Originally Posted by
moondog
I strongly disagree. One of the --often missed-- benefits of bus gates on arrival is that the bus actually brings you to where you need to be in order escape the airport in a semi-timely manner. I don't like the sardine thing either, but the train between S1/S2 and T1/T2 isn't exactly a picnic on this front. In any case, bus gates on arrival are MUCH FASTER than S1.
I can't speak for departures yet, and I must admit that I dislike bus gates on departure. I typically wait for the last bus, which tends to be a minbus with seats for all; this isn't so bad. My main issue is that the waiting areas feel like bus stations.
All that having been said, SHA T1 is vastly superior to PVG, and this was even the case prior to the renovation.
Moondog, by your own admission you just flew HX for the first time last week and did not get a remote gate at PVG. For the last several years prior to the opening of S1 flying either of the last two HX flights from HKG to PVG entailed a remote gate and there were many times we waited 20-30 minutes for the first bus to arrive.