Are their economy class any good? | China Airlines A350-900 | Brisbane - Auckland

I have flown China Airlines before from Auckland to Amsterdam on their Premium Economy product. I had a mostly good impression of that, but I wanted to give their economy product a try and see how they compare.

CHECK IN

Upon arriving at the airport 2.5 hours prior to departure, I had to repack my suitcase as my hand carry allowance was way over. Even though I tried my best to move the heaviest items to my checked luggage, I was still *allegedly* over the allowance but since I couldn't find anywhere on the manage booking portal to add baggage allowance (when online check in open), I took a look and see approach. China Airlines have a reduced extra baggage allowance price of USD$45 prepaid or USD$50 at the airport.

As the queue was moving very slowly, I was almost the last of the passengers to check in as well, by the time I got to the front which was about an hour since I joined the queue, there was only about an hour before departure. The check in staff didn't notice my 2 pieces of hand carry luggage and didn't ask me to weigh it either, which she did for the passengers prior, I'm under the assumption that it was due to the nearing the end of their check in time and she was under pressure to get all the passengers checked in. So I only check in the 1 piece and hand carry the rest of it.

Fortunately for me as well, the immigration and customs queue were relatively quiet so I managed to get through fairly quickly and not long after I got to the gate.

FLIGHT

The queuing system was a bit of a mess as they have 2 sides of queue on opposite ends, one for premium passengers and one for economy. We were boarded by zone and I was at Zone 3 which was boarded last along with Zone 4 and Zone 5. Also fortunately, none of the staff at the gate asked to weigh my carry on since most passengers have the approved sticker on their carry on piece but not on mine. I tried to act as naturally as possible and not raise any suspicion or get myself more attention.

I'm seated on the middle section on the aisle, as my fare class was the lower category I wasn't able to purchase a seat after booking, I remember being able to purchase one during my initial booking but I could be wrong, I am only relief that I didn't get stuck in the middle.

The seat is fairly standard, pretty much on par with any other full service carrier out there in the market. An infotainment screen is available on each seat, with a USB charging port located on the IFE system and a universal power outlet under the seat in front.

Wifi is also available on board, with a messaging only plan costing USD$3.25 up to USD$21.95 for a 24 hour usage, which is good value if you are flying long haul, anything in between doesn't seem to be worth the money unless you purchase the day pass even if your flight is less than that.

Not long after we get to the cruising altitude, meal service was in full swing. For the Oriental Vegetarian meal, there was potato, mushroom, corn and bell pepper all mixed together, and some beans and carrots on top of rice. It tasted great and I was still hungry so I could have gone for another round.

The IFE system is decent with a wide selection of movies, a mixture of Western and Asian options, although I didn't find many to be of my taste. The TV shows are mainly Asian options with some Western shows which feature some good ones but I've already watched those before. There are also a lot of music options to choose from which is fantastic as most airlines don't load a lot of music on their systems. They have some quality games however the issue I've encountered was the system unable to handle the load that the games will require causing it to crash every now and again, so while it is great to see that they have these great games, if the system cannot hold up then it is just annoying, but it is still playable, just expect some crashes every now and again.

CONCLUSION

Is China Airlines offering good value flights to cross the Tasman? Absolutely. They offer competitive fares, good food, comfortable seats, modern and plentiful entertainment options, and if you are a heavy packer, their baggage add on is super cheap in comparison to other airlines.

The only complaint I have is not knowing how to purchase their prepaid baggage, it wasn't obvious and maybe they stop offering when online check in started hence I wasn't able to see that option, but their promotion could have been clearer if that was the case, or a clearer instruction as to how people are able to purchase it, regardless it is still not a large difference in costs between prepaid or pay during check in which will be a win win for many people who pack a little too much last minute.

This offer seems to only be for trans-tasman which I assume is the lack of cargo as they might have unloaded a lot in Brisbane and the less fuel to fly will also allow them to carry more weight.

Video review coming soon