Originally Posted by
Richklhs
friends don't let friends fly CA NRT-PEK-FCO in Y.... that was miserable. Boarded first CA A330, tried to push back and broke. 6 hours later we are boarding the 2nd A330 which had broken IFE and so much face grease on the window I had to wipe it with an alcohol swipe to see anything.
I've always had enjoyable flights in CA Y long haul, with a good op-up rate, rather good food (better than LH Y, for example) and good, working IFE. 8 flights in the last 2 years so most certainly not THAT much experience, but I'll gladly pick CA over any north American carrier and even quite some European and asian carriers in Y for sure.
Originally Posted by
bmwe92fan
The post above is spot on - but I have a simple rule - friends don't let friends connect via mainland china - ever. Just take their keys.....
It's not that it's technically hard - it's that mainland china flight operations make UA look like a well oiled machine.....
That's just wrong.. connecting in China, while not being as enjoyable as connecting in, say SIN, is still a decently working thing, WAY better than, say, connecting in any US airport. I'd say connecting in PEK is as "easy" as connecting in IST, CDG, LHR or the like, and really nothing to worry about.
Originally Posted by
Richklhs
As long as your layover in PEK isn't 73 hours you're fine without a visa. My "layover" in PEK was indeed 71 hours and I was sweating and hoping my flight would not be cancelled or severely delayed. I agree most agents have not dealt with the TWOV although it may be better now. It took me 45 minutes at the immigration desk to get through, this was March '13 shortly after the program was announced.
Why were you "sweating" over an absolute non-issue? Was it hot outside?
If you booked a confirmed connection within 72-hours, you're fine. The flight out of China could have as much delay as it fancied, there would have been zero problems. Chinese authorities are using common sense in such case, they aren't TSA
By the way, it seems OP has cross-posted his question to the official 24/72-hours China TWOV thread, stating he'll have 1 hour 50min in PEK, which is absolutely fine (and a shame he won't have more time to go out and experience PEK, but that's another thing..)
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/23353800-post293.html
edit: I just noticed I wrote 3 posts in a row. Sorry about that, should have edited my earlier post, but was kind of annoyed with some of the wrong statements here.