gaobest

Hi all,
A friend is allowed to fly C from New York to PEK, but he can't decide the best (and reasonably-priced C) option to choose. I realize that CO/UA have the nonstop from EWR to PEK (roughly $7K), with lie-flat seats/etc., but is there a better *A partner to consider, or even a non *A airline to try? AC is roughly half the cost, but there's a layover and I'm not sure how their hard/soft product is compared to UA C.

Thanks
Michael