Although Hong Kong has removed all pandemic-era restrictions such as on-arrival rapid test, hotel quarantine, and more, plane ticket prices are still over the roof as people start flying again. Flights are nowhere near pre-pandemic levels yet as the industry grapples with a manpower shortage and a revenge spending wave of demand.

While China is not a top destination for visitors, I had expected airlines to charge an arm and a leg just like other destinations, so I was not surprised when Cathay quoted about HKD$2600 for a roundtrip, but was shocked when China Eastern came in at only $1600. Even before COVID, that price (before tax) would have been atrociously cheap.

Flight schedules to Shanghai remain sparse though. Cathay used to fly pretty much hourly, and China Eastern was not far behind, with a sprinkle of other airlines also competing. However, there was still a good number of flights into Hongqiao, the other airport that is closer to the city centre, and juggling between the airports, China Eastern came out the cheapest at only $1200. I guess I won't be able to fly Cathay with such a big price difference.

Being a procrastinator, I forgot about booking over the weekend and the price went up slightly to $1350 a few days later with a Hongqiao arrival and Pudong departure combination.

With such a cheap fare, I had an expectation I'll get what I pay for. Online check-in didn't work at all. I could retrieve my itinerary, but selecting the flight didn't yield any results. There was no error message, and no proceed button. Frustrated and trying a few different browsers, I finally gave up with a bitter taste. I only had a hand-carry, and wanted to explore the skybridge again air-side and not waste my time getting a paper boarding pass from the counter.

China Eastern doesn't have any morning flights into Shanghai as they need to fly their planes in first. They actually have 2 flights leaving between 12-1pm, both widebodies. Trying to be safe with my time, I picked the later one, which is on an A330.

Boarding the train at Tsing Yi, the Airport Express has gotten noticeably busier than my last trip out in December for a red-eye.

The nightmare would begin at the airport, where there was a huge crowd at China Eastern's counters. It snaked around a few times beyond the standard queues with the end hardly visible, and the kiosks were not working either. There were a few staff around directing the lines and one of the seemingly more senior folks told me the airline hasn't turned on online and kiosk check-in. No wonder. I didn't believe this type of check-in line could ever exist in Hong Kong.

China Eastern has 4 flights departing within a short span, with Nanjing, Wuxi, and 2 flights to Hongqiao leaving within an 1.5 hour span. With technology shut off, many frantic passengers were shouting for help with their imminent departures. My flight was the last one of the series, so while staff did come by calling for a specific soon-to-depart flight and setting up a dedicated "emergency" counter for them, I ended up waiting 1.5 hours for my turn at the counter. By then, I was quite close to the 1-hour mark before departure, and the line snaked around a few times behind me still.

By the time it was my turn, my hope to get a seat on the earlier 12pm flight (instead of my 12:50pm one) was not possible. That flight actually was on a new A350 which would have been quite neat to try.

This was my worst ever check-in experience in recent memory, that being the last decade at least. Even the time I got bumped off a flight due to overbooking at Siem Reap was better than this.

At first, I thought this was due to the lack of airport workers in Hong Kong, but the other airlines and aisles were quite clear and orderly, including the Air China line across from us. I counted at least 9 operating counters in my aisle and towards the end of my wait, the premium counters started calling us over as well. Hence, I would squarely point to China Eastern shutting off their technology to let us check in online as the main reason why I had to go through such a mess this morning.

While entering China has gotten a lot easier this year and more or less back to normal, there is 1 online health declaration form to fill out before arrival, which will spit out a QR code that they recommend you screenshot on your phone to avoid any hassles upon entering the country.

The agent processed me quite quickly but could not give me a window seat. My ticket is so cheap it didn't allow advanced seat selection although I was able to change my seat with the "seat selection" section of their website but at the end of the process, it just came up with an error.

Security and immigration were not difficult but there was definitely a lot more traffic coming through. With not much time left, I had to give up on going up the skybridge and head straight to my gate.

My flight was already parked at the gate by now and it was in Disneyland special livery.

Across on the other side, the 12pm flight just pushed back. With such a huge crowd, I was very surprised they weren't delayed.

We boarded timely, which used to be a huge blessing back in the day when Chinese airspace had various flow and closure issues for unknown and sporadic reasons so timely departures were rarely possible.

The check-in agent had asked whether I wanted to move up with an aisle seat after failing to get me a window, which I kindly declined so I kept my originally-assigned aisle seat. My seatmate agreed to switch with me so I made the best of the huge wing in front. The reason why I wanted the window so much is because the approach into Hongqiao should command a very decent skyline view since it's so close to the city.

We pushed back at 1:01pm and made a short taxi to take off towards the west.

This is a fairly old plane with no seatback entertainment, tired seats, and a huge metal box beneath the seat, which was strange given there is no PTV.

To make up for the old hardware, the crew were quite attentive, handing out blankets if needed and a sanitary disease-prevention pack. A big change from when I last flew Chinese airlines was cell phones could now be used in flight mode, instead of completely turned off in the past.

A hot meal was served although there was only 1 option - pork rice. I asked for a tea and it was surprisingly refreshing. It's actually a chrystanthemum tea, which Cathay doesn't offer.

The flowers were stuck at the bottom with a plastic covering preventing them from floating up and getting in the way.

The skies were beautiful and the flight was smooth all the way to Shanghai. 2 short hours later, I was ready for a grand skyline view despite the wing in the way.

However, what I didn't expect was the smog and I couldn't see Pudong despite a beautiful sunny day.

Hongqiao's runway is in the distance, but the skyline is supposed to be behind it.

We looped around the airport and turned 180 degrees to land from the north.

My seatmate told me that's the F1 track.

We touched down at 3:07pm and quickly reached the gate. Hongqiao is traditionally a domestic airport and there weren't many international airlines near us this afternoon. As we came to a stop, the crew announced the health authorities need to perform some checks and asked us to be patient. At 3:22pm, they announced groups of 50 will be allowed off at a time.

I first scanned my health QR code upon entering the immigration hall, where there are special kiosks for that step. Next is to go through immigration, which was quick as we were the only flight arriving at the time. Luggage didn't take too long to come out as well and I was land-side about 30 minutes after stepping into the terminal.

Hongqiao airport's Terminal 1 has a Line 10 metro station. I opted to take a taxi to the Nanjing Road West shopping area instead, which came out to a very affordable 50 RMB, which I paid with my Hong Kong Alipay app with no issues.

The in-flight experience was quite good with attentive crew, and overall great service for a 2 hour short flight. However, what went well in the air was completely sidelined by the horrendous on-the-ground experience with no online check-in and crazy queues to get a paper boarding pass. With that huge problem, I would avoid taking China Eastern again even at such a bargain basement price.

The Return Flight to Hong Kong - MU 505