I have successfully hit the SFO-PVG jackpot for Aug. 15. It does require a whopping 270K miles in J.

Also booked award ticket on LX JFK-ZRH-PVG on Aug.6. If this is approved by CAAC, then it's better deal: 88K miles for J.

The required PRC new visa, however, is another issue. We will see.

On the SFO-PVG August 15 flight, it is not the announced flight with one-stop in ICN, correct? Would it be subject to cancellation or will UA move you to the one-stop flight?

On LX, I have also seen those inventories, but it is showing availabilities on multiple days in the same week. We all know that each airlines only allows one flight a week, so not sure that will impact your booking.

Good luck on one the two will work out for you.

That’s pretty lucky if you were able to use miles to get on the new Sfo-Icn-Pvg flights! Congratulations!

What do you think the chances are you’ll get the visa as I think this is the bigger issue. Do you have someone or some company with good connections in the PRC helping you out?

Aug. schedule has not been updated. The ticket is still showing SFO-PVG direct with old departure time. I expect it will be updated with ICN stop soon.

The rumor was Saturday for UA 857 before announcement, so I picked Aug 15 which is Saturday.

The rumor for LX ZRH-PVG flight is Friday. So I picked Aug. 6 Thursday for JFK-ZRH, connecting ZRH-PVG on Friday.

There is another rumor that LH will run Monday FRA-NKG. So I grabbed another ticket EWR-FRA-NKG.

Both LX and LH tickets are saver J awards. I can't guarantee they will not be canceled. At least I have UA 857.


I am working on this by contacting PRC Embassy in US.

It's for humanitarian reason, as my dad passed away few months ago.

I hope they will show some sympathy.

Sorry about your father's passing. My condolesences.

On the LX and LH itineraries, will American be allowed to transit in Europe? That is something needs to be clarified.

Absolutely no problem, '

Anyone can transit, as long as you don't have double connections in EU.

Update: My company is now embarking on the application process for an invitation letter from Shenzhen's Foreign Affairs Office. This is one of three documents required to get a new (business) visa from the Chinese visa office in Hong Kong to re-enter China: company invitation letter, FAO invitation letter, Covid-19 test result.

If you're interested I will keep you updated on the progress and my experience.

Please note that this will be the very specific use case that was outlined by Shenzhen's FAO in their seminar a few weeks ago: returning to Shenzhen by land from Hong Kong and the implication was that this scenario would not require 14 days quarantine back in China but the seminar and its occasional translations were suitably vague on many points so we'll only get a definitive answer to this by actually doing it. Onward.

The Hong Kong border is closed to Chinese citizens until at LEAST August 7. Hong Kong is closed to foreigners until at least September 15. Unless you are a Fortune 500 CEO or have a company in China willing to go to bat for you and argue that your presence in China is critical to their business, that new visa isn't happening I'm afraid.

Just saw the news about your father. Sorry to hear that. I hope they listen but I'm doubtful unfortunately. Mine passed away a month ago, in the US, while I'm trapped in Hong Kong. Good luck.

He only wants to come to Shanghai, so HK isn't an issue. As I mentioned upthread, during Q2 2008 China also wasn't issuing visas willy nilly, so I ended up finding a guy on ebay to issue me a provincial level invitation letter. IIRC I paid Y1000 for the letter, and the market rate is presumably higher now, but I'm guessing that this approach still works.

(Sorry, wrong thread. Reposted in https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/32501787-post654.html)

Messaged with my American friends that flew over to Shanghai on Saturday on WeChat yesterday evening. They're on a 14 day quarantine at the moment in a hotel. Told me that they're one of the first SAS Puxi expat families to make it back in. From the sounds of it, there are a lot of SAS teachers who are stuck out of the country and don't have the resources to get them in. My friends shared a 23 page PDF describing the procedure and requirements. The husband's company, both in the US and in China, had a number of lawyers working to get them back in. The family had gone to Japan for the CNY holiday then back to the US when the holiday got extended. They expected to return back at the end of March but couldn't once the travel restrictions came into effect.

is it possible to share most of the info from this 27 page pdf document? You can delete sensitive info.

I've uploaded it to Google Drive..... https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VFF...ew?usp=sharing

This is one of the most helpful things anyone has ever done in the entire history of Flyertalk. Thank you so much.

I'm embarking on this exact process with the Shenzhen FAO being trapped in Hong Kong with a British passport and residency in China.

Thank you again for sharing this.

This is very helpful.

I can't open Shanghai quarantine hotels info. It's not attached?