Aventine

Definitely agree with Asiana or Eva for Asian carriers, ease of transit and ride quality.

adventuroustraveller

May I hijack this thread to ask a quick question?
PRC airline connections are bad did you say?
Am hoping to fly syd-Kathmandu sometime between end-Nov and end-Jan and I was considering the PRC carriers. I thought it would be exciting as outbound they stop in Beijing and kunming and inbound they stop in Shanghai.
Bad idea?
Thai airways also flies syd-Kathmandu and they are a consideration.

EmailKid

If you are going to make a stopover, it's not bad. I've done TWOV a few times, and enjoyed my time in China.

The one and only time I tried to CONNECT, that was quite a nightmare in PVG, as I had to ENTER the country and then EXIT the country in order to change from a Thai to United flights

Thai has a transfer desk, so if it were ALL Thai I would have been able to do this, but as it was TO United, even with a FOUR hour connection I barely made it

glennaa11

connecting at PEK can be a total pain in the butt too. I swore to never return after my last BKK-PEK(TG)-IAD(UA)

adventuroustraveller

Thank you.

So, I take it stopover/layover means - exit immigration, enter China (stamp passport etc). Go out and stay in Beijing/Kunming/Shanghai for 2 days. Then go back to airport, check in, clear immigration and fly to the next city.

Connect - I take it this means getting off my plane. Then theoretically not leaving the airport to see the city, but have between, say, 4-10 hours to change planes, all within the airport itself.
Except, as some posters have said, you need to clear immigration etc just to change planes.

BUT would this be relevant if I were flying the whole way through on the same airline? Would it make a difference if I were flying the whole way through on the same foreign airline vs same PRC airline?
eg syd-beijing on PRC X airline, beijing-kunming PRC X airline, kunming-kathmandu PRC X airline.
In this case, would I need to clear immigration to CONNECT?

or the same legs all on, say, Qantas (I acknowledge something like this may not even exist. I imagine all the foreign city-domestic PRC city legs eg syd-beijing, kunming-kathmandu may be on Qantas or another foreign carrier, but domestic city - domestic city eg beijing-kunming must be on a PRC carrier only).

The other way is to make sure I leave enough time for each connection - say, 8- 10 hours?

The downside being, if I clear immigration in say, 1-2 hours, I would end up stuck inside the airport waiting for my next flight for another 6 hours +.

Thanks in advance.

EmailKid

Sorry, your post has become way too complicated for me I'll let someone else take a stab at it ....

That said, this is Asia forum, and your question is ALL China (connection), so I sent the mod an RPB and said mod will figure out if some of this needs to be moved to dedicated China forum @:-)

adventuroustraveller

Thanks .
Sorry again to have hijacked.
I think I need to copy and paste and make my own separate thread.

EmailKid

Hopefully in China forum.

glennaa11

I believe if you are transiting in China you need to go through transit immigration and security. At least that is what they do at PEK anyway. You arrive and are directed to immigration. There are the regular immigration lines for those who are entering the country and leaving the airport and separate (shorter) lines for those who are only in transit. They stamp your passport and you go downstairs and are required to go through security. First time I did this it was very simple and quick. The second time was a huge ordeal as they required every electronic device including every piece of photographic equipment to be removed from your bag and placed in a tray. Since I was traveling with my camera and several lenses plus laptop, cpap, phone, etc it was giant pain in the butt. All the while with the full-of-themselves security agents/cops telling me to hurry up. Then you exit that area into the departures area of the terminal. And at least in my case they required you to get a new bp at the gate for no apparent reason without telling you and then further security screening in the jetway on the way to the plane. Maybe the procedure is different now as that was a couple of years ago now. But I swore to never return to that godforsaken airport ever again.

EmailKid

It was earlier this year IIRC, but at PVG they required that I ENTER China and then EXIT China (i.e. Shanghai Airport) in order to connect TG to UA.

But again, we're going OT here in Asia forum, as China has its own forum @:-)

maverick17

I'd go with EVA off of that list. Good service and comfort, although their IFE needs a few more options in my opinion.

My most important thing IME would be like mentioned above, find out who has the best seat size for a long trip in economy. The EY cabin has 3-4-3 I think, and I read it's pretty tight, for example.

Asiana has some nasty connecting times for me usually it seems, when I'm coming back to the US. But they are also a good choice, I would put them #2.

FWIW China Airlines had a horrible reputation about ten years ago when I was living in Taiwan. I think they have rehabbed that though, and also not a bad option, #3 in my book here.

adventuroustraveller

Thanks everyone.
I'll return the thread to the OP now 😊

wizy

Went through this exact thing (ENTER and EXIT immigration while IN TRANSIT) last week at PVG. Flew in on Korean Air landing at T1, had to catch connecting flight on Air Canada departing from T2. It was a hassle.

EmailKid

That's an understatement IMHO.

Unless I'm going to spend time in Shanghai for a day or two (which is a good thing IMHO), no way am I ever going to do this again unless procedure changes.

Alster2015

I fly UA and ANA every time I go to Thailand. I always have a lay over in Japan NRT for about 2 hours. I like the lay over because of the long flight. Gives me a chance to grab a smoke and shop. It is a nice lay over and I have never been delayed yet leaving NRT. UA is usually priced middle of the road to low compared to other airlines. I also like NRT. I wish the layover could be longer. I fly to Thailand 4 to 6 times a year. If what I read in this forum is true, a layover in China must be a nightmare. So I don't think I will go that route even if it is cheaper. China Eastern I always see is one of the cheapest.