Anyone have advice on the best way to get to Ulaanbaatar, from Chicago? I see MIAT flies out of PEK and ICN, both of which have direct flights from Chicago. CA also has a couple of flights to Ulaanbaatar from Beijing. All of these would seem to involve a terrible layover, barring a few combinations through PEK that would give about 2 hrs at most, which from my experience of PEK is pretty dicey unless it's strictly intra-terminal.

Secondary question: how reliable are these flights to Ulaanbaatar? Is it a good idea to try and get there a day or so early, in case there's a cancellation, or severe delays? I have a tour starting on July 12th.

Thinking of taking it slow and going via ICN, dealing with a super long layover with a dayroom if necessary, just to avoid the pain of PEK.