China - shanghai to BJ

I am planning my first trip to China in the fall. I want to go to the Shanghai expo and then fly to BJ. In my initial planning I noticed that some of the flights had several connections. What would be the best airline for this route? Is there a star alliance partner that does this route directly?

I believe this is one of the most heavily travelled routes in China (possibly rivaling some city-pairs in the eastern US) and *A partners CA and FM operate this direct "shuttle" route frequently with wide-bodies, even for a 2hr-ish flight.

I've noticed that there are quite a few delays on this route though.

I am planning my first trip to China in the fall. I want to go to the Shanghai expo and then fly to BJ. In my initial planning I noticed that some of the flights had several connections. What would be the best airline for this route? Is there a star alliance partner that does this route directly?

All other things being equal, I would try to pick a flight that arrives in T2 (PEK). I also prefer smaller planes (less time wasted boarding/disembarking). Delays are a bit of crap shoot.

There is no reason not to take a non-stop flight on this route--it's about 2 hours, but with potential for delays. Either airport in Shanghai is fine. There are flights every 2 hours or so from both airports.

Air China is *A, and there are probably others as well.

There are flights every 2 hours or so from both airports.


"Every 2 hours" is more or less correct from PVG (9 daily flights), but, between 7a and 10p, there are 40 flights from SHA (tmk, all nonstop except for KN's single flight). This, added to the fact that SHA is much closer to town, means that SHA is usually the best bet.

Make sure you get your miles recorded when you fly, not later (I forgot my Mileage Plus info and was assured I could get them later). I'm having a terrible time getting United to give me miles from Air China (even though I had everything but the boarding pass).

Make sure you get your miles recorded when you fly, not later (I forgot my Mileage Plus info and was assured I could get them later). I'm having a terrible time getting United to give me miles from Air China (even though I had everything but the boarding pass).

Even if they input your FF data into the system at check-in, always keep your boarding passes. More than once has it happened to me that miles didn't post even when providing FF data at check-in. Better safe than sorry.

Excellent point; wish I had! (But agreed to switch seats 3 times to let others sit together, as many seemed to be doing, and just lost track of the seats). I think that, having paid for the ticket with a cc in my name, that matches the passport, and having boarded and taken the flights, I would not have gotten so much c*** from United. They make it very difficult to get the miles credited, and I'm about ready to throw in the towel (which is exactly what they want and expect and hope for, I'm sure)...

"Every 2 hours" is more or less correct from PVG (9 daily flights), but, between 7a and 10p, there are 40 flights from SHA (tmk, all nonstop except for KN's single flight). This, added to the fact that SHA is much closer to town, means that SHA is usually the best bet.

My mind must have subconsciously excluded the mind-boggling array of non-stop choices from SHA when I booked a few months ago. There you go--even more choice! And, yes, SHA is the one to fly out of absent a compelling reason for PVG, as it is closer to most of Shanghai.

Make sure you get your miles recorded when you fly, not later (I forgot my Mileage Plus info and was assured I could get them later). I'm having a terrible time getting United to give me miles from Air China (even though I had everything but the boarding pass).

Odd--I had no problem with the flight info plus ticket number. Credit within a few days. Sorry your experience is different. On the bright side, it's only 500 miles.

That WOULD be the bright side; but evidently they think I'm still there, as the return to LAX is also being denied (with BP for this leg!).
I'm sure I will eventually get credited (because I will fight tooth and nail), but a savvy traveler should remember to carry pertinent numbers around!

I'm sure I will eventually get credited (because I will fight tooth and nail)

Keep pounding them, there is also a consolation they may issue double credit.

A while back, I abandoned all airline loyalty wrt intra China flights. Among other benefits, this alleviated any stress related to keeping track of receipts and boarding passes.

But, I would be sad if I missed out on crediting a transpac journey to an FFP. Sylvia: if nothing else, you might want to send in your BP to BMI; those guys aren't nearly as stingy as UA.

+1 for BD.
I credit most of my flights to BMI Diamond Club (I only fly *A when i can, FM, while still *A, because i prefer them over CA) and 9/10 times they post without issue. I retain *G purely from domestic flights, so definitely worth it for me. And i always keep my BPs until posted. Its Skyteam that gives me the most problems with intra-China travel.

Excellent point; wish I had! (But agreed to switch seats 3 times to let others sit together, as many seemed to be doing, and just lost track of the seats). I think that, having paid for the ticket with a cc in my name, that matches the passport, and having boarded and taken the flights, I would not have gotten so much c*** from United. They make it very difficult to get the miles credited, and I'm about ready to throw in the towel (which is exactly what they want and expect and hope for, I'm sure)...

That's really odd, I've had pretty good luck getting credit when my UA number wasn't entered into the record. There was one occasion when the agent entered the number as UNxxxxxxx instead of UAxxxxxxx, CA initally refused to credit the miles since they claimed to give them to another program. A second fax cleared that up.

Not all fare classes on CA domestic are eligible for credit, do you know what fare class you were booked in?

Sorry to hear about the TPAC credit difficulty.

Not all fare classes on CA domestic are eligible for credit, do you know what fare class you were booked in?


IIRC, you need to be (perhaps well) south of 3折 in order to earn nothing from UA, and SHA-PEK rarely goes below 4折.