CHUD

So this post is basically about my family and I missing our connection in PEK and the nightmare that occurred after. The purpose is to share, inform, educate and hopefully receive constructive feedback about how I should have done things differently. With that said, I feel bad dragging my poor wife and 4yr old son through this nightmare in Beijing as well as spending over $6k in additional airfare. Maybe most of it is my fault for being uneducated but we just encountered difficulties every stop of the way.

It all started 3months ago when I booked my ticket through Expedia. Expedia had the following itinerary with an attractive price of around $1300. Our Christmas vacation was basically in Taiwan but I chose this itinerary since I had never flown to HND or TSA and wanted to add those airports to my list. I also wanted to try the AA 787. I was a bit wary about the PEK connection but after talking to some people and doing a little research, I found out that China allows a 72hr transit as long as you have a 3rd country ticket. This is not exactly true but more on that later.

Dec 13 MIA-SFO 19:49-23:17 AA#2411
Dec 14 SFO-HND 00:35-05:00 AA#8400 on JAL
Dec 15 HND-TSA 08:35-11:40 JAL#97

Dec 30 TPE-PEK 13:14-16:22 Air China #186
Dec 30 PEK-DFW 17:54-17:25 AA#262
Dec 30 DFW-MIA 20:14-23:59 AA#60

On the outbound, everything went smoothly except for the fact that the MIA-SFO flight was about 30mins late. I was a bit worried but after seeing a JAL concierge round up 15+ people from my flight, I became relieved. I love Japanese efficiency.

So all the problems were on the return and started in TPE. Upon check in, my bags were checked through to MIA but I was not issued my connecting boarding passes. I inquired but they stated that I had to have those issued in PEK. My ticket agent was a trainee but had a supervisor behind her and he was the one that gave me these instructions. I was skeptical.

The Air China flight was uneventful but was about 10mins late. I was thinking I was ok until I noticed that we parked out in the tarmac. Took the 3rd bus to the terminal and had about 50mins left to connect. Reached the transfer desk and was 3rd in line. Only 2 staff that handled all airlines were present and apparently no one on my flight was issued any connecting tickets. Later found out many people missed their connections. By the time it was my turn, it was 30mins prior to departure. When the staff heard my connecting flight, she said it was too late but proceeded to call the AA desk. They denied me boarding and stated I needed 40mins. For those unfamiliar with PEK transfers, you must pass a check point with your boarding pass in order to proceed to your next flight. I argued but she called and had my bags removed. She then gave me a slip of paper with AA DFW flight the next day Dec 31 and instructed me to collect my bags and go to the ticket counter to do my reaccommodation. Following her instructions was another mistake as I should have stayed in transit and insisted on them reaccommodating me there. As I cleared China immigration, they saw the slip and gave me entry until Dec 31st - 24hrs.

By the time I exited immigration, collected my bags and cleared customs, AA counter was closed. Went to Air China desk and asked that they reaccommodate me. They said my ticket was with AA so I must deal with them. Told me they were not late and I missed the flight due to my own reasons. Continued to argue and they gave me a hotel stay at the Beijing Golden Phoenix Hotel. Never stay there. Felt like I was in a 1980 Communist Hotel.

Initially, we were not too worried as we thought we would just stay a night and get reacomm'd onto the next flight. I then proceeded to call AA and quickly found out there weren't going to do anything and if I wanted to leave Dec 31, it was going to be $7000+ for the 3 of us.

Called Expedia next and actually had a supervisor who stayed on the phone with me for 2+ hours and called me back when we got disconnected. She basically said I was stuck between the 2 airlines trying to defer responsibility. Finally, she said AA offered to reaccommodate me to Jan 1st for around $860 pp. I couldn't find anything cheaper so I agreed. My new flight was now on PEK-ORD Jan 1st 10:10am departure. I knew my visa expired on Dec 31st but thought I could go to the airport on Dec 31st and try to extend - wrong.

On the morning of Dec 31st, I went to Air China and since Air China said they were not late, they denied me any documentation showing that I missed my connection due to them. Gave me a phone number for immigration. I speak fluent mandarin which eliminated the language barrier but not sure help since I am a US citizen of Chinese decent born in the US. The lady was sympathetic but told me there is no office I could go to and the only way to handle this problem was upon exiting the country. I asked what the procedure was and she said it would be $500RMB fine per person per day. Whatever, I'll just justify it as cost of the visa.

The next morning Jan1, I arrived 3.5hrs before departure as I was told the ticket counter opens 3hrs before departure. Wrong again. Had to wait 1hr to get served. Then took another 30mins to clear up my payment as they didn't know how to do it. They charged me for 2, not 3 passengers and so they had to process the payment on the last passenger.

Now it was 1:30hrs before departure and arrived to immigration. Explained my story to 4 different people on why I did not leave on Dec 31st. Took 30mins. Now it was 1hr before departure. These people were interogating me like I was a criminal. I told them all I did wrong was miss my connection but if they say I am guilty, I am guilty. Finally, long story short, they said that they had to charge me $500RMB per person cash only. I had already prepared the cash. They said that the child would not have to pay but one adult would have to pay double since he caused the child to be late. ... is that kind of ........, whatever. After much discussion on their part, they then said it would take 2hrs to process my paperwork and they would do it if AA was willing to wait on me. Of course AA refused and so they did not process my exit paperwork. What kind of ....ed up logic is that. I asked what I needed to do and they instructed me to discuss with the airline. I asked what would happen if I had to stay another day. They said the fine would continue $500RMB pp per day.

Called AA again and they quoted me $7000+ for Jan 2 again. F that. Paid for Boing internet and found the cheapest ticket at $1200pp on United later that afternoon 1700 and booked it. Beijing airport advertises free wifi but it doesn't work or you have to have a Chinese phone number. I am now almost $10k for my airfare for 3 passengers.

Went back out to collect my bags, checked in on United and got my ... out of China asap. Upon exiting, the immigration staff had changed shift and had to go through the same BS with new people. Had to sign 10+ pages and write a statement "I AGREE WITH THE ABOVE AND TAKE RESPONSIBILITY" something along those lines. Paid my $1500RMB and they let me go. I asked if it would affect my future visa applications and they said no but if I commit this offense again, consequences would be more harsh. Told me not to do it again. I thought to myself, don't worry - I won't connect anymore in China anymore. Lastly, the 72hr transit time should be restated to "Up To 72hrs" as they will only give you enough time to your next flight. In my case, I was given 24hrs and stayed a total of 48hrs.

So obviously, I am back home now writing this. Hopefully, I haven't bored you to death but I just want to warn people not to transit through China.

Here is a list of mistakes I believe I made.

1. Booked through Expedia.
2. Transited through China with no Visa
3. Entered the country without flight being re-accommodated
4. Stayed past my Visa
5. Arrived too late to check in, should have arrived 4+hrs just to be first in line when counter opened

Here is where I feel I was wronged
1. Air China would not take responsibility for causing me to miss my flight
2. Air China not issuing me connecting boarding passes
3. AA would not let me standby or reaccommodate me without paying a difference in fare
4. AA did not charge my $860 charge correctly causing me to waste 30mins at ticket counter which in theory would have given me enough time for immigration to process my paper work.
5. China immigration would not let me apply to extend my visa despite not being able to afford the $7000+ tickets on AA. Only received 24hrs instead of the advertised 72hrs.

Please provide me some feedback without beating me up too bad. I did make my bookings with my Chase Saphire Preferred card so not sure what protection that offers me.

moondog

You were offered 24 hour twov because that was sufficient for your original plan.

I'm not clear what sort of advice you are seeking. Please clarify (in a succinct manner).

jiejie

1. Yes. Expedia is notoriously unhelpful when things go pear-shaped.
1a. Booking a short intl-to-intl connection at PEK. While 1.5 hours is officially within the MCT for T3 transfers, anybody here with expertise at the process could have told you that this was a very risky thing to do, given the potential for delays into PEK, bus gates, issuance of boarding cards, and other assorted whammies. Just because something is "legal" doesn't mean it's advisable to do. BTW, a 10 minute "late" arrival into PEK is essentially on-time, so I can see where Air China would dig their heels in on this point. Having that 10 minutes back wouldn't have made a material difference to you, given the normal process you have to go through to get to your US-bound flight.
2. No, not necessarily a problem to TWOV and we have an entire thread on this forum dedicated to this. But it has to be done properly and with forethought.
3. You had no choice. Your narrative mentions that you should have stayed at the transfer desk (I assume the one before the Immigration desks) until you were accommodated on another flight. That desk cannot do the reticketing, so Hell would have had to freeze over before you'd be accommodated there. With an obvious misconnect now in progress, you had no choice but to pass through Immigration as a TWOV passenger and go to front side of terminal/airline desks to get reaccommodated. AA had no choice but to pull your bags from their flight.
4. You never received a visa. You were on Transit Without Visa privileges. Since you and presumably your travel party were US citizens, you should have had a grace period of up to 72 hours, starting at midnight after you arrived. Even if it started as a 24 hour TWOV due to your expected alternate flight out, it can be extended---but you do need to have documentation from the airline and be proactive with Immigration about what's going on. Not sure if you went to wrong place, if airline didn't do their bit, or what. This is the first instance I have ever heard of this happening. Even in cases where nationality only allows 24 hours and there is a misconnect with additional time needed to catch a rebooked flight, I haven't heard of this sort of Immigration fine/punishment. Unless there is something else going on that has not been mentioned.
5. ? I'm not following this.

If Expedia issued this entire ticket on AA stock, which seems to be the case, then AA should have been responsible for figuring out the reaccommodation. Others here might be able to better advise you on what steps to take to get some compensation/reimbursement, and whether or not an additional step of filing a DOT complaint is warranted. You won't get any traction with the Chinese on getting back your RMB 1500, and I know of no mechanism for doing so. I doubt if there would be any long-standing repercussions on future Chinese visa applications. Finally, your long missive has a lot of sidebar observations that could be omitted when preparing to battle to get funds back. If you did not take out specific trip insurance that would cover this, then check with the terms of your Chase card directly---you shouldn't need us here to investigate this for you.

A bummer of an experience that has some very strange aspects. Certainly hundreds of people without Chinese visas misconnect at PEK every week and get through the rebooking, and TWOV process without this sort of drama or expense.

moondog

@jiejie

In order to get 72 hour twov, one needs to present an onward flight >24 hours from the inbound flight.

889

There's a lot of information in your post, and some twists and turns that are difficult to understand.

First, I'd add to your list of mistakes booking a can-not-miss international connection with just 1h32m leeway, on two different airlines. What were you thinking, especially with family in tow? This should be at the top of your list. Another mistake, though obviously one not always avoidable, was flying separate airlines for the connection.

Second, I'm very surprised you got such rough treatment from immigration; they have discretion to waive the fine, and there have been a number of reports that they usually do so for a day's overstay. Insisting to the point of causing you to miss your flight is really perplexing. They usually behave like that when they want to be punitive towards you for some reason. Perhaps speaking Chinese with them was another mistake. There really are times in China when it's best to use English and not appear too Chinese, and that may have been one. If, as an ethnic Chinese, you speak fluent Mandarin to Chinese officials, they are going to expect you to behave like a Chinese person does when encountering officialdom, not an American.

Third, if you had originally been re-scheduled for a flight two days later, you presumably would have been given a 72-hour layover pass. But since you apparently had a flight out the next day, they gave you the standard 24-hour layover pass. In any event, Air China wasn't quite right when they said there was no office that could help with your layover extension; you could have rushed to the Exit-Entry Bureau of the PSB, though whether they were open December 31 and could have done the paperwork that day I don't know.

Finally, if I'd been in your shoes I would have put my four-year son and wife front and center at every opportunity. Let the kid cry when immigration tells you you're going to miss your flight because it'll take two hours to do the paperwork, the louder the better. If that wouldn't have melted the officials' hardline attitude, then nothing would have.

jiejie

Fine, but there certainly is provision to get a 24-hour TWOV then if circumstances warrant due to airline issues, to get that extended. It's unclear why this didn't happen. Frankly, there's plenty of blame to go around but is sounds like AA is the party that dropped the biggest ball.

I agree with @889's observation that speaking Chinese instead of sticking with English was a mistake, and that for whatever reason, Immigration decided to be uncharacteristically punitive. What was your demeanor and attitude? Are you of Taiwan Chinese extraction?

qpr

Wrong.
It works with foreign phone numbers too.
Just sign up and youŽll get a code by sms to log in.
No need for a chinese phone number.

uanj

Man oh man! Wow! Sorry to hear about your troubles.

When I saw your itinerary before getting into the body of your post I knew you were inviting trouble with your connections. I would not have booked those connections for myself and I have years of experience doing this. And especially not with a four year old. You're not as mobile when traveling with small children.

To me, you don't need your list of questions where the problems were. You just did not have enough time in your connections, even on the outbound. The chances of something going wrong were too great. Some things you only learn with experience, like how to handle immigration or customs in some of the stickier places. Don't beat yourself up on that point. But don't overstay again anywhere, ever.

Check first with your credit card company. While you may be disappointed with Air China, as jiejie said they delivered their part of the travel contract. I am really surprised that AA was so unhelpful though. Normally if you miss a connection (even without good cause in their eyes, like you lost of track of time) they would rebook you on the next flight. Something does not seem right there.

Anyway, happy new year and I hope one day you can look back on this and laugh.

CHUD

Yes, basically I wanted to extend my 24-hour TWOV for one more day but based on the information I was given, this was not possible.

My demeanor and attitude was humble and apologetic. One fact I omitted is that my wife was born in China but left the country when she was 5 and does not speak any Chinese. She is a naturalized US citizen but her passport says "Born in China". They gave her much grief for not speaking any Chinese. They asked me my origins and I responded with Taiwan Chinese. I felt that I could communicate my plight more efficiently speaking Chinese but in hindsight, this was probably wrong.

CHUD

The purpose is to share, inform, educate and hopefully receive constructive feedback about how I should have done things differently.

My original plans changed but I could not obtain an extension to my 24hour TWOV. Is this correct?

CHUD

One thing I am still not sure about is if Air China was suppose to issue me AA tickets in Taipei? Expedia said Air China has an air ticketing agreement with AA so it should have been done in Taipei. Ultimately, this was the main factor on the reason why I missed my connection.

CHUD

Not sure if there is a specific phone number format to input but did not work with my US Tmobile phone number. Tried different variations of my phone number but still did not receive any sms text.

Also tried putting in my boarding pass info but that didn't work either.

CHUD

Thank you, Happy New Year to you too. Yes, I thought they would just put me on the next flight or at least let me standby but no, they refused. They wanted a difference in fare which on Dec 31 was $7000+ and on Jan 1 was $2500+. Is this standard or is it because I booked it through Expedia?

dh01

There is no way for Air China to issue you a AA boarding pass from Taipei, different airlines, different alliances, different computer systems. Your complaint about China is not totally fair, you got 24 hours obviously for a flight the next day. AA shafted you, and cost you a fortune, not Air China.

jiejie

It absolutely should have been possible. AA should have assisted you with this, based on the latest rebooking, or even with a note that you were having to rebook on a later flight on another airline (United) due to <any plausible excuse, like being bumped>.

(my bolding) While I hate to say it, IMO all of this was the crux of why you and your family was singled out for Immigration hard-line approach and a punitive fine, whereas most others in the same situation would not have been. Frankly, it was low down meanness of the Chinese for doing this to you, maybe you just got somebody in a very bad mood, but it was quite uncalled-for and an example of how some Chinese are capable of letting Motherland politics creep into places it shouldn't. I don't see any other explanation for this unusual and upsetting experience with them.

I would not dissuade you from getting a 10-year, multiple-entry Chinese visa just to cover yourself, in the event your future travels to Asia may take you through China for foreseen or unforeseen transits. In your case, it would be worth peace of mind to have the protection of a visa, rather than worrying about conforming to TWOV.