China Southern LAX to Guangzhou

When it comes to luxury in the sky, mainland Chinese carriers are not known for offering best in class products. However, with the rebranding and launch of the A380, China Southern is looking to shake things up. In 2011, China Southern (CZ) received a Skytrax 4 star rating and over the years they’ve focused on how to make flying more comfortable and better for everyone. The airline has opened new airport lounges, launched new routes, and ordered the newest planes available in order to enhance their onboard products. My flight on CZ this week was my first since 2008 when I lived in China and took multiple domestic flights to places such as Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Dalian, and Kashgar and I’ll preemptively say a lot has changed on China Southern in the last 4 years!

By the time I arrived at Lax, my flight was scheduled to depart in 40 minutes and boarding had already begun. There was not a soul in line at the check in counter, but thankfully my friend’s mom was standing at the check in counter insisting that they waited for me before closing shop. The friendly agents appeared to be agents of China Eastern not CZ for they had CE branding all over their uniforms, my guess is CZ outsources LAX to China Eastern since CZ only does one flight a day. The staff checked me in and printed my boarding passes and took my bag without concern. They told me I needed to rush to the gate and an agent appeared at the end of the counter to escort me through security and to the gate. Due to my late arrival, the agent took me past everyone waiting in line at security and put me to the front of the line, even at the x-ray machines. I felt like I was a cabin crew because I even got to bypass those who were already stripping and placing their bags on the x-ray machines. Once I got to the gate the agent wished me a good flight; I boarded a bus that was waiting and it took me to the remote gate.