STS-134

You don't have anything to worry about. Look at all the thousands to tens of thousands of US citizens who enter and leave China every day. You aren't important enough to get caught up in something like this. If you were important enough to be a target, you'd know it. I'm talking about very high profile CEOs of multinational corporations (Tim Cook, etc.). Even Elon Musk went to China recently to announce that Tesla was opening a new factory in Shanghai and he didn't have any problems getting out.

joer1212

Since we're derailing threads, I'll give it a shot at derailing my own.

Can anyone give me advice on how I should prepare in the event that my Air China LifeMiles award (PEK-JFK) is not honored once I arrive at Beijing Capital airport for my flight back home?
Will I be able to buy a ticket at the airport using my U.S. credit card (are they accepted in China?), or will I have to carry thousands of dollars in cash?
How exorbitant would a last-minute ticket like this cost?

As I've mentioned in another thread, there have been horror stories of CA stranding passengers on mileage awards.

This will be my first time in China, so I'm a bit apprehensive of this potential scenario.

STS-134

FYI: I flew CA last year (PEK-SFO) and my award (booked with United miles) was honored. CA staff even somehow knew to talk to me in English and to my wife in Chinese. But if it's not honored? I suppose you could book a ticket with a US credit card at http://www.airchina.com/ as a last resort, and then go after them or your AV for the funds later.

YuropFlyer

What do you mean with "not being honored"? Never heard of any "horror stories" regarding those. Same background as your "friend" telling you stories on how about this thread originated?

You get an award ticket on CA. No difference to a paid ticket.

(Western) credit cards are widely accepted at hotels and (bigger) chains in modern malls. For airline tickets, using credit cards is perfectly normal.

For smaller amounts and local shops, it's better to have WeChat Pay or AliPay setup, since cash really is a hassle and so outdated.

tauphi

I think Q1 is basically useless because like a Z visa you'll need to apply for a residence permit once you land in China. So instead of getting a Q1 you could just get a Q2 and then apply for the residence permit once you are in China. In fact when my work residence permit ran out while overseas this is exactly what my visa agent told me to do, i.e., get a Q2 and then convert to a normal work residence permit once I'm back in China.

joer1212

https://liveandletsfly.boardingarea....cket-problems/

YuropFlyer

ok, that's new to me. I've flown CA F quite a few time on good old USDM tickets (give me the whole nose of a B747, two personal toilets , two FA's only there for me and super easy award availability on pretty much every route (did it 6 times long haul, always was the only pax!) over a possibly slightly better product from other airlines that I've to fight over) and I never had issues with those tickets at all. And considering there are no recent reports from what I can see, it looks like the communication issues between the US / Canadian carriers and CA is fixed for a while now.

STS-134

Again, I flew CA F out of PEK, booked as an award ticket via another *A carrier (UA in this case), last year, and did not have any problems. While it's good to have contingency plans in place in case anything goes wrong, constantly worrying about everything that possibly could go wrong will absolutely ruin your trip. Assume that everything will go smoothly because honestly, that's the most likely scenario.

I've flown from Maui to California many times. Most flights, probably around 40 of them, went out as scheduled, with me on them. A few were delayed. Only one was cancelled. Once it was cancelled, I had to spend another night on Maui. But you know what I didn't do? I didn't spend my entire trip worrying about what would happen if my flight was cancelled. That would have absolutely ruined the whole trip. Nor did I spend my entire trip worrying about what would happen if our rental car got a flat tire in an area with no cell coverage (also possible, but not the most likely scenario). Nor did I spend the time before my trip worrying about what would happen if a hurricane hit during the trip. Etc.

I'd take screenshots and copies of the CA PNR. If this extremely unlikely scenario should happen, then I'd take the following steps:
1. Show the CA PNR to the check-in agent and ask what happened. Ask them nicely to be put back on the flight in the same class of service.
2. Ask them nicely to be put on an alternate flight, departing the same day, in the same class of service. Escalate to a manager if necessary. But be kind to them and remember that the people you're talking to aren't responsible for the problem you're facing.
3. If asking them nicely fails, then book a ticket with your credit card and then deal with the situation later.
4. Once you get home, call CA and explain the situation, and ask them nicely to be refunded, given the situation. Escalate to a manager if you need to. But be kind to them and remember that the people you're talking to aren't responsible for the problem you're facing.
5. If that fails, follow up with a demand letter sent via certified mail asking them to pay, and submit all relevant documentation. Keep a copy of the letter.
6. If they still fail to pay, then sue them in small claims court to recover the money. The court will ask to see documentation that you've tried to work it out directly with the other party, which you should have at this point. Hopefully they offer to settle.
7. If they don't offer to settle, then come to court and show the Judge your documentation, and get a judgment against them ordering them to pay.
8. If they fail to pay the judgment voluntarily, then get the court to seize assets so you get paid (the judgment debtor must provide a list of assets to the court or they'll be held in contempt of court).

But, remember, you should not worry about steps 1-8 unless something actually happens with your reservation. Because if you worry about every little thing that can possibly go wrong with your trip, you're going to give yourself an ulcer.

I think your time would be best spent researching some common scams like the "black taxi scam" or the "Beijing tea scam" so that you can avoid them, particularly if you don't look Chinese. Interestingly, I've spent time walking around the major tourist areas of Beijing dressed very much like a tourist and I've never once been approached by the tea scam people, but that's probably because no one thinks I'm a foreigner in China. But really, all you need to do is spend about 10 minutes researching all of these scams and how they work and you'll immediately know if someone's trying to scam you. Some guy at the airport tried to pull the black taxi scam on me one time (turned out to be my first time in Beijing by myself), and even though I did not know about it, I suspected something was wrong because it just didn't seem right to me (what kind of taxi driver waits for a potential customer while he buys a SIM card, gets cash at an ATM, and uses the restroom?).. Once he gave his initial price, I decided to "test" him by saying it was too expensive, and the price magically dropped by 50%. Then it dropped another 15-20% after I said that was still too expensive. At which point, I told him that I don't trust him and got a real taxi at the official taxi waiting area at less than 1/6 of his initial price.

drewguy

Back to the OP's original question - it's a reasonable one to ask, given high-profile retentions of former Canadian officials in apparent retaliation for the arrest of the Huawei executive, along with some past instances of detentions. The risk is very low, but not non-existent. If there's a pattern, it's when an executive works for a company that has a dispute or difficult negotiation with a prominent Chinese company or SOE, or a government investigation of the company for legal violations. It's definitely not arbitrary - there's a purpose always. They don't just pick up a random American because they're upset with trade negotiations; they get the one they think can maximize leverage.

Hard to know without having you post things it's best not to post whether you fit into that risk category. As you mention public transit, it is possible if China Railway Rolling Stock is negotiating with your employer you could be attractive, but there are likely more attractive targets in the company who are more directly involved (and I assume you're not going for work because you mention not putting it on your visa application - they'll know who you work for if you're negotiating).

Anyway, I wouldn't worry about it, but good to be aware.

JPDM

The Canadians who were detained were not travelers. They are being accused of spying which is plausible.

joer1212

Sound advice, but my CA booking is a LifeMIles award. But, I guess the same procedure can be applied in the event of a problem (with a few tweaks and modifications).

joer1212

^

joer1212

What I find particularly attractive about my CA award is the fact that I'll be flying the 747-8, which I've never been on (only older versions of the 747).

STS-134

Exactly why I flew CA! I wanted to fly the 747-8. What was strange is that F was not at the front, or on the upper deck, but in the middle of the lower deck, behind business class.

STS-134

There should be two PNRs. There is a PNR with the operating carrier (CA in this case) which I don't believe UA gave me in the email when I booked. I had to either dig through multiple menus on the website or call their customer service to get it, but they did give it to me. Take a copy/screenshot of that PNR so that if anything happens to your reservation, you can refer to it. This isn't just for flying award tickets on CA though. Whenever I fly, I try to have screenshots of the reservation on me (usually in my computer) as well as paper boarding passes if possible, so that if the computer system crashes, the airline can still see that I have a confirmed ticket. One time, I did a mileage run to SJU and the power was out when I got there, and the gate agents were processing tickets manually.