I continue my reviews of the 17 airlines from my very unique round-the-world trip from the fall, with the rest of the Asian portion (which includes an African airline) and a few U.S. airlines at the end (Trump wasn’t yet president in December if that makes you feel better).
You can read part 1 which also explains the context, if you missed it.
Sunday, I’ll share more info about today’s huge news: A few major global airlines are buying 25% of WestJet. Korean Air and Delta are the 2 main ones (10% and 12.7%), and they’re both reviewed kbelow.
Here are the reviews of airlines #10 to #17 of my trip.
Airline #10: Vietnam Airlines 🇻🇳
Vietnam Airlines is a Vietnamese airline with a fleet of 96 aircraft. It has been part of SkyTeam since 2010.
In Canada, Vietnam Airlines has no routes.
In the United States, it serves San Francisco (incidentally, I almost took that route for my return; it was among the cheapest transpacific flights for my dates).
I took 1 Vietnam Airlines flight:
- Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) – Guangzhou (CAN)
This was my 1st experience with Vietnam Airlines, another highly-rated Southeast Asian airline.
It was indeed very good, especially the very attentive service typical of the region. And it was very appropriate that the flight was operated by an A321 in the special SkyTeam livery!
At check-in, I even asked for a seat with more space, in the emergency exit row. Pro tip: I always ask politely with a smile; it costs nothing to try. It honestly rarely works, but this time the agent gave it to me for free!
That made the 3-hour flight very comfortable! Let’s just say I had none of the legroom issues I usually get in economy class due to my height of 6 feet.
Ho Chi Minh City’s airport is quite chaotic, but the good news is that a brand new airport is under construction and should open in 2026 (it’s literally the biggest infrastructure project in the country’s entire history).
The free lounge was good. I hope the new airport will have one from the start (there’s sometimes a delay).
Airline #11: Kenya Airways 🇰🇪
Kenya Airways is a Kenyan airline with a fleet of 33 aircraft. It has been part of SkyTeam since 2007.
In Canada, Kenya Airways has no routes.
In the United States, it serves New York.
I took 1 Kenya Airways flight:
- Guangzhou (CAN) – Bangkok (BKK)
This was my 1st experience with Kenya Airways, because I’ve never been to Kenya.
But actually, this is what we call a fifth freedom flight, so I still didn’t get to go to Kenya! In this case, it was ideal to flying on a 15th airline for the promotion without having to make a massive detour to Africa!
Since several of us didn’t want to make that detour, it was the craziest experience of the trip: there were 30+ travelers on this flight doing the promotion (3% of all participants actually)! The purser (chief flight attendant) made an announcement over the intercom to congratulate us and told us to meet at the exit for a group photo.
Not to mention that a Canadian Flytrippers fan who lives an hour away from me was seated directly next to me by pure chance, in a B787 with 200+ seats! What are the odds? We spent the entire 2h55m flight chatting about travel.
The flight was very good, with a bit more comfort on this aircraft designed for long flights. As an AvGeek, I always find it fun to be on a wide-body aircraft for short flights (like the Bali-Singapore one a few days before too).
It’s almost sure that if you fly Kenya Airways, you won’t pass through Guangzhou or Bangkok airports. But both are very pleasant and have quality free lounges, as I’ll detail in the article about the lounges.
Airline #12: China Eastern 🇨🇳
China Eastern is a Chinese airline with a fleet of 663 aircraft. It has been part of SkyTeam since 2011.
In Canada, it serves Toronto.
In the United States, it serves 4 cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and San Francisco.
I took 2 China Eastern flights:
- Bangkok (BKK) – Nanjing (NKG)
- Nanjing (NKG) – Seoul (ICN)
This was my 1st experience with China Eastern. That said, I had taken a few Chinese airlines before, and they are generally recognized as the exception to the rule of excellent quality in East and Southeast Asia (except Hainan Airlines).
Honestly, the onboard experience of the 3h50m and 2h10m flights on aircraft from the A320 family was just fine (better than my photo-taking on that flight it seems, at least).
But their flight cancellation management was the worst I’ve seen in 500+ flights.
First, I want to be clear that I’m experienced and certainly not one of those who think their flight is sooo important (when there are literally 100,000 flights every day) or that the airline owes them a free hotel when weather causes a cancellation (obviously not, they’re not insurers; take responsibility).
But after the flight was canceled in the evening, we were told to be at the airport at 6:30 AM for the new flight… only to finally depart at 3:17 PM. I’ve never experienced this in my life, and I’ve had many flight cancellations. Very unpleasant. So much lost sleep.
Nanjing isn’t their main hub (that’s Shanghai), but the airport is quite small and easy to navigate. Like almost all Chinese airports, it’s directly connected to the subway, so I could easily visit the city during my layover (and go to the luxurious Marriott my free insurance covered after the flight cancellation).
The free lounge was quite sad. Maybe one of the worst of the entire trip. So much so that the next day, with my credit card insurance paying for my meals for free (in addition to the hotel) due to the delay, I didn’t even go to the lounge at all during the ~ 8 hours. I chose the exact food I wanted and got it for free at the restaurants. Long live the most basic tip in the entire world of travel!
Airline #13: Korean Air 🇰🇷
Korean is a South Korean airline with a fleet of 167 aircraft (80 more will join once the Asiana acquisition takes effect). It was 1 of the 4 founding members of SkyTeam in 2000.
In Canada, it serves 2 cities: Toronto and Vancouver.
In the United States, it serves 11 cities: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Honolulu, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington.
I took 1 Korean Air flight:
- Seoul (ICN) – Xiamen (XMN)
This was my 1st experience with Korean Air (which is sometimes just called “Korean” now, since their complete rebranding in March).
It was very good. Again, economy class is usually so bad that the bar is so low, but I love the headrests.
I honestly slept almost the whole time, because of China Eastern.
But the 3h25m flight on an A321neo was comfortable. The service was warm, and the Korean meal was delicious.
The experience at Seoul Airport was surprisingly terrible, with endless lines both on arrival (immigration) and departure (security). Also, the only way to pay for the metro was with cash, as if we were in 2005 (but I passed through again since, in February, and that’s no longer the case at least).
The free airport lounge was good.
Airline #14: Xiamen Air 🇨🇳
Xiamen Air is a Chinese airline with a fleet of 177 aircraft. It has been part of SkyTeam since 2012.
In Canada, it serves Vancouver.
In the United States, it serves 2 cities: Los Angeles and New York.
I took 1 Xiamen Air flight:
- Xiamen (XMN) – Taipei-Songshan (TSA)
This was my 1st time on Xiamen Air, one of the lesser-known airlines among the dozens that are alliance members.
I had very few expectations. Not low expectations; just none, actually. Because very few North Americans travel on Xiamen Air, so we hear very little about it.
I found the experience very good, probably the best of all 6 Chinese airlines I had tried by then, except Hainan Airlines (that said, I took 2 new ones in March, including 1 that surpasses Xiamen Air).
It was another of the shortest flights of the trip (1h50m), but the service was very good.
I didn’t expect Xiamen Airport to be pleasant because a brand new airport is under construction and will open in 2025. But surprisingly, it was very good. It seems like a waste to destroy this one, but China is truly impressive in terms of infrastructure.
The airport lounge was very good too. That bodes well for the new airport.
Airline #15: China Airlines 🇹🇼
China Airlines is a Taiwanese airline with a fleet of 83 aircraft. It has been part of SkyTeam since 2011.
In Canada, it serves Vancouver.
In the United States, it serves 5 cities: New York, Los Angeles, Ontario (LA suburb), San Francisco, and Seattle.
I took 1 China Airlines flight:
- Taipei-Taoyuan (TPE) – Seattle (SEA)
This was my 1st experience with China Airlines. It’s one of many East Asian airlines with an excellent reputation. It’s often wrongly lumped together with the usually inferior Chinese airlines. It’s due to its name, which is confusing for those who don’t know that Taiwan is officially the Republic of China (as opposed to the People’s Republic of China).
I had therefore preferred to be on China Airlines for the longest flight of the trip (10h40m), rather than on China Eastern, which was also available at the same price.
It was a very comfortable A350, and the service was excellent too. A very good choice for a long economy class flight.
The meal was very good, as is almost always the case in Asia.
Taipei-Taoyuan Airport is very good. It was very efficient at departure (my arrival was at the city’s other airport). It’s far, but a fast and affordable train connects it to downtown. The cheapest transpacific flights these days are often to Taipei, and I would transit there again with pleasure.
The free airport lounge was very great.
Airline #16: United Airlines 🇺🇸
United Airlines is a US airline with a fleet of 1017 aircraft. It’s part of Star Alliance and therefore had nothing to do with the SAS promotion either.
In Canada, it serves 10 cities: Calgary, Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Québec City, Regina, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
In the United States, it serves 217 cities from 7 major hubs: Newark, Washington, Chicago, Houston, Denver, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
I took 2 United Airlines flights:
- Seattle (SEA) – Washington (IAD)
- Washington (IAD) – Miami (MIA)
I had already taken 56 United flights, so let’s say it was really nothing new. It’s the 2nd airline I’ve flown most often in my life (you can probably guess #1, which dominates our country)! I’ve even flown United again since, this time in their luxurious United Polaris business class thanks to my Aeroplan points.
As I mentioned in my post about the fear of the U.S. border, I was at a credit card conference this week. My “fear” is my return on United tomorrow: I’m flying through Newark. The airport has been pure chaos this week, with hundreds of cancellations. But I digress.
Since my 1st United flight a long time ago, I’ve really seen the evolution and improvement of the world’s largest airline (by number of aircraft). That said… it’s still a North American airline. It’s still not luxurious! But it now at least competes with Delta in the (slightly more) premium lane.
I had my annual trip to Miami Art Week already planned after my round-the-world trip, and United was the cheapest option from the West Coast.
Transiting in Washington was a big detour on this particular itinerary, but I paid really cheap (that was my priority, considering all the cost of all these flights). It’s a very efficient airport, even if it’s ugly.
Washington was actually my favorite of the many United hubs for the free airport lounges. Now that I have Aeroplan 50k elite status (Star Alliance Gold), that’s no longer the case… but this connection was very short.
Airline #17: Delta Air Lines 🇺🇸
Delta is an American airline with a fleet of 973 aircraft. It is 1 of the 4 founding members of SkyTeam in 2000.
In Canada, it serves 5 cities: Calgary, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
In the United States, it serves 170 cities from 9 major hubs: Boston, New York-Kennedy, New York-LaGuardia, Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Seattle, and Los Angeles.
I took 2 Delta flights:
- Miami (MIA) – New York (LGA)
- New York (LGA) – Montreal (YUL)
These were my 14th and 15th Delta flights. It’s the SkyTeam airline I had taken most often before this promotion (and the only one I had already taken, along with Aeromexico).
It’s universally recognized as the most premium of the 3 major full-service airlines in the United States, although United is now getting closer as mentioned.
It was a very tight economy class, like on all American and Canadian airlines. Both on the 3h07m flight on the A320 and the 1h39m flight on the Bombardier CRJ900 regional jet (exactly the model of the Delta crash in Toronto in January).
I’ve had 2 more Delta flights last week and it was just as good (even better, as I now have SkyTeam Elite status). To get back to the December trip, one thing I noted is that Delta makes the effort to display the flight info in French for Montreal flights even in New York.
While LaGuardia was a third-world airport for decades (my words and those of the last 2 US presidents), that’s really no longer the case. I love transiting there since it’s been completely rebuilt.
The lounges there are great if you have the Amex Platinum Card or Priority Pass, or very good if you have DragonPass.
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Summary
Even for me, who likes to test different airlines and take a lot of flights, taking 17 airlines in one trip… is pretty intense. The trip was anything but ordinary, obviously. But I’m happy to have been able to experience many new airlines!
What would you like to know about my airline reviews during my round-the-world trip? Tell us in the comments below.
See the flight deals we spot: Cheap flights
Discover free travel with rewards: Travel rewards
Explore awesome destinations: Travel inspiration
Learn pro tricks: Travel tips
Featured image: Taipei, Taiwan (photo credit: Unsplash+)
