CDKing

Ok Cool, So I can book a hotel further from the airport, although I usually stay in Venice Beach so it will be nice to spend the day before my flight in a different part of town.

kop84

Just in case anyone was wondering about some potential additional "perks" for HU flights

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/peop...t-delayed.html

WhIteSidE

The NYPost write up of the HU "benefits" is much funnier:

http://nypost.com/2016/02/16/dumb-ai...o-an-sm-hotel/

TProphet

Do you speak Mandarin? If not, you'll be in for a bit of culture shock. It's hard to get around using the English language.

That said, don't stay in Changsha. Get to Zhangjiajie which is one of the most spectacular places you will ever visit in your lifetime. It's easily among the very best places to see in China. And to think, you're going there on a status run. Don't miss the opportunity to see this incredible place.

Check this out:

CDKing

I just started taking lessons as i plan to go back to china a few times. At least i just found an offline translation app for menus and signs. Hopefully my 10 year visa gets approved. Its more a mini vacation run since its only 2x weekly service and no same day turns available.

Dieuwer

Just noticed this on the Alaska website: Award travel on Hainan Airlines will be available for booking March 30, 2016.

TProphet

It's good that you're learning a little Mandarin. Here's what to focus on:

- How to ask how much things cost and negotiate prices
- Enough numbers to be able to discuss price
- How to hail a taxi (showing the driver the address in Mandarin)
- Taxi commands (turn left, turn right, stop)
- "I want that / Do not want"
- Buying tickets to things (buses, trains, events, museums)

90% of what you need to do in China as a tourist will relate to these topics and if you can handle this stuff, you can easily ad lib through the remaining 10%.

Chinese people really are very friendly to foreigners for the most part, and they'll treat you with patience, kindness and good humor as long as you do the same. Smile, maintain a relaxed attitude, keep your sense of humor and never, ever lose your temper.

One thing that will happen a lot is that people will be reluctant to sell you things or try to guess what you want if your pronunciation is questionable. It's not that they're jerks or not friendly, it's that they don't want to do the wrong thing and embarrass you. Also, if you order something and refuse to pay for it in a restaurant, the waitstaff ends up stuck with the bill.

The most important thing is feeding yourself. If you get stuck in a restaurant, it's perfectly acceptable to walk over to someone's table if they're eating something you want and point at it, saying you want that. Most restaurants have picture menus so you can point at the picture of what you want. However, be sure you know what you're ordering - it's not unusual in this part of the world to find dog soup or ridiculously spicy duck necks on the menu!

For your first trip, to get a good idea of your Chinese level, you might want to consider hiring a reputable English-speaking driver and tour guide. Try to do things in Chinese, but have the guide available to help you. Everyone will tell you that your Chinese is very good even if it isn't, but if you have the guide along, you'll be able to have someone correct your inevitable stumbles in a face-saving way. They're not very expensive (honestly not much more than it would cost you to rent a car and pay for fuel and tolls--I have a Chinese drivers license and have done this), and you can book them through any hotel.

Have a good time. Not many foreigners visit Zhangjiajie and you're in for a real treat!

fishywang

Finally!

InTheShed

It was reported on a Chinese website (FT equivalent) that a HU and AS FFP partnership ceremony was held in China on 2-24. The same report indicated that elites would have reciprocal priority boarding and lounge access, as well as luggage privilege. The benefits will be rolling out starting March 1.

IWontRegretThis

This is very good news. Might start seriously considering HU for my trips to China vs my current mainstay, AA - especially with all the nice J fares recently. Hard to beat $1400rt or so, even if I have to throw in a overnight and or connection.

IWontRegretThis

Edit - DP sorry

Kermee

Hi All,

Just a quick question, hopefully. I need to book a last minute SEA-HKG flight and HU seems to have an SEA-PEK-HKG-PEK-SEA that might work.

SEA-PEK shows up as Fare Class U
P̶E̶K̶-̶H̶K̶G̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶F̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶C̶l̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶H̶
̶H̶K̶G̶-̶P̶E̶K̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶s̶ ̶u̶p̶ ̶a̶s̶ ̶F̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶C̶l̶a̶s̶s̶ ̶H̶
PEK-SEA shows up as Fare Class U

If I have them post the mileage to my AS account, the Class U legs would post at 50% EQM and the Class H legs would post at 100% EQM?

Thanks in advance!

UPDATE: Duh. Just realized the PEK-HKG is handled by Hong Kong Airlines so I would only earn 50% EQM on the SEA-PEK legs.

Cheers,
Kermee

CDKing

Sorry OT but i missed this part of the post, pictures is not the best idea which i learned already, i was in shanghai last year and they pulled out an ipad with pictures of the food, i found one that looked good and switched to the english description and it was bullfrog w/ noodles and I got a little queasy. hopefully the pork i had instead was not dog. I even went further and signed up for a 30 day crash course on the basics for those going to China for a sort time.

It was mentioned about some of that when the partnership was first announced, well the lounge part. i believe AS is trying to negotiate that with all partners at some point especially new ones. Now it sounds as if priority boarding from what ibe heard about HU and some other chinese airlines that there really isn't any boarding priority and more like a free for all, not that its much different than AS calling Gold and pretty much every other partner elite at the same time as first class.

beckoa

Wirelessly posted (beckoa's BB: Mozilla/5.0 (BB10; Kbd) AppleWebKit/537.35+ (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/10.3.2.858 Mobile Safari/537.35+)

Is bullfrog an option on HU? Sounds tasty!

AwardBee

Let's be clear on one thing in China - it's highly unlikely that you'll be inadvertently served dog (which is considered a delicacy due to how expensive it is to raise) in lieu of much cheaper and easier to raise pigs.

You may find yourself eating some other kind of animal besides pig, but I assure you it's incredibly unlikely to be dog.