Checking in Air china/Southern

[khizman]

I am planning a trip to Tokyo and Vietnam and using Beijing as a hub,

Essentially I al buying LON-NRT on Air china with a sidetrip BJS-HAN on China southern,

If I have a "stopover" on the way out in BJS to allow me to do BJS-HAN, will Air China allow me to check in all the way to HAN even though it's on a different airline?

[SirJman]

BJS = PEK.

But yes, if its less than 24 hours you can check your bags through with CA by showing them your CZ itinerary. You will still need to find a CZ desk in PEK to get your ticket to HAN though.

Also, have a print out of your full itinerary if you are transiting through PEK without a visa, it will save you lots of time at immigration as they won't have to call an airline representative.

[Ocn Vw 1K]

Please follow in our Other Asian....airline forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by SirJman

BJS = PEK.

BJS is the city code for Beijing (ala QLA, QSF, WAS, NYC, TYO, CHI, etc); PEK is the airport code for 首都机场. In this case, both are correct.

But yes, if its less than 24 hours you can check your bags through with CA by showing them your CZ itinerary.

While that's the way it's supposed to work, I wouldn't take the risk.

[jiejie]

I'm with moondog on this--I wouldn't bet on those bags getting tagged and successfully delivered all the way to HAN, without at least one glitch. Also, be aware that PEK has more than one terminal, with CA located in Terminal 3 and CZ located in Terminal 2, so you'll have to contend with that also when you go looking to get your CZ boarding pass.

[SirJman]

Originally Posted by jiejie

I'm with moondog on this--I wouldn't bet on those bags getting tagged and successfully delivered all the way to HAN, without at least one glitch. Also, be aware that PEK has more than one terminal, with CA located in Terminal 3 and CZ located in Terminal 2, so you'll have to contend with that also when you go looking to get your CZ boarding pass.

Also, that T3-T2 bus takes a surprisingly long time and can be STUFFED with people and their entire lives worth of luggage. I would spend the 10RMB on a cab.

[moondog]

Originally Posted by SirJman

I would spend the 10RMB on a cab.

Unless they have some sort of terminal xfer coupon system in effect (would not be surprised if they do), you might end up with an extremely irate cab driver.

[nickyboy]

Originally Posted by moondog

Unless they have some sort of terminal xfer coupon system in effect (would not be surprised if they do), you might end up with an extremely irate cab driver.

They do, allows the driver to cut back in at the front of the queue of the terminal he left

Bus is fine, by the time you've queued for the taxi the bus will probably have left and it goes about the same speed as the taxis anyway (jokes about Schumacker -esque drivers aside)

nickyboy