M81452

Am considering flying on CE from HKG to NRT (via Shanghai). Price is good but dated comments not favorable on the airline. TA told me I could get Delta miles. Alternative is ANA nonstop but $300 more thane CE. Also, I don't think I need a visa for HKG visit or transit via Shanghai. Comments appreciated.

fsfguy

MU in economy will be ok, not lavish, you're looking at two 2.5 hr flights which is fairly survivable in my book. Connecting in PVG adds about 3 hours to your total time and if the savings is worth it, you should be fine. If you're a US citizen and it's a straightforward connection, visas shouldn't be an issue.

Taiwaned

We have found they are not as reliable as other carriers.

They have just canceled this Saturday's flight out of Beijing and are trying to put us on another flight 13 hours earlier. Problem is, our flight from YVR doesn't arrive until 4 pm. They at this moment are refusing to accomodate.

jiejie

Both fsf and Ed have good points. I think it comes down to: how flexible are you timewise, in the event of IRROPS? On non-discounted, or somewhat discounted economy tickets, MU should have the ability to put you on another carrier, though you might have to fight like crazy for them to do so. On deep discounted econ tickets, probably the restrictions are written to be placed on alternate MU metal only. As for earning Delta miles, make sure the TA tells you the booking class before you buy, and confirm with Delta (website) that that booking class earns 100% miles, or 50%, or whatever.

With regional segments HKG-PVG and PVG-NRT, there are more choices for coming up with a Plan B than if connecting from a long-haul transpac. With a little time flexibility, in your shoes, I think I'd go for it and save the $300. Visa for HKG is not needed for you, and with a through ticket you should have visa-free intl transit at PVG.

@Ed: Refuse to take "no" for an answer and especially refuse to accept an useable situation 13 hours earlier. If you are heading for Shanghai, MU has several flights to Shanghai every evening. Demand to be put on one of those, or another carrier. If not heading for Shanghai, it would have to be pretty odd place for there to be no other alternatives out on the same evening. If it was on a separate domestic Chinese ticket, you could demand a full refund and then just buy a new ticket from another carrier on arrival into China, though you might pay more. Do what you can from where you are now, but if no satisfaction, be prepared to carry on the fight once you land in China.

mnredfox

MU is fine. Again, no frills but at least you get food on every flight. With international flights, expect meals (similar to US flights maybe 10 years ago when they had food).

MU is notorious for delayed and cancelled flights, but you'll get there. You do get DL miles, but no elite bonus miles and no MQM's. I expect this to change when MU officially joins the ST (hopefully sooner rather than later).

I'm flying MU tomorrow, so I use them when I can't use CZ.

RichardInSF

If price trumps all, you should also investigate the middle of the night nonstop between HKG and HND on ANA. HK consolidators would be the way to go on this, if all you need is a one-way.

Also, the regular day ANA flight HKG-NRT is an outstanding use of ANA miles. You can convert to ANA miles from Amex points, for example.

fsfguy

I believe this is currently scheduled for Dec. 2011.

mnredfox

Any reason why this is taking so long? Seems like Tarom and Vietnam joined much faster than MU is taking...

fsfguy

No idea. The following is from the Skyteam website. Notice that China Airlines is also joining at a faster pace than MU. Perhaps MU has more work to do to comply with the requirements, whatever those may be.

Future Members

On the 21st of June 2010, China Eastern signed the official Adherence Agreement in New York to join SkyTeam. They are now in the process of fulfilling all membership requirements to become a full member of the SkyTeam alliance. Expected entry is by the end of 2011.

On 14 September 2010 China Airlines signed the official Adherence Agreement in Taipei, marking the official start of the airlines' joining process to the SkyTeam alliance. China Airlines is now in the process of fulfilling all membership requirements. The expected entry is mid 2011.

mnredfox

Well, not to mention I've heard about the MU intention to join ST since early summer. Only recently heard about CI, and seems like CI is moving much much faster. Maybe the challenges with merging with FM and FM's departure from *A?

Chinatrvl

My guess is a technical one - systems integration. MU might not be up to adequate Amadeus/Sabre standards to fully integrate into Skyteam. Not even to mention FM, which MU is merging with - they run a totally different reservation system than any other airline in China.

CZ had the same issues. Btw, it's now possible to book discounted fares on CZ's English website.

moondog

You're probably right, but some of us derive a small sense of joy by adhering to the belief that MU is having a tough time rising to SkyTeam's (extremely low) bar.

toyotaboy95

I absolutely do not advise that you fly with MU at all, especially with connections. Flights to and from Mainland China are notorious for delays, ranging from 1-3 hour delays. With that, you might even miss your connection to NRT and MU, to my knowledge, is not accomodating at all - leaving you stranded at the airport saying that its not their responsibility.

Carriers flying HKG-NRT nonstop include Delta and Hong Kong Airlines, which on the HKG-NRT route are both reasonably priced but in terms of quality, that would be CX, JAL, ANA.

moondog

They're honestly not that bad as long as operations are reasonably normal (70% of the time). In fact, I rate their cabin service above JL and NH on the Japan routes.

For me, $300 is reasonable compensation for a 30% chance things will range from "kind of disappointing" to "really bad".

Noodlesz

I concur with Moondog.

Back in July I flew HKG to Tokyo with a stopover in Shanghai, then Osaka to HKG with a layover in Shanghai.

Layover was fine, both flights left on time and had no issues. Only thing annoying at PVG is that you have to actually leave airside and go through security again. But they checked the luggage through.

Service wise it's a basic airline, no worse than any American airline.