YariGuy

I escaped hours before the Shanghai lockdown on April 1, and after months of basking in the California sun, will need to head back to Shanghai in December.

Like the London thread, maybe others will be in the same boat and can benefit from the communal knowledge here.

One of the options I'm looking at is United:



My question on this (ignoring the shocking price for now) is what to do during the layover. The flight lands SFO at midnight and the connecting flight departs at 9am. The Polaris lounge closes at 10:30 and doesn't reopen until 6:30am. Is the airport open overnight? Does anyone have experience with the Hyatt? Is it really close to the airport?

With the lockdowns starting again in Shanghai I'm not really looking forward to this but I don't really have a choice.

moondog

Is that 80k for you and your son? If so, that's not completely insane.

The Hyatt is actually at the airport. You might want to head up a few hours earlier in order to properly enjoy it.

One of the guys in our group chat (who is also an FT member) is in the process of doing LAX-ICN-China now, and I'm planning on asking him about his experience after he arrives. His total cash outlay is considerably less than what you're looking at.

uanj

Is transit or stopover in TPE an option for you? The cost should be considerably less.

Otherwise, the SFO terminals (at least where UA is) are open 24 hours but they get cold at night. I just flew to TPE Sunday and had to overnight somewhere along the trip so we did it at the Westin SFO. As moondog suggested if you will need to overnight and use a hotel allow yourself enough time to get a decent night's sleep. Check the frequency of the hotel shuttle schedule, not all are back to pre-pandemic levels yet.

YariGuy

This is actually for my wife and son. The price is per person, but her company will be covering my wife's part. Ridiculously high, but Delta is asking $14,000+ for business.

I myself will take a cheaper routing - I'm thinking of spending time in a combination of Honolulu, Tokyo, and Taipei before flying to Shanghai.

For SFO, the Grand Hyatt says it's connected to the airport by Skytrain. It seems like the Skytrain runs 24 hours. This seems like the best option so far.

moondog

11号线 is also a viable option (only ~500 meters) if not traveling heavy.

moondog

It's conceivable that more flights (not pre-Covid schedule, of course) could be approved after next week. If that happens, I'd expect fares to come down a bit.

YariGuy

We probably won't book until next week, so let's see. A couple of months ago the same UA flights were only $9k. Should have snatched those up

narvik

Since you mention the Polaris lounge, you are talking Polaris/Business class, yes?

Not sure what status you have with UA, but you may also consider different routings and apply PlusPoints if you have any.

(I am currently in NZ,awaiting HDC code for a flight to PVG....)

YariGuy

Yes, I'm looking at business class.

I don't have any status with UA, but other routing suggestions welcome.

Good luck on your flight to PVG!

narvik

Cheers.
Well, USA ---> Korea ---> China is quite popular right now (no HDC code required departing USA).
And the one I am on is okay: USA ---> NZ ---> China; but it helps if you have something to do in NZ, and can make the stay here a bit longer (5 or so days).

desafino

The SFO hyatt is really good, but I'd lean towards taking an earlier flight from LAX for a longer sleep at the hotel.

gaobest

Hyatt is adjacent to T1 for domestic departures. It’s literally at Sfo airport and isn’t a mile away. I dropped my spouse off at Sfo on Tuesday and drove past the hotel as I drove to T3. Sequence for cars at Departures is hyatt - T1 - T2 - T3 :-)

YariGuy

The UA site is giving me options for super long transfers at SFO, like 14 hours. I suppose that might be OK as well.

Question - for LAX-SFO-PVG, will UA (or say AA, through DFW) check luggage all the way through to PVG, or would we have to re-check luggage at the transit airport?

moondog

I suggest you post in the relevant airline forums or call them. I trust crowd sourcing on FT more than call centers myself, but sometimes you end up with a knowledgeable agent.

angetenar

It depends on how long the layover is. If it is under 12 hours, then it should be checked through. If over, UA policy is to short check it and you'll need to retrieve it, see Overnight, long layover/connection check through baggage question (consolidated)