I have a US passport while wife has Malaysia passport. I've heard from travel agents that airlines would not allow us to board the flight from US to KUL if it involves layover in any cities in China (except for HKG). Is it a true statement? We're not planning to leave the airport in at all.

I'm still searching for flights from MCI to KUL (See thread here, not sure which subforum is best for question like this) and I'm discouraged by the travel agents from taking route like MCI-SFO-PVG/PEK-KUL.

Thanks.

Moving,good luck.

You can look up all current visa requirements at http://www.delta.com/planning_reserv...tion/index.jsp

For a Malaysian national with permanent residence in the U.S., transit without visa in China is permitted.

That's the rule, anyway. Others here on FT will have personal experience doing this and will know whether or not it's wise.

David

Your travel agents are incorrect and not up-to-speed on the latest Chinese regulations. China allows for visa-free transit if you are connecting from an inbound international flight to another outbound international flight. Neither the US nor the Malaysian passport is a problem. If transiting Shanghai PVG or SHA airports, you have up to 48 hours between arrival and departure; in all other airports including PEK, you have 24 hours. For the record, HKG is not considered "China" for purposes of travel and immigration--it's treated the same as a separate country. Boo to your travel agents for also not getting this. The airline letting you board should not be a problem as they can tap into the Timatic database where this can be found--although it is possible you will run into a clueless check-in agent that needs some firm persuasion and/or a supervisor. But overall, questions of how to route your tickets should depend on other factors such as pricing, journey time, airline comfort, FFP, mileage earning needs, etc.

The following is of no importance to the travel agent but useful for you should you decide to route through a PRC airport: Upon arrival, you will go through immigration (usually there is a specially-signed desk for "international transfers") and get a transit stamp in your passport. If you have a long-enough connection where it makes sense to do so, you may leave the airport during your layover period. Don't listen to anybody who tells you otherwise, just take it from the China experts here on FT. In fact, many people who transit through Shanghai take advantage of the 48 hour limit to make it a full nearly 2-day stopover with a bit of time to look around. At any rate, there will be another pass through immigration then security to get airside for the outbound flight.

That said, other non-PRC airports are more user-friendly and have better amenities for the transit/connecting passenger: NRT, ICN, HKG, maybe TPE. I'd tend to try to route the connection through an Asian airport that is not too far north, if it's cost effective. I presume you have already tried pricing the most direct option--MCI-LAX + LAX-KUL on Malaysia Airlines?

Thanks for the response, especially the very detailed one, jj.

I've asked the agent to priced the followings, all of them costs around 2K per adult:
1. MCI-ORD-NRT-KUL
2. MCI-LAX-HKG-KUL
3. MCI-IAD-PEK-KUL (return via PVG)

The agent also found Eva to be expensive.

I found ChinaAir on ita to be cheaper, but takes almost 50 hour (almost 24hr layover in PVG, which I don't have the luxury).

Any more idea?

Shanghai is well worth a 24 hour visit; don't despair.

China Airlines (CI) is a Taiwan-based airline that wouldn't likely have a routing like this via PVG. Perhaps you mean Air China (CA), which is mainland-based? Some of us who fly TPAC routes regularly have some strategies but usefulness to you depends on knowing:

1) Are you trying to use certain airlines (i.e. United) or are you open to anything and can travel on any alliance or non-alliance carrier? Gawd knows I wouldn't be routing anything TPAC through IAD if my origin was MCI, unless I had some ulterior motive. It's implied from your posts these are paid tickets not awards.

2) Have you tried pricing without the domestic MCI-USA gateway segment? Sometimes it doesn't make a lot of difference in the overall pricing, but sometimes it's better to just price from the gateway and then get a separate MCI-gateway ticket, understanding that there are then connection issues and (if you have no FFP status), possible US baggage fee issues.

3) What time frame are you looking at and any flexibility? If for summer, that's peak season TPAC in both directions and flight prices are dearer than normal.

As the OP has started a specific thread on airline routing for MCI-KUL on the Asia subforum, I suggest that everybody post their comments on that thread instead of this one.

OP, please take all your further questions over to that thread so there aren't dual posts for the same topic. I think your original question about layovers in China has been answered OK on this one.

You're right, I meant to say Air China, not China Air. Thanks for your help.