Yes, Spring Airlines is a budget airline, judged by its own pages. Its entry fares include a 7 kg carry-on and no checked bag, its conditions of carriage say most flights have no free meals or drinks, and its About page lists three low-cost-airline awards. No official page defines "budget", so this guide sticks to what each airline publishes about baggage, meals, changes and refunds. Two carriers from the old eight-airline list, Vanilla Air and Jetstar Asia, no longer exist. Ticket prices are left out on purpose; the guide covers rules, not fare levels.
What "budget" means in practice
A budget fare is unbundled. Entry fares may cover the seat and a small cabin bag, while checked baggage, meals and other extras depend on the fare you buy. Here is how that looks in the airlines' own words.
| Airline | What its page says |
|---|---|
| Spring Airlines | Conditions of carriage, Article 13.1.5: no free meals or drinks except the 尊享飞 (SpringPlus) product on some flights. Meals, drinks, onboard goods, preferred seats and prepaid baggage are optional purchases with their own change and cancellation rules. |
| West Air (西部航空) | Passenger notice: to lower ticket costs it has rolled out "differentiated services" (差异化服务); no free meals or drinks on board; it calls itself a low-cost airline (低成本航空公司). |
| China United Airlines (中国联合航空) | No free meals or drinks in the ticket since 29 March 2015, unless the ticket product includes them or you buy them. |
| 9 Air (九元航空) | Domestic conditions: no free checked allowance unless the booking page or fare rules show one. |
| Jin Air | International conditions: in-flight meals are offered with charge and may not be offered on some routes. |
Is Spring Airlines a budget airline? On the evidence of its own pages, yes. Its About page (marked updated 24 August 2026) says the airline "respects passengers' right to choose" and aims to offer affordable travel products. It lists three awards: CAPA's Asia Pacific low-cost airline award (2016), a 2016 Skytrax award for best low-cost airline in China, and a 2017 CAPSE best low-cost airline award. These are the awards as Spring lists them, not a ranking and not proof of quality.
The same page gives the basics: first flight on 18 July 2005 (Shanghai to Yantai), one of China's first private airlines, headquartered in Shanghai. As of August 2026 it has 140 Airbus A320-family aircraft and more than 210 routes.
This guide does not list routes; check each airline's booking page for the cities it serves from China. The one route statement in the pages cited below is on Peach's fees page, which puts Osaka (Kansai) and Tokyo (Haneda) to and from Shanghai (Pudong) in one fee zone, Zone C.
Spring Airlines: what each fare includes
Spring's conditions of carriage name three ticket families: 超惠飞, 优选飞 and 尊享飞. Spring's English conditions page calls them SpringSaver, SpringFlexi and SpringPlus. The version on the page takes effect on 30 September 2026 and replaces the earlier one; earlier versions stay listed as historical documents, each tied to a range of sale dates.
| Fare | Carry-on (Article 18.1.1) | Free checked bag, sold on or before 28 March 2026 | Free checked bag, sold on or after 29 March 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| SpringSaver | 1 piece, 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm | None | None |
| SpringFlexi, package without baggage | 1 piece, 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm | None | None |
| SpringFlexi, package with baggage | 1 piece, 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm | 20 kg, 40 x 60 x 100 cm | 20 kg, 40 x 60 x 100 cm |
| SpringPlus | 1 piece, 10 kg, 20 x 40 x 55 cm | 30 kg | 20 kg |
Carry-on sizes exclude wheels, pull handle and grip. The checked-bag size is measured with wheels. Which checked-bag column applies depends on the sale date of your ticket, not your flight date.
Extra weight. Overweight checked bags are charged per 5 kg. These are the airport-counter prices in CNY (Article 18.2.2); the page says the fee varies with distance, membership level and where and when you buy.
| Distance | Domestic (including Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) | International |
|---|---|---|
| 0-999 km | 60 | 120 |
| 1000-1999 km | 75 | 135 |
| 2000-2999 km | 90 | 150 |
| 3000 km and above | 105 | 165 |
A cabin bag that is over the limit at the boarding gate costs 300 CNY per piece on domestic routes or 500 CNY on international routes, with each piece up to 10 kg on both. After paying, the largest cabin piece allowed is 20 x 40 x 55 cm.
You can prepay extra baggage on Spring's official channels (Article 18.2.3). Online purchase is allowed once per passenger, and available amounts differ by route. The page publishes no online price, so none is quoted here.
Spring Airlines: changes and refunds
This section applies to domestic tickets sold from 4 June 2026, and to earlier tickets changed on or after that date. It covers Y, W, S, H, V, K, L, M, N, Q, T, X, U, E, R1-R4, P and P1-P5, and all of these codes carry the same percentages. The fee is charged on the ticket's face fare; taxes and fuel surcharge are not part of the base.
| Time before departure | Voluntary change fee | Voluntary refund fee |
|---|---|---|
| 30 days or more | 20% | 30% |
| 14-30 days | 30% | 40% |
| 7-14 days | 40% | 50% |
| 3-7 days | 50% | 60% |
| 24 hours-3 days | 60% | 70% |
| 2-24 hours | 70% | 80% |
| Within 2 hours | 80% | 90% |
| After departure | 90% | 100% |
Spring completes refund processing to the original payment method and currency within 7 working days after receiving a valid request, excluding financial-institution processing time and delays caused by force majeure (section 1.2(10)). Infant tickets without a seat pay no change or refund fee. The 优选飞 "退改优享" product has its own rules on the page, and special codes I, O, D, J, B and G follow what was agreed at purchase. Tickets to Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and abroad use a separate table on the page, which this guide does not reproduce. Spring may amend its conditions without notice, but changes that limit passenger rights do not apply to tickets bought before the change (Article 17.3).
Spring vs China Eastern vs Air China
Baggage and meals, as each airline publishes them:
| Spring Airlines | China Eastern | Air China | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carry-on, economy | 1 piece, 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm | 1 piece, 8 kg, 55 x 40 x 20 cm, plus 1 personal item under the seat | 1 piece, 5 kg, 55 x 40 x 20 cm, plus 1 personal item under the seat |
| Domestic free checked bag, economy | None on SpringSaver or SpringFlexi without baggage; 20 kg with the SpringFlexi baggage package; SpringPlus 30 kg for tickets sold on or before 28 March 2026, or 20 kg from 29 March 2026 | 20 kg (at most 50 kg and 40 x 60 x 100 cm per piece) | Not stated on its Unchecked Baggage page |
| Free meals or drinks | None, except SpringPlus on some flights | "Free drinks or meals" according to its regulations and standards (domestic conditions, Article 10.2.1) | Not stated on its Unchecked Baggage page |
| Preferred seats, prepaid baggage | Optional purchases | Paid value-added services (Article 10.2.3) | Not stated on its Unchecked Baggage page |
China Eastern's carry-on figures come from its Carry-on Baggage page and its checked-bag figures from its Free Baggage Allowance page. Its domestic conditions (July 2026 version) are effective 1 July 2026 and replace the version implemented on 20 January 2026.
China Eastern's international and regional checked allowances depend on the route and fare brand: for Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Southeast Asia excluding Thailand and Singapore, and South Korea, economy Y/B and Flexible include 2 pieces, Standard 1 and Basic none, each up to 23 kg. For Japan, Australia and New Zealand, Y/B, Flexible and Standard include 2 pieces and Basic 1, each up to 23 kg. Thailand Basic includes 1 piece, up to 23 kg. Read the table for your route before booking.
Air China's Unchecked Baggage page is undated and covers carry-on and extra-seat baggage only, so it gives no domestic checked allowance or economy meal policy; read the allowance on your booking page before you pay.
China Eastern voluntary refund fee (domestic flights, including codeshare flights; tickets sold and travel starting on or after 6 August 2026, implementing rules; tickets sold before that date follow the original conditions of use):
| Class | Over 14 days | 14 days-7 days | 7 days-48 hours | 48-4 hours | 4 hours before to after departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y | Free | Free | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| R, S | Free | 20% | 30% | 65% | 70% |
| V, T, G, Z, H | Free | 20% | 40% | 70% | 75% |
Air China voluntary refund fee (2026 April version of its domestic rules, for tickets sold on or after 1 January 2025; charged on the face value of the segment):
| Class | 7 days or more | Less than 7 days, at least 48 hours | Less than 48 hours, at least 4 hours | Less than 4 hours before departure to after departure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Y | Free | 5% | 10% | 15% |
| B, M, U | 10% | 15% | 25% | 30% |
| T, L, P, N, K | 20% | 40% | 70% | 75% |
Put side by side, the published numbers differ in two ways. Spring's domestic refund fee starts at 30% even 30 days or more before departure and reaches 100% after departure. China Eastern's economy Y class refunds are free more than 7 days before departure; Air China's are free 7 days or more before departure. Both charge at most 15% from 4 hours before departure onward. But their deep-discount classes, such as T and V, reach 70-75% close to departure. On baggage, Spring's entry fares include no checked bag, while China Eastern's domestic economy fare includes 20 kg; on carry-on, Spring's published 7 kg is above Air China's 5 kg. These are different fare classes, so compare the conditions of the fare you are about to buy, not the airline names.
For changes, Spring allows changes to flight date or time, but not the route, carrier or passenger; any fare difference must also be paid. China Eastern recalculates the fare for voluntary flight or date changes and charges the applicable change fee and any difference in fare, taxes or fuel surcharges. Air China also recalculates the fare for flight or date changes, charging any fare increase and the applicable change fee.
Which of the old eight airlines still operate
| Airline | Status on its own pages |
|---|---|
| Spring Airlines | Operating. Conditions of carriage version effective 30 September 2026. |
| AirAsia | AirAsia's newsroom advisory of 8 August 2024 sets cabin baggage rules. A statement of 4 April 2026 covers AirAsia Philippines only. |
| Cebu Pacific | Baggage and hand carry pages are live; the hand carry page says an updated policy takes effect on 15 September 2026. |
| Peach | Publishes fare tables for flights from 29 March 2026 to 24 October 2026 and from 25 October 2026 to 27 March 2027. |
| Jeju Air | Baggage pages are live but undated. |
| Vanilla Air | Closed. Its final flight was JW103, Narita to Taipei, on 26 October 2019. Peach integrated with Vanilla Air, and the new Peach organisation flew its first flight on 27 October 2019. |
| Jetstar Asia | Closed. Its final day of operation was 31 July 2025. |
| Jin Air | Its International Conditions of Carriage, Rev. 10, were issued on 31 January 2025. That document does not address current operations, so confirm on Jin Air's own site. |
On Vanilla Air, ANA's news item of 27 December 2019 says Peach "integrated with Vanilla Air", and Peach's press release of 27 October 2019 says the integration "has completed this Autumn" and that Peach opened a Narita base that day. On Jetstar Asia, the Qantas Group release of 11 June 2025 says customers with bookings on cancelled flights would be offered full refunds, and that Jetstar Airways and Jetstar Japan services are unchanged.
Other carriers' baggage rules
Foreign carriers
| Airline | Carry-on | Checked baggage | Other points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peach (fare types, checked baggage) | Free on all three fare types: 2 bags, 7 kg in total | Minimum: charged. Standard and Standard Plus: 1 free bag. Up to 5 bags of 20 kg each, with a total weight limit of 100 kg per person; three sides total up to 203 cm; overweight option for 20-32 kg | Seat selection charged on Minimum; 3 seat types free on Standard. Changes only on Standard Plus. Refund: Minimum none; Standard none, but Peach Points may be provided after the fee; Standard Plus refunded after the fee. Every type is refunded if Peach cancels or significantly delays the flight. Power banks not allowed in checked bags; checked baggage fees are non-refundable |
| Jeju Air (checked, carry-on) | Free: 1 carry-on bag plus 1 personal item, 10 kg combined; bag within 40 x 20 x 55 cm | International flights except Guam and Saipan: BASIC 0 kg free, STANDARD 15 kg, BIZ LITE 30 kg. One piece at most 158 cm in total and 32 kg | Excess baggage is charged. If you pay for excess at the airport, acceptance can be refused on the day for total-weight reasons |
| AirAsia (advisory of 8 Aug 2024, AirAsia Philippines, 4 Apr 2026) | 1 cabin bag (56 x 36 x 23 cm) plus 1 small personal item (40 x 30 x 10 cm), 7 kg combined; infants under 2 have no cabin allowance | AirAsia Philippines: allowances from 20 kg to 60 kg are bought, each bag at most 32 kg; buying online costs less than at the airport | Over-limit cabin bags must be checked at the counter; a gate baggage fee may apply |
| Cebu Pacific (baggage, hand carry) | From 15 September 2026: 1 hand carry item (56 x 36 x 23 cm) plus 1 personal item (20 x 20 x 35 cm), wheels and handles included; up to 10 kg on Cebu Pacific (5J) flights, 7 kg on Cebgo (DG) flights | Included only in GO Easy and GO Flexi: 1 piece, 20 kg, 99 x 99 x 99 cm. GO Basic: none. Upgrades of 4, 8 or 12 kg per piece; up to 3 pieces online, each at most 32 kg | Prepaid baggage is non-cancelable, non-transferrable and non-refundable |
| Jin Air (conditions) | Up to 115 cm in total, sides at most 40 x 20 x 55 cm | Free allowance and size restrictions can be confirmed on the ticket or the Jin Air website; check your ticket before booking baggage | Meals charged and may not be offered on some routes |
Peach, Jeju Air and Cebu Pacific publish baggage fees on their sites, so look them up at booking. Peach says its checked-bag fees vary by fare type, route and where and when you add baggage. Peach's fees page says fees are set by the country or region of departure of your first segment and paid in that currency.
Chinese carriers
| Airline | Carry-on | Checked baggage | Other points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 Air (domestic conditions, effective 24 September 2026) | 1 piece, 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm excluding wheels; premium economy 20 x 40 x 55 cm | No free allowance unless the ticket shows one. Piece at most 50 kg and 40 x 60 x 100 cm; at most 4 pieces per passenger | Online baggage sold in 5 kg steps, up to 2 hours before check-in closes. Unused online baggage allowance is not refunded when your bag weighs less than the allowance bought; a shortfall is charged at airport rates. The baggage product can be changed or refunded together with its ticket without a separate baggage change or refund fee. The annex quotes its prices as CNY tax-inclusive reference figures |
| West Air (baggage page, passenger notice), both undated | Baggage page: 7 kg, 20 x 30 x 40 cm; "Delight economy" 20 x 40 x 55 cm. The notice says 5 kg (7 kg on international flights) | Domestic flights, by class code: C, D, Z 30 kg; W, R, Y, H, K, L, M, X 20 kg; V, N, A, U, T 0 kg. Exception on the baggage page: for departures from Shenzhen, a ticket with no free allowance still gets 20 kg checked | Domestic airport overweight rate "during the promotion": 15 / 20 / 25 CNY per kg under 800 km / 800-1600 km / 1600 km and above; the page says the end date will be announced later. At the gate, a flat 240 CNY per item if there is no scale. Meals can be preordered at least 36 hours before departure or bought from cabin crew on board |
| China United Airlines (domestic notice), undated | 1 piece, 8 kg, 20 x 40 x 55 cm, plus a personal item (under-seat reference 35 x 32 x 18 cm) | Piece at most 50 kg and 40 x 60 x 100 cm. Its notice on "one-step" (一步到位) fares lists six economy price tiers on China United-operated domestic routes: the lowest tier adds nothing; the second adds 5 kg of checked baggage, the third 10 kg, the fourth (E class) 15 kg, and the fifth (M class) and sixth (B or Y class) 20 kg. Premium economy (W class) comes with 20 kg. Overweight charge per kg is 1.5% of the highest adult economy one-way direct published fare that day | Up to 20 kg can be prepurchased online at the price shown; online sales close 180 minutes before departure. Self-service seat selection is free |
West Air's two pages disagree on carry-on weight (7 kg against 5 kg), so confirm the figure at booking.
Which should you choose
| Your situation | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Carry-on only | Any entry fare can work, but weight and size limits differ: 7 kg at Spring, 9 Air and Peach; 5 kg at Air China; 8 kg at China Eastern. Wheels count at Cebu Pacific and not at Spring or 9 Air. |
| One checked bag | Fares that include it: SpringFlexi with baggage package (20 kg), Peach Standard (1 bag), Jeju Air STANDARD (15 kg), Cebu Pacific GO Easy (20 kg), China Eastern domestic economy (20 kg), China United's higher one-step tiers (5 to 20 kg). Or buy it online in advance; Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines say online is cheaper than the airport. |
| You may change plans | Read the fee table for your exact class. Peach allows changes only on Standard Plus. Spring charges 20% to change even 30 days out. China Eastern economy Y class refunds are free more than 7 days out; Air China economy Y class refunds are free 7 days or more out. |
| You want a meal | Spring includes one only on SpringPlus on some flights. China Eastern says it provides free drinks or meals per its standards. West Air sells meals separately, with preorders at least 36 hours before departure or purchases on board. China United includes meals only when the ticket product includes them or you buy them separately. |
| A heavy or oversized bag | Per-piece caps: Jeju Air and Cebu Pacific 32 kg, Peach 20 kg (32 kg with the overweight option), 9 Air and China Eastern domestic 50 kg. Spring charges per 5 kg above the free allowance. |
Before you book: a checklist
- Fare family or class code. Find the checked-bag line for that exact fare, not the airline's general page.
- Sale date. Spring's baggage tables differ for tickets sold on or before 28 March 2026 and on or after 29 March 2026.
- Carry-on weight and size. Compare your bag with the airline's numbers, including whether wheels count.
- Change and refund table. Find your fare's row and the time band you will be in.
- Paid extras. Meals, seats and prepaid baggage are often separate products with their own cancellation rules.
- Version and effective date. Note the version of the conditions page and its date; Spring's current version took effect on 30 September 2026.
- Whether the airline still flies. Vanilla Air and Jetstar Asia are gone, so any list that still includes them is out of date.
Need a flight quote?
If you would like help pricing a specific trip, send us your route and dates on our contact page and we will come back with a quote.
