Originally Posted by
hillrider
Add one more to the cacophony: I learned the hard way connecting KA-AA International-to-International in PVG is like connecting in a third-world country like the U.S.A.
However there was the added benefit that Cx/KA wouldn't even tag the bag trough or issue connecting boarding passes so you have one more line (check-in). Unneeded stress as we almost lost our connecting flight due to the bureaucracy,
Hopefully China is not like Washington and they'll fix the situation. Washington is busy to ensure that passengers that board at AUH don't get to preclear US customs and immigration there (so that they can avoid the mess that getting into the US is).
You probably had an untrained check-in agent at HKG (?) I flew HKG-PVG-ORD-SEA and was able to check my bags all the way to ORD. She also gave me my BPs to ORD as well. I will mention that it took her sometime to check me in on the system, so maybe some CSRs aren't familiar with these types of tickets.
You should've also been able to transit at PVG w/o clearing immigration/security or picking up your bags. There's a transit desk after you get out of the plane and walk towards the Immigration/Customs line. It was open and manned both times I flew through PVG.