Jul 18, 2022, 12:16 pm
Last edit by: moondog
1. The information in this thread is time sensitive
2. Nearly all flights to China cost $4,000 or more
3. The best current option is discussed in the thread
4. The second best is now Korea (if you fly AA, AF, DL, or UA, you are going there anyway)
5. The third best option entails taking a new flight that we are keeping on the down low (just like point 3, but this one will last longer than point 3)
6. The fourth best option is Taiwan; you have cheap flights on both ends, BUT you'll be staying there for a week, AND need to be able to enter Taiwan
7. Finally, we have Hong Kong. You can get there pretty easily but plan on spending about $3,000 (and a week)
2. Nearly all flights to China cost $4,000 or more
3. The best current option is discussed in the thread
4. The second best is now Korea (if you fly AA, AF, DL, or UA, you are going there anyway)
5. The third best option entails taking a new flight that we are keeping on the down low (just like point 3, but this one will last longer than point 3)
6. The fourth best option is Taiwan; you have cheap flights on both ends, BUT you'll be staying there for a week, AND need to be able to enter Taiwan
7. Finally, we have Hong Kong. You can get there pretty easily but plan on spending about $3,000 (and a week)
Best way to travel from London to China
Aug 30, 2022, 5:09 pm
#212
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One of our forum members asked about ICN-SHA in our WeChat group (he's coming from the US and direct flights are now risky to book, regardless of price, because of the "tit-for-tat" cancelation game). I searched the 7-day period from 9/7 (Wed) to 9/13 (Tue) one day at a time on Kayak (google flights probably would have provided more results, but some of the non-Kayak options might be challenging to book).
Anyway, I found a total of THREE ICN-China flights during the entire date range (this doesn't mean that more flights don't exist):
-Monday (9C to PVG), Wednesday (ZH to SZX), Thursday (CZ to CAN)
-all cost around $550
-flights on other days of the week all routed through Taiwan and/or Japan
-in the event Taiwan starts letting non-residents or visa holders in, it would become a better option than Korea
ETA: GinFizz showed us that ICN-XMN runs Saturdays and Mondays, costs $443 based on current fx rates, and is widely available. He uses ctrip to search, which I now admit is better than Kayak for this mission (it totally slipped my mind).
Anyway, I found a total of THREE ICN-China flights during the entire date range (this doesn't mean that more flights don't exist):
-Monday (9C to PVG), Wednesday (ZH to SZX), Thursday (CZ to CAN)
-all cost around $550
-flights on other days of the week all routed through Taiwan and/or Japan
-in the event Taiwan starts letting non-residents or visa holders in, it would become a better option than Korea
ETA: GinFizz showed us that ICN-XMN runs Saturdays and Mondays, costs $443 based on current fx rates, and is widely available. He uses ctrip to search, which I now admit is better than Kayak for this mission (it totally slipped my mind).
Last edited by moondog; Aug 30, 2022 at 6:09 pm
Aug 30, 2022, 5:38 pm
#213
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One of our forum members asked about ICN-SHA in our WeChat group (he's coming from the US and direct flights are now risky to book, regardless of price, because of the "tit-for-tat" cancelation game). I searched the 7-day period from 9/7 (Wed) to 9/13 (Tue) one day at a time on Kayak (google flights probably would have provided more results, but some of the non-Kayak options might be challenging to book).
Anyway, I found a total of THREE ICN-China flights during the entire date range (this doesn't mean that more flights don't exist):
-Monday (9C to PVG), Wednesday (ZH to SZX), Thursday (CZ to CAN)
-all cost around $550
-flights on other days of the week all routed through Taiwan and/or Japan
-in the event Taiwan starts letting non-residents or visa holders in, it would become a better option than Korea
Anyway, I found a total of THREE ICN-China flights during the entire date range (this doesn't mean that more flights don't exist):
-Monday (9C to PVG), Wednesday (ZH to SZX), Thursday (CZ to CAN)
-all cost around $550
-flights on other days of the week all routed through Taiwan and/or Japan
-in the event Taiwan starts letting non-residents or visa holders in, it would become a better option than Korea
Aug 30, 2022, 5:50 pm
#214
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Aug 30, 2022, 7:53 pm
#215
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Aug 31, 2022, 5:50 am
#217
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If you want to fly to china better to do now lots of flights being cancelled and covid cases rising, I left Helsinki for chengdu on august 18 the next week flight on august 25 was cancelled and now been testing in chengdu for 2 days as part of town in lockdown
Aug 31, 2022, 8:29 am
#218
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Aug 31, 2022, 11:25 pm
#219
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This is definitely a pickle. It sucks because pretty much any inbound flight (I think Macau is an exception because there is no Mainland quarantine for Macau arrivals) can get zapped for two weeks. I guess Hong Kong and Macau are both still attractive because they aren't killing flights from other countries, and they have those land borders. However, percysmith definitely put a damper on the land crossing (from HK) idea.
Flights from Hong Kong and Taiwan have also never been banned, even when they were coming in with half of the plane infected.
Sep 3, 2022, 12:19 am
#220
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HKG has been subject to a kind of manually managed mandatory reduction of service applied to both mainland and HKG airlines. While not as rigid the standard CAAC calculation based on number of infections on a flight, when HKG has had a high number of cases both mainland and HKG airlines were directed to reduce the number of flights. Recently HKG's numbers have not been low, there is always the chance that China will respond in some way.
Taiwan flights do not seem to have been subjected to any cancelation process, if they have it has been handled very quietly. There was some debate recently in Taiwan that if transit to China is allowed and the number of cases detected on arrival in China goes up, will that cause China to start canceling Taiwan flights. There aren't many passengers on those flights but there is a fair amount of freight.
It is very hard to predict what is going to be allowed. Domestic lockdowns of large populations continue. I don't see the people in charge in Beijing taking any chances before November. And beyond that who knows....
Sep 5, 2022, 2:33 am
#221
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Taiwan flights do not seem to have been subjected to any cancelation process, if they have it has been handled very quietly. There was some debate recently in Taiwan that if transit to China is allowed and the number of cases detected on arrival in China goes up, will that cause China to start canceling Taiwan flights. There aren't many passengers on those flights but there is a fair amount of freight.
Sep 5, 2022, 2:48 am
#222
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That's definitely good news, and it likely bumps Taiwan over Korea as an option for me (American). There are more China flights in general than from Korea, they seem to be a little cheaper, and I gather they are less likely to get dinged.
Sep 5, 2022, 3:48 am
#223
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For the moment it looks OK. All international arrivals are tested in Taiwan's airports and if you test positive they will let you know the next day. You would have to finish your 3 days of quarantine before returning to the airport to travel to China, so hopefully not too many positives will slip through. (Quarantine is currently 3 + 4 days of self monitoring but you are allowed to leave Taiwan during the self monitoring period.) Taiwan dropping special covid visas as of next Monday is going bring a steady increase in international arrivals I expect.
Sep 7, 2022, 11:38 pm
#224
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Someone in one of Shanghai lockdown WeChat groups posted this morning about this flight in the reverse direction. She bought a ticket on it, but has no idea how to get from here to Chengdu in order to catch it. Helsinki actually is her destination, so there aren't a ton of ways to get there (unlike London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc).
Sep 8, 2022, 12:12 am
#225
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Someone in one of Shanghai lockdown WeChat groups posted this morning about this flight in the reverse direction. She bought a ticket on it, but has no idea how to get from here to Chengdu in order to catch it. Helsinki actually is her destination, so there aren't a ton of ways to get there (unlike London, Paris, Frankfurt, etc).
