Asia - Washington DC to Beijing/Shanghai

Hi,

My parents are taking their first trip to China in April. They are leaving from DC and going to Shanghai and then returning to DC from Beijing.

I'd like to pick the best airline and planes for their trip in Coach service. Expedia shows Continental and United.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
LAR

Hi,

My parents are taking their first trip to China in April. They are leaving from DC and going to Shanghai and then returning to DC from Beijing.

I'd like to pick the best airline and planes for their trip in Coach service. Expedia shows Continental and United.

Any recommendations?

Thanks!
LAR

ua and nh are the only carriers offering one-stop service between was and both pek and pvg. co and ac both offer one-stop service to pek, but not pvg.

nh requires an overnight in nrt on the return; they provide hotel vouchers.

I guess on UA it's via SFO or from PVG, via ORD, and NH via NRT? Interesting choices.

I guess I'd make the choice on whether I could use E+ or not, if you could get E+ (either by being elite or paying the $295), I'd go UA, otherwise maybe NH and break the trip in NRT.

I guess on UA it's via SFO or from PVG, via ORD, and NH via NRT? Interesting choices.

I guess I'd make the choice on whether I could use E+ or not, if you could get E+ (either by being elite or paying the $295), I'd go UA, otherwise maybe NH and break the trip in NRT.

nh y is pretty ok in terms of legroom; i would not pay more for ua based solely on the availability of e+.

what nh has over ua, is better ife, nicer FAs, and the chance to break up your trip in japan on the way home.

on the other hand, nh usually costs more than ua ex-us and they only offer 70% miles.

You might also try looking for a UA codeshare with Air China; that might knock the fare down a bit. Though it might require some time spent using your favorite booking tool (or kayak.com), or a good travel agent.

You might also try looking for a UA codeshare with Air China; that might knock the fare down a bit. Though it might require some time spent using your favorite booking tool (or kayak.com), or a good travel agent.

that's a good suggestion. a friend of mine came out last summer and iad-jfk-pek (with ua flight numbers) proved to be the cheapest routing in both directions. he was quite happy with the jfk connection.

edited to add: the ca codeshare has the same problem as the co routing; it won't get you to/from pvg. that said, mixing iad-nyc/lax/sfo-pek with pvg-ord/sfo-iad can still be a useful card to play.