thesilb

Thank you all. I really appreciate it. I can see that information and being that its government issued, I'm pretty comfortable its correct (plus others have done it, so sounds good). I still find it disturbing that UA is telling me they won't board me. Weird, and a little disconcerting way to start a trip. I will call LH and see if those seats are still open and at least hold them for now until I can speak to UA again about this.

Thanks much, everyone.

LHrelate

Hi thesilb,

I checked in Amadeus visa info and according to that what has already been posted here is correct - no transit visa required for US passports provided you hold confirmed onward and return documents and depart within 24 hours. They say that leaving the transit area is even possible...

VISA TRANSIT CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) (CN)

...... NORMAL PASSPORTS ONLY ......
TWOV (TRANSIT WITHOUT VISA):
- ALL TRANSITING PASSENGERS ARE SUBJECT TO PASSPORT CONTROL.
FOR MORE DETAILS ON DOCUMENT REQUIREMENTS, PLEASE ENTER
CHINA (PEOPLE'S REP.) AS A DESTINATION.
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR THOSE PASSENGERS CONTINUING THEIR
JOURNEY WITHIN 24 HOURS (OR WITHIN THE SAME DAY AT GUANGZHOU -
CAN) TO A THIRD COUNTRY BY THE SAME OR FIRST CONNECTING
AIRCRAFT, AND HOLDING DOCUMENTS AND CONFIRMED TICKETS FOR
THEIR ONWARD JOURNEY. LEAVING THE AIRPORT TRANSIT AREA IS
ALLOWED. OVERNIGHT FACILITIES ARE AVAILABLE OUTSIDE THE
AIRPORT:
VISA REQUIRED, EXCEPT FOR NATIONALS OF U.S.A., PROVIDED
ARRIVING AT AND DEPARTING FROM SHANGHAI HONGQIAO OR PU DONG
AIRPORTS ONLY, CONTINUING TO A THIRD COUNTRY WITHIN 48 HOURS
AND HOLDING CONFIRMED ONWARD TICKETS AND ALL DOCUMENTS
REQUIRED FOR NEXT DESTINATION.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
- IN CONNECTION WITH THE OUTBREAK OF INFLUENZA A(H1N1), ALL
ARRIVING PASSENGERS WILL BE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A HEALTH
DECLARATION FORM AND SUBMIT IT TO QUARANTINE OFFICERS, PRIOR
TO CLEARING IMMIGRATION. REGULATIONS AND SCREENING
PROCEDURES ARE DEPENDANT ON THE AIRPORT OF ARRIVAL AND ARE
SUBJECT TO CHANGE AT VERY SHORT NOTICE. FLIGHTS ARRIVING
FROM COUNTRIES WHICH HAVE REPORTED CONFIRMED HUMAN CASES OF
INFLUENZA A(H1N1) INFECTION WILL BE SUBJECT TO ONBOARD
TEMPERATURE SCREENING, PRIOR TO DISEMBARKATION.
HEALTH AND QUARANTINE OFFICERS MAY PAY PARTICULAR ATTENTION
TO:
- PASSENGERS ARRIVING FROM (OR HAVING RECENTLY VISITED)
COUNTRIES WHICH ARE REPORTING HIGH NUMBERS OF HUMAN CASES OF
INFLUENZA A(H1N1) INFECTION; OR
- THOSE SUFFERING FROM FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS OR FEVER.
UPON COMPLETION OF INDIVIDUAL ASSESSMENTS, PASSENGERS WILL
BE ALLOWED TO CONTINUE THROUGH IMMIGRATION OR MAY BE PLACED
IN QUARANTINE, SHOULD THE QUARANTINE OFFICER CONSIDER IT
NECESSARY.
WARNING:
- PASSENGERS NOT COMPLYING WITH THE ENTRY OR TRANSIT
REGULATIONS WILL BE DEPORTED BY SAME OR RETURNING AIRCRAFT.
>TIDFT/CN/VI/WA/ID2516

In this case I think that connection's your best option since it's already confirmed. I looked everywhere on the same day and don't see award space anywhere else. I even checked again with M&M management and they confirmed that no waiver is in place for booking awards into revenue classes...


Good luck!
Michelle

LHrelate

The flights are still on hold in your booking. Just get the call center as quick as you can (I know, I know) to firm it up and avoid cancellation at the end of the night (EST).

Since UA is still balking on the phone, you may want to print something from the Chinese embassy pages and bring it with you... you are F/CL and also a displaced passenger, they might not argue at the station but just in case.


Best,
Michelle

thesilb

Thanks much for the help, Michelle. I have called again twice, and UA is continuing to give me concern about boarding me. Whatever the rules are in their system, they do not seem to match what you are quoting me. Since you, other FlyerTalkers and the Chinese embassy site all seem to concur, I am guessing UA has "dated" information or there's some other problem on their end. This makes me pretty nervous, since they hold the final authority on whether I can board at SFO. I sure do wish I could be re-accommodated in a way other than through mainland PRC so I wouldn't have to invest time and worry into this issue.

Nevertheless, I am calling LH right now to try to firm up those flights through Beijing. I will then deal with the visa issue tomorrow further. I will also cross my fingers for the strike to be cancelled. I sure was looking forward to the LH F experience, the FC terminal, etc. Anyway, I guess I got unlucky in this case, and will try to just be grateful if I can get to my destination at all. Thank you again for the help, I appreciate it. -- Jordan

thesilb

Michelle,

The fiasco continues. I just held for 1 hour, then spoke with agent Raina. She in turn spoke to a supervisor. They will not reissue my tickets. They said it was not possible, that the prior LH agent today "made a mistake in reserving the flights through PRC" and that they won't do anything else with this booking since it is an award booking. I told them that you had told me to make sure to call back prior to midnight EST tonight so this wouldn't cancel. They told me "well then you need to contact Michelle back and have her reissue this for you, because we aren't going to do it". By the way, they also have the wrong dates held (25th instead of 24th - though I can see the same flights through PEK are available on the correct dates, the 24th. I sure hate to keep troubling you, but this is just crazy - LH phone agents are taking the position that LH has no obligation to get me to HKG despite having cancelled these flights out from under me. I don't understand.

-- Jordan

SEAUAKID

I hear these horror stories from people all the time, about LH call centres treating passengers poorly and providing misinformation. I just don't understand why if Kassel is the one call centre to be trusted, it is being closed???

Kiwi Flyer

If you're ticket is a LH one (ie using Miles & More miles) then you need to get LH to reissue.

For the visa misinformation at United, a printout from Amadeus or Timatec should suffice.

LHrelate

It's not, it's a BD award on 236 stock. I told him that BD must reissue and he will try to call them tomorrow as they are closed now.

Wish there was more I could do

thesilb

Thanks Michelle, I wish I was given the right info this morning by LH as I could have called when BD was still open. Anyway, I will see what BD can do in the morning. Thank you.

maarit

I'm getting so antsy! I guess the Tallinn Lufthansa office only has one employee but I still haven't heard back about my booking for Tuesday (yes, tomorrow!). Well, I heard back from her on Friday, saying she's really swamped and haven't had time to deal with my bookings, but still. I guess what makes my case more complicated is that I have two different bookings, one directly after the strike (which hence won't be re-booked) - which I won't be able to make if I first can't get to my first booking destination! I can see the alternative route filling up on seatcounter

SuperFlyBoy

If you had LH change the booking, and this was a BD award, then who knows what will happen - I think that BD was correct in telling you that once LH changed it in their system, they couldn't do anything about it - at least from the immediate agent's perspective...

Now they will probably have to interface at higher levels.

Sorry, meant thread, and I'm not threatening anyone!

alwaysontherun

I'm a lowly Frequent Traveller, but my experiences to date re: the strike have been less than optimal.

I was (am still) booked on FRA-FCO on 23.2 as I need to get to Rome for an early meeting. I'm coming back on 26th Feb 0655 as I need to be in FRA for a meeting.

When the timetable was released on Friday, I was pleased to see my flight was on the list of those going ahead.

Then I received (the famous) email saying my flight was cancelled. I tried calling the freephone number - "all lines are busy". I tried calling the FTL number - no response.

I called Swiss and asked them to rebook me. No flights fit in either direction - so I booked a new flight with LX from STR-ZUR-FCO. Also had to book a hire car and hotel to get me to STR in time.

Tried contacting LH over the weekend - consistently no answer/lines busy.

(rant over). Here are my questions:

1. How can I find out definitively if my FRA-FCO flight is going tomorrow? Is the timetable on the website "gospel"?
2. Can anyone suggest any other telephone numbers that I can contact LH on?
3. My current plan is to take the LX flight to Rome, and then the LH flight back. Normally I wouldn't be able to do this because I'm not taking the first leg of the return with LH. But without being able to talk to anyone, it's difficult to check with LH. Anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks in advance for any help anyone can provide.

AOTR

NewbieRunner

If you don't get any joy out of the Indian call centre you may want to try the pre-travel support desk in the UK. The phone number according to the BMI forum is +44(0)1332 854000. It's worth a try. Good luck!

Rambuster

I would strongly suggest to call LH (if possible..) and inform them of these changes. Otherwise you will be treated as a no show - should the original flights operate - and the remaining segments will be auto cancelled.

With regards to contacting LH, I guess you need to be persistant. (which is easy for me to say...but keep trying anyway.)

Rambuster

Sorting out a BMI redemption on LH right now would be one of my worst nightmares. Getting everything right during normal ops is tricky enough with BMI's ICC!

Good luck anyway !