MSPeconomist

2. There's no cost but Air China will probably resist giving you a hotel room if an overnight stay is needed. You should be eligible for 24 or 72 hour TWOV so don't worry about being allowed to leave the airport if you're forced to fly the next day.

Pay attention to your itineraries. UA award tickets with Air China segments in first and business class are being "mysteriously" cancelled. There's a big thread on this in the UA forum. AFAIK their have been no reports of this happening to Air Canada award tickets, but IMO you should pay attention just in case the problem mysteriously spreads.

ab56

Excellent , thanks for the quick response YuropFlyer.

ab56

Thanks MSPeconomist, appreciate the quick response. ab56

elty

I heard 1 hour is the legal minimum... but practically speaking is it enough? This will be in November if it makes any difference.

Air China CA112
Departs : 14:20 Hong Kong (HKG)
Arrives : 17:30 Beijing (PEK)

Change plane in Beijing Time to connect : 1h 15 min

Air Canada AC32
Departs : 18:45 Beijing (PEK)
Arrives : 18:35 Toronto Pearson (YYZ)

I supposed if I booked this flight with a credit card with trip delay insurance, then I can potentially get a 1 night free stay if something goes wrong?

moondog

If it's booked on one ticket, you have nothing to worry about because you'll be protected if the first flight is delayed.

If it's booked on two separate tickets, you *might* be able to get the PNRs linked so that disruptions don't have negative repercussions (because both CA and AC are in *A). If that's not possible, I would fly to PEK the night before (not because I'd be remotely worried about a morning flight misconnecting with a 645p flight, but because I'd rather spend a night in Beijing than half a day waiting in an airport).

HKG-PEK is a delay prone route, in case you're curious.

AllAboutFlying

I Believe this will be one PNR , so its really nothing to worry, even if your flight is delayed, they will cover you. If not then I personally would not take this option.

About Insurance, If you can speak some chinese you may find your way to it, if not and in Beijing , then all the best

moondog

While you might be right, what in the OP makes you think this? (The simple mention of insurance raised alarm bells for me.)

AllAboutFlying

They are both *A, thats why. But yes, now that you have mentioned, why is travel delay insurance even mentioned ?

AllAboutFlying

Just tried an itinerary on Air China's site, it indeed allows to book this route in the same ticket. So its good to go!

rkkwan

Flights from HKG to PEK/PVG are heavily delayed, especially later in the day. Yesterday's flight was 25 minutes late leaving gate and today's 55 minutes late and scheduled to arrive at 6:10p. Some day's are worse. Your chance of making the connection is not as great as one may think.

LOUDNOISES

I don't know how the logistics work, but if the HKG flight is delayed then there is a good chance the YYZ will be too. It has been pretty stormy here the last month or so and delays and cancellations have been worse than usual.

Not sure if check in/transfer stays open later if the flight is delayed and a double delay is clutching at straws at best, I'm sure someone else can comment better.

AllAboutFlying

the OP is traveling in November.

YuropFlyer

Weather wise, imho November should be still ok in PEK - however the later in the month, the bigger the chance for some early snow (And I've had snow in PEK in early November too..) - however weather might also delay the second flight, so it's not like it's definitely going to kill the routing.

That said, as long as it's on 1 ticket, and you don't absolutely have to be at your destination on time, I would book it if there is not any alternative.

Should you miss your connection, it would be CA's duty to provide meals&overnight accommodation, of course a credit card might be also useful (but I don't know if they're happily covering it when CA, for example, wants to book you into the Ibis, and you insist on going to the Langham instead ) but I wouldn't stress that out too much.

So yes, on 1 ticket, and without the need to be really back on time, I would say, go ahead, book it. I'd prefer a 2-3 hours connection myself, as 1hr15min, if everything on time, basically means deboarding, passport check, transfer security, walking to gate, boarding, without much time for the lounge if at all, but if you're not *G/flying C, then having a tight connection might not even be the worst thing

moondog

I may or may not take them up on the meal vouchers, but would probably fend for myself on the accommodation front (the CITC Hotel isn't nearly as dire as the Ibis, but still isn't a place I'd fancy spending a night unless I arrived very late, and was heading out early the next day).

YuropFlyer

Just checked the schedule, PEK-YYZ is a 6pm departure (I guess till November won't have changes) with single daily frequency. So unless CA is allowing rebooking on another carrier (and with connection somewhere on the way - doubt it) it would mean 24 hours in PEK. Which can be pleasant in early November if the weather is right - or outright horrible if it isn't.

And yes, I'd agree with you, an airport hotel in such a case wouldn't be the best idea. If you arrive late at night and depart in the morning, IBIS (which I've done actually, didn't found it that bad) or CITC would definitely do, but for a full day, including a full evening, I would go to the city to some nice place. PEK isn't that cheap anymore, but decent accomodation can still be found for a reasonable price, so if CA only wants to be pay for a certain airport hotel, heading to your own one of choice might not be that bad idea after all.