Originally Posted by
ohyum
Thanks folks, for the advice! Good to know that i don't need to check into a airport hotel to take e morning flight.
i'll be heading for a couple of weeks to shanghai for a work trip and intend to do a tokyo run on my own just before heading back home to Singapore. Just thought that it would be 'cleaner' for the office account to book a SG-PVG (SQ)return and for me to do e PVG-NRT (tentatively on Delta) return on my own.
would like to fly JAL for the PVG-NRT but can't seem to figure out how to book it directly from the website. zuji is quoting an obsene amount for JAL.
In your shoes, I'd feel the same way about wanting to keep the office part and the personal part completely separate, so I'd play it the same way you are. You should have enough time to do the transfer to make the red eye. At Tokyo check-in for the return flight, you should show your onward PVG-SIN flight and see if they will interline your baggage all the way through--this would save you a little bit of hassle, at least. If they won't, you're no worse off.
I imagine DL is going to be one of the cheaper options, and JL one of the premium-priced, but if you want to try for JL flight, options:
1) Go to
www.ctrip.com and see what they are offering. You can book with them in advance online or by phone, and use credit card (3% surcharge for non-Chinese bank cards).
2) Try
www.qunar.com (Chinese only) and see if there are any intl specials you could use, cheaper than ctrip or other China-based online. Check out recent threads on qunar, there won't be backup support after the sale.
3) If using your Shanghai office's in-house or designated travel agent is an option, maybe have someone there check out and make the arrangements for you in advance.
4) Wait until you get to Shanghai and make arrangements, understanding that this might shut you out of the best fares.