Transfer in Beijing to Xian: help?
 

My daughter and I are arriving in Beijing (from the US via Korean Air in T2) at 8:05 on a Friday night and would like to go on to Xian. The last flight that night leaves at 9:10 and I don't see how we can make it through customs and what not. How long does it take to make through all of the check points and get your luggage in t3?

and the kicker is....
 

We're bringing a whole bunch of goodies for an orphanage in Xian. I was just looking at luggage limits domestically and am wondering how the heck I am going to pull this off! Do I take a train just because they will let me take more? (but then I have to lug it around!)

First of all, the last flight is at 1130p, and it is on the same airline as the 910p flight, which I don't think you will make, but you could always book the late flight and try for the 910p flight. The good news is that MU uses T2 and so does KE; switching terminals at PEK is best to be avoided (they are 5 km apart).

Regarding luggage, if you can get your reservations linked, then you are golden because the longest sector rule would apply. Even if not, I believe there is a policy in the books that permits extra luggage on domestic flights for inbound international travelers within X hours of arrival (I want to say x = 72).

Another thought; research discounted first class fares on that route; some of them are the same price as full fare Y,... and I've never been harassed about luggage when flying F.

--How much stuff are you taking to the orphanage total between the two of you (# bags, approx weight in kilos or pounds)?
--How long will you be staying in Xi'an?
--Will you be coming back to Beijing right after Xi'an?

trip details
 

We were trying to bring 2 checked bags each, at 50 lbs each and then one carry on between the two of us.

We are staying in Xi'an for eight days and then going to Beijing for 2 days before flying out.

I didn't see a flight at 11:30 and that sounds perfect. Where did you find it? I am flying in on April 1st.

Thank you for all of your help. I have been so worried this won't work out as we already have bought all of this stuff for them.

don't I have to
 

pick up my baggage at t3 and go through customs and what not before transferring to a domestic flight? I didn't realize that t3 is so far from t2....yuck.

The flight in question is MU2102 leaving at 11:30pm and arriving in Xian around 1:30AM. I hope you have some friends that can pick you up. Dragging two hundred pounds of luggage onto the airport shuttle at two in the morning wouldn't exactly be my cup of tea.

Regarding the luggage, do as Moondog said and try to get the tickets interlined. I don't know about others but I've had mixed results relying on the "72hr grace rule" MD mentioned, twice was fine, once had to raise a hairy fit before they relented and once simply denied. I was flying on different airline alliances though so you should be fine going from KE to MU.

BTW, don't know exactly where you're going after you arrive in Xian but you should know the airport is a LONG way from the city centre. It's the one thing that always bugs me about going to Xian. With your arrival time, at least traffic won't be an issue!

trying to get this figured out....
 

I still could not find that 11:30 flight on Kayak, flychina, expedia or ctrip. I talked to China Eastern and they said that they would not connect the tickets and allow the baggage from the international flight.
A plan b that I thought of doing was spending until the night of the 3rd in Beijing and then taking the train to Xi'an. (the orphanage has a driver that will be picking us up, but if we take the train we will arrive at a more reasonable hour for them) I am not sure if I am going to run into the same problem with luggage on the train or if the train is going to be completely insane with it being the weekend before Qingming.

Thank you, all of you, for all of your help. I was almost in panic attack mode last night and I don't know what I would have done without your help. You guys are great!

The 11:30 pm flight is Mon, Tue, Fri, Sat only.
The excess baggage fee is 1.5% of full fare eco PEK-XIY, which is 15.75 yuan per kilo, i.e. in the worst case you're looking at something like an 400-500 yuan baggage charge per person. So, don't panic ;)

As others have mentioned, with some arguing you won't have much difficulities with the baggage and they most likely won't charge at all.

Trains, apart from schlepping your bags (train stations are huge and there are hardly any escalators), there won't be any problems and nobody will hinder you from taking two pieces of luggage on the train.

mu 2102
 

On the websites I have looked on, this flight leaves at 8am and even though I am looking for a Friday flight, I still can't find an 11:30 flight. The closest I can find is a pricey 10:10 flight that then goes on to another city for an 8 hour layover (I might as well sleep in Beijing if that was the only option) and doesn't arrive until the next morning. I would love someone to hold my hand a little on this and help me find this flight as I am not quite sure why I can't find it. (I thought I was pretty internet saavy....maybe not?)

Don't worry too much about travelling crowds on Qingming. It's an official holiday but not that type of holiday.

Funny story, I once had a friend, not knowing the significance of the holiday, who wished his Chinese employees a Happy Qingming Day and to have a fun three days. He was met with a set of largely stony faces.

http://flight.elong.net/en_list_BJS_...1-02-26_Y.html
I hope this works, and it should show the 11 pm flight.

Another possibility is to stay the night at a PEK airport hotel (Hilton, Crowne Plaza (which is under 500 yuan), get a good nights sleep and an early flight the next day - instead of arriving in Xi'an downtown at 2 or 3 am.

must be sold out....
 

I did see it on Feb. 26th, but it isn't showing on April 1st. I might be staying at a hotel in the area. Dang. :)

Thank you for all of your help!

Oh, I see the problem. You didn't provide the date to us originally. There is a Friday 11:30pm flight as of right now but not in the part of April that you plan to be here. So as of right now, you have the following options:

1) Wait and see if they add a flight
2) Take the train
3) Stay overnight and take the first plane out in the morning. Store your bags at 50RMB/day/bag at the left luggage.

If you choose 2 or 3, you can stay at a Holiday Inn Express for under forty bucks using the F+F rate. Using the airport express subway line, you can probably be in your room at the HIX Dongzhimen within forty-five minutes.

Addendum: Chinatrvl mentioned the CP, it's pricing out at 540RMB (+taxes/fees) for April 1st.

Mom, I would scratch the train off that list of options. With all that luggage, it will be a logistical pain, not to mention adding having to get the train tickets to your list of woes. Just don't do it. There seems to be NO flight on Friday night at 11:30 on April 1, so you weren't missing anything. I would not wait and hold your breath that a flight would be added. So, my best recommendation, assuming the KE inbound flight date is fixed in stone:

--Plan to stay overnight in Beijing near the Airport. This takes the time worry out of the equation and gives you time to rest. By arriving in Xi'an so late, there is nothing that you can accomplish that night that you can't do just as well on Saturday morning. And you have a long time in Xi'an, so getting there less than a half-day later isn't a fatal blow.

--Immediately while they are still available, do what moondog said way upthread and book two discounted First Class tickets for the next morning. These appear to be available for Saturday April 2 on MU2102 at 08:00 for RMB 1070 all-in, but I can only see this special on www.elong.com and not on ctrip.com or travelzen.com. First class tickets come with a 40 kg allowance per person, and it is unlikely that you would be charged anything extra for baggage even if a little overweight, as a first class passenger.

Note: if doing this, do NOT try to book a domestic round-trip, just book as two separate one-ways with the PEK-XIY in First and the reverse direction in whatever you want. Unlike the USA, there is no benefit to booking domestic r-t's vs one-ways.

--If you can't get two discounted First tickets, then do the math and figure out whether it makes sense to buy one person a regular First ticket and the other a heavily discounted economy ticket, and likely having to pay 0 additional for one person's bag and something for the other's. For a 1.5 hour flight, sitting apart isn't going to kill you. the other math calculation to do is two econ tickets + excess baggage.

Overnight plans: I would definitely not schlepp all that luggage into town. It's way too much to take on the Airport Express light rail. If you choose to get a hotel in town, then after you pull the checked bags out through Customs, put them in T2 Left Luggage for the night and take your personal essentials in your carryons either on the AE or taxi. For an 08:00 flight, you would have to take one of the earliest AE out the next morning (think it starts running about 06:00) to give yourself enough time to get your stuff out of Left Luggage, check-in, etc. Remember that the airport bound AE stops first at T3, then at T2 so allow 30 minutes from Dongzhimen to T2 for the journey. Or taxi directly to T2. Frankly, for 2 people sharing a taxi, it makes nearly as much economic sense to take that taxi. OR, stay overnight near the airport and have the airport shuttle pick you up--this would be my recommendation rather than in-town. Then you can take all your luggage with you without bothering with Left Luggage. See above posters, or other recent threads for hotel suggestions.

Tip: For the orphanage stuff, I highly recommend you consider taking older or "disposable" luggage or duffels that you can leave behind and not have to carry back on the return trip. You could also do boxes, but those do tend to arouse the curiosity of Chinese Customs (unlike suitcases) so you may be asked to put them through xray exam prior to exiting into the arrival terminal.