Now that the direct route is gone, how do others do it? I'm headed there for the 2nd time this year next week, and will probably have another 2-5 trips there this year yet. Have co-workers in the same position, all business class. Next week's trip is GRR->DTW->PVG (on CZ)-> CAN (on CZ)->HKG ->NRT -> DTW ->GRR..

Just wondering if anyone has any better routings. Corp TA won't book it on KE, and I've been told flying from SFO via CZ is highly NOT recommended.

KE out of ORD would be the best for you, but sounds like that is out.

With DTW-HKG starting up, seems like you should be able to tag on to the late night dragonair hkg-can flight. DL.com does prefer to send you on the nasty cz flight from lax, but hopefully after the hkg flight starts things will change.

I would much rather connect in INC, NRT, or HKG than PVG, as it really isnt setup well for connections.

hopefully they start nrt-can back up again.

I haven't flown China Southern longhaul, but I've had good experiences with their internal flights in business class or FC (which seem the same to me, although the prices can differ slightly). IME they fly nice modern planes in good condition, I think mainly 737-800s.

On PVG-CAN, my impressions is that there can be advance schedule changes and cancellations; my travel agent was contacted and then it was no problem changing to another flight on the same day. Some English is spoken, they seem to take special care of (surprisingly rare) foreigners (walking me to security and the lounge, attention from the purser on board), and nice slippers were given out on board, where only liquids (including beer and rather bad wine) were served--no meal on my flights of an hour or two. Their lounges are nothing special, with water/tea/coffee and not much else (Chinese newspapers), but lots of smokers. The routine seems to be that you stay in the lounge while coach boards and sometimes they drive you to the jetway or plane on the tarmac, although in PVG I walked along the regular concourse to the plane, they closed the door and departed. CZ is the only mainland Chinese airline that I will fly willingly. PVG is a nice modern airport that appears to be underutilized, so that either connecting through PVG or HKG should be pretty good. However, be sure that you don't have to change airports in Shanghai.

If you're not trying to stay on SkyTeam, Cathay through HKG is wonderful in business class, including their lounge in HKG. Can you do SQ through SIN or is this too far to get to CAN? Is there a good connection at NRT, perhaps on JAL but ideally in the same terminal?

DL GRR DTW HKG. CZ HKG CAN(buy separately)
OR
AA GRR JFK CX JFK YVR HKG KA HKG CAN

I didn't know CZ flew SFO-CAN (I only know about LAX-CAN). In either case, they're --just-- tolerable in biz.

I've doing a bit of CAN travel myself this year, and the other expats there have been pushing me towards simply using HKG. While HK doesn't work so well with morning departures (like DL to NRT), the ferry is good for flights leaving after 11a.

Are you allowed to fly on CX?

I booked an award ticket from HNL to CAN via NRT. I think there is a 3 hour layover. I don't think the other US flights arrive in NRT in time to connect to that flight because it leaves before or at the same time as the US flights arrive.

I would recommend fly to HKG and then connect to CAN on CZ or the bus.

CZ's flight between HKG and CAN were almost never ontime (at least the couple of times I took this year). so give yourself enough time if you do plan some events after getting into CAN.

Bus!? At least include the train in the recommendation.
Are you willing to share the reasoning behind this? TAgt or corp decision?

Thanks everyone. Yeah, I'm interested to see what opens when the DTW-HKG segment kicks in. Right now flying in to PVG I have to make sure there's 2 hours or so to connect just because you have to run from concourse to concourse and re-check through security etc.

Flights out are CAN->HKG->NRT->DTW->GRR for now, be nice once we can just do the HKG->DTW as one leg.

As for KE... TA/Corp are one in the same, the TA is a subsidiary of us. They get a "discount" flying Delta, which ticketing usually is the same price as any travel website, so I assume it reality it's some sort of "spiff" on the back-end for the TA or something, unless Delta is cutting a rebate check at the end of the month.

Agreed. My company has its regional headquarters in HKG and major operations in CAN. When I first asked for connection advice, the executives that frequently travel between those two points recommended the train. The fare is quite reasonable, the two-hour ride is comfortable and the train station is much closer to the heart of the city than the airport (although the train station is a colorless, old-school Communist building).

Based on feedback from people that I've spoken with that have taken a bus between the two cities, it should be avoided due to the poor road quality and high number of overloaded trucks.

If I were in your shoes, I'd press them on this. They are effectively telling you that x hours of your time (not to mention the hassle of connecting in Shanghai or racing around HK) is not worth the fare difference between DL and KE (assuming KE costs more).

Am I the only one who read this subject title as "US to Canada "(abbreviated)? Where's my cup of coffee?

Ya know.. I was going to do GRR to CAN, but I wasn't really interested in the starting point as much as I was in ending up in Guangzhou.. Sorry for the Country -> City confusion it caused

I understand. Now I don't need to go off on how the TAgt is to serve the needs of the customer first, not their own bottom line.

If the OP is flying Delta, then forget about the bus. The NRT flights get into HKG around 10-11ish which means the only shuttle service left is to ShenZhen.

Same deal for the HKG-NRT. I believe the first bus to HKG from GuangZhou starts at 5:30 AM.

DELTA REALLY NEEDS TO BRING THE NRT-CAN FLIGHT BACK!!