pceng

So I will be arriving in Beijing at PEK around 10:30 AM on a flight from Europe, my girlfriend will be landing at PEK around 1:30pm from the USA. I am trying to figure out 1. what I can do while I wait for her to arrive, 2. where we can meet up.

I saw that I have lounge access for the Air China lounges which seem to be on the second floor (departure) of Terminal 3-E, from what I can tell my flight will arrive in 3-E but on the third floor. From the maps it looks like after landing on the third floor you need to go through customs to get down to the second floor. My question, is it possible for me to access the Air China lounges as an arriving passenger? Or will I be sent straight from customs towards the APM and baggage claim?

Second question, if the lounge does not work, can anyone recommend a good place for us to designate as a meeting spot in Terminal 3?

Thanks!

moondog

1. The lounge isn't an option on arrival
2. I like the Hilton and the Langham; good lunch menus, and decent massages
3. I would probably just head into town, and pick a meeting spot there

trueblu

If you are staying at the same hotel, meeting there would be most practical option. However, I understand your desire for wanting to wait for your gf.

As md says, you can't get back airside after landing. For three hours, I wouldn't bother with one of the airport hotels. There's a couple of coffee places etc outside of the arrivals hall. I would hang out there with some work: you can use the free airport wifi. Since all international passengers come out of the one gate in the PEK terminals (i.e. one exit in T3, one in T2 etc), you can definitely just wait for her to come out once she's landed. However, at T3, time between landing and coming out can be up to 45 minutes or more if it's really busy and your gf doesn't have e-gates (which I presume she doesn't).

tb

JPDM

There is a Starbucks near the exit to the main hall. Since you have time, you can head to the departure level for more food options. For a very good meal, go to one of the nice hotels near the airport.

moondog

I haven't stopped by the top level of the T3 departures lobby during the past ~5 years, but I just skimmed Google, and it doesn't seem that much has changed. I actually happened to like KRR a lot, assuming it actually still exists. The Thai place is also okay. Other than that, you're looking at BK, McD, probably KFC, Starbucks, UBC Coffee, and a handful of forgettable Chinese restaurants.

Bearing in mind that I only date ladies who have decent street smarts, I would definitely choose a meeting place at or near where I'm staying. Beijing's traffic can be awful at times, but the layout is idiot proof.

The Hilton/Langham suggestion is my least favourite choice, but if you want to stay near the airport, and demand higher quality than KRR, it's worth considering. You could eat a nice meal, and arrange a shuttle dropoff back at baggage claim when your gf is set to come out of the chute.

travelinmanS

moondog

#2 should be sufficient to sway all but the very most romantic dudes

It would be a different matter if flying into somewhere like Kashgar, and taking a car for five hours, but PEK to anywhere in Beijing is easy as pie.

Deltus

I like that approach: "If you can't figure out how to use the Airport Express, this relationship is over, and you don't deserve to share my hotel room."

YuropFlyer

Good luck on checking in at 11.30am (unless you're a Elite member of a chain hotel) You'll most probably be allowed to drop your luggage off and get a chance to experience PEK for a while. During summer heat, probably better experiencing a shopping mall on that time of the day

Assuming your hotel is NOT terribly off the grid and only reachable by taxi or (local) bus, I'd say suggest to her to take the airport express + metro. It's not rush hour when she arrives, and indeed it's not difficult at all for someone who is at least half-street smart to find any place within the (reasonable) inner amount of Beijing. You could still offer to pick her up from the Airport Express (that would probably be a reasonable compromise) or from the metro station next to the hotel of your choice.

Alternatively, I think the main options for staying at PEK for roughly 3hrs have been mentioned already.

moondog

As I've mentioned in other threads, unless traffic is especially nasty, I prefer taxis to AEX/subway, especially when arriving at T3 or departing from T2.

The transfers at sanyuan qiao and dongzhimen both suck, and Line 10 is extremely crowded.

YuropFlyer

If you've to change 3 times, the hotel is 1km away from the subway, your party is 2+ people, you got a luggage to schlepp and it's during rushhour (especially in a direction that the taxi will not be affected by it so much) - or at least couple of those factors - I'll definitely agree a taxi is the way to go.

But if it's an easy 1 interchange, hotel nearby the nearest subway exit, you're a single, seasoned traveller with a light / easy to carry bag, then I'd go with the AirportExpress/Subway combo. It's really down to your personal situation what will be the best solution.

Remembers me when we arrived as a group of 5 in SIN.

Me and a collegue decided to go with MRT, 3 collegues went with a taxi.

MRT went fine as always, with a quick connection at Tana Mehra and straight to the hotel it took less than 40min. Collegues were stuck for about 2hrs due to an accident on the ECP. I think my pictures of us enjoying food and some Tigers while they were squeezed in the jam didn't made their mood better

travelinmanS

seanpodge

As others have said, there is no chance of entering any Air China lounge on arrival.

Assuming that your girlfriend is arriving in T3, then you don't really need to arrange a meeting point since there is only one place for here to exit from. Not sure there's anything especially captivating in T3 landside. If your hotel is near enough to the subway, I'd almost be tempted to head out, check in and then head back to the airport to pick up the girlfriend. She would still probably need to have her documents checked by the hotel when she arrives though.

moondog

Since the OP hasn't returned to this thread yet, we might not end up learning the hotel location, but there are very few hotels that have easy access to Line 10 or Line 2 subway stations.

travelinmanS