moondog

I fully endorse post 4, but if it were me, I'd fly to szx on the evening of 7/8, spend that night and the following day in Shekou, and take the ferry directly to hkia in order to make the 645p flight. While I admit that Shekou has little to offer in terms of tourism value, it is a really relaxing place to spend a day, the ferry is super convenient, and the Hilton can be fetched for less than 600/night.

Red259

Yep I'm covered flying CX to US.

moondog

In that case, you're also covered on either of the shenzhen-hkia ferries (in addition to Shekou, there are ferries from fuyong port, which is 10 mins from szx).

Red259

You realize every time you mention the name of a place that I am soo clueless that I have to google it? heh

Red259

The ferries from Fuyong port also go to the city of hong kong in addition to the airport? Also, when I check in at one of these locations do they take my luggage and transport it to the airport or do they hold it there for when I come back to transit to airport?

moondog

1. From fuyong port, your only two choices are hkia and Macau
2. If you want to go from szx to points in HK other than hkia, the bus is the best option (as 889 pointed out)
3. From either Shekou or fuyong, any luggage you check in will be tagged all the way to your final destination (same as hk airport express)

If you decide to go with the Shekou option, here's how I'd play it:
-on the morning of 7/9, walk over to the ferry pier, and go to the ticket window for hkia
-show the counter person your flight confirmation (cell phone version is fine)
-he/she will tell you what ferry to take (you can choose an earlier one as well, but there's really no point in this because their minimum connection time is rather lengthy)
-buy tickets
-enjoy your day
-go back there with your luggage 40 mins prior to departure

eta: I don't know what happens with luggage that is checked in well in advance of your actual ferry, but my guess is that travels on the same ferry as you.

Red259

In terms of coming back on 7/8 if I was to do that I would probably go stay in HKG, because I have a free night certificate for hyatt and can use it at a high end property there, although given flight schedules I looked at it seems to make more sense to spend as much time out in yangshuo and then spend the last night in guilin so I can take the early morning flight to szx. I tried to look up the flights and I don't see any at a different time on either 7/8 or 7/9 (everything else has a connection and adds a couple of hours to flight). Maybe I am looking at it wrong.

moondog

While I still maintain that my Shekou idea is the most stress free way to cap off your trip, I appreciate your desire to get a high return on your free Hyatt night.

-ka has one flight/day between kwl and hkg
-on 7/8, it departs at 1110a
-if you don't have ba points, get some because it only costs 4500 plus a trivial amount in taxes
-this will spare you of the sz shuffle, and facilitate some quality pool time at the GH

The drawback to this approach is that it possibly constitutes overloading hk in favor of other destinations.

Red259

Well now that is interesting what you mention there. I don't have BA miles but I have chase points I can transfer in to them and save on the flight. I wouldn't have fuel surcharges or they would be negligible given the short distance? Didn't even occur to me I might be able to do that on the domestic flights.

I agree I am kinda loaded up on HK and am not happy with it but there is a reason. I am getting into HK on a thursday so I use my first hyatt certificate. Then I have two free weekend nights with Hilton so I booked the Conrad hong kong for fri/sat. Given that the Hilton certificates only work on weekends I can't use them when I get back to Hong Kong and everywhere else it seems like a waste to spend them. I'm doing mostly hyatts with my chase points plus I got two free nights with them and I am going to hit the Westin in Xi'an with my SPG points. In Yangshuo I'm not sure there are any properties where I have points with so I will just go out of pocket.

moondog

-Ba points are you useless intra-mainland (no partners)
-Ba points can be useful to/from HK; kwl is high roi case, pek is medium roi case, sha is usually low roi case
-Have you considered using one of your free Hyatt nights at the Beijing ph? (I can't recommend burning it in shanghai because their best properties are on the wrong side of the river)

Red259

Yes, I will use it on the PH in Beijing if I don't use it in HK. I'm staying at the PH on points, but in HK it costs slightly more points to stay like 25k instead of 20k, which is why I used it there for my first night in HK. In terms of Shanghai I have heard different things about the hyatt properties there. Some recommend the hyatt on the bund and others dislike it. It seems like the PH is highly regarded but it is in the business area which can be kinda dead. Although its a 10 minute cab ride to where the action is apparently. Are cabs all over Shanghai? Like if I go out at night is it easy to find a cab to get back to the hotel?

moondog

Getting between lujiazui and "where the action IS" is most certainly NOT a ten minute cab ride. What's more, cab drivers in those parts are an extortionate bunch. Hotb is okay as is the andaz, but there are much better hotels than both (even at significantly lower price points).

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

In Shanghai I would consider staying on the Bund... iconic hotels including the Peace Hotel, or Waldorf Astoria, or even the Astor House Hotel (which is in a different category to the other two... more 3 star... but with prices to match and a real piece of history).

Shanghai is all about its history and art deco buildings.

moondog

Your fondness for the bund is well established here and in previous threads.

I respect your opinion, but feel compelled to offer my --also well noted-- dissenting opinion: apart from pretty buildings and overhyped restaurants, the bund simply doesn't have much to offer. Of course it's better than lujiazui in terms of location and friendliness of taxi drivers, but it is also far removed from the heart of Shanghai.

LHR/MEL/Europe FF

Don't get me wrong...it's not about the bund per se... it's about the accommodation. For tourists, I probably don't understand the appeal of a generic cookie cutter hotel/hotel room (on the bund or anywhere else) when there are historic hotels (across all price ranges) where you can live part of shanghai's history.