Just to follow up on this. I did manage to convince my wife to join me on this long detour from PVG to PEK. The flights actually weren't as bad as I thought they might be. I do have *A Gold so I was able to use the lounges even though I was in economy G class. It was nice to have a break from China for the weekend and all totaled up it was $310 for 6362 credited miles on AC. -not exactly a mileage run at 5 cents a mile but an interesting weekend all the same.