baggage allowance you need to organise this through the airline by phone and pay for your ticket then. We booked online when their offices weren't open and so far they have said we can't get the extra allowance :-( xx

One thing i like about the Chinese airlines is that they're well-behaved passengers, there's none of this bedlam you get with the UK outbound Emirates flights and the passengers travelling to the sub-continent via Dubai. We gave up Emirates because of this, not because of the Dubai to Oz leg which are generally fantastic flights on the newest, biggest planes.

GZ is not a "bad" airport these days, they've spent a lot of money on it.

The plane seats are a bit hard though, to suit the Chinese bottom.

One thing i like about the Chinese airlines is that they're well-behaved passengers...

Err, nope.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/18/chinese-passenger-opens-plane-door-for-fresh-air

http://www.peanutsorpretzels.com/bad-airline-passengers/

http://chinatravelgo.com/chinese-the-worlds-worst-airplane-passengers/

Err, nope.

It was like this everywhere I went in China.

I went to a pre-game function at the MCG a couple of years ago where China Southern were announced as major sponsors of my football club (Melbourne AFL). I got to meet some of the executives of the airline and was very impressed with their professionalism, drive and ambition to make China Southern a great airline. I certainly wouldn't hesitate in using them.

Do they have German pilots or co-pilots?

I went to a pre-game function at the MCG a couple of years ago where China Southern were announced as major sponsors of my football club (Melbourne AFL). I got to meet some of the executives of the airline and was very impressed with their professionalism, drive and ambition to make China Southern a great airline. I certainly wouldn't hesitate in using them.

We almost booked with them last week as they were coming up as the cheapest but the long wait in Guanz??? was a game changer for us. But other than that after reading and asking about them then all was OK, maybe next time and have 2 or 3 days in China as an add on.

The plane seats are a bit hard though, to suit the Chinese bottom.

That made me chuckle!

What exactly does it mean? Is the regulation Chinese posterior solid like a plank of wood? Or soft like a marshmallow? :wink:

The reason I ask is that I do find certain types of seats quite uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods of time, following some significant weight-loss in recent years. I no longer have the self-made marshmallow cushion. :smile:

Do they have German pilots or co-pilots?

Mixed, wide variety of nationalities including British, Australian, American, European, Asian and of course Chinese.

Mixed, wide variety of nationalities including British, Australian, American, European, Asian and of course Chinese.

I think you missed the joke @CaptainR.

I think you missed the joke @CaptainR.

Maybe he is German?:rolleyes:

I flew London-Sydney via Ghangzhou (and Paris) just last Friday/Saturday for the same reasons i.e. it was cheap, reasonably fast and reasonably timed.

Both stop overs were just a touch over 2 hours, Paris was fine as was the Ghangzhou stop-over. In both cases there was just enough time for a relaxed arrival, quick coffee and croissant and walk up to the next gate just before it opened.

My bags we're checked-in from Heathrow all the way to Sydney but Heathrow could only provide boarding cards as far as Ghangzhou but that was no problem either as the entrance to the international transit lounge was effectively a combined passport control and check-in so I had the usual choice of aisle v window and meals when getting my boarding card for the last leg.

The Ghangzhou international transit lounge was just fine; nothing to write home about because it did everything perfectly adequately, had just about enough of what you needed and there was nothing to complain about other than the cafe that must have heated the croissants in the dumpling steamer to get them that soggy.

Seating was standard, the films on the Paris-Ghangzhou leg must all have been at least a month old but the one's on the Ghangzhou-Sydney leg were all bang up to date. The fit was seat-back screens but the controllers were a bit basic. They were fixed into the side of the seat/arm rest so were a bit difficult to operate although on the Ghangzhou-Sydney leg there were touch-screen controls too.

The cabin-crew were reasonably good; again nothing good or bad to say about them. Their English was a but limited but much better than my Chinese :-)

I'd give them about 7 out of 10; no frills but good value for money.

I think you missed the joke @CaptainR.

Haha sorry, should engage humour before posting.

That made me chuckle!

What exactly does it mean? Is the regulation Chinese posterior solid like a plank of wood? Or soft like a marshmallow? :wink:

The reason I ask is that I do find certain types of seats quite uncomfortable to sit on for extended periods of time, following some significant weight-loss in recent years. I no longer have the self-made marshmallow cushion. :smile:

They've developed muscle where we westerners haven't...:-)

They sit in hard seats, and they sleep in very hard beds. When my mum and dad go to GZ to stay at my brothers, he has to set them up an airbed because they're in agony sleeping on basically a plywood board with a thin mattress roll over it.

On the other hand, my brother's wife and son can happily go to sleep on a wooden board or bench. They don't have many back problems over there, it's very good for your alignment if you're used to it.

Big brand hotels advertise "euro mattresses" for overseas travellers. Local hotels can be quite different if they don't specify "soft bed".

The plane seats got me in the coxic, right at the base of the spine which was taking all the pressure...it's numbing after about 5 hours. Couple of nurofen sorts you out...

Err, nope.

 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/18/chinese-passenger-opens-plane-door-for-fresh-air

 

http://www.peanutsorpretzels.com/bad-airline-passengers/

 

http://chinatravelgo.com/chinese-the-worlds-worst-airplane-passengers/

It depends on the travellers, it's still a very new experience for a lot of Chinese, especially now they've discovered charter flights and package holidays from China to other Asian destinations.

In Thailand once a barman was telling me how they classified other Asian travellers by their actions...and it's basically linked to how long the people have been given freedom. Japan was at the top for affluence and politeness, Korea was bottom by a mile. The barman laughingly punched his fist into his palm when describing them. There were no Chinese holidaymakers then, they were not allowed out to travel anywhere so didn't exist.

Korea had just become affluent and the population had started travelling en-masse, similar to what the Chinese are now doing.

An airport coach pulled up at our hotel one night when everyone was lounging around after dinner, just enjoying the peace, the crickets and the Thai ambience..

These Koreans bolted off this coach like they'd been shot from a cannon, running and screaming; mums, dads, grandparents, kids altogether. Whisky and cigarettes everywhere. They ignored check-in and their bags.......ran straight through the hotel and jumped in the swimming pool with their clothes on, about 50 of them. The sunbeds had been lined up for the next day; all the cushions and mattresses went in the water, they thought they were pool toys...in about 3 minutes the place was in total uproar.

The Thai's were running round trying to scold them but the Korean's didn't understand a word of Thai or English....they were happily smiling at everybody, shaking hands and offering you cigarettes or a swig of whisky from the bottle.

Lovely people, but completely naive and bonkers.

Me and the missus couldn't stop laughing, it was like discovering a new specie.