China - Best connection at Beijing / PEK from AA [onward to NKG]

A colleague needs to fly from BOS to NKG and wants to use eVIPs for as much of the distance as possible. The closest city served by AA is PEK.

From PEK to NKG, what airline should I recommend? Is one airline or another easier for connections to/from AA? It's been a while since I was there so my memory is fuzzy.

A colleague needs to fly from BOS to NKG and wants to use eVIPs for as much of the distance as possible. The closest city served by AA is PEK.

From PEK to NKG, what airline should I recommend? Is one airline or another easier for connections to/from AA? It's been a while since I was there so my memory is fuzzy.

CA. All other options require a terminal switch (T2 is not all that close to T3).

Excellent. Thanks. That's exactly what I was hoping to find out.

Instead of flying CA I would take the train.

A colleague needs to fly from BOS to NKG and wants to use eVIPs for as much of the distance as possible. The closest city served by AA is PEK.

From PEK to NKG, what airline should I recommend? Is one airline or another easier for connections to/from AA? It's been a while since I was there so my memory is fuzzy.

I might be wrong but wouldn't the ORD-PVG flight work better?
That ORD-PEK lands at like 10pm or 11pm, is it even possible to have PEK-NKG flight that late?

PEK - NKG = 589 miles
PVG - NKG = 179miles

There are hotels at PVG like the Ramada, or one could head to the city and proceed the following day by rail?

N.B. Moving to the China Forum, given the AA options are to PVG or PEK (unless one connects at NRT or HND, ~1,267 miles to NKG assuming direct flight availability). The members in that forum seem more able to help, and the Ambassadors are top notch. /JDiver, Moderator

Instead of flying CA I would take the train.

If you search for the thread "Nanjing by rail?" you will note that I think the train strategy is a poor choice for people coming from other countries because the train stations in both Beijiing and Shanghai are quite far from their respective airports. An exception would be SHA (Hongqiao) because the train station is literally attached to terminal 2, but it doesn't have a lot of international flights (just HKG, SEL, HND, TPE, TSA, and maybe somewhere else in Japan like ITM or KIX). If you're already in Beijing, the calculus is different, especially for Nanjiing and points north (if I leave from my place in Shuangjing, I can be at a meeting in Nanjing in 5 hours flat via G1 or G3; vs. flying, 4.5 hours door to door is theoretically possible, but only if you cut it very close, fly out of T2 instead of T3, and the stars are aligned perfectly).

That ORD-PEK lands at like 10pm or 11pm, is it even possible to have PEK-NKG flight that late?

Thanks for pointing this out!

Edit: I've checked the other connections and they also would require a layover. Looks like there's no way to make the trip across the Pacific on AA and avoid an overnight layover before the connecting flight to Nanjing…

Thanks for pointing this out!

Edit: I've checked the other connections and they also would require a layover. Looks like there's no way to make the trip across the Pacific on AA and avoid an overnight layover before the connecting flight to Nanjing…

I just checked out the Nanjing Airport wiki on your behalf, which claims there is an MU flight from NRT to NKG, but I couldn't find evidence of such when I searched on Kayak. Perhaps it exists, but only flies a few times per week. In any event, since aa.com won't sell it to you, I'm guessing that going this route is probably prohibitively expensive.

So, that leaves your friend with PEK (overnight required), PVG (possible overnight required), AA to HND and connect to JL to SHA and train from there (I'm not sure about the layover situation, but let's assume not very good due to restrictions on longhaul flights at HND), and several double connects (e.g. NRT-ICN-NKG, NRT-TPE-NKG).

Personally, I would just fly OZ, BR, or LH the whole way and be done with it, but I understand the desire to use those EVIPs.

As such, I believe that PEK is probably your friend's best bet, and maybe fly back from PVG. On a related note, I visited the PEK Hilton for the first time today, and was simply blown away... simultaneously one of the nicest Hiltons AND airport hotels that I've ever chanced upon (far better than the GH at ICN, just to provide a frame of reference).

A minor issue is where your colleague needs to be in Nanjing. The airport is annoyingly far from the central city but if his destination is somewhere "out there" then morning flight is OK--barring notorious Beijing ATC and/or smog delays.

I agree with moondog that I'd probably stick to the PEK arrival strategy, but since it requires an overnight stay anyway, I'd choose a hotel in the city for that overnight, in the same general area as Beijing South Station, and bullet train out the next morning. Train will arrive right into Nanjing city. Trains start running at 07:00 am and there are 12 G trains (the fastest type) leaving between 7-10 am, generally arriving in 3.75 to 4.5 hours later depending on train. Usually cutoff for buying tickets is 30 minutes in advance of departure (need passport) but except at holiday or major trade show times, there should always be last minute walk-up tickets. The bullets are a nice experience.

I'd check out PVG departure for the return though.

Thanks for the tip, moondog. I checked it out and yes, MU flies in both directions between NKG and NRT once on Sundays and once on Thursdays. The flight is sold both as MU and as a JL codeshare. In the NRT-NKG direction, however, the flight departs before any of the AA flights land at NRT, so that would still indicate an overnight layover when arriving at NRT from the US.

Also, the best route, as you also mentioned, would be on LH: BOS-FRA-NKG. Very easy. I'll suggest it but I believe my colleague wants to stick to AA as much as possible.

I wonder if it's easier to overnight at the NRT Hilton or the PEK Hilton…

jiejie, I appreciate the information about trains. I will pass that on as well!

A minor issue is where your colleague needs to be in Nanjing. The airport is annoyingly far from the central city but if his destination is somewhere "out there" then morning flight is OK--barring notorious Beijing ATC and/or smog delays.

I agree with moondog that I'd probably stick to the PEK arrival strategy, but since it requires an overnight stay anyway, I'd choose a hotel in the city for that overnight, in the same general area as Beijing South Station, and bullet train out the next morning. Train will arrive right into Nanjing city. Trains start running at 07:00 am and there are 12 G trains (the fastest type) leaving between 7-10 am, generally arriving in 3.75 to 4.5 hours later depending on train. Usually cutoff for buying tickets is 30 minutes in advance of departure (need passport) but except at holiday or major trade show times, there should always be last minute walk-up tickets. The bullets are a nice experience.

I'd check out PVG departure for the return though.

Umm, Nanjing South Station (where all G trains stop) isn't exactly in the city center... though it is closer in than the airport.

:confused: Not sure what point you are trying to make. Any way you slice it, if one's destination is Nanjing city, then it's easier/quicker to get there from Nanjing South Rail Station than from Nanjing Airport. And if coming by air or high-speed rail G train from Beijing, those are the choices. If the OP's colleague wants to change to PVG, he might still have an overnight (somewhere near Hongqiao), but could get a bullet G train heading for Nanjing Main which is definitely in central city.

:confused: Not sure what point you are trying to make. Any way you slice it, if one's destination is Nanjing city, then it's easier/quicker to get there from Nanjing South Rail Station than from Nanjing Airport. And if coming by air or high-speed rail G train from Beijing, those are the choices. If the OP's colleague wants to change to PVG, he might still have an overnight (somewhere near Hongqiao), but could get a bullet G train heading for Nanjing Main which is definitely in central city.

This idea did cross my mind (I think there G trains from Shanghai Stn to Nanjing Stn, as well). However, upon further reflection, NJ South is admittedly a nicer place than NJ Station. In any event, I'm liking this fly in from NRT more and more; I've had good luck getting airlines to comp hotels on forced overnights there, and Narita is an okay enough place to spend an evening.

This idea did cross my mind (I think there G trains from Shanghai Stn to Nanjing Stn, as well). However, upon further reflection, NJ South is admittedly a nicer place than NJ Station. In any event, I'm liking this fly in from NRT more and more; I've had good luck getting airlines to comp hotels on forced overnights there, and Narita is an okay enough place to spend an evening.

Anytime the Chinese destination is served directly by an international flight, that's my first option as well unless price-prohibitive. Having to not deal with immigration/Customs and the domestic air connection shuffle and air traffic delays (especially at the usual suspects PEK, PVG, CAN) is worth some sort of premium for time and convenience, surely. I'm surprised at how many secondary inland cities like Chengdu, Changsha, Wuhan, Nanjing, etc. can be directly accessed from Japan or Korea on nonstops.