Check out the data thread; 20 minutes seems to be the average and the standard deviation is not especially high. I will admit that most of the people posting to that thread are pretty skilled at the drill.

*HI AGAIN EVERYONE* Thanks for your comments!

My trip is this Thursday... Quick question below.

I have no checked luggage and I'm in Biz-Class at the front of the plane. I'll have 85 mins (if on time) to get through immigration, get my new BP and head through security to my gate...

Might as well make this fun: Who says YES and who says NO? :cool:

Any overs/unders on when I get to the MU departure gate?

I am a relative newcomer to the China thread but I will tell you I have never seen MU take off on time in a year and a half. And no they don't always load and sit on the ground.

There is a ticket window that is for "plane leaving in 30 minutes or less". Never had to use it so I don't know if it works or not.

Arriving from US it has taken me anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour and 45 minutes to hit the sidewalk with my luggage from the carousel. Roll of the dice.

No checked bags, paperwork filled out and in hand, fast walk to be first in immigration should not be a big deal. Unless it becomes weird, then all bets are off.

The key variable for me is the length of time you have to wait in imcoming immigration off of your arrival flight. I have had this be anywhere from 2 minutes to 45 minutes, depending on which planes arrive immediately before you. I have not seen extreme variables on outbound immigration and security.

Thanks for the additional information. Preparing for a sprint...

That is interesting in case C&I goes long - do you know if that window is labeled in English as well as Mandarin?

I'm pretty sure it's labeled in English as well as Chinese (note, "Mandarin" is a spoken language), but even if it's not, there are always many English speakers on hand to assist.

Thanks for the info - on both fronts!