AC services at PVG?
 

Good morning all!

We are about to fly AC26 PVG-YVR in a couple of days. What should we expect at PVG by way of AC specific services--in particular, does AC have dedicated counters there? If so, what time might they open--I believe the PVG-YVR is the first AC flight of the day, followed by the flights to YUL and YYZ. We are in J, so should be able to access the CA business lounge, IIRC, once we clear security...any other options airside?

Thanks in advance!

I have only done PVG once but there are check in counters and the concierge (younger guy) is usually there.

Seems to be standard on smaller international stations.

Usually, it is 3 hours before your flight is when it opens.

...and yes. Air China lounge is fine. 2 story lounge with OK food. I didn't do a ton of exploring while I was there but there was your usual shops around. I just hung out in the lounge until it was time to fly.

the Air China lounge at pvg is the best one I have been at. the check in is ok. they line gets kind of long as the YYZ and YRV people all line up at the same time. so line up in the priority line.

A couple of thoughts from my recent experience:
AC has dedicated counters but they are staffed by airport contract staff who are not especially helpful.
Concierge can be a bit tough to reach because s/he cycles between counters and gates of incoming and outbound a/c.
AC will not issue bp more than 3 hours ahead of your flight (I know because I arrived on a connecting flight earlier in the day and had to cool my heels until the 3 hour window; concierge said they were unable to help). So you really want to time your arrival to between 2 and 3 hours

I had delicious curry in the CA lounge, followed by a month of food poisoning symptoms resolved by a $5,000 hospital bill. However, I can't guarantee they are still serving the food poisoning version.

It also should be noted that Air Canada does not have a transfer counter at PVG. If arriving on another flight, you will need to go through immigration and go upstairs to the AC check in area and back through immigration and security.
You cannot check bags through PVG to your final destination either (you can through PEK)
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How can you be sure it's CA lounge?

OP is in J, which means they should have priority security line access.

But not immigration (although APEC will get you to the priority immigration line)

I was very careful with everything I ate there until that point and I consulted public health experts and medical experts on my symptoms and the timing. Am I 100% sure, no. I will say it was legit delicious curry, but as we see in MLL, any buffet is easily contaminated by fellow guests.

There is dedicated check-in counters which should be staffed 3 hours before departure time. There is also dedicate security line for J, can't remember if there's any dedicated immigration line. I once arrived 50 minutes before departure and still spent 20 minutes in the lounge.

The CA lounge there is better than international MLLs (not the SSL). At meal time there are various (around 10) hot dishes and dim sum, sandwiches.

There is no dedicated immigration line for J. And the wait times at immigration are far worse than at security, which is immediately after immigration. So the J-priority at security is nice, but not that big of a deal because it's right after the bottleneck.

I am stunned that you could arrive at the airport 50 min before departure and have time for the lounge. It must have been a time of day where there was nobody at immigration, and I have yet to find what that time of day is!!

Unless sth have changed recently, as late as 2016 summer the line was minimal, certainly much quicker vs US CBP at Pearson

I have been multiple times since 2016 and the longest lines I have seen have been 2017/2018 the lines seem to keep getting longer. I don't know how fast it takes to get through however as I have APEC so I cruise right past, best money I have spent.