Hi all,

Bit of an odd question, but I am concerned about checking in for a flight in a couple of weeks and would appreciate any advice from other FT’ers.

I am redeeming points on both NZ and VS so am flying to London via Shanghai, so my route is CHC-AKL-PVG-LHR. Connection time should be fine, about 4 hrs, and I am only taking hand luggage. Separate tickets obviously.

The issue is with my visa. I now know that I don’t need a visa for this connection:
There are 2 clauses which exempt me from a visa :
1. Visas are not required of aliens , who hold final destination tickets and have booked seats on international airliners flying directly through China, and will stay in a transit city for less than 24 hours without leaving the airport.
2. Visas are not required of Citizens of the following countries, who transit through Pudong Airport or Hongqiao Airport of Shanghai, provided they hold valid passports, visas for the onward countries, final destination tickets and have booked seats, and stay in Shanghai for less than 48 hours

While this might seem pretty clear, its only listed as a footnote on the page which talks about the G Transit Visa http://www.china-embassy.org/eng/hzqz/zgqz/t84242.htm .

As with anything in China, its not very clear: from first impressions until you scroll through you get the impression that you need a transit visa and even the guy from the Chinese embassy in NZ had to check with someone else (and the website of the embassy in NZ does not say anything about the exemption for a visa)! And on other sites, for example the US State Department website, it just says “Visas are required to transit China” and does not list any exceptions!

While I am not worried about the actual transit, my concern is with the check-in at Christchurch which will be in the evening, when the embassy here is closed. Will Air NZ deny me boarding because I don’t have a visa? I called Air NZ and the person I spoke to was quite rude (treated me like a moron!) and said if I had an onward connection I would be fine. I asked her to check what their check in systems said, but she was just really rude: did not see my point. And if even the US State Department says I need a visa, what will Air NZ’s computer say, and will a print out from a Chna govt. website overwrite this? I have had random visa issues with other airlines in the past (like the guy in Singapore telling me I needed a return ticket out to enter NZ even though I am a resident!) so am not entirely confident!

My question is where anyone has any experience of this, or any suggestions as to who I could speak to/ email at Air NZ? I would certainly be more confident armed with an email from Air NZ confirming I am fine to check in.

Thanks for any advice, and sorry about the long post!