mlin32

I recently did a trip on CI from AMS-TPE in both Premium Economy (eastbound) and Business (westbound), and would like to share a couple thoughts and photos to help those who might be flying CI in the future.

Premium Economy : départ 11h from AMS, arr 05h15 (+1). Appareil : Airbus A350.


extérieur à AMS

The regular queue for baggage drop was quite long, but with Skypriority through my status with AF/KLM, the SP line was short. Note that the check-in is handled by KLM staff at AMS using CI counters, and also online check-in done using the KLM website.

On board : Overall quite decent for a 12h daytime flight. The smaller cabin adds privacy, and the W seats are unusually generous in the industry given the 2-3-2 layout on the A350. The extra width and pitch is appreciated, and the A350 is a lovely bird to fly on in general. Some shell seats are unconfortable (like those on the older AF aircraft ), but I found the ones on CI to be acceptable. There is a footrest from the seat in front, and also adjustable lower thigh rest. The only slight annoyance was the airbag seatbelt for the W seats.




The W main meals are the same as those in Y. However, W meals include a side salade/starter that Y does not seem to get. You can also previsualise/order the main meal online before the flight. I seem to have lost my photo of the main lunch served after take-off, but included the breakfast served before landing. Taste and quantity was fine in all respects, and there are chinese crackers available in the galley, along with a sandwich snack served mid-flight.

P'tit déj

carte W



Service was correct, but slow. The attendants were kind, on the condition you spoke chinese. I do, but my impression was they were a bit more reserved towards the western clientele, perhaps due to less fluency in English. In general, this is biggest drawback compared to other regional carriers like Cathay (CX).

Upon arrival at Terminal 1 a whopping 45mn early, contrôle passports was not too long, although we were the first of the ex-EU flights to arrive. Baggages delivered quickly. From desmbarkation to foot outside the terminal was 30mn.

Return : Business Class. Départ 22h40, arr 08:00.

Check-in process at T1 was quick, with hardly any queue in the SP/Business lanes. Automated contrôle passports and security quick, so headed to the Business Lounge. The lounge was decent and quiet at night, but lacked windows/natural light, and I couldn't find any champagne. A lot of the stores at T1 never seemed to have reopened after Covid, and overall the terminal is showing its age.

On board, the cabin manager and attendant introduced themselves nicely. Seat is pretty standard for what you find in the industry, but the CI-specific touches add character.


siège J


lampe

There was a boarding drink served, some sort of sweet fruit drink. We boarded and pushed back a bit behind schedule, no big deal. Once in the air, the apéro and drinks were served.

Santé !


amuse-bouche


salade/apéro

I had pre-ordered online the vegetarian offering, as CI seems to tout its Michelin-starred cuisine for this particular offering on flights on départ from Taoyuan. Plus, on such a late flight, I didn't want another heavy meal before resting.


soupe


plat principal


dessert

Overall, the taste and presentation of dinner was good. However, the service was far too slow. It took over 1h30 after take-off to complete dinner service, and on a late night flight, the priority should be to allow passengers to maximise sleep. For whatever reason, it took longer to serve my pre-ordered meal than the others. But for the others, I overheard they already ran out of one of the meal choices- a bit disappointing for J departing from its home base airport.

It was already past 01h15 local time before I could settle in for sleep. Despite the choppy ride, I was able to get a sold 6h of sleep. When I woke up, was feeling a bit peckish, so went and asked for a snack. There was a far-too-heavy chinese snack offering, or a mini-burger, so I settled for the later. Took 10mn for them to heat it up......but it was good.


snack

After the snack, rested for another hour, then woke up and looked at the sunrise outside the window, walked around a bit, settled in for a TV series.

When breakfast came to be served about 1h30 before arrival, I ordered a Nespresso café, which again, took longer than all the other choices to be served (why ?).

Café

For the breakfast, I had done the pre-order of the Asian selection- regretted this even before stepping on the plane as it was far too heavy and filling for my preferences, but didn't want to be fussy and make them change it to the western one.


p'tit-déj asiatique

After the breakfast, items were collected and we landed at Amsterdam right around schedule. Overall, getting 7h of sleep on a 15h flight is good, and despite limited movie/entertainment options, was able to find something worth watching for the remaining flight time. So despite the slow service, a good flight.

And for those who might ask : no mask enforcement. I wore it when boarding, and when moving around the cabine, left it off all other times.

Résume :

• Attendants friendly, well-intentioned if you speak chinese/or hokkien taiwanese. English still a weak point; forget trying to use nederlands.
• Service slow and efficient. Take a look and learn from CX.
• Hard product correct, at least on the A350
• You won't go hungry. But the chinese can't do bread correctly, no matter what class of service.
• Opportunistic pricing reflects the strong demand, at least ex-EU. Load on both in and outbound high: J was full, PE and Y >90%)

Would I take them again ? Not sure. As a ST flier, I tend to stick to ST airlines, but once mainland flight schedules resume and prices come back to reality, I might pay a visit to the mainland first, and then just hop over to the Taiwan region for the familial part of trip. But from an objective standpoint, CI offers a solid hard product and decent soft product (if slow). Overall rating : 3,5/5 points.

chichow

I might pay a visit to the mainland first,

If you are discussing service standards are you also looking at Mainland carriers? or KLM?

I do think that a CI 350 is better than a CI 777 or EVA 777. The A350 is my favorite mainstream (not A380) plane from a passenger perspective all other things being equal.

mlin32

I haven't flown with mainland carriers in over a decade. However, as I also intend to visit the mainland once schedules and prices to/from Europe normalise, I would strongly consider taking one of them later this year on my next trip, as the flight time savings is significant (2-3h westbound). Likely the service won't be as good as CI or BR, but I'm accustomed to AF and my last trip to Asia was on CX (from EWR). Due to my FF programme, I tend to fly Skyteam so no BR for me.

And agreed, the A350 is a great appareil to fly on ; I repositioned for the CI flight to take it (FRA is served by a 77W) and didn't regret it at all.

coolfish1103

I think it would have been better if you just skipped the first meal (but am unsure if you can get proper sleep if others are eating).

CI already serves a slightly less formal service meal for red-eye, but not all the customers like reduced service meals so it's not to the standard of the Japanese carriers.

Mainland carrier services probably a notch down but the time saving may be worth it.

Yes, 359 is the best plane for CI in both Business and Premium Economy. The 2-3-2 layout for Premium Economy is industry leading.

Mama

I will add that on my PE flight pre-Covid, the FA served the mid flight sandwiche, a warm croissant ham and cheese sandwich, but did't give out napkins. It was messy.

sfvoyage

Thank you for this report. I'm a CI newbie and am researching its PE product for SFO-TPE.

My main criterion is seat recline, as that determines whether I'll be able to get some sleep in the air. Does anyone know the degree of recline for PE on this route?

Also, I've had bad experiences before with hard shell seats on other airlines in Y (not PE); mainly I felt as if I was still upright even while reclined as fully as possible, which wasn't much to begin with, to be fair. You mentioned that you found the seat recline acceptable: did the hard-shell seat give you the same level of comfort as a regular reclining seat when fully reclined?

coolfish1103

129 degrees according to CI website.

.

Mama

CI's PE seats are indeed "hard shell" seats. The seats slide forward (reducing your seat pitch) when they "recline".

mlin32

The seats slide forward, they do not recline. So your leg space gets reduced. This is somewhat compensated between using the legrest and adjustable thigh support, but no traditional "recline" in the sense you get in a normal Y seat.

Whether you can sleep on these types of fixed-shell seats is something only you can determine. I had a day flight- départ 11h local time with a 12h flight, so just a nap was sufficient and all I wanted. But honestly, to get sleep, you need to bump up to J and the flat bed- as is often the case.

sfvoyage

Thanks for the info & input. Does the headrest itself recline 129 degrees along with the seatback, so that your full upper body (including your head) is in alignment when reclined? The other scenario is that the seatback reclines 129 degrees but the headrest itself doesn't recline at all or as much, which would make it much less comfortable (and I think was the case for me seating in a hard shell Y seat some years back, can't remember the airline though).

I will also search on youtube for any videos showing the PE seat in full recline.

mlin32

The best way to describe it would be : the headrest doesn't tilt back, rather the the seat slouches/slides forward. Imagine sitting on a chair, and then sliding your bottom forward.

The first case you describe is absolutely not what happens with a fixed shell seat; including that of CI.

It's not as bad as the 'old' fixed-shells found on say, Air France. But it is absolutely not a substitute for J, rather a more confortable Y seat.

sfvoyage

I found a visual on youtube: at around the 3:46 time stamp

It looks like the headrest slides down and juts out a little bit, so at least it doesn't remain totally vertical. Not as good as a regular reclining seat. And, yes, of course, this is no substitute for J seats.

potfish

Anyone any experience with the front row of Premium Economy? There is a seat available on my upcoming flight. I am not a fan of the slouch seats but it's been a while (10+ years on Cathay). I was wondering if the chopping into your own legroom is a non-issue in the front row?
Edit: it's a 2-4-2 777 if that makes any difference.

GordonMacPherson

I wouldnt recommend any mainland flights. Have you not read about what happened on United a few years ago?
I'm surprised anyone wants a rushed service for a 15 hour flight. Given food doesnt get served until maybe 30 minutes after takeoff, 1.5 hours is pretty quick for dinner service.
If you want to sleep after boarding, shouldnt you have eaten in the lounge as you were flying business?

AfterHour

Because business class onboard food is always better than the business class lounge where all ST elite plus members and some credit card holders.