Originally Posted by
thesilb
I fly this route all the time. They operate many international widebodies on this route daily, some to SHA and some to PVG (from PEK). I always fly business, sometime even first in a 3 cabin. I have been trying for months to buy a ticket for March 8. They only have one flight available for sale. The others are all limited to selling coach seats only. Then I realized - this phenomenon is true all year, only 1 or 2 flights loaded for business class or first class sale on any given day - and on some days, no flights at all. Even next week! So I thought maybe they are trying to piss off Americans in the trade war. But I had our firm's China office try to buy in China - on Chinese website, by calling - they are being told "those fares have not been loaded yet". This is dumbfounding - so they are flying empty cabins next week because no fares are loaded? Has anyone ever seen any situation like this?
I just checked ctrip for March 8, PEK-SHA on CA, and found business class availability on all flights, though some were obnoxiously expensive. What is your desired flight? Also, have you looked into MU? They fly their 77W on this route several times per day, and it is a very nice airplane.