China Southern Airlines

User Review(s)

The most miserable flying experience of my life Depart from: Guilin, China   To: Shanghai, CHina - On date: 09/Feb/2012 - Flight Type: Business Class Flew business class HK-Guilin-Shanghai in September 2011. It was the most miserable flying experience of my life. Among the low-lights: a couple of kgs excess baggage that was waived through HK became led to 5-star confrontation in Guilin. Guilin "business lounge is a grubby, noisy hole-in-the-wall former shop with no front wall. I tasted the in-flight snack and was almost ill; there was no alternative suitable to a western palate. I could go on but you get the picture. I will never fly this decrepit, slovenly joke of an airline again. You have been warned.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Will not be flying China Southern again! Depart from: Hanoi   To: Sydney - On date: 14/Jan/2012 - Flight Type: Economy Recently flew from Hanoi to Sydney via Guangzhou airport. While we were meant to only have a 3 hour stop over in Guangzhou, our flight was changed and we were stuck in Guangzhou airport for 10 hours! I was disgusted that when we asked if we were able to use the airline lounge due to the change in our flight (and there were 10 long hours ahead of us) we were told no. The China Southern staff were unsympathetic, unhelpful and rude. A very frustrating experience and I will not fly with this airline again.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Worst Airline Depart from: Paris   To: Sydney - On date: 12/Jan/2012 - Flight Type: Economy Cheap and nasty! My girlfriend and I flew Paris-Sydney, scheduled to leave Paris Thursday morning and get in to Sydney Friday night. We didn't get there until Sunday night. We checked in for our flight on Thursday morning (around 10am) but before the plane could take off we were informed over the loudspeaker that there was a minor technical fault, that the engineers were working on it, and that it would take about 1.5 hours to fix. Four hours later (around 2pm), after very little communication, we were asked to leave the plane as it was not fit to fly. We then proceeded to the Air France counter (they operate on behalf of China Southern out of Paris) where the China Southern rep was barking instructions at the Air France staff. We were told to wait while they sorted out all of the Chinese passengers first - this took around 2 hours. We then stood in a queue that wasn't moving for the next 6 hours, with almost no communication from the airline staff. People were getting pretty angry by this stage. And hungry/thirsty. This section of the airport had no access to anywhere to buy food or water, and if we left and went into the main part of the airport we couldn't get back (without a valid boarding pass). I pointed this out to one of the Air France staff and eventually they brought us some bottles of water and sandwiches (about 9pm by that stage, and I can't believe we had to ask!!). Eventually they told us that they had fixed the plane and that we would be put on that the next day. They organised hotels for us with strict instructions that we needed to be back at the airport by 6:30am. Given that by the time we got to the hotel it was about midnight, we got a maximum of 4.5 hours sleep. We arrived by 6:30am the next morning (as instructed) and were told by the Air France staff that they couldn't do anything until the China Southern rep showed up. He didn't bother arriving until nearly 7am. After four more hours in a queue we were issued boarding passes to Guanghzou and told that our boarding passes for our connecting flights would be handed to us once we got to Guanghzou. We protested for a little while demanding that our boarding passes be issued all together but eventually conceded and got on the plane. The flight arrived at 5:30am local time and we were greeted by China Southern representatives who handed us a document stating that we would be compensated by a payment equivalent to about $35 (however, a friend of ours who can read Chinese had a look at the fine print, and it turns out the money needs to be paid into a Chinese bank account - excellent!). We were then lead to the transfer desk where we lined up for another 2 hours before being told that the connecting flight we had been promised (3 hour layover) was fully booked and that we would have to wait until 8:30pm for the next one. And we were the lucky ones - those needing connecting flights to Brisbane were told that they had to wait until 10pm the next evening! The staff here were some of the rudest I have ever come across in customer service in any industry. Their attitude was that we were the ones inconveniencing them - there was no sympathy, and there was plenty of contempt for us (sorry for being so annoying!). After getting quite angry they eventually said that they would book us in to a hotel but that because we were staying in China longer than 12 hours we would need to apply for a tourist Visa to be able to leave the airport and go to the hotel. By this stage we were fairly short on trust that they would actually get us back to the airport in time and so most of us declined and set up camp in the airport. We asked if they could put us up in their VIP lounge while we waited and they refused because we hadn't "paid for business class". I would have thought it was the least they could have done. We asked if they could at least provide us with food/drink for the day and they refused that as well. During these exchanges, two of the staff members had the nerve to get angry at US! When we eventually got on the plane that evening there were no entertainment units in the seats, and the one at the front of our part of the cabin wasn't tuned in. The staff on the flight were equally rude and unhelpful. I would never fly this airline again. The worst part of it all was the complete lack of concern and/or empathy from the staff, who treated us like dirt.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Great Service Depart from: Perth   To: Qingdao - On date: 02/Jan/2012 - Flight Type: Economy This airline was awesome! They were value for money and the service was fantastic. The language barrier is a little difficult but they are a chinese airline! It's all part of experiencing a new culture. In flight entertainment was in chinese, but again - all part of experiencing something new. The staff were awesome and very friendly and polite and were fantastic with my kids. The flights were punctual, the plane and amenities were very clean and the whole experience was awesome. Customer service via email prior to the flight (ie: booking kids meals and seat arrangements) was prompt and efficient. Would recommend this airline to anyone.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Terrible service. Terrible food. Depart from: Melbourne   To: Guangzhou - On date: 09/Dec/2011 - Flight Type: Economy One bulk screen for a 9 hour flight playing only advertisements claiming scheduled movies which were never played. Stewardess were unprofessional and clearly prefered chatting at the back of cabin than doing their job. Food was THROWN at my table. completely unacceptable for a $1300 flight. Flight was extremely turbulent and captain never once talked to or assured us. Plane stopped 1m away from airport tunnel and had to be TOWED. SERIOUSLY??!! NEVER AGAIN.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
CSA should be taken off the grid! Depart from: Sydney   To: Amsterdam - On date: 05/Dec/2011 - Flight Type: Economy I've flown with many airlines, from airlines Singapore Airlines to domestic Indonesian airlines that are on the list to be banned. However NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE A ENCOUNTERED AN AIRLINE LIKE CSA. They are crazy! When you press on the button for somebody to come to you, they just turn it off from the back! The food is disgusting and full with fat and funny things inside. The second time they came with food I said no i don't want it. On my return flight i'll just buy some food from the airport instead and bring it to the plane. It was just so disgusting you just can't imagine! I almost missed my flight in Guangzhou because the guy at the security check every time sent me away because of being "too early". My chair in the plane was fucked from the beginning and it took me asking 5 or 6 stewards and a lot of promises from their side to get me another seat. And this was after take off, so how how the importance of putting your seat up straight then?? When I bought the ticket I said that i wanted to have a muslim meal because i don't like pork and chinese love pork. During the flight muslim meals however weren't available! The cabin crew are rude and easily become angry if you don't understand their chinese english. From Sydney to Guangzhou there wasn't an inflight computer system but instead movies that were played in a loop. From the 13 channels only 3 working though. Never ever again, i learned my lesson!	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
China Southern Depart from: Sydney   To: Tai Yuan - On date: 12/Nov/2011 - Flight Type: Economy I flew from Sydney to Tai Yuan. After selecting CZ for the good connection, they cancelled the return domestic flight CZ3530 at 16.00 rebooked me on the 11.30 flight which left me waiting in CAN for more than 7 hours. Check-in in Sydney and return was efficient and unproblematic, with bags checked through all the way to the final destination. Long haul 777-200 and Airbus 330-300 had very uncomfortable seats (not insulated against engine vibrations, no headrests). Substandard IFE. Flight attendants professional, food fair. Bag damaged on return flight. Transfer and Immigration in CAN very fast, friendly and professional.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
will never use china southern airline anymore Depart from: 9/9/2011   To: 10/1/2011 - On date: 08/Sep/2011 - Flight Type: Economy The worst airline ever. Please don't take china southern airline. I have a flight from hongkong to guangzhou. I am a bit late for My flight to hongkong from beijing by air china because I went to the wrong terminal. They gave me another flight at 3:30 for free. However, this is to late for my flight to melbourne. So, I decided to change my flight to melbourne. They only have one flight to melbourne each day. So, I changed the flight. However, this stupid airline charge me an arms and legs. Half the price of hongkong to melbourne direct flight. They actually let me to fly direct from guangzhou to melbourne. From my experience, i cannot trust china southern's employee because last time they told me that I will get a hotel voucher in guangzhou because my transit took me more than 10 hours and I cannot get off at guangzhou. However, in guangzhou I didn't get anything but painful wait. So. I dont want to take the risk of not allowing me to take flight from guangzhou. Besides, I have to go to terminal 2 to change my flight to guangzhou instead of hongkong. I am afraid I will miss my flight. Therefore, I took their change flight fee which is ridiculuously expensive. I swear I will never flew with this airline anymore.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Average but pleasent Depart from: Seoul Incheon   To: Dubai - On date: 06/Aug/2011 - Flight Type: Economy Nice flight from ICN-DXB via CAN. Eventhough flight was delayed for 30 minutes from ICN, but it arrived on time at CAN and departed on timr for DXB. Flight was average but cabin crew was helpful and pleasant.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Flight delay accommodation arrangement Depart from: Chengdu, China   To: Penang, Malaysia - On date: 23/Jul/2011 - Flight Type: Economy BAD EXPERINCE!!!! My flight is from Chengdu, transit in Guangzhou then fly to Penang, Malaysia. So happen due to bad weather, flight was delayed for 5 hours from Chengdu. So by the time i reach Guangzhou, i have missed the flight to Penang.I can understand on the delay coz weather changes is out of our control. So they arrange accommodation in one of the hotel in Guangzhou. And the arrangement is SUCKS! i have to stay with a stranger! and the hotel and airline are not responsible for any losses of property, in case it happen. IT'S ALL AT MY OWN RISKS!!! I asked them, how sure are they that i am not taking a risk by staying with a stranger and their answer is "AWESOME"! They said, it's out of their control and they are not giving any guarantee or responsible of those concerns. In order not to take the risk, i paid RMB100 in order for me to get a single room. The arrangement includes breakfast and lunch! I dare not put any expectation on their meals coz foresee it will be TERRIBLE too! With this experience, i WILL NEVER NEVER travel with this airline any more!	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Bad experience Depart from: Hangzhou   To: Auckland - On date: 17/Jul/2011 - Flight Type: Business Class Despite reconfirming my flight Hangzhou to Auckand, we were informed at Hangzhou that my connecting flight to Guangzhou had been cancelled. No reason was given. I was re-booked on a later Southern China to Guangzhou which was then nearly two hours late so that I missed my flight to Auckland. It was after midnight and I was taken to a seedy guest house near the Guangzhou airport for the night. My return trip to Auckland took 48 hours and was a horrible experience for me and a stressful time for my friends in China. China Southern has not even responded with a "sorry" despite several communications about this matter.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
Worst airline in the world. Depart from: Kathmandu   To: Sydney - On date: 23/Jun/2011 - Flight Type: Economy Non-responsive ground staffs. Horrible experience. Never fly with China Southern. It is the worst airline in the world	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
China Southern Beware!! Depart from: Sichuan   To: Sydney - On date: 19/Jun/2011 - Flight Type: Economy My wife recently travelled internationally with China Southern. They mixed up her flight, left her waiting for the plane in China, only to tell her that she missed her flight. They then falsely recorded that she was a 'no show' (in their own words) and charged us AU$300 for the next ticket! They were basically covering up for their mistakes and making us pay. When my wife argued that they were wrong and it was all on airport security video, they told her to call the police if she dared! As well, after many calls about the 'free hotel' overnight inbetween interconnecting flights, they hadn't booked it even 12 hours before the flight! As a precaution from this experience we had to pay to book our own hotels. I've heard of other reviews where people had to share the hotel room with strangers because of China Southern, and after this I knew ANYTHING was possible. That's the LAST time we'll be using the service of China Southern. Cheap is expensive as they say. EVERYONE BEWARE!	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
CSA allows flagrant abuse of reasonable carry-on cabin baggage limits Depart from: BNE   To: SHE - On date: 14/Apr/2011 - Flight Type: Economy Cabin staff coolly polite - seems a characteristic of young Chinese. The beer was warm and when I mentioned this I was offered ice. (!) Better training required there. My biggest gripe was that CSA check-in staff allowed carry-on baggage far in excess of usual limit set by most airlines. I saw some pax struggling aboard with 2 small suitcases EACH plus hand luggage, which slowed down boarding & sometimes made it hard to find adequate overhead locker space near your seat. This flagrant abuse of accepted 'reasonable' carry-on baggage limits also caused serious delays in disembarkation. At Guangzhou from time aircraft stopped on apron to when we reached Arrivals Hall in shuttle buses took fully one HOUR. Airbus A320 & A330 aircraft were clean and appeared well-maintained.	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:
The Worst Airline I have ever flown Depart from: Melbourne   To: New Delhi - On date: 19/Jan/2011 - Flight Type: Economy We flew sydney to Delhi return. The toilets were Filthy !! ( not cleaned for the whole trip) thats on all 4 flights I had with them. Flight cancelled in China to India when we were at the gate - took over 2 & 1/2hours to find out what alternatives were being made - Told by airline representatives"NOT MY PROBLEM" - On the way back from India to Aust, they told us in China that we did not have a ticket to Australia and we were to go back to India. Yet in India our bags were booked all the way through, they confirmed we were booked all the way through. Again told by the airline representatives "NOT MY PROBLEM - you call your agent" so we did, and the Aust agent confirmed we were booked all the way through. The agent in Aust called the supervisor in China, the supervisor just said the computer says they have no flights and hung up on our agent in Australia. Then when 6 other people had the same problem, they worked to fix it. It took over 2 hours to fix... so imagine being in China being told for over 2 hours you have no flight and they do not want to help they just tell you to step aside as it is "not their problem" My sister in law was booked to fly Delhi - Sydney. Once she arrived in China they told her the flight China to Sydney was cancelled. They told her she could wait until the next day ( but they could not confirm a time) or she could get on the flight to Melbourne. She asked who would then pay for her to get Melb to Syd, they said she would have to pay for this domestic flight and then told her they did not care if she got on the plane or stayed in China. I have flown internationally regularly for work for over 15 years. This is the worst airline I have ever come across. THEY ARE JUST NOT WORTH IT!!!	Checkin:   Entertainment:   Amenities:   Service:   Seat:   Food:   Punctuality:   Safety:

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