Not to be confused with Air China, China Airlines is Taiwan-based and is racing up the top airlines lists. I've flown it once, and it's EXCELLENT. Really, really nice.
Note: Does a technical stop in Brisbane.
Auckland - Seoul return on China Airlines
Dates: 3 Feb 26 - 21 Sep 26
Summary:
Auckland - Seoul return (3 Feb 26 - 21 Sep 26) from $1013 return
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Notes from my last flight (Auckland to Osaka, stopping in Taiwan for a week on the way back)
Oh, and if you do still want to stopover in Taipei, which cost an extra $400 for the flights per person, do it on the way there when you're fresh faced and starry eyed. Good chance your trip will improve at your final destination, and their liquor allowance is much lower than NZ, so you can't bring much booze back from your final destination (and Taiwanese liquor is terrible if you intend to top up).
Oh, and make sure your phone is charged when you arrive, charge it on the plane if you have to. They've dropped paper arrival cards. You MUST connect to the airport WiFi on your phone and fill out the arrival card online, which requires putting in your email address, validating it (check your email for a code) and then filling out the card.
They have terminals (iPads), but you can't get the email code on them, of course, hence phone being mandatory.
There's nowhere to charge your phone before Customs. There is nothing to say this will be the case until you are there with a dead device because you used it on the plane and in the airport.
Eventually the very stressed person there will just throw his hands in the air, enter his email address and a default password and you can fill out the arrival card, but it takes a while of them pointing at the free WiFi and ignoring the fact your device is dead.
This is all good advice, I'd just add that if anyone's going to visit Taiwan you should set aside time to do some bushwalking. Taipei is OK for a few days but there's a lot more to do in Taiwan apart from seeing a midrange city.
@Slogan: Is it all good advice? Partly sounds like they just didn't enjoy a place they visited… Also sounds like they did a bunch of stuff which they wouldn't have enjoyed anyway…
I just did this flight back from Japan a few weeks ago and asked the security check in Brisbane about duty free liquids. I was told that you are allowed to bring them as long as it is in a sealed duty free bag which i assume would be something like those you get in Japan Tax Free sealed bags. If it is not in a sealed duty free bag, they will bin it. I've flown this flight many times over the years and I have always assumed you could not bring any duty free liquids through security check in Brisbane.
thanks for this useful info!
Just as a note regarding bassinets for any parent travellers - the airline shouldn’t have confirmed the bassinets for any traveller, and are usually assigned by age. Usually the younger will get the bassinet. This is just my personal experience travelling pretty frequently with my children when they were young (roughly 4-5x long haul return trips a year) when they were bassinet appropriate sized. I’d suggest to go in with no expectation of a bassinet, because you don’t know how many other newborns there might be on the flight. Things to help increase your odds would be high status with the particular airline, or a higher class (eg premium economy of business, as I hardly see the bassinets being used in them) of booking.
Again, China Airlines should never have confirmed that a bassinet was available.
Damn that's cheap.