Can I remain in transit at PEK?
 

I need to do some short-haul mileage runs from HKG. HND and PEK would appear to be the only destinations that guarantee F.

HND is easy. Get off the plane, proceed through in transit security and back to the gate.

Does anyone have experience of doing this at Beijing (PEK)? Is it as easy as HND, i.e. no need to deal with immigration issues, visas, etc

I am not certain but I would expect CX check in staff to insist you have a China visa when you check in at HKG regardless of your turnaround status.

Definitely need a visa unless in transit or hold a passport that doesn't require visas to visit China (e.g. Japan) or another exempting document such as APEC/hrp.

As it is a same day turnaround, the TWOV should apply here, no? You still have to go through immigration, I imagine, but you probably don't need a visa.

Based on my observation in PEK (either no one (including staff) at the transit counter, or an extremely long queue with just two staff there, and just limited number (2?) of transfer desk) I won't do MR at PEK...

Why not do HND and then go out for a walk?

p.s. It's the first time I heard someone do MR in F....

PEK is clearly the DESTINATION (i.e. not a transit point) in the case of HKG-PEK-HKG.

ETA: The OP might not have to go out to the departures lobby and back again, but will certainly require valid travel documents to ENTER China in order to fly in the first place.

My PEK visit would be part of a RTW in which I have two segments to burn, but not enough time to stay over.

Thank you all for your comments.

No need for a visa, if stay in Beijing is less than 72hrs. If you already have the onward ticket (or return in your case, then you will be fine)

read more here: http://www.travelchinaguide.com/emba...a/free-72hour/

Please read carefully, all! A return ticket does NOT meet the criteria for visa free transit in China. The "onward" segment must go directly (as in nonstop) to a 3rd country.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...er-thread.html

in case OP isnt aware of, F to PEK on KA is the same as J on CX unless you are on the CX metal to PEK. The possible combination for turnaround is CX390 CX391 which arrives at 12:15 and departs at 13:30. I am not sure if there is sufficient time for "transit".

Another consideration is that the HND lounge is significantly better than the PEK lounge

Ah, I see. I've never used the 72 hour visa for China, but I just thought it was a valid visa as long as you had an outbound ticket within 72 hours (rather than just a transit visa so you must be stopping in a mainland city on your way somewhere else).

It's actually not a visa, but a privilege that China affords to passengers transiting through 9 (at present) cities by air.

24 hour TWOV is a bit more lenient (i.e. can come and go from different cities), but the third country requirement still holds (so HKG-PEK-HKG could never work though HKG-PEK-MFM is fine).

I flew HKG-PEK-MUC about two years ago and I did not have to enter China. There is an immigration check for transferring passengers, which is not always staffed. The last time I transferred in PEK I had to wait a while for an officer to come. Security checks for transferring passengers is separate from that for departing passengers, so no long lines there. All in all a not unpleasant experience. Shopping in the airport is very limited and one can only use the wifi after registering with one's passport. Not the best transfer airport I have been in, but not the worse either.

I tried international to international transit at PEK before and would not recommend it. The immigration counters for transit passengers are not always staffed and it may take a while to get through to the transit security check. By then, it should be a breeze but why go through the stress?

Thank you for your clarity. PEK is clearly a bad idea, but HND I've done many times - a piece of cake. NRT used to be the best, but there is no longer F between HKG and NRT on CX.