Star Alliance - transit in PVG/PEK

How are PEK or PVG for transit?
Have read some older posts and it sounds like you need a visa as you have to check in again.
Has it improved or are things still as bad?

You definitely do not need a visa if your transit is less than 24 hours (48 hours in PVG for some foreigners).

http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84242.htm

★ Visa-free entry for visitors: No visa is required for ordinary passport holders from Singapore, Brunei and Japan to visit China for up to 15 days for business, sightseeing, visiting relatives and friends or transit.

★ Visa-free transit

Visas are not required of aliens who hold air tickets to the final destination and have booked seats on international airliners flying directly through China, and will stay in a transit city for less than 24 hours without leaving the airport.
Visas are not required of passport holders of the following countries, who transit through Pudong Airport or Hongqiao Airport of Shanghai, provided they hold valid passports, visas for the onward countries, final destination tickets and have booked seats, and stay in Shanghai for less than 48 hours : Republic of Korea, United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemburg, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Austria, Greece, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland.

It is still a very good idea to actually have a visa in case something goes wrong.

Having said this, PEK T3 is now an easy airport for a transfer. Changing terminals complicates things but this is the case at any airport.