Originally Posted by
luckypierre
Is this correct? Simply adding a stop while retaining the USA as the ultimate destination of the itinerary allows the transit visa?
Technically your destination is now ICN or whatever city you chose to add and you are simply transiting China en route to said destination. If it's a same-day turn I don't know how picky they'll be about whether or not China is your actual destination but again, it's technically allowable.
Originally Posted by
alawrencenyc
This run is in the past but an important thing to note is that you DO NOT need a visa if you are flying in to Shanghai or Beijing and DO NOT leave the airport. Another words, on a turnaround you are not leaving the international area of the airport and no visa is required. However, you may not even find a place to smoke (if that is a desire) without leaving the international area, so be careful.
Just to confirm, I did this in November 2015 on a run, LGA-DFW-PEK r/t with no problem in LGA and no questions or problems in PEK.
This is absolutely not correct and AA staff have recently received clear instructions to deny boarding to any passengers who intend to do this without a visa. I cannot stress enough how bad of an idea this is and anyone who follows this advice will likely not be permitted to travel.
It is
not considered transit without visa to depart and arrive from the same country.