Flight Advice: LAX-PEK
 

Hi all,
Appreciate any advice here. Flying LA-PEK later this year for vacation and trying to choose airlines. As dates get closer and plans confirmed, price will matter more, but for now, assuming all things are equal, which would you choose between these options (business class)?

Air China, nonstop 777 (most convenient, but I've heard bad things about Air China service)
Asiana: 1-stop in ICN. (A380/A330) Pretty convenient. One stop doesn't add too much to flying time. Good pricing now, subject to change of course.
United: LAX-SFO-PEK. (737/777).
Singapore: LAX-SIN-PEK (A350/B787). Currently the best priced business class fare on my travel dates, and I've never flown SQ biz. It's supposed to be great, but that's awfully far out of the way. But, if the price is right, might SQ service be worth it?

Any and all thoughts appreciated.

I'd be willing to pay about 20% more for the nonstop than the better connecting options, or ~40% over longer ones.

Thank you. I'm hearing "convenience of nonstop >>> better than marginally better service on connecting routes." A little nervous about what to expect from "Chinese Experience" lol, but that'll be my first option assuming prices equalize. Will get back in a few months with itinterary questions. Right now, plan is Beijing > Chengdu > Yunnan> Hunan over three weeks.

Pre COVID, PEK-LAX was one of CA's flagship routes. Its wings have been clipped since then because they're only allowed to run it two or three times per week, but they still give it their best resources. UA is supposedly going to do it 3x/week on a similar schedule next year to bridge the gap. All things being equal, I'd go with CA over UA.

Service wise it's SQ >> OZ >> UA >> CA. I don't know about OZ and SQ hard product on these routes, but UA beats CA hands down, even if you're on the 350 on CA.

You might also have MU and CZ as options. Between the big three, CZ >> CA >> MU in my humble opinion on soft product. Not sure about the hard product on these routes.

BTW. UA will start flying to LAX soon as well.

Thank you for your earlier thoughts. I have been watching pricing and scheduling carefully, and it looks like CA will be the winner (UA has scheduled nonstop services from LAX, but its pricing is wildly noncompetitive (4x the price of CA). That may change, but CA is on a moderate sale now, so I'm booking it.

Now my questions turn to itinerary! The "anchor" of this trip is an event in Beijing but I'm expanding to see Sichuan and Yunnan...all for tourism, mostly for food travels (and pandas). The current plan is:
LAX-TFU CA (1-stop)
4 Days in Chengdu
TFU-DLU (Dali) --
3 days in Dali
DLU-PEK (CA)
2 1/2 weeks in Beijing
PEK-LAX Nonstop (CA)

My three quick questions for this knowledgeable group is:
1) What do you think of the timing for Chengdu/Dali? Not enough time in either place...or too much?
2) For the transpacific legs on CA 777-ER with 2-2-2 business class layout, what do you think are the best seats?
3) Oddly, I cannot book the TFU-DLU leg through CA website, I am guessing because the 2x daily flights are code shares between AC and Air China Inner Mongolia. I hope to be able to resolve with CA customer support. However, even if I cannot book all for legs as a multi-city trip on CA, I'm not worried. I can book as open jaw on CA and separately buy a cheap ticket TFU-DLU on many airlines. <<EDIT: CA couldn't resolve -- that flight hasn't gone on sale yet, which is odd because all the other flights have gone on sale, including flights with later departures. Airlines are weird>>.

Many thanks for any advice.

Unless you want to see the airport itself or unless the price is vastly different, I would pick CTU over TFU. You might also want to try DLU from CTU.

I'd check to make sure the DLU return point isn't jacking up the total fare by seeing if swapping in Kunming or Chengdu changes it. Basically, CA can charge a premium if you set Beijing as the destination because it flies nonstop (unique product). It can also charge a premium for small markets like Dali because there isn't a great deal of supply. Large second tier cities, by contrast, are often much more competitive (e.g. ~7 airlines can get you from LAX to CTU with a single connection).

YariGuy I'm guessing that TFU (instead of CTU) is CA's default filing from LAX, but I'd also push for CTU, all things being equal.

Thanks again. TFU is the only option for inbound on the CA flights from LAX. I'll check if I can exit Chengdu via CTU-DLU.
To my surprise, the addition of the DLU leg barely moved pricing. One of those inexplicable quirks of airline pricing (to me at least). Alternate routing through Kunming instead of Dali is much more expensive.I've never been to either place, but my friends who have say Dali is a beautiful destination, while Kunming is best primarily as a base to reach surrounding attractions, like the Stone Forest and Dongchuan.

Having just been to both, both Dali and Kunming are worth a visit.

Yunnan is probably the most underrated province in China :) You have everything from the tropics in Xishuangbanna to Kunming and Dali with everlasting spring, to Lijiang with its Naxi minority and traditions as well as wonderful mountains + tiger leaping gorge and further up you have Shangri-La with its Tibetan monasteries. Weather also varies from warm tropical in the south to winter cold up in the mountains.

> Yunnan is probably the most underrated province in China
+1 highly recommend chilling in Dali