One of my friends at work has about 80,000 AA miles from the recent credit card promo, and wants to visit her daughter studying abroad in Harbin. Seems like neither JAL nor Cathay Pacific fly to Harbin, so what is a sensible way fpr her to get there?

Should she fly to PEK using an AA Y ticket (on miles), then...???

Take a domestic flight? They seem to cost $325 rt (in April).

Or take the overnight train? Is there an English website to book the train?

Or, skip the miles and buy a ticket from SFO--Harbin for about $1,000?

The traveler is a person who doesn't speak any Chinese language, and doesn't want the journey to be too complicated. However, she's a normal adult, and probably doesn't need to be taken by the hand all the way.

I've never been to China, or anywhere in Asia, so I'm not sure what to tell her. She signed up for the AA/Citi card at my urging, so it'd be kind of a bummer if she can't use them for this trip.

Thanks for any advice from folks who would know better than I do!

Beijing - Haerbin flights are ridiculously cheap, as low as 380 Yuan one way, all in. I assume you checked expedia etc instead of ctrip. There's a thread with advice about how to book domestic flights.

Check out ctrip.com, but only around 4 to 8 weeks out for a good estimate for flight prices.

Going on two tickets means you need to have enough time between the flights in PEK to claim bags and check-in again. This can also involve changing terminals. However, all this is no big problem.

Another alternative is via Seoul. CZ and OZ (both not OW, though) have flights to Harbin, around 2,000 yuan round trip.

There's still no decent fast train to Harbin, altough the Beijing-Changchun-Harbin line is supposed to open in late 2011 and cut down travel time.

I would definetly use the miles to either PEK or ICN.


Edit: I assume her daughter is fit enough in Chinese and travelling in China, so why not suggest her to have her daughter pick your friend up in Beijing and show around the Chinese capital?

I would trade the AA miles for *A (assuming the OZ flights are available and the schedules aren't too horrible).

If money is an issue and you don't have a better alternate use for the AA miles, then I'd also use them to get to PEK. Then book domestic flight on ctrip, or have your daughter make the eticket arrangements for you locally at an agent in Harbin.

You are assuming your friend can even get an award ticket this close to travel time. Award seats usually have to be booked 11 months in advance. The airlines don't give many away. Many people who got lots of miles from the Citi offer are going to be disappointed that they will never get to use them. The more your friend is limited to a specific time the harder it will be to bag an award.

Not in my experiences, Susie.

There are plenty of BOS<->PEK availabilities in April.

Lots of BOS - PEK flights available....go ahead and book that and take a domestic ticket off CTrip. I just used it for the first time recently and it wasn't bad at all. I booked my tickets a couple of weeks prior to travel as that seemed to be the cheapest time. If you can afford it, skip the train - the prices for the flights aren't that much more, and it's extremely easy for a non-Chinese person....the train is also possible, but it much longer, and might be a bit daunting for someone inexperienced with China. Harbin's a great city - go for it!

What's with all this Boston talk? And, why not put more effort into *A? Avoiding PEK is a real bonus.

We are reading the OP's profile location...and mention of a work colleague so we are assuming that's the starting point. I actually think PEK is a good idea. It's silly for a first-timer to come all the way to China just to go to Harbin. Harbin would be OK for 2-3 days, but I suspect the OP's colleague would have a happy time with daughter in Beijing for a few days. Chinatrvl came up with the best idea--have the daughter pick up Mom at PEK.

Thread title typically trumps profile location.

I agree PEK over HRB, but OP did mention visiting a daughter there.

Thanks for all the tips and advice. Yes, my friend from work has to go to SFO around those dates for a work conference, so wanted to go from there to Harbin.

She ended up booking a ticket with money to Harbin, for $1,000 (and, as she said, to get a 1,000 more AA miles using the card to pay for it, so she seems not to have been too discouraged.)

It seems like she's planning to spend too much time in Harbin, and that suggestion to meet her daughter in PEK would have been a good one, but I don't know the details of the student's schedule.

For my own limited reward-booking experience, I used to do it well in advance, but lately I'm having good luck with closer-in ones.