China Southern Airlines

Booked a one-​way flight from Incheon to LAX at a very cheap price. Researched the airlines prior to booking it and was horrified by the horrible reviews online. Ended up booking it, only because I didn’t feel like paying double the amount for another airline if it was just going to take me home. I had no expectations whatsoever! All I wanted was to get home safely. The food was okay, exactly as pictured by other users. Seating space was just like any other airline. Service was decent too. Would I take another flight through their airlines again? Probably. The layover in Guangzhou was not bad at all either!

It’s an ok airline. Honestly I just look for the best deal that works with my schedule. Just came back from using them to Hanoi and Siem Reap. Flight stopped at Guangzhou to Hanoi also stopped there when we flew back from Siem. Staff is ok, only complaint is the seats aren’t cushioned compared to it’s rivals. Took Air China last Nov and the seats had a bit more padding. Food sucks but it’s airplane food. Got me to my destination safely and cheaply

this airline provides the worst customer service i have ever experienced in all my years of travel. my friend and i decided to take a long overdue vacation in which our destinations included thailand and parts of china. upon my return to the states i arrive at chang sha airport at 2 pm in which my flight was scheduled to depart at 5:30 pm to guang zho china. from guang zho china i take another connecting flight to the states. as i and my friend has fully checked in and boarded the plane the flight attendant then notifies all the passengers that one passenger was missing and had not boarded the plane. we were then instructed to exit the plane as they investigated. after investigation was completed we were boarded the plane once again in which by that time we were fully delayed. when we asked the flight attendants whether the passenger was found we were never given a direct answer. upon arrival of guang zho china we by that time have been completely delayed to make our connecting flight to the states. we then spoke to a counter attendant our how we could resolve our current dilemma. the counter attendant was absolutely rude and vulgar in response to our questions and concerns. we then requested that we speak directly to a manager. the manager approaches us with a bad attitude and responds to us by yelling and insulting us. the manager then continues to curse and insult us for the next few hours. i have never in all my years of travel ever been treated like this by an airline attendant. i highly recommend that no consumer should ever patronize this airline company that apparently provides no customer service training and does not hold a certain high standard of customer service provided to their clientele.

I used China southern airlines to go from LAX to Manila (with 70 minute stopover at Guangzhou, China) and back in January/​February. Purchased the ticket via
. No issues with check in at the airports. No extra fee to check in two items. No issues with navigating through the Guangzhou airport to my connecting flight. I got to my next gate with time to spare. Left departing location on time and arrived early at destination location both times. Sat in an economy seat — the leg room is what I expected for an economy seat. They served meals twice and were tasty considering its airline food. Juice, water and sodas are served as well as wine — all complementary.
The cabin crew was Chinese and their English speaking ability is not so proficient compared to other Asian airlines I’ve used before. Fortunately I didn’t have a situation where I needed to have an involved conversation with the crew — if I did I could see that being a problem. They also appeared to be less patient/​warm with non Chinese passengers. If customer service is your #1 priority, I think you should look at another airlines.
But for the price (cheapest available at the time for $ 650 round trip), brand new Boeing 777 plane, and superior in board entertainment I can get over that. Plenty new movies, tv shows, music available for viewing that could fill the entire trip duration. I will definitely consider using this airline again when traveling to Southeast Asia if the price is still right.

This airline is a BIT better than China Eastern Airlines but i’ll take it since the prices are cheap and I just need seats. I can’t complain too much about ticketing, the prices or even boarding since i have children and we get priority and board with the priority guests, so no line needed.
However, here are the things that irk me:
–The airline was late for 2 hours, no updates on the monitor, no updates to the guests sitting there and standing in line, none, whatsoever
–The airline is more concern about where you’re standing than whether or not you need help, it didn’t happen to me but I’ve seen it happen.
–The crowd is loud! Chinese people are that loud?! I couldn’t get any of them to stop talking on the plane when the lights were out! This includes the flight attendants.
–The food on the plane is subpar at best, I felt like my kid made it. The water was served from a pitcher and it tasted like tap water, not bottled water, not safe if someone is sensitive to tap water from another country.
–Our connecting flight to Cambodia was a smaller plane and we did not have personal tv monitors, we had one to share and it was in Chinese, so we couldn’t understand anything. However, when we did have the personal monitors, they didn’t always work, mine kept freezing up, not many selections of movies to keep you satisfied and definitely poor selections for the kids as well.

My wife and I chose to fly China Southern on the way back to LAX from Chiang Mai, Thailand. I’ll begin my review with the few good points. The flight was one of the cheaper deals available, which is why we chose it. I felt that the seats were comfy with a little bit more leg room than that of China Airlines. The personal monitors for the in-​flight movies were decent touchscreen with a good selection of movies to help get us through the 13hr flight. The flight attendants were also decent.
Now for the bad! RUDE fellow passengers– perhaps it is the cultural differences (I’m Filipino American) which led to my shock, but dang– about 40% of the passengers were loud, did not cover their mouths when they sneezed or coughed, stared at us awkwardly, were pushy and constantly cut in line, and seemed quite inconsiderate!
The fellow passengers is what really spoiled our travel back home to the U.S. I feel that perhaps the airline staff could have been more instructive towards the passengers instead of just letting them get out of hand the way they did. Sub par organization on the airline’s behalf. I was disgusted throughout the 13 plus hours on the way home.
I vow to never take this airline ever again in my life. You couldn’t pay me to do so!
Lesson learned– you get what you pay for and if you have a long trip to go on, might as well dish out the extra couple hundy for a more comfortable experience!

I took a chance when booking my flight to Manila because the price was right, just $ 579.18 US (P26,970), round trip. Yes it was economy class and yes I had to change planes in Guangzhou, China, but the layover was just over an hour each way, so it worked out well. The plane going there was a Boeing 777 – 300, which was clean and looked very new.
Checking in at LAX was smooth and the counter staff were friendly, etc. I got to the airport early enough that I was able to request and get exit row seats for my flights. You see I’m 6 foot 3 and legroom in economy class is a problem, especially for almost 15 hours.

The first leg of the flight was 30 mins late arriving at LAX, and thus 30 minutes late leaving. As such, we were 30 minutes late arriving in Guangzhou, China and with only a 1hr 10 min layover, I was rightfully concerned. It turns out however, that there were a lot of people on this fight going to Manila, so they held the connecting flight. By time we arrived in Manila we were an hour late.
Meal 1: Seafood or chicken and I choose the chicken with rice & veggie, croissant & butter, fruit, yogurt, plus a little white wine. It was actually pretty darn tasty even though it’s «airline food» … or maybe I was just really hungry, LOL.
Snack: I saw a flight attendant give another passenger a large cup-​o-​noodles, so I asked and got one too. It hit the spot perfectly!
Meal 2: Breakfast was about 3 hours before landing in China. By time they got to me the American breakfast gone, so the Chinese breakfast (stir fired noodles & veggie, roll & butter, chicken salad with a slice of turkey or chicken (?) and fruit) it was. This was actually fine, but the first meal was better.
Return flight: Manila to Guangzhou. On the 1^st flight they literally gave us a box lunch. Chicken with rice & veggie, salad, bread, fruit & dried mango chipc. While it hit the spot, it was nothing special.
The next flight, Guangzhou to LA was on an A380 super jumbo plane with 506 passengers, WOW! Comfortable and very quiet. Meal #1 Stir fried beef noodles, veggie, bread, yogurt & fruit.
Meal #2 Pepper beef w/​rice, veggie, bread, crackers, seaweed salad & a whipped cream cake. Both of these meals were pretty tasty… or maybe I’m just not that picky.
OVERALL: While there was a delay on my initial flight, the ground staff and flight attendants were very friendly /​nice, the planes were newer, comfortable and the food was better than I was expecting! 3.5 start rounded up.

Not worth the savings.
Customer service non-​existent:
In spite of all the bad reviews, the RT fare from LAX to Siem Reap via Huangzhou was below $ 600 US so I decided to take a shot. While in Cambodia, I decided to extend my trip by a few days. I called the local Los Angeles offices and the Phnom Penh booking office repeatedly during business hours and at night, weekdays and weekend, and the phones simply rang with no answer and no message regarding alternative contact options. I tried the international number from the Chinese website with no results. I went to the China Southern counter at Siem Reap airport, and was told that I had to call the booking office to change my flight. When I told them there was no answer at any of the booking offices they simply shrugged and said there was nothing they could do. I tried to use China Southern’s exceedingly lame website, but the registration process was simply a feedback loop — not functional. In the end, after several days of effort I was unable to change the return flight and extend my trip, something I could have accomplished on any other airline within minutes.
Flightmare:
On the outbound flight, a visibly intoxicated passenger in the seat next to me made multiple cell calls as we taxied for takeoff, long after the perfunctory request to disable all electronic devices had been issued. He was quite loud and the rest of the plane was silent, as it was a midnight flight; even so, the crew, who walked past several times, ignored it. Not a major deal, but it was obvious he was wasted and should have been booted from the flight. Then ten minutes into the flight, the SOB puked into a bag, folded the top over, and stuck it in the seat pouch in front of him. He must have had a lot to drink, because not long after, he filled another barf bag, and then the plastic bag wrapper from the headphones, and stuck them in the seat pouch as well before passing out. He was so drunk, he couldn’t even make it to the head, which was ten feet away. Suffice it to say it was not pretty, and the smell was so bad I likely would have puked myself had the bastard not already used every possible receptacle within reach. Again, the crew completely ignored this, and I had to ask three times before they finally relented and moved me to a comparable seat in another section of the aircraft. That being said, once I was moved, they were nice enough for the duration of the flight, and were fine on the return trip.
The aircraft:
A380s both ways, but pretty beat up. Carpet taped to the floor. Old-​school cloth seats with very little cushioning, metal armrests — after a couple of hours, uncomfortable even for an average 5’10 170 lb. guy like me — and this was a 15-​hour flight. No wi-​fi or USB available. Food was bad even by airline standards. If you take this flight, bring Ambien. You’re not going to want to be conscious for it. On the plus side, they do offer free drinks to help put you out of your misery. The flight attendants were okay on the whole, it’s just a poorly-​managed airline with outdated cabins and exceedingly crappy food.

This was my second time flying to and from China and I don’t think I’m going to use any other airline from now on…
My first time was with via Air China. The 14 hour fight was SO torturous that I seriously considered paging $$$$ for business class this time around. But I asked around and everyone else said to try southern China airlines and thank goodness they did.
I bought economy class and although I was prepared for another round of torture, the seats here are SO Much more spacious! Their meals are … Okay considering its airline food. (Fruits tasted weird)
Only problem I can think of is the online check in! Don’t even bother with it bc American phone#s will not work. I called them and was put on hold for 30+ minutes and when I finally got through they basically told me to check in at the airport –_​-​«
Other than that if you’re looking for a comfortable 14+ flight, save ur money and buy economy seats through souther China airlines !

DO NOT choose this airline if you can help it. My mum has to make a last minute trip to China because my grandma pass away. I booked this airline for her since it is the only one with direct flight. I have to make a change on the ticket since my mum has to come back early. First of all, I have to call China to make the change. And I have to send a copy of my mum’s passport to make the change. AND the worst is that when I did not see the confirmation come through, I called again and they told me they did not process my change since the operator charged me the wrong amount of money. WTF! I was not contacted, and if I did not call again, my mum would have been f*k. They not only did not apologize «the operator will be punished by our company» and they insisted that I have to pay the difference. Such a piece of shit company, I don’t know how China will be a world leader with these kind of ‘customer oriented’ companies.

It was my first time flying with China Southern Airlines traveling outside the States and it was not a great one let me tell you that!
Flying from LAX to Guangzhou:
–food: when I purchased my ticket I had requested for special meals (pescatarian, lacto, ovo… basically no beef, chicken, pork, turkey — no meat).
The first meal I got consisted of pasta, vegetables, fruits and side salad. What happened to my proteins? The meal was basically carbohydrates and vegetables. The dressing for my salad was fat free lemon vinaigrette, which I never requested for a fat free meal.
The second meal I got consisted of steamed vegetables (potato wedges, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus), fruits and apple sauce. Again there were no proteins.
I wonder if management knows what they’re doing when it comes to special meals requested by the customers.
Furthermore, I overheard flight attendants telling other people that they don’t have a choice with their meals. Usually there are two options and people get to choose what they want but that was not the case. WOW! That sucks.
–seats were not comfortable at all. They should make the seats comfortable and roomy! It was a great thing that the flight was not full so I get to stretch out.
Flying from Guangzhou to Sydney:
–food: The first meal I got consisted of eggs, potatoes, broccoli and tomato, fruits and yogurt. Food tasted ok, better than my other two meals. However, yogurt container was really hard to open so I didn’t eat it.
The second meal I got consisted of creamy pasta with carrots and broccoli, salad and fruits. Pasta was disgusting so I didn’t eat it. I didn’t see any dressing for my salad so I asked the flight attendant and he replied there’s no dressing for me. Failed!
–seats were not comfortable again; this time around there were no leg room because there was a metal box underneath the seat. No room for my legs. I had fractured my patella before the trip and was wearing an immobilizer and I have to have my leg straight and not being able to do so made it hard for me. I saw that there were empty seats at the front with a lot of leg room so I asked the flight attendant if I could move to that seat and she said I had to pay extra. Really? But no one is seating there and I’m disabled. WOW… they’re trying to make more money from me.
I don’t think there will be a next time for me with this airline.

How do you make a 20 hour flight to Asia take 60 hours? It’s easy if you’re China Southern:
2 planes with mechanical problems
2 landings at the wrong airport
2 nights in hotels — 1 I had to pay $ 300
2 hours circling airports
2 hours stuck in Beijing customs due to their staff incompetence
3.5 hours on the runway in Bangladesh with no food, no drinks, no announcement
6 flights on a 3 leg journey — 5 of which were delayed by several hours each
10 hours waiting in terminals for late flights
Their staff was unprepared, dishonest, incompetent and had no management.
Their planes are unsafe.
Their communication to passengers is nonexistent and they consistently lied about the situations.
They have no procedures for difficult situations.
They really risked our lives.
Then to top it all they refused to refund me for the ordeal. When I said I’ll cancel the charge on my credit card, they threatened my travel agent that they will make her pay if I cancel the charge.
They’re completely irresponsible, unsafe, disgusting. Do not fly on this airline no matter how cheap. There’s a reason it’s cheap — they’re the worst airline I’ve ever been on and I’ve been on all the Asian carriers. The planes are unsafe and the staff is poorly trained.
The absolute worst travel experience in my life. Everyone in the plane started saying the same thing «first time and last time I’ll fly with them.» Same with me. I’m not taking the return flight. I had to book another airline for the return trip. No way will I risk my life with china southern ever again.

First and last time flying with China Southern. My problem was more with my fellow travelers, which is why I gave a two star instead of a one, not entirely the airlines fault. Maybe the Chinese tourist is not «quite ready for prime time». Rude, uneducated (at least in proper travel behavior) and impatient. My check in and flight crews were OK, nothing special, but the food really did stink. I’ve made over 20 trips to Asia from LAX and I am not shy about different cuisines, but this stuff was bad, even for airline food. We did have one «Oops» moment when our 1.5 hour layover became 5 hours without so much as a «sorry» let alone any compense.

CHINA SOUTHERN AIRLINES
I wasn’t sure what I was in for flying with CHINA SOUTHERN but I got a GREAT DEAL on my tix. I arrived at the airport and the line was LONG. I’m talking Black Friday almost around the building long. So I settled in because I really had no choice. The line moved rather quickly which was GREAT so it didn’t seem too long.
They had pics posted of how the plane long and oh, boy was I happy when I saw I would be flying on a double decker Airbus! SOOO COOL! I had NEVER flown on one before but I always wanted to! I moved through the line and finally got through! The only issues I had was my seat I had selected was taken! SO I was a bit annoyed but I was still able to get a window seat so it didn’t matter so much.
I was asked if I wanted a transfer hotel. So my immediate question was why would I need it for a 3 hour layover? And the answer I got is because my 3 hour layover was now an 8 hour layover! WHAT! WTH! When did that happen? I wasn’t a happy camper but at that point I was a captive audience and had no FRICKIN choice so I said yes! I rather be chill-​axin at a hotel instead of held up at the airport for 8 hours! The good thing was I didn’t have to pay for it or the airport transfer which made this slight hiccup a little more bearable.
The flight itself was ok. Nothing GREAT! It’s a flying can with nowhere to go so I tried to grab some shut-​eye during the flight! I mean I was sitting in a 90 degree angel so how comfortable could I actually get! But I was GREATFUL I was NOT surrounded by any BAD AZZ kids, NO WHINING or CRYING and NO horrid smells to contend with!
The food was NOT GOOD for the most part so I was pretty hungry! We arrive in Guangzhou, China about 12 hours later and I’m pretty out of it! A bus took me and some other passengers to a hotel and I was surprised that is was NOT close to the airport and it was pretty decent! Everyone got a meal voucher to go eat at the hotel buffet! I was NOT UBER excited because I have been to China before so I know what their breakfast consist of even at hotels! But luckily I was able to get some eggs and toast and a few items I liked. Then I was given my room key. Ahhhhh a hot shower and a clean bed to sleep in! Plus I got to recharge my phone.
Once back at the airport I went through security and on to my next flight! I was HAPPY that this flight wasn’t full so I moved to a back row and stretched out for another 4 hours on my flight to KL (Kuala Lumpur). So GREAT!
My flight back was ok and I got to fly on another double decker Airbus plane! I walked around a bit during the flight and went upstairs to see what it looked like! Same as the lower section no big deal but it was nice to have that space to walk around in and NOT be confined to a chair! Since the flight wasn’t full I got to stretch out and slept most of the way back which was GREAT!
The flight attendants were all SUPER NICE and ATTENTIVE for the most part. NO MAJOR Issues and they spoke English but I was able to practice my Mandarin with them and ask questions, ask for food and something to drink! I love the looks I get when I speak Chinese and they can tell I know more than «Hi» and «Bye». Plus I got to play with a little Chinese kid that spoke no English to help pass the time.
My only issue was coming back and we were delayed 1.5 hours because we were waiting for two flights to get in which was annoying! Everyone was pretty pissed that we had to sit for an extra 1.5 hours on an already 12 hour’s flight! NO GOOD! I get that they didn’t want the people to miss they flight but it was annoying to have to wait for 30 passengers! So instead of sitting in a confined seat I walked around the plane! I got a few dirty looks but there was NO WAY IN H*LL I was just going to sit and wait and then sit another 12 plus hours on a flight home! NO WAY!
Overall it was a decent flight and I might consider flying with them again! But I think I would do a straight through flight and have NO LAYOVER! That sucked a little even though I was put up in a hotel. I would just prefer to NOT waste 8 hours of a trip at a hotel! I also didn’t care for ANY of the food! It was pretty rank!

With certain class tickets, you don’t get miles! 20,000 miles lost. For my next flight to China this upcoming January, if there is a direct flight from LAX, SFO, OAK, LAS, or BUR with any other airline, I’m getting my company to book me on a different airline.

Rarely do I write a 1 star review, but here I am. My girlfriend and I booked China Southern for our travel to Vietnam and really wish we paid more for a quality airline instead.
Our ~15 hour flight from LAX to Guangzhou (CAN) went fine. The problem started when we arrived and found out that our connecting flight to Hanoi (HAN) was canceled without any notification — no email, text message, or even worse heads up from the LAX ticket counter which issued that boarding pass.
This gave us a 16 hour layover in China, which was poorly handled, let alone that the layover was longer than our initial flight! They refused to book us on an earlier flight via another airline, and continually gave us a difficult time, instead of trying to improve the situation. They refused to let us in their lounge area, even though their policy is to do so for flights longer than 4 ½ hours. I really do not understand why they hand to work *against* us, instead of with us.
For the return legs home, I emailed them to see if an upgrade would be awarded, and well, here I am back in Los Angeles without even an email response from them.
Their organization when boarding is just as bad as the above. Instead of boarding in groups, all of economy class lined up in a single file line — note that this was an A380, with ~400 economy seats — the line was unreal!
The only bright side was that the seats were comfortable. The only way we may take them again in the future is if they are *significantly* cheaper.

hello kandice. we were on this flight with you. we sat next to you guys on the flight from bangkok to china. we spoke to you in the passport line in china. we are the couple with the little boy. i feel sorry for you guys. you had a terrible experience. we sat on the other side on the plane from you guys same row. i was watching amovie and heard the yelling and i just saw the man in front of you and woman behind you yelling so i thought they were yelling at each other. your husband shoud’ve kicked his ass. we also did not like this airline. service sucked food sucked. we also refused the dinner.
DO NOT TAKE THIS AIRLINE

This was my first flight experience with China Southern and I flew over 100 times in my life. I never had such an unpleasant experience like I did on this flight going to LAX, United States from Guangzhou China. My husband and I were traveling on our honeymoon trip to Phuket, Thailand. We have connecting flights to China going and coming back. While traveling to Guangzhou from LAX, I broke out in a big rash from the airline food. The food overall was very unpleasant and had no flavor.
Due to my uncomfortable rash, my husband and I decided to bring our own food on the flight back to USA. I refused dinner service and kindly asked the flight attendant to add hot water to our cup ramen. The flight attendant took our cup ramen and didn’t return for 20 minutes. We called her to ask her why there was a delay on getting our dinner. The flight attendant told us they accidentally gave our meal to another customer. We were both hungry and upset since both my husband and I did not have dinner and we expressed our frustration to the flight attendant. We were cranky and tired so we were not in the best of moods. The younger flight attendants were apologetic and offered to give us a replacement meal. I refused the meal repeatedly and did not mention the rash because people around me were eating. That flight attendant made a humor error which I can forgive; I cannot forgive a flight attendant when they «intentionally» shows prejudice and mistreats customers.
The Chinese man in front of us started yelling at my husband and I for not showing the flight attendant respect due to our constant refusal of a replacement dinner. He went on screaming at my husband and reprimanding us when it was none of his business. I told him to leave us alone and that it was none of his business. That is when foul language was exchanged. We continued to scream at each other and the Chinese lady behind us started yelling at me saying I was being disrespectful to the older man. She also was using foul language and told me to SHUT THE F**CK UP because she had a son that was 13 years old sitting next to her. If she was so concerned about her son, then why would she use foul language also? An older flight attendant female then came over and told me to SHUT UP more than 10 times. She did not tell the man or the lady behind me to SHUT UP. She pointed and looked directly at me. Telling me to SHUT UP repeatedly.
I can’t believe a flight attendant had the audacity to tell me to SHUT UP. I am beyond disgusted and bewildered that they hire people like that on this airline. My husband and I endured racism and discrimination to the fullest extent.
BEWARE OF THIS AIRLINE. Disgusting service, food and people.

Terrible airline… My seat was broken lol and couldnt get it to stay in upright position. Food is bad and entertainment is worse!
One lady a few seats behind me, her seat was broken (not sure what) so the flight stewardess had the audacity to ask me to sit in the middle seat and give my seat to that lady since she was complaining and wanted a window seat. The lady said she can take a seat in business class since there were empty seats there, but China Southern refused, and said either i swap seats or she needs to sit in her broken seat. Talk about BAD service! Where else would something like this happened?
I flew United the other day and when a customer had a seat issue, they gave him a free flight!