Originally Posted by
Sydneyberlin
Just an update after my check in at Sydney airport: Of course, eyes roll, as expected, the Menzies clown at the check in counter insisted that I need a VISA and had never heard of the 15 days thing. When she told me that her system does not allow her to check me in without a valid Visa for China, my heart sank.
Luckily, the supervisor was at a desk right next to us and she has come across the 15 days thing before. It also took her ages to check me in, apparently the problem was me having two passports which needed both to be in the booking (the Australian one to come back to Australia and exit the country, the German one for China) which is usually not a problem but it seemed to have messed up the Visa thing. She somehow “manually overrode it and added a comment”, whatever this means, but it was good enough to print my boarding passes.
Now in the SQ lounge waiting for my departure. Big relief that I got my boarding passes in the end but it was quite a nailbiter, as feared.
Under these circumstances I can fully understand the check-in staff.
Pre March 14th I also had my fair share of issues with checking in for China flights. They basically have to register your arrival in China with your passport details before you are eligible/allowed to fly. E.g. Airlines like Qatar Airways make it impossible to print out boarding passes at the station abroad before someone in China gives the go ahead.
Fun fact: After the Chinese MFA published the visa free entry for Austrian citizens etc. the global media at first reported Australian citizens.
As Australian citizens cannot enter the country visa free they were absolutely correct in asking for a visa if the APIS for the PNR showed an Australian passport.
Lately the amount of manual overrides globally must have been staggering.
Save journey, have fun and enjoy your time in China.