My seat:
41K from Auckland to Guangzhou.
Fellow passengers: Chinese, Kiwis and Europeans, depending on the leg.
How full: Full, except the Beijing-to-Amsterdam sector, which had the odd seat free.
Entertainment: The usual selection of movies, music and kids programmes, including a few recent releases. My headphones did not work on the two long international flights, and the flight attendants were unable to fix this.
The service: Efficient and friendly, even with flying newbies who leapt out of their seats before the plane landed on the internal flight.
Food and drink: To be kind to my digestion, I ordered non-vegetarian Hindu meals, which means you get beans instead of pasta. Tasty.
Toilets: Cleaned throughout the flight.
Luggage: 23kg, two checked pieces per passenger.
The airport experience: Auckland has adopted the carousel system of security checking that Schiphol has — or perhaps Schiphol copied Auckland. Seamlessness is not part of this itinerary. Boarding passes cover only the first two flights, you have to apply for a visa in Guangzhou, and give evidence of onward travel and change airports there — and if this takes a while you risk missing your connection. You also need to collect your luggage in Beijing and go through Chinese Customs before boarding your final flight. I'm well travelled so when I found out about this process, I took it in my stride. However, in the back of my mind was the experience of an 85-year-old New Zealander I know who was wrongly denied boarding for a similar China Southern itinerary because she did not have a visa already. The worst moment came as I was checking in for the final international sector of my journey. A hunting knife, also useful in the kitchen and for fishing, given to me recently as a gift for a milestone birthday, was in my checked-in luggage. This caused a fuss among three border security officials and two airline staff, who wanted to confiscate it. I argued that this knife, stowed in a suitcase in the hold, was no danger to anyone. But I realised that I would soon miss my connection, so I gave up. After that, I needed to go through another security check where my hand luggage was x-rayed three times. I was last to board and unsure if my suitcase was also flying with me (it was).
The bottom line: The excellent price makes it hard to refuse China Southern. But the airline should rethink their itineraries to avoid subjecting passengers to the unnecessary hassles of going through China. Passengers need to read the fine print.
