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UA, USA to China OJ from $303 ai

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Old Jul 5, 2017, 8:33 am
FlyerTalk Forums Expert How-Tos and Guides
Last edit by: wolfpacktrojan
Transportation options from HGH to Hangzhou city center or PVG. Please add your name and your itinerary if you are interested in meeting other fellow FTers.
1) Taxi to Hangzhou city center, about 100 RMB ($15) for the entire party, not per person, walking from international terminal to domestic terminal (i.e., right turn after you get outside of the international terminal building), you will see taxi queue.
2) Shuttle bus, 20 RMB ($3), to Wulinmen CAAC Ticket Office or East Railway Station Line (two most popular options). The waiting hall for the shuttle bus is at Gate 10 (you can purchase ticket at Gate 14, too) Arrival Hall, on the first floor of the terminal building. Further details, see https://www.travelchinaguide.com/cit...ation.htm#hang
3) Shuttle from Hangzhou city center to PVG, 110 RMB, 3.5 hours: a) Wulinmen Ticket Office Central Hangzhou to PVG: (5:30, 6:10, 7:00, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00, 16:00, 17:00)
b) Hangzhou Dragon Sports Center to PVG, 110 RMB, (7:00, 8:30, 10:30, 12:30, 14:30, 16:00
). Further details, see https://traveladept.com/bus-pudong-hangzhou/
4) Train from Hangzhou East station to Shanghai Hongqiao; less than 100 RMB (~1 hr); then you can take Subway Line #2 to PVG, ~10 RMB and 2 hrs; or shuttle bus (Airport Line #1), about 1 hr, 30 RMB ($4.5), every 15 - 25 minutes. The Hangzhou East ticketing windows are located on 1st Floor, EAST Area of the station. Please allow 20-30 minutes for walking to 2nd floor departure, and security check. The frequency of Hangzhou-Hongqiao trains is as good as that of subways in many US cities.
5) Getting cash at HGH The international terminal at HGH (where you arrive) only has an exchange vendor with hefty fees that is open limited hours. However, the adjacent domestic terminal has a bank ATM. To get to the entrance of the domestic terminal, exit the international terminal and keep walking right, past the taxi stand. Then enter and take the escalator to the second floor. The bank ATM will be on your left, next to the escalator.
6 Getting TWOV without issues The advice is to print out your itinerary, hotel reservation, etc., to speed up the procedure at the entry point in China. At SFO, the check-in agents were clueless, so be prepared to get there very early and fight for your boarding passes. Please read the last few pages on this thread for first-hand experiences. Good luck. There is a thread on FT for further details. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/china...hread-231.html

ATM To get to the entrance of the domestic terminal, exit the international terminal and keep walking right, past the taxi stand. Then enter and take the escalator to the second floor. The bank ATM will be on your left, next to the escalator.

Travel information for Beijing and airport:
Beijing will have 2 hubs starting Sept 30,2019. PEK (Beijing Capital International Airport) is original main hub and will continue for Star Alliance flights and Cathay Pacific (including subsidiary Cathay Dragon Air). PKX (Beijing Daxing International Airport, will debut Sept 30, 2019)
planned for airlines of the SkyTeam alliance and One World Alliance (AA, BA, etc. except Cathay Pacific) will be relocated to the new airport. Most flyers taking advantage of this China OJ deal will continue fly through PEK. Some people who use positioning flights through Beijing using non-Star Alliance airlines need to make sure you are flying into PEK, or else need 2hr ground transportation from PKX to PEK.
PEK allows TWOV within 24hr to stay inside security zone airside. This is more convenient for immediate turn than Shanghai-PVG, which force all passengers to exit immigration and customs, then re-check in from land side, even if you have immediate turn within 24hr.

Who are going? When for outbound and inbound? Routing from major hubs:
July 2017

August 2017
Quinlanty: Aug 3, ORD-HKG-HGH; Aug 7, PVG-LAX-SFO-IAH-ORD-YYZ (see post #284 for a brief report on TWOV procedure at HGH).

September 2017
Kmxu: 1 Sept, IAD-HNL-GUM-, 3 Sept, GUM-PVG; 4 Sept, PVG-SFO-ORD
Quinlanty; Sep 1, IAD-HNL-GUM; Sept 3, GUM-PVG, Sep 4, PVG-SFO-ORD-YYZ
pushmyredbutton: Sept 1; SFO-HNL-GUM-HKG Sept 3rd: HKG-HGH, Sept 4th: PVG-SFO
X31: 8 Sept BTV-EWR-SFO-HKG-HGH; 11 Sept PVG-NRT; 12 Sept HND-SFO-IAH-EWR; 13 Sept EWR-YUL
Kmxu + 3: 9 Sept, IAD-SFO-HKG-HGH; 12 Sept, PVG-SFO-IAD
techdarko: 12 Sept, SFO-HKG; 14 Sept, HKG-HGH; 16 Sept, PVG-SFO
Quinlanty: Sep 14; SFO-HKG-HGH; Sep 18, PVG-SFO-YVR
bencanfly: Sep 14, SFO-HKG-HGH; Sep 18, PVG-SFO-IAD
tde211: Sept 17, SFO-HKG-HGH; Oct 18 - PVG-SFO-YVR
Fishleafer: Sep 20, SFO-HKG-HGH; Sep 26, PVG-SFO-YVR
X31: 21 Sept BTV-EWR-HNL-GUM-HKG; 23 Sept HKG-HGH; 25 Sept PVG-SFO-IAH-EWR; 26 Sept EWR-YUL
985X: Sept 22, LAX-SFO-HKG; Sept 23, HKG-HGH; Sept 25, PVG-LAX; Sept 26, LAX-YVR
flyingstudent: Sept 23: SFO-HGH
netoreisinger: 30 Sept, BOS-EWR-HKG-HGH; 4 Oct, PVG-SFO-ORD-YUL

October 2017
gba: Oct 22, SFO-HKG-HGH; Oct 29: PVG-NRT-SEA-YVR
beyounged: Oct 24, SAN-SFO-HKG, Oct 26, HKG-HGH, Nov 8, PVG-HND-YVR
as219: Oct 26, LGA-ORD-HKG (+1); Oct 30: HKG-SFO-EWR-YUL (+1)
X31: 26 Oct BTV-ORD-HKG; 28 Oct HKG-HGH; 30 Oct PVG-SFO; 31 Oct SFO-ORD-YUL
riphamilton +1: Oct 27, BOS-EWR-HNL-GUM-HKG (+1); Oct 30: HKG-GUM-NRT; Oct 31: NRT-ORD-YUL

November 2017
Quinlanty: Nov 3, BOS-EWR-HKG-HGH; Nov 6, HGH-SFO-IAH-ORD-YYZ
pushmyredbutton: Nov 19: BDL-ORD-HKG-HGH, Nov 27 HGH HKG-SFO-(YVR)
Davistev: Nov26, LAX-NRT-PVG

December 2017
Kmxu: Dec 1, IAH-HNL-GUM-HKG; Dec 3, HKG-HGH, Dec 4, PVG-SFO-IAD
X31: Dec 1, YUL-IAD-IAH; Dec 2, IAH-LAX-PVG; Dec 4, HGH-HKG-GUM-HNL; Dec 4, HNL-EWR-BTV.

January 2018
Kewldude21: Jan 14 IAH-EWR-HKG Jan 16 HKG-HGH Jan 22 PVG-SFO-IAH
mpiotrow: Jan 21, ORD-SFO-KIX; Jan 23, KIX-HGH; Jan 24, HGH-HKG-GUM-HNL-DEN-YYZ

February 2018

March 2018
Davistev: Mar03, PVG-SFO-YVR
flyer777lr: Mar 20, DEN-HNL-GUM; Mar 23, GUM-KIX (NH)-HGH; Mar 26, HGH-HKG-GUM-HNL; Mar 27, HNL-EWR-YYZ
Kewldude21: Mar 22 IAH-EWR-HKG Mar 24 HKG-HGH Mar 28 HGH-PEK-SFO-IAH
flyme2: Mar 28, BTV-ORD-HKG; Mar 29: HKG-HGH; Apr 17: HKG-EWR-YUL
JetSetDave: Mar 29, EUG-SFO-HKG-HGH; April 3, PVG-SFO-EUG
Coeur 05: March 31, bos-sfo-hkg-pvg; April 5, PVG-lax-ord-yow

April 2018
ttyl: Apr 01 BTV-IAD-EWR-HKG; Apr 02 HKG-HGH; Apr 04 PVG-SFO-IAD-LGA-YUL
Toronto1970: April 6, EWR-ORD-HKG-HGH; April 13, CTU-SFO-EWR-YYZ
Exiled in Express: April 18, ORD-HKG-HGH; April 30, WUH-NRT-SEA-YVR
X31: Apr. 28 : BTV-EWR-HKG-HGH; May 1st : PVG-KIX; May 15th : ITM-HND-YVR-YYJ

May 2018
Kewldude21: May 3 IAH-SFO-HKG May 13 PEK-SFO-IAH

October 2018
KMXU, Oct. 18, IAD-SFO-HKG-HGH, Oct. 25, PVG-SFO-IAD

November 2018
KMXU, Nov. 14, ORD-HKG-XIY, Nov. 19, PEK-ORD

September 2019
xinliz Sept 4 SFO-NRT-PVG Sept 25 PEK-EWR-YOW
Flying Machine Sept 9 LAX-SFO-HKG Sept 10 HKG-HGH Sept 16 PVG-SFO-IAD

October 2019
kmxu: Oct 26, IAH-HNL-GUM-HKG, Oct. 27, HKG-XIY, Oct 30, CTU-SFO-IAH
wolfpacktrojan: Oct. 26, EWR-SFO-PVG, Oct. 28, PVG-NRT-SFO-YVR

November 2019
kmxuand his colleague: Nov 9, IAD-PEK, Nov 12, PEK-NRT-HNL-SFO-YYZ
kmxu's colleague: Nov 13, YYZ-IAD-NRT-PEK, Nov. 16, PEK-ORD
kmxu: Nov. 20, IAD-NRT-PEK, Nov. 22, PEK-EWR-YYZ
kmxu: Nov. 23, YYZ-IAD-NRT-PEK, Nov. 26, PEK-ORD
aquanine Nov 28: LAX-SFO-KIX, Nov 30: KIX-PEK, Dec 2: PEK-SFO-YVR

December 2019
kmxu: Nov. 30, IAD-NRT-PEK, Dec. 2, PEK-ORD-YYZ
kmxu: Dec. 3, YYZ-IAD-NRT-PEK, Dec. 6, PEK-ORD
jskang Dec 5, EWR-PVG, Dec 8, PEK-NRT-IAD-YOW

January 2020


February 2020


March 2020

April 2020
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UA, USA to China OJ from $303 ai

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Old Aug 31, 2017, 5:00 am
  #436  
 
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: San Francisco, CA & Bangkok (Home)/Lawrenceville & Switzerland (Boarding School)/Baltimore, MD (College)
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Originally Posted by bencanfly
I am flying Sep 14 SFO -> HGH and Sep 18 PVG -> SFO -> IAD.

Cannot edit the wiki yet (new user), but looks like there a few others on these dates?
See you then! Will be with my family
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Old Aug 31, 2017, 10:57 am
  #437  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
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Originally Posted by rustykettel
Yes indeed! Added you to the wiki as SFO-HGH, should that be SFO-HKG-HGH?

Welcome to FT and safe travels!
Yes, should be SFO-HKG-HGH. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Quinlanty
See you then! Will be with my family
^
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 12:51 am
  #438  
 
Join Date: Aug 2017
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i will be flying sept 10 FLL-EWR-HKG-HGH and then HGH-SFO-IAD-YUL on sept 15 with 3 other friends. first attempt at a mileage run.
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 3:39 am
  #439  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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CX travel advisory for Sept 3

https://www.cathaypacific.com/cx/en_HK/travel-information/travel-preparation/travel-advisories/special-ticketing-guidelines-for-tropical-cyclone-mawar.html

I have not called United 1K line. CX will have to put us on some flights back to US/Canada. I hope for HKG-YUL on CX.
Any previous Irrops experience with CX?
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 6:09 am
  #440  
 
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Boarding Pass

For those of us with a one hour connection in HKG - HGH, how do you get your Dragonair boarding pass? Is it issued along with the United boarding passes when checking in for the first leg in the US?
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 6:39 am
  #441  
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Originally Posted by edsh
For those of us with a one hour connection in HKG - HGH, how do you get your Dragonair boarding pass? Is it issued along with the United boarding passes when checking in for the first leg in the US?
At check in, you are issued a "this is not a boarding pass" palace holder doc and are told to pick up the boarding pass at the transfer desk in hkg. Upon arrival in hkg as you leave the aircraft, there are signs telling connecting passengers which transfer desk to go to(transfer gate e2, if I recall correctly).

1 hour was a little tight, mosty due to variation on the transfer desk line (I was second in line there, but five minutes later the queue was 10 people deep). but if your relatively early off the united flight in hkg you'll have fewer people to worry about and 1 hour shouldn't be too bad
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 7:09 am
  #442  
 
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I was scheduled to fly 9/1 SFO-HNL-GUM-HKG / 9/3 HKG-HGH but due to the HKG storm and travel waiver posted on Cathay, I called United and they changed me to the direct SFO-HGH flight on 9/2.

Took a little bit of time since UA hasn't issued a travel waiver, but it all worked out.
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Old Sep 1, 2017, 9:09 pm
  #443  
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Originally Posted by edsh
For those of us with a one hour connection in HKG - HGH, how do you get your Dragonair boarding pass? Is it issued along with the United boarding passes when checking in for the first leg in the US?
Either getting a BP from UA checking in, or Dragonair online check-in is available 48 or 24 hours before departure (find the PNR from your UA reservation). With a BP you can take transfer route found in many places in HKG from Arrival to Departure level.
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 2:51 am
  #444  
 
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Quinlanty and I did not want to take the risk of the cancellation of CX's HKG-HGH flight. So, United let us spend 24 h in the paradise, aka, Guam. We will meet the other two parties (including pushmyredbutton) at PVG. We will fly GUM-PVG and continue on the originally booked flights. Cheers.
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Last edited by Kmxu; Sep 2, 2017 at 5:13 am
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 7:54 am
  #445  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
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HGH visa and transportation report

Just arrived in Hangzhou after a night in Honk Kong. Here are a few pointers that may help others coming this way:

- I was unable to check in to the Cathay Dragon flight using Safari on the iPhone and on my Mac. On each device, one or two required field would simply not work. Since I was staying in HKG, I stopped at the Cathay Dragon counter in the departures hall when I arrived.

- The agent had to consult with a colleague to figure out how to deal with the 144-hour visa exemption. It would have helped if I had printed my itinerary. Still, I had a boarding pass and was on my way to my hotel in about 10 minutes.

- No one asked about the visa until I arrived at Immigration in HGH. The officer at the booth referred me to a supervisor who after several minutes of wait had me fill out a form and consulted my paperwork. After a bit more wait, I was given my passport back with a temporary visa. This process took a good half hour and would have gone much smoother if had made hard copies of the itinerary and of the hotel reservation.

- I didn't an ATM in the arrivals hall. So I exchanged $50 US and only got 253 Chinese Yuan after being charged a 60 Yuan service fee.

- The buses to the city left from the terminal next door. There's a security checkpoint to get into the terminal. Once you get your ticket from the ticket office, you leave the terminal through yet another security checkpoint. The bus was comfortable and got to Wulin Square in less than an hour.

- The Marriott Courtyard Wulin is only 10,000 points a night. What a deal!
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 12:34 pm
  #446  
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Originally Posted by nobodyherebutme
Just arrived in Hangzhou after a night in Honk Kong. Here are a few pointers that may help others coming this way:

- I was unable to check in to the Cathay Dragon flight using Safari on the iPhone and on my Mac. On each device, one or two required field would simply not work. Since I was staying in HKG, I stopped at the Cathay Dragon counter in the departures hall when I arrived.

- The agent had to consult with a colleague to figure out how to deal with the 144-hour visa exemption. It would have helped if I had printed my itinerary. Still, I had a boarding pass and was on my way to my hotel in about 10 minutes.

- No one asked about the visa until I arrived at Immigration in HGH. The officer at the booth referred me to a supervisor who after several minutes of wait had me fill out a form and consulted my paperwork. After a bit more wait, I was given my passport back with a temporary visa. This process took a good half hour and would have gone much smoother if had made hard copies of the itinerary and of the hotel reservation.

- I didn't an ATM in the arrivals hall. So I exchanged $50 US and only got 253 Chinese Yuan after being charged a 60 Yuan service fee.

- The buses to the city left from the terminal next door. There's a security checkpoint to get into the terminal. Once you get your ticket from the ticket office, you leave the terminal through yet another security checkpoint. The bus was comfortable and got to Wulin Square in less than an hour.

- The Marriott Courtyard Wulin is only 10,000 points a night. What a deal!
So the upshot is: print and carry copies of your itinerary?

David

p.s. how comfortable was the CY Wulin and what amenities did you get?
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 8:27 pm
  #447  
 
Join Date: May 2003
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Originally Posted by Kmxu
Quinlanty and I did not want to take the risk of the cancellation of CX's HKG-HGH flight. So, United let us spend 24 h in the paradise, aka, Guam. We will meet the other two parties (including pushmyredbutton) at PVG. We will fly GUM-PVG and continue on the originally booked flights. Cheers.
My brother and I tried to do that just to be told by the UA Res agent that GUM-HKG was operating with just a slight delay of 25 mins due to crew rest issues and we had to deal with KA to get our tickets changed (in case KA cancelled our HKG-HGH flight). If we wanted to get rerouted like you, we had to pay a fare difference of $845 per pax. We don't have status with UA, so difficult to convince the agent. We are now in HKG and looks like the Typhoon will skip Hong Kong, therefore, we decided to come to the airport and just experience CX's "The Pier". A much needed massage and a nice lunch and dinner are on the cards today. We just checked in at KA's Priority counter without issues (was asked if I was using the 144 hour transit without a visa program). Took 3 minutes to get our boarding passes and lounge lounge invitations.
Rojo is offline  
Old Sep 2, 2017, 8:54 pm
  #448  
 
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: DEN
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Posts: 175
Originally Posted by DELee
So the upshot is: print and carry copies of your itinerary?

David

p.s. how comfortable was the CY Wulin and what amenities did you get?
Yes, you'll want hard copies. Especially, if your info is on gmail which, along with other Google services, is blocked in China.

The CY Wulin is comparable to a better US full service Marriott. So, definitely several notches above the typical US CY. Gold level got me access to the Executive Lounge as well as the option of breakfast at the restaurant, which has an omelette bar, a noodle bar, a dim sum bar, and a zillion other breakfast choices.
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Old Sep 2, 2017, 9:18 pm
  #449  
 
Join Date: May 2016
Programs: United Platinum, Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, SPG Gold
Posts: 72
Just curious...for those arriving in HGH and departing from PVG, when are you traveling from Hangzhou to Shanghai or PVG? The day of your departure flight or earlier?
KAFlyer is offline  
Old Sep 3, 2017, 2:19 am
  #450  
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Posts: 6,958
We were lucky that united Club agent was willing to help. We first asked for GUM-HKG-GUM-PVG, but was not allowed due to fare rules. We decided to have a blasting day in Guam. 1K status helped.

Originally Posted by Rojo
My brother and I tried to do that just to be told by the UA Res agent that GUM-HKG was operating with just a slight delay of 25 mins due to crew rest issues and we had to deal with KA to get our tickets changed (in case KA cancelled our HKG-HGH flight). If we wanted to get rerouted like you, we had to pay a fare difference of $845 per pax. We don't have status with UA, so difficult to convince the agent. We are now in HKG and looks like the Typhoon will skip Hong Kong, therefore, we decided to come to the airport and just experience CX's "The Pier". A much needed massage and a nice lunch and dinner are on the cards today. We just checked in at KA's Priority counter without issues (was asked if I was using the 144 hour transit without a visa program). Took 3 minutes to get our boarding passes and lounge lounge invitations.
Kmxu is offline  


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