Originally Posted by
kw0921
Trying to plan a mini-RTW trip here as well.. what do people think about the A340-300? I have a choice of flying direct HKG to JNB on SAA but looks like it's going to be the old A340. I also have a choice of flying Air China but that includes a stopover in Beijing and so the flight time will increase from 13h to 20h, but (?) it's on a boeing 777.
There's an adage on the China forum (and others) that "friends don't let friends connect in Beijing." And for good reason - the airport isn't the nicest to spend a few hours in, but you need to leave time for transit and the typical China ATC delays. And if you want to exit the airport, you'll need to go through the transit without visa procedures. The marginal improvement in airplane (debatable) probably isn't worth that.