jiejie

Maybe, maybe not. If you are resident in China (or Asia), or spend a LOT of time in this part of the world every year, then perhaps joining MU or CZ program and accruing miles there would be worthwhile, as you would be in a position to easily schedule using the miles before they expire. However, if you are an occasional business or leisure traveler only, then likely you'd just end up with a few useless orphan miles in these programs.

These are both Skyteam (or about to be full-fledged Skyteam in MU's case) so that doesn't fit your OW and *A priority. Unfortunately, the big Skyteam players DL and AF, have FFP's that leave a lot to be desired, should you wish to join/accrue there. I don't know about KE's program, and the other players in Skyteam are mostly too limited in scope to be good options. You can try to evaluate switching your TPAC to MU via PVG or CZ via CAN-with a connection, you can also use them even if PEK is your destination--though that is an extra hassle to endure. They are not known for SQ-like levels of service or product although these days, I'm inclined to think they're not that far behind the US-based carriers at least in economy class. If you are primarily an intl economy class flyer, you might look into CZ's premium economy TPAC product which might balance comfort and value.

For domestic China flights, I am opposite of moondog, and have found CZ to be my favorite and I believe "the best," while I loathe MU and given a choice between MU flight and donkey cart, would seriously consider the @ss. CA somewhere in the middle--maybe my most uneven experiences (esp ground servicing) with them. I've always had good experiences with Hainan though I have fewer data points personally, and I know others disagree--but they are lifting their game fairly quickly.

moondog

Agreed; 10k miles (16k km) per year is the minimum threshold that makes MU/CZ pencil.

mnredfox

ST is way stronger in China, but don't expect much with DL. I agree with moondog, go with CZ or MU. Just don't expect anything great, as miles are earned in km and all of the Chinese programs are about the same.

Jiatong

I agree do NOT expect much from delta.dumb in China.

1-If you are star * gold & travel in country on Air China you get to use the Air china lounges, ( "ok" for a domestic lounge in most cities), Also there is a "gold *' line at the gate that allows first boarding, & at most airports a seperate check in line with priority bag tags. the bags actually do come off early. But in BJ all Air china flights are on T3 which is not as efficient as T2. CZ has T2 and the efficiency edge in BJ.

2- Pricing can vary... I usually buy 5-10 days in advance the China in country tickets. I like Ctrip with the plat Amex card (Not deltadumbs's Amex) as there are no foreign exchange fees & you can get two receipts. (a delivered blue slip & the Amex receipt). The same Air china flights can be 200 rmb more or less on the Air china web site vs Ctrip, but they are E-tickets and one needs a chinese credit card, & you get the blue receipt at the airport in a seperate area after you check in. If you buy the ticket at an Air China airport location, (can then use a US credit card) the rates are much more than the web site rates.
However, you can make the reservation on-line, or by phone, get the confirmation #, & then go to a Air China booking office (not a travel agent), use a US credit card to pay for the ticket, & get the blue slip receipt. This confirmation # will only last a few hours till the ticket is paid for...

3- Flights are seldom on time late in the day

mnredfox

I should also note having STE+ is a big bonus in China, esp flying on CZ (MU not integrated yet). Access to their W (economy plus), elite check-in lines, and sometimes lounge access (often given mistakenly). STE+ also gets extra 15kg baggage allowance and better treatment on the plane.

Jiatong

yes the SH Pudong lounge can sometimes be entered with delta medallion card when on a domestic flight, BUT its a big no on SH Hongqiao airport , or T2 in BJ.
However T2 is efficient when arriving in BJ on CZ.

And CZ does not give Delta sky mileage credit on the low cost C-trip tickets when flying E,I,J,L,N,S,U,V,X,O,Q, R, class...

allset2travel

Thank you all for chiming in pertaining the question that I raised. Plenty to disgest. Meantime, I continue to use my US domestic legacy airlines as mileage accounts for miles flown with Chinese carriers.

DAL4550

I like Ctrip to search for flights / hotels in China. I have found some pretty good deals.

allset2travel

As far as deals, you can pretty much get the same in eLong as well. The thing that BUGS me the most recently is that ctrip's web site is so darn slooooooow, many times I simply left it.

That said, its web site actually looks better and makes more sense than before. ctrip ought to have more servers and faster trunks (or whatever to speed up the pages).

mnredfox

Eck, I've only gotten in a SH once (by mistake) and at PVG once (again by mistake). They are pretty strict about not letting you in unless you are on international itinerary (I have a DL PM card and DL SC card). But as moondog always says, not that big of a deal since lounges aren't that great in China.

Jiatong

'Agree' the lounges in China are not to the standards in Narita... But i sure enjoy the BJ Air China domestic business lounge for a simple breakfast when on a domestic flight. & breakfast starts at 6:30 am, even the coffee/capuchino machine works.. Lots better than the airplane food in economy.

mnredfox

If I could figure out when China lounges have real food instead of the packaged snacks, I'd be more excited about "sneaking" in.

ghfatw

CZ on segments is a relatively easy way to get Sky Team Elite Plus status. You need 40 segments to be Sky Team Elite Plus and First Class domestic tickets (which are not that bad) get you either 2 or 3 segments (depending on fare buckets). So for say 15 segments or 7.5 round trips you can be Sky Team Elite Plus.

ghfatw

I like CZ too. I call MU 等方航空 （我们等方航空很抱歉的通知你们我们会准时起飞）。And I call FM 上当航空. You merge two bad airlines and you still have a bad airline. That said on some routes such as Beijing - Shanghai, I really like MU and I really like their 330s.

moondog

I like MU's flight attendants, especially the Japanese ones. They provide excellent service with a smile IMO.