Help with 14 hour layover
 

I'm flying Air China coach/economy from BKK to PEK, then PEK to SFO. There's a 14+ hour layover in PEK.

On my way to BKK, I had a horrible time at PEK getting through immigration and security (the lines were long and not staffed accordingly, and I was stopped at immigration, phone calls made, and pulled aside and stared at by several Chinese authorities and my passport taken behind a door before finally being set free, I have no idea why - it was unnerving) and on to my connecting flight - took 2 hours and barely made it by the skin of my teeth.

I was originally planning on doing a layover tour to the Great Wall, but none of the companies I've contacted have even responded to me over the past two weeks of contact. I'm also afraid of timing giving my troubles when I passed through the first time, and that my flight from BKK lands after midnight and the next takes off to SFO just after 4pm.

Is a layover tour feasible? How do I even go about doing this? Is it safe? I am a single woman, mid-30s, traveling alone.

And if not a tour, can I purchase one-day/time access to the Air China or a Star Alliance lounge? How/where do I do that? I've done it easily in the past with United, but I can't seem to find the answer, despite Googling a ton.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!!

Welcome to FT!

On your question, better for one of the regulars to reply to your questions, but regarding the part of your query that I've left up, what's your nationality? And prior to this transit at PEK, did you visit any countries in the past (per stamps in your passport) that might have raised the eyebrows of the Chinese immigration officers? Finally, did you get a China visa, or were you planning to make use of the 24 hour TWOV to make the Great Wall visit? Your replies will help the others better focus their responses.

Hire a private driver, go to the wall. $140.00. Not a long drive...

Lot of near by hotels

I would go to T Square,

Never had a problem, over there couple times a year.

To be fair to the OP, she had a problem getting through - and she was only on transit. Most of us get through ok (you have, I have too), but MMV (as in YMMV). Moreover, I never take for granted that passport control for any foreign country will let me through no matter how many times I might have gone through in the past. So it's understandable if she's gunshy about actually entering China to walk on the Great Wall on her return trip to wherever she started from. Hopefully with a little more info from the OP we can diagnose what went wrong. Or maybe it was just her unlucky day (like the person who paid for and got approved for TSA Precheck, but that is the one day the BP shows the dreaded SSSS).

In T3 airside, CA (Air China) has a Business Lounge as well as a First Class lounge. If you're asking about paid access, this presumes that you're not Star Alliance Gold status (eg UA Premier Gold or above), because if you were, you presumably know that you can access the CA Business lounge free. If memory serves I believe (based on what another poster on this forum has mentioned in a different thread) that CA doesn't offer paid access or a day pass but better for you to research this forum for confirmation. There is another choice; about 500 feet or so away from the CA business lounge is the BGS Premier Lounge. This is the lounge that SQ uses and is pretty nice. Moreover it appears it's a paid lounge but per the link below you won't be able to stay past five hours unless you pay twice. In any case I defer to the folks who go through T3 more often but this will get you started towards replying your questions.

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/ai...ier-lounge.htm

@op: just grab a taxi and go to mutianyu great wall, perhaps stopping at a specific restaurant/hotel first to drop off any items you don't want to lug around with you. Ask the same establishment to book a taxi back to the airport. Plan on having at least one meal (or spa) at the chosen venue. There is no need for anyone to "guide" you along that section of the great wall.

Tienanmen++ is also an option, but I like the gw plan better because it is more relaxing and is not impacted by a traffic variable.

Thanks everyone!

I am American and originated in San Francisco. I passed through PEK on the way to Bangkok, to spend 16 days in Thailand.

The only stamps in this passport are from Mexico. There's a designation that it's a replacement for a lost passport.

Hopefully that provides the info y'all need? :)

You should be fine with visa free transit.

Mexico stamps wouldn't have been reason for the kerfuffle last time through. It's possible that it was the designation that it was a replacement passport and they wanted to verify that you were you. Also possible is that Air China accidentally made a data entry error and screwed up your designation as an int'l transit passenger when they did their manifest, so that Immigration found some sort of discrepancy and the phone calls were to Air China to confirm. A more unlikely scenario is that they were on the lookout for somebody that you/your profile happened to resemble. Regardless, this is an uncommon occurrence and unlikely to happen again. On your next pass through PEK, you should go to the regular Immigration queues if you have a Chinese visa, and to the TWOV queue if you don't. In the latter case, make sure that check-in staff in BKK hear your magic words "Transit Without Visa" so they can properly record you on their manifest.

As for the layover, if you are arriving a bit after midnight, you need to get some sleep somewhere as you obviously can't immediately go to the GW. I'd suggest that you 1) taxi into the northeast side of the city to a prearranged hotel. 2) next morning about 08:30, check out of hotel and have a prearranged driver to pick you up and take you to Mutianyu GW, spend from 10:00-12:30 there while driver waits, then takes you to airport arriving about 13:30. Since your flight is US-bound, I'd allow a little extra time to jump through all the hoops. You can always get something to eat or go to a lounge if you need to kill time.

For hotel, I'd look into something in the Sanyuanqiao or Lido areas, maybe Wangjing. What's your budget? You don't want to get too deep into the central city for traffic reasons. For driver, there is a thread on the forum with reports and contacts, or maybe somebody can just put something here. It is possible to negotiate a flat, off-meter fee with a commercial taxi--assuming you don't speak Mandarin, a hotel staff member might be able to do the communications in real-time.

Air China often makes intl transit passengers on overnight stops pick up their checked luggage at PEK rather than autotransfer to the next flight---doublecheck this at BKK. Or if you want to be sure you get your stuff, have it tagged only to PEK so you know you'll pick it up, then recheck next day for the USA. Private driver or taxi driver will keep luggage in trunk of car while you're at Mutianyu, just lock it up. Take valuables with you. Or you can put the excess luggage at Airport Left Luggage counter for a fee, pick it up next day.

Just as a comment, Sanyuanqiao is a good place to stay overnight. The Airport Express stops there as the first stop after the airport, and as soon as you get out of the station, there's an Ibis Hotel and a Novotel literally five minutes away provided you get out the correct exit. Both are totally reasonable Western hotels (I've stayed at both) and will have staff that speak decent English. Note that the Airport Express is not 24 hours, they're only open from like 6AM to 10PM or so. Thus this won't work if your arrival or departure is during the wee hours.

Jiejie's reply on the lost passport notation is most likely what set off the investigation; her comments are far more thorough than any reply I would have come up with. I'll just add that my guess is that China Immigration was taking extra care in your case because you were a transit passenger. They would look pretty foolish if it turned out that you were wanted by some government or other and they let you get away while you were in their security zone. In any case, now that you've gone through the third degree, I'd expect you shouldn't have any difficulties with Immigration entering China to see the Great Wall on your return trip since they've already checked you out.

BTW take the rest of Jiejie's comments to heart, especially the one about making sure that when you check in at BKK that the staff knows you're going to TWOV, better China Immigration knows that you're coming... Last but not least, please come back after you've visited the Great Wall and let us know if you had any problems, whether with entering China or anything else - upfront and personal data points are our friends here.

I missed the "a bit after midnight" tidbit. In this case, I'd like to redact my "go to the GW" advice. I would just try to make the most of SLT (and, stay at the YoYo).