China Airlines
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Terrible Air China Service
On December 6, I had a business class ticket for a flight from Beijing to London (CA 937), departing at 14:30. I arrived at the airport 2 hours prior and waited in the business lounge before going to the gate. The printed boarding time on my ticket was 14:00, and I arrived at the gate just before quarter past the hour to avoid the crowd-up at the gate (E53). Instead, I found the gate completely empty with no Air China representative. I went to the nearest gate with China Air, but they were busy boarding another flight, so I went back to E53, but still no one. The PEK airport is big, and there is not a good presence of China Air customer service, which is surprising considering it is China’s national airlines and Beijing is the capital. After running around to locate assistance, I was told that I was too late and would need to take another flight the next morning at an additional cost of $800 USD (if I recall correctly). China Air told me that as printed on the bottom of the ticket in light grey, “Gates Closed 15 Minutes Before Departure.” However, the ticket, which I still have, only had boarding time and no departure time. It is ludicrous that for a transnational flight over 10 hours, to provide only 15 minutes for boarding. But I was there within the boarding time, for which China Air had me wait over an hour only to show me a CCTV picture of me in front of the empty gate at 14:17. I asked to see a picture of the gate earlier, but they did not comply. But even at 14:17, it is pathetic that they would use 2 minutes as justification for bumping a business-paying passenger (or anyone) from the flight. China Air did not offer to pay for my accommodation, and as already mentioned, instead they wanted me to pay an additional amount that I recall as $800 or so, but do not remember because I booked myself another flight from via Shanghai back to London myself, costing an additional $400. It is worth noting, and I took a picture of it, at the gate in Shanghai, passengers were left standing there well past the 15 minutes boarding provided. It is a travesty that Air China, a national airlines, provided such poor service, especially to a business-paying passenger.