Singapore to Guangzhou

China Southern Airlines CZ352 | SIN/CAN
Economy Class
Airbus A320NEO | B-32ET
ATD/0800 | ATA/1159

I chose to fly China Southern to Shanghai via Guangzhou because their fare was reasonable, and I could accrue some miles (but not status qualifying though) on American. I also had lounge access within China thanks to American and China Southern's reciprocal relationship.

The cheapest OneWorld fare, which was on Cathay Pacific, cost over $200 more, and it was in a fare class that wouldn't earn me any miles or loyalty points. I do want to experience Cathay's First Class Lounges in HKG while I still have OneWorld Emerald status, but I couldn't justify the extra $200 expenditure.

This was my first flight on a mainland Chinese carrier. The flight itself was fine, but the hard and soft product was definitely less refined than that of competing Asian carriers. One thing I did find interesting was the obvious presence of an air marshal on the flight. I guess all the reports of badly behaved Mainland Chinese tourists led to this.Read more